Should we be concerned with this years Suns after loss in finals?

Iceman

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I know it's early in the season and the Suns have pretty much all the same pieces in place, with a few new additions, but will we see a downgrade in play after a devastating final 4 games of the championship? The West (specifically the Pacific division) is again going to be a tough division, especially when GSW get Klay back and the Lakers figure out how to use everyone accordingly. Clippers will always be tough and will be interesting if Sacramento has anything to offer. The long season can take a toll on the team, especially being in the drivers seat and then the wheels all fall off. I still believe the Suns are the team to beat in the West, but they are not getting the recognition again (which is probably good). Adding McGee will fill the void of Saric (McGee an upgrade IMO) and he has already been a good piece.

Chris Paul got exposed to a weakness in the finals that will most likely wear him out because other teams saw it- picking him up from back court on. Granted, not every player can sustain the energy for an entire game like Holiday did, but to me, it took Paul out of his game. Paul not being himself the last 4 games of the finals was the difference in the Suns having their 1st championship. At the same time, he was the reason for the Suns being in the finals. So not taking anything away from him at all.

The Ayton situation worries me because I can see him not putting in the same effort as he is capable of. But, this could be the complete opposite of that and he plays his A off to prove a point that he is worth the big contract. Hoping it get works out because he is going to be a top player in the NBA for a long time. One thing I would like to see more out of him is shooting the 3. This will allow to bring out the big men from the middle and he can become more of an outside threat. Looking forward to what he can do this season.

Love me some Booker and Bridges combo. They will continue to keep it exciting for the fan base. Hopefully we see a MVP type of year out of Booker.

Now to the players that will make or break another historical run- Crowder, Johnson and Payne. The best part of the playoff run last year was, you could put any Suns player on the court and the confidence was there for each one! That's how I felt when subs came in. Someone new stepped up every game and the opposing teams had no answer for them (until game 3 on in finals unfortunately). If the Suns can get 70% of what these guys did coming off the bench last year, we should expect another deep run into the playoffs again.

The slow start for the Suns does not have me concerned at all. As soon as they get to clicking again, it will be right back to the 20-21' team. It's great to be an Arizona sports fan recently and it sure seems like we will be in great shape for years to come (except for Coyotes and Dbacks :().

My prediction this year for the Suns is to finish 2nd in the division behind either the Warriors or Lakers. 59-23 is my prediction and will make it to the finals again, with this time playing the Nets
 

Mainstreet

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I know it's early in the season and the Suns have pretty much all the same pieces in place, with a few new additions, but will we see a downgrade in play after a devastating final 4 games of the championship? The West (specifically the Pacific division) is again going to be a tough division, especially when GSW get Klay back and the Lakers figure out how to use everyone accordingly. Clippers will always be tough and will be interesting if Sacramento has anything to offer. The long season can take a toll on the team, especially being in the drivers seat and then the wheels all fall off. I still believe the Suns are the team to beat in the West, but they are not getting the recognition again (which is probably good). Adding McGee will fill the void of Saric (McGee an upgrade IMO) and he has already been a good piece.

Chris Paul got exposed to a weakness in the finals that will most likely wear him out because other teams saw it- picking him up from back court on. Granted, not every player can sustain the energy for an entire game like Holiday did, but to me, it took Paul out of his game. Paul not being himself the last 4 games of the finals was the difference in the Suns having their 1st championship. At the same time, he was the reason for the Suns being in the finals. So not taking anything away from him at all.

The Ayton situation worries me because I can see him not putting in the same effort as he is capable of. But, this could be the complete opposite of that and he plays his A off to prove a point that he is worth the big contract. Hoping it get works out because he is going to be a top player in the NBA for a long time. One thing I would like to see more out of him is shooting the 3. This will allow to bring out the big men from the middle and he can become more of an outside threat. Looking forward to what he can do this season.

Love me some Booker and Bridges combo. They will continue to keep it exciting for the fan base. Hopefully we see a MVP type of year out of Booker.

Now to the players that will make or break another historical run- Crowder, Johnson and Payne. The best part of the playoff run last year was, you could put any Suns player on the court and the confidence was there for each one! That's how I felt when subs came in. Someone new stepped up every game and the opposing teams had no answer for them (until game 3 on in finals unfortunately). If the Suns can get 70% of what these guys did coming off the bench last year, we should expect another deep run into the playoffs again.

The slow start for the Suns does not have me concerned at all. As soon as they get to clicking again, it will be right back to the 20-21' team. It's great to be an Arizona sports fan recently and it sure seems like we will be in great shape for years to come (except for Coyotes and Dbacks :().

My prediction this year for the Suns is to finish 2nd in the division behind either the Warriors or Lakers. 59-23 is my prediction and will make it to the finals again, with this time playing the Nets


I wouldn't give Holiday all the credit on defending Chris Paul because he was clearly not healthy in the playoffs.

After recovering from COVID, he sustained a shoulder injury in the Lakers series. Also he had hand/wrist issues for which he had surgery in the off season. He was reportedly playing with torn ligaments in his hand since the Clippers series.

I think this is one of the reasons the Suns added a third point guard to help spread the work load.
 

overseascardfan

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My concerns this year aren't based off of last year. PHX wasn't supposed to get that far and they weren't on MIL's level after jumping to a 2-0 Finals lead, they better team won (MIL).

My concerns this year:
1. Ayton not building on his post season success and justifying PHX not wanting to make max level commitment in years term. He needs to shed his lack of motivation image because there are no more excuses for it.
2. Chis Paul cannot be held to single digit scoring on any given night, that's not what is expected of a $30M a year player. PHX lacks a consistent second scoring threat so Paul needs to be Booker's Robin until someone else like Bridges or God willing Ayton steps into that role.
3. Booker needs to be a more consistent 3pt shooter. Shooting below 35% is below average for a jump shooter with his ability. His overall FG% is probably because he is taking difficult contested shots but if your taking 18 - 20 shots a game you can't be shooting below 45%.
4. Team can't live and die by 3pt shot, they aren't prime GS Warriors. They need to become a well rounded offensive team. They lost Finals last year not only because their defense but because MIL perimeter defense took away the 3pt shooting that got them to the Finals.
 

DJ Tabooh

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Not at all concerned about this group…I know what we have in that locker room. Going from the hunter to the hunted is different but we have the right guys to handle it. We’ll be rolling by December with rotations. I would like to see CP3 look for his shot more because it opens up more for other guys. This’ll be our 4th game tonight against a scrappy Sacramento team. We just need to go back to playing Phoenix Suns basketball and we’ll be just fine
 
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Iceman

Iceman

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Not at all concerned about this group…I know what we have in that locker room. Going from the hunter to the hunted is different but we have the right guys to handle it. We’ll be rolling by December with rotations. I would like to see CP3 look for his shot more because it opens up more for other guys. This’ll be our 4th game tonight against a scrappy Sacramento team. We just need to go back to playing Phoenix Suns basketball and we’ll be just fine
Totally agree. Didn't really factor in that the Suns only had about a month of rest before the season started back up again. Those extra months of rest are huge
 

Mainstreet

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The Bucks are 3-2 while the Suns are 1-3 and both teams had the same amount of rest.

Each team even had two players in the Olympics.
 

95pro

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The Suns real shot at winning a championship was last year. I don't think they did enough to go from good to great this season. While other teams made improvements. I see them as maybe a 5-6th seed

Who?

Jazz still the same
Clippers, Leonard ACL
Nuggets, ACL
Lakes, Lebron and AD already showing sign of injury, Westbrook more harm than good
Warriors are interesting, still dont know yet


Nets, no kyrie, harden is starting the season hurt
Bucks, still the same
Sixers, no Simmons, Embiid is injured to start the season
 

Mainstreet

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The Suns real shot at winning a championship was last year. I don't think they did enough to go from good to great this season. While other teams made improvements. I see them as maybe a 5-6th seed

I kept wanting the Suns to add a player at the trade deadline or during buyouts last season. Whether that was possible it's hard to know not being the GM.

However, when the window is open you swing for the fences. Often times there are no second chances.
 

Hoop Head

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We started last season 6-6. Granted we don't have the same amount of roster turnover but there were some key rotation changes and changes on the coaching staff. I won't worry until we're about 20 games in. Somewhere between 10 and 20 games we'll see who this team really is and where they're headed.
 

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