Suns @ Mavericks 1-31- 16

[Catlover]

In regard to Powell, I noticed the game change immediately when he came in and promptly scored an easy basket. Just my perception. Perhaps his entrance into the game only coincided with the Suns backslide. Losing Booker was huge. He played his heart out. I couldn't help but be proud the way the Mavericks had to double team him.



Archie Goodwin had a bad game tonight. Maybe it's because other teams are locked into his game now that he is a starter. Or maybe it's because Archie cannot take the next step forward and he is frustrated. No matter, I'm glad the Suns are giving him starter minutes to find out his ceiling.

Quietly Alex Len had a good game tonight. I was pleased with the Suns two centers tonight.

Len had a couple of great moves in the first half, I wold have liked to see more of him tonight.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Timberwolves lose to the Trail Blazers tonight. The Suns now have the 4th worst in the NBA. Can the Suns catch the Nets?

 

[Mainstreet]

Here is an interesting tidbit. Markieff Morris scored all the Suns points in the 4th quarter. All 9 of them.

 

[SweetD]

Well 9pts in the fourth, helps add those ping pong balls. Our luck the Suns will use a high pick on a PG/SG. :'(

 

[SweetD]

At this point I see no reason to fire Jeff. This team is headed for a top 5 pick, no coach would want to take that on. But good coaches will line up for a team with a top 5 pick and tradable pieces next year.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The Timberwolves lose to the Trail Blazers tonight. The Suns now have the 4th worst in the NBA. Can the Suns catch the Nets?

Um. Not sure it works that way.

 

[hcsilla]

At this point I see no reason to fire Jeff. This team is headed for a top 5 pick, no coach would want to take that on. But good coaches will line up for a team with a top 5 pick and tradable pieces next year.

Tradeable pieces like who?

 

[Hoop Head]

Tradeable pieces like who?

The team doesn't really have anyone who is grossly overpaid, by NBA standards. All of the players on the team could be moved without including assets. Of course what they get in return is a different story but when a lot of teams miss out on the top tier free agents I'm sure they'd be willing to take guys like Chandler or Knight in exchange for youth or picks. They may not fetch much in return but who on this team is a negative asset? Tucker or Kieff might qualify but I'm sure they could be unloaded for pennies on the dollar, if management decided to go that route.

 

[Catlover]

The team doesn't really have anyone who is grossly overpaid, by NBA standards. All of the players on the team could be moved without including assets. Of course what they get in return is a different story but when a lot of teams miss out on the top tier free agents I'm sure they'd be willing to take guys like Chandler or Knight in exchange for youth or picks. They may not fetch much in return but who on this team is a negative asset? Tucker or Kieff might qualify but I'm sure they could be unloaded for pennies on the dollar, if management decided to go that route.

I agree with you.

I think there are still teams out there that want Markieff but they aren't interested in paying top dollar for him. I don't know about Tucker but I do know if I had a team that was in contention to win it all I'd love to add a player like PJ for spot duty. I doubt the other teams in the league would be dumb enough to turn him into a heavy minutes starter but at 15 to 20 minutes a night he could be a very good role player. Either of them might bring us a middle to late 1st rounder but that's probably the high end of their value.

Right now I don't think we really need to move anyone other than the obvious Morris brother. I don't think we want Knight here as a starter long term but moving him this season would be selling low and that's rarely a good idea. It would be nice if he could be coached out of his bad habits while making the transition to backup shooting guard but I don't know if either one is possible. It's also looking like Eric needs to be a backup too and he's probably not going to take to that any better than Knight. But we gambled on his health and early returns haven't been what we'd hoped for. Anyone can go down with an injury but he's at the point where you can call it a trend so we need someone more reliable.

 

[Lorenzo]

I miss the good ole days when our two teams were duking it out for the top spot. we had some really exciting games and when I lived in PHX I swear I watched just about every suns game and every mavs game. as hard as it was to watch steve in a phx jersey it was a special time.

 

[Mainstreet]

Um. Not sure it works that way.

I willed the Wolves to win last night so much that the scoreboard looked that way in my mind.


___________________

 

[BC867]

Here is an interesting tidbit. Markieff Morris scored all the Suns points in the 4th quarter. All 9 of them.

Which is why I posted in another thread that when Markieff is on the floor, the ball stops with him and the rest stand around.

His 9 points in the 4th quarter might look good on his stats, but not when no one else scores in the quarter.

 

[slinslin]

Which is why I posted in another thread that when Markieff is on the floor, the ball stops with him and the rest stand around.

His 9 points in the 4th quarter might look good on his stats, but not when no one else scores in the quarter.

Lol yeah that was Kieffs fault, totally..

Unlike our other power forwards Markieff actually does get some assists even still.

 

[Catlover]

Which is why I posted in another thread that when Markieff is on the floor, the ball stops with him and the rest stand around.

His 9 points in the 4th quarter might look good on his stats, but not when no one else scores in the quarter.

It was in this thread which led to my response suggesting you didn't watch the game.

I agree with you, typically Markieff stops the ball. But that wasn't the case last night. And even if it had been it wouldn't have explained the lack of scoring in the 4th quarter for the rest of the team. Markieff wasn't out there for the full 4th quarter. The problem appeared to me to be exhaustion. Booker was our best option in the second half but he's been playing huge minutes and he's just not used to it. Even with limited minutes the first 2 months of the season he's already logged more minutes in the NBA than he did in his entire college career (okay, one season).

 

[Mainstreet]

Which is why I posted in another thread that when Markieff is on the floor, the ball stops with him and the rest stand around.

His 9 points in the 4th quarter might look good on his stats, but not when no one else scores in the quarter.

There were some shots for other players in the 4th quarter.

 

[BC867]

There were some shots for other players in the 4th quarter.

I know, I exaggerated.

As we've read in one of the posts today ('too many to go back and find), the lack of a facilitator hurts the rest of the team immensely.

 

[Mainstreet]

I know, I exaggerated.

As we've read in one of the posts today ('too many to go back and find), the lack of a facilitator hurts the rest of the team immensely.

We agree the lack of a facilitator hurts the Suns. The most discouraging thing for me about the Suns is their defense. They can't stop opposing teams. The Suns were supposed to have stressed defense this season.

 

[BC867]

The most discouraging thing for me about the Suns is their defense. They can't stop opposing teams. The Suns were supposed to have stressed defense this season.

And, to the contrary, they fired their defense specialist assistant coach.

Stellar defense doesn't fill the seats like glittery offense, especially to the banker calling the shots.