Suns @ Grizzlies Tuesday game thread 12-27-2022

[Mainstreet]

Deandre Ayton on the game. It was no revenge game. This was us.

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[Mainstreet]

Duane Washington Jr. had 26 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 3 turnovers last night.

Needless to say, he had a very good outing.

 

[Proximo]

One of the questions is: can the increased aggression be pinned on any particular player?

I feel Craig was crucial last night. He brought clear effort on D and going for rebounds I think the rest of the team fed off.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I feel Craig was crucial last night. He brought clear effort on D and going for rebounds I think the rest of the team fed off.

Absolutely. We don't win that game last night without Torrey but there were a lot of players that gave us just what we needed. Other than Saric, we probably needed every player who saw minutes last night - incredible all around team performance.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Absolutely. We don't win that game last night without Torrey but there were a lot of players that gave us just what we needed. Other than Saric, we probably needed every player who saw minutes last night - incredible all around team performance.

Yupp. 100% agree. Suns don’t have an enforcer type and Torrey brought that edge. The reality is, this team has to have a belief and an unconquerable will/desire to win basketball games.

I’ll be honest, Dallas took our hearts in game 7. So there’s games where we “quit” because once you do something, it can become habit forming. There were games last year when we were down, I knew we’d make a run even if we didn’t win.

The Finals in 21’ was the perfect example. Was I bummed we lost…yes. I do think we were a better team than Milwaukee but they made plays when they had to and we didn’t. Dallas wasn’t better but Luka’s bravado and scoring put us in a hole we couldn’t recover from.

I love this team as infuriating as they may be sometimes. We’ve gotta play harder than our opponents full strength or not since we really don’t have a consistent number 2 option behind DBook.

Sorry for the long post lol. Good win Suns. And Ja, hold that L

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

That Torrey Craig isn't very big or strong, with no reputation as an intimidator of some sort, suggests that as with rebounding, you become an enforcer mostly by wanting to be. ...Or that you're just using the term "enforcer" vaguely. If I ask myself what an enforcer is, the first player who comes to mind is Kendrick Perkins. Further back: Charles Oakley, one of the archetypal enforcers in NBA history. He used to get in fights with Charles Barkley.

I wonder why Craig couldn't perform like this after being re-acquired last season.

Players have weird stretches. Also Craig has been with starters primarily this season. Lots more opportunity when you’re the last guy on the floor the other team worries about. All that said, he’s been nails this year. Great effort and energy and his 3 ball has come outta nowhere (40% for career 34% shooter). Hope he keeps it up.

 

[Chaplin]

Players have weird stretches. Also Craig has been with starters primarily this season. Lots more opportunity when you’re the last guy on the floor the other team worries about. All that said, he’s been nails this year. Great effort and energy and his 3 ball has come outta nowhere (40% for career 34% shooter). Hope he keeps it up.

Truer words have never been spoken. I actually like Torrey more than Jae at this point. Sure, having that enforcer type player would be nice, but is it worth the 10m you'd have to pay Jae considering there really is nothing else he'd bring to the table? I'd say no.

 

[cheesebeef]

Truer words have never been spoken. I actually like Torrey more than Jae at this point. Sure, having that enforcer type player would be nice, but is it worth the 10m you'd have to pay Jae considering there really is nothing else he'd bring to the table? I'd say no.

Doesn’t have to be an either or situation, does it? Especially considering they’re already paying Jae. Also, I think the benefit of having an enforcer is that person can do the dirty great teams need who can also be expendable after they’ve done the deed. That’s pretty much the hallmark of an enforcer.

Throw on top of that a guy like Jae who’s got finals experience and can go on a heater once in a while and I think labeling him simply as an enforcer who brings nothing else to the table underscores his impact just a bit. Especially on a team that lacks depth at PF.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Chaplin]

Doesn’t have to be an either or situation, does it? Especially considering they’re already paying Jae. Also, I think the benefit of having an enforcer is that person can do the dirty great teams need who can also be expendable after they’ve done the deed. That’s pretty much the hallmark of an enforcer.

Throw on top of that a guy like Jae who’s got finals experience and can go on a heater once in a while and I think labeling him simply as an enforcer who brings nothing else to the table underscores his impact just a bit. Especially on a team that lacks depth at PF.

Except I wasn’t talking about depth. I was more or less taking about Torrey as a starter vs Jae Crowder. The only reason I’d rather Jae play is for depth and that’s it.

This isn’t hockey, I’m not sure how much power an “enforcer” has anyway, not with the way the officials are calling games in todays NBA.

 

[Covert Rain]

Doesn’t have to be an either or situation, does it? Especially considering they’re already paying Jae. Also, I think the benefit of having an enforcer is that person can do the dirty great teams need who can also be expendable after they’ve done the deed. That’s pretty much the hallmark of an enforcer.

Throw on top of that a guy like Jae who’s got finals experience and can go on a heater once in a while and I think labeling him simply as an enforcer who brings nothing else to the table underscores his impact just a bit. Especially on a team that lacks depth at PF.

So much this. The intangibles here are important.

 

[Superbone]

Don't look now but Chris Paul's team won a Scott Foster refereed game. Speaking of which, maybe we'll start to get more favorable whistles with Sarver out of the picture.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Don't look now but Chris Paul's team won a Scott Foster refereed game. Speaking of which, maybe we'll start to get more favorable whistles with Sarver out of the picture.

I was keenly aware of this the entire game.