The season is officially over as far as there is no way the team can make the playoffs. They are 4 games back from OKC and 3.5 behind NO with 6 games to go. There is only 1 spot and virtually no way the Suns can win out with both OKC & NO losing every game remaining. There is only 6 games to go but I believe the front office and Hornacek realize the playoffs aren't happening and they can't even spin that to the fans, the casual, hardcore, or homers, anymore like they've been doing since the trade deadline. I think they’ve known that for longer but with a young team and waning fan interest they tried to give the impression they were really in the hunt. The main reason I am against tanking is because of the effect it can have on young players development. They should be playing to win every game and playing at 100% for all 48 minutes. With only 6 games left though I think the team needs to try and “tank” in a way by giving Warren, Goodwin, and Bullock quality minutes consistently. If they lose to Utah today then the Jazz will be just 2.5 game back while they’d have 6 games left and the Suns just 5. It would also mean Utah wins the season series so if they finished with the same record the Suns would move from #13 to #12 in the draft, which isn’t much but that’s more pingpong balls. It’s a 93.5% chance of staying put at 12th, while 13th is 96%, and 14th is 98.2%. Long term it’s better to give more minutes to the youngsters and gain that 5% shot of moving compared to the questionable rotations the team has had virtually all season.
Seeing how Jeff handles the younger players minutes will be interesting over the next few games. I think the biggest complaint with him this season is how poorly he’s handled the rotation. It’s been anything but consistent all year long and injuries have had very little to do with that. If he managed the 3 PG’s we had better perhaps Goran wouldn’t have asked to be traded. He was quoted in the offseason and preseason that he wanted 2 PG’s on the floor at all times but often Bledsoe would sit with Goran and IT & Green would be playing the guard spots. Those 2 together set a bad precedent for ball movement as they’re basically the same type of score first players who rarely pass. Whenever IT played with either Bledsoe or Dragic though he was the primary PG on the floor. I’m not sure if it was due to his size, style, or what but that didn’t help keep the other guards happy and it also caused other bench players like Marcus to throw up bad shots and play ISO ball because he knew if he was out there with Green and Thomas he’d rarely get passed to, same goes for the other 2nd unit players. Plumlee lost his starting spot to Len but Hornacek didn’t even use Plumlee enough to keep him content being a backup. I know reports came out that he requested a trade prior to the 1st of the year but he obviously didn’t have the pull or talent like Goran so there wasn’t much traction there. After the deadline with the new roster the lineup has been odd too, with guys on 10 day deals playing more than Goodwin, Warren and/or Bullock. It’s not like Curry, Price, or the guy they have now will be with the team next year, same goes for Thornton who has received too many minutes since coming over from Boston. He’s making about 9.5 million this year but it’s expiring and he shouldn’t be brought back even at the minimum. There are too many young players who should be seeing those minutes and he sucks anyways. Hornacek did a good job of managing everyones time last season for the most part but it seems he’s lost it this year completely. Hopefully the team gets more balanced in the offseason and the team has a fairly consistent rotation next year, with both Warren & Goodwin being in the rotation. They’ve earned their spots with their play when given the time and should only be better after another offseason and training camp.
Warren and Goodwin have both displayed they deserve consistent minutes since the All Star break roster shake-up. Bullock hasn’t gotten much time at all since he was acquired which really makes me wonder why even acquire him in the first place. It’s not like the team needed more wing players. He saw more time in LA on a legit contender. Whenever Goodwin or Warren string together a few good games with decent minutes they end up playing really limited minutes the next game for seemingly no reason or they don't play at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if Warren doesn’t see any minutes in tonights game since he’s strung 3 good games together, averaging 26.4 minutes, 16 point on 71% shooting, 3.7 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block a night. He had a DNP just 4 days ago though after playing 9 games in a row with averages of 17.1 minutes, 7.3 points on 63% shooting, and 2.7 rebounds. He’s not a liability on defense either and he’s probably the best player on the team at moving without the ball. He has the talent to be a 1st or 2nd team Rookie this year but he’s only played in 34 games due to D-League assignments and DNP’s. Goodwin is also a lot better than last season and is looking good for the most part but he’s getting his minutes messed with just as much. He’ll play solid for a few games averaging close to 20 minutes and then he’ll get benched for the whole game or see 2-3 minutes out of nowhere, like against OKC to start the 4th when the game was tied and that’s it.
