Suns @ Celtics 12-19-18

[Errntknght]

MANY posters. Not just a random one or two.

It just seemed like many posters because 1Sun was rabid about firing Igor immediately - to the tune of about a dozeno posts per day. Not many people were leaping to Igor's defense. There were others who were regularly posting specific complaints about his coaching. Another fairly popular opinion was that no matter how poorly Kokoskov appeared to be doing we absolutely could not afford to give him less than a full season because no other decent coach would ever come to work for the Sarver Suns if we dumped him that quick.

To me it's an established fact that Chandler and Ariza sabotaged the team and Igor - perhaps not intentionally but very effectively. I don't think Igor believed they would do that so he kept playing them and my guess is that James Jones stepped in and got rid of them. (Many thanks, James!)

 

[SirStefan32]

I almost couldn't contain myself about Oubre. It was probably apparent. As I viewed it, he sparked the Suns defense.

It helped that Oubre was not the slightest bit intimidated by the Celtics. I think this carried over to the rest of the team. Everyone upped their defense. It was contagious. The Suns gained a bit of a swagger tonight and it wasn't from their offense.

Oubre blowing a kiss to the booing Celtics fans was the highlight of the game.

 

[Cheesebeef]

damnit... this was on NBATV tonight? Poop!

4 wins in a row... very very nice and Ayton with a 23/18 game! Been waiting to see one of those in a meaningful game... or at all.

And good lord... No Ariza, No Problem! Seeing how this team is playing now that he's gone just speaks to how much of a cancer he was on this team and the floor. And the winning with addition by subtraction makes the trade much more palatable. Thank god he's gone and I hope we shove it up his ass on Saturday.

 

[Hoop Head]

To me it's an established fact that Chandler and Ariza sabotaged the team and Igor - perhaps not intentionally but very effectively. I don't think Igor believed they would do that so he kept playing them and my guess is that James Jones stepped in and got rid of them. (Many thanks, James!)

You think Chandler did that? He was playing 15 minutes a game as a backup. I'm no fan of Chandler but I didn't see anything from him this year that I hadn't seen in the last 3 with him. I agree with the take on Ariza, he was dog sh.... well he was awful and it was mind boggling why Igor continued to play him more than anyone but Booker. I'm surprised another player hadn't tried telling Ariza to get his act together. He had his moments where he looked ok but they weren't very often. He was as lazy as JJ was stupid early on and he only seemed to turn it on when a trade was imminent. I'm kind of glad it happened because if Igor had asked for Ariza at the top of his wishlist when he was hired then that means James Jones, or whoever our GM is, can point to that specifically if he tries calling for other players to be signed.

 

[WildBB]

It just seemed like many posters because 1Sun was rabid about firing Igor immediately - to the tune of about a dozeno posts per day. Not many people were leaping to Igor's defense. There were others who were regularly posting specific complaints about his coaching. Another fairly popular opinion was that no matter how poorly Kokoskov appeared to be doing we absolutely could not afford to give him less than a full season because no other decent coach would ever come to work for the Sarver Suns if we dumped him that quick.

To me it's an established fact that Chandler and Ariza sabotaged the team and Igor - perhaps not intentionally but very effectively. I don't think Igor believed they would do that so he kept playing them and my guess is that James Jones stepped in and got rid of them. (Many thanks, James!)

As far as Chandler was concerned, he was a drop off from the 3rd string center. I think they had high hopes that Ariza would show the youngsters how to play both ends but it really only happened one game when he was on fire. Shame on coach for sticking with him that long. From what I heard he was a positive force in the locker room mentoring at least. When Crawford started giving them what they expected Ariza to give, he picked it up a little. But too little too late.

 

[1tinsoldier]

It just seemed like many posters because 1Sun was rabid about firing Igor immediately

more like
31 posters here voting that Igor will be gone next season
compared to 14 predicting he will have some degree of success

and a small group of homers "liking" each other's defensive posts
and assuming the role of the forum's Thought Police

 

[SirStefan32]

more like
31 posters here voting that Igor will be gone next season
compared to 14 predicting he will have some degree of success

and a small group of homers "liking" each other's defensive posts
and assuming the role of the forum's Thought Police

Source? I'd like to see the list of who was throwing a fit and who was level-headed in Kokoskov discussions!

 

[Hoop Head]

more like
31 posters here voting that Igor will be gone next season
compared to 14 predicting he will have some degree of success

and a small group of homers "liking" each other's defensive posts
and assuming the role of the forum's Thought Police

I'd just like to know who the "Thought Police" are. I have been back and forth on Igor but I know firing him this season would be a mistake, one that Sarver wouldn't be able to fix easily. If he was to be fired because we're throwing a ton of money at a big name to come in, then it can be forgiven but that wasn't happening so long as Sarver is signing the Suns payroll checks. Hoping and wishing Igor got fired this season seemed shortsighted at best since we don't have anyone with the organization who would make for a better head coach in the interim so there was no rush to do anything this season.

 

[sdscard4]

Igor is a damn good coach, the best coach since Gentry in my opinion. I've been impressed with his patience and his calm demeanor during extremely frustrating times.

He has been very patient with our young guys who had been making tons of mistakes and not putting forth the required effort. He also had to deal with two stretches without Booker and 1 stretch without Booker and Warren.

If he's guilty of anything, it's been asking too much too soon from the young team. I think the offensive scheme and defensive rotations were more than the team could process, but it seems to be bearing fruit now.

He currently has the Suns playing there best defense since... Forever.

It sucks, but I think things had to get worse before they got better and that was magnified with Booker and Warren missing time.

Your first sentence makes me squirm....but I must say D and JJ are the 2 things that have me the happiest. I don't know if this is all Igor teachings or the players just flat out balling. Whatever it is.....it's sure nice...Go Suns

 

[SirStefan32]

I'd just like to know who the "Thought Police" are. I have been back and forth on Igor but I know firing him this season would be a mistake, one that Sarver wouldn't be able to fix easily. If he was to be fired because we're throwing a ton of money at a big name to come in, then it can be forgiven but that wasn't happening so long as Sarver is signing the Suns payroll checks. Hoping and wishing Igor got fired this season seemed shortsighted at best since we don't have anyone with the organization who would make for a better head coach in the interim so there was no rush to do anything this season.

Yeah, I just remember a few of us saying it was silly to fire a coach a month or so into the season, and that he needs time to be evaluated. Not sure how that became "thought police."

 

[SirStefan32]

Igor is a damn good coach, the best coach since Gentry in my opinion. I've been impressed with his patience and his calm demeanor during extremely frustrating times.

He has been very patient with our young guys who had been making tons of mistakes and not putting forth the required effort. He also had to deal with two stretches without Booker and 1 stretch without Booker and Warren.

If he's guilty of anything, it's been asking too much too soon from the young team. I think the offensive scheme and defensive rotations were more than the team could process, but it seems to be bearing fruit now.

He currently has the Suns playing there best defense since... Forever.

It sucks, but I think things had to get worse before they got better and that was magnified with Booker and Warren missing time.

That might be the reason he stuck with the veterans for as long as he did, thus committing his biggest blunder so far.
Still a blunder, but it does explain why he stuck with the vets for so long.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

So many thoughts.

Start of game so frustrating. Seemed like no energy which felt odd coming off past three games.

Defensive effort over past 4 games is best I can ever recall from suns. With more of these efforts and growing reputations of JJ, Bridges, oubre, Holmes, Melton and even increasing Ayton our rep will turn to better ref treatment. We are inching our way closer to being able to swing and swipe and bang like the Celtics are allowed to do with impunity. They need to maintain their intensity.

The whole game until the end I felt frustrated and yet we were neck-in-neck with the Celtics on their floor. This is a new feeling. Winning by making the game a bit ugly. We don’t go full muck it up like the griz, but we can ugly up a game with scrambling long defenders. And I like it.

Ayton looked good being dominant on the board with no one to challenge his supremacy. And that’s exactly what he should with an advantage. Glad to see him grab the bull by the horns. He still sometimes looks flustered when he gets the ball down low instead of being decisive. But it will come. He could’ve had more if anyone other than oubre could throw a pass that actually reached him.

Oubre was a nice addition, and that’s without the advantage of being with the team for any length. Looking forward to seeing more.

I was excited about this game during the day. Not because I thought we would win, but because I expected effort and the chance to win. Been a long time since I’ve felt that. That was niiizzzzzzze.

I think I was one that wanted to give Igor a pretty good leash, but I’ll admit I may have snapped after the back-to-back 9-34 starts. I might’ve said I want him gone. Can’t remember. If I did. I’ll own it. But the combination of reading the comments from the suns player development guy in the aytin’s development article and what I’m seeing now makes me start to rethink things. I don’t think this team experiences the current success without Igor’s input.

Just a great freaking win. Let’s go spank markieff and arizas asses.

 

[Hoop Head]

Yeah, I just remember a few of us saying it was silly to fire a coach a month or so into the season, and that he needs time to be evaluated. Not sure how that became "thought police."

I think some fans got the wrong idea when Watson was fired 3 games into last season. That wasn't going to happen twice and not with a coach who was in his very first year as head coach. Another issues that I think some fans have is believing we're a laughing stock or the biggest joke in the league and cannot get any worse. We can get worse, a lot worse, but to get worse we would need to break new ground. If we did that then it would take even longer to get back to zero. It's possible to be worse than the worst team in the league. We don't want to go down that road.

 

[SirStefan32]

Some more great news... Suns are no longer the worst team in the league. Chicago and Atlanta have the worst record, and the Suns are tied with the Cavs.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think I was one that wanted to give Igor a pretty good leash, but I’ll admit I may have snapped after the back-to-back 9-34 starts. I might’ve said I want him gone. Can’t remember. If I did. I’ll own it. But the combination of reading the comments from the suns player development guy in the aytin’s development article and what I’m seeing now makes me start to rethink things. I don’t think this team experiences the current success without Igor’s input.

+1 on this, but my leash was admittedly not as long as Ouchie's from the start and I definitely thought we were headed to 3 mile Island-like meltdown after the 16/17 losses with the 34-9 and 36/9 meltdowns followed by the kerfuffle with Bridges and then the war of words in the locker-room between Ayton and Book. I thought we were going down the path of no return. Don't believe that now and looking forward to seeing where this goes and happy to admit I was wrong and hope to continue to be proven wrong.

 

[SirStefan32]

I never thought I'd have to ask this, but... do you guys think Booker was tired because he...played defense?

 

[AzStevenCal]

I never thought I'd have to ask this, but... do you guys think Booker was tired because he...played defense?

Maybe but I'd say Smart hanging all over him, banging him over and again, had a lot more to do with his obvious exhaustion.

 

[AzStevenCal]

March 22, 2015. If I didn't mess up, that looks to be the day our last 4 game winning streak came to an end.

 

[SirStefan32]

March 22, 2015. If I didn't mess up, that looks to be the day our last 4 game winning streak came to an end.

Booker was playing in college at that time.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Maybe but I'd say Smart hanging all over him, banging him over and again, had a lot more to do with his obvious exhaustion.

Yeah smart is a tough defender to play through and the refs really allow him to play uber-physical. It has to be draining.

 

[leclerc]

Booker did well despite the tough defense. Melton and Crawford works within the system. Our defense is getting to the point where we don't have to score at every possession to win games, we can get stops and hang onto a lead in the fourth. With a killer like Booker and Ayton being a threat and getting rebounds, plus the length and defensive intensity of Jackson, Oubre, Bridges, we could actually get more wins this year!

 

[leclerc]

more like
31 posters here voting that Igor will be gone next season
compared to 14 predicting he will have some degree of success

and a small group of homers "liking" each other's defensive posts
and assuming the role of the forum's Thought Police

How old are you? Just express your opinions in a constructive manner. Some might agree, others might not. Just like in the real world.

 

[leclerc]

Obviously it's early, but I really like what I've seen from Oubre. Nice smart cuts to the basket, good post entry passes, great defense (didn't he pick Kyrie's pocket? No small feat), timely shots. I love the fact we have 3 very defensive minded guys in JJ, Bridges and Oubre. 2 of the 3 should be on the court at all times IMO, even if that means TJ to the bench.

I agree about Oubre and the defense, but we are dependent on buckets from Tony, especially during rush hour. Maybe not all the time if Ayton is aggressive, Bridges gets out of the slump, Jackson is having a good game, Crawford is on, etc... Yeah, maybe with the defense and improvement of the other guys, that we're less dependent on TJ to put up big games. I think his defense (and Booker's) has improved. It is contagious with Jackson, Melton, Bridges & company playing hard on D every possession.

Go frigging Suns!

 

[leclerc]

https://kearsleyeclipse.com/45068/news/flat-earth-theory-added-to-curriculum-next-year/

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[Superbone]

I'm watching on NBA TV it's the Celtics broadcast

Good lord Brian Scalabrini is downright pathetic in his homerism.

I hope penalties are coming:

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