Suns @ Spurs game thread 1-5-18

[Mainstreet]

On Friday the Suns visit San Antonio for a game against the Spurs. The game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time and televised on FSAZ.

It will be interesting to see the Spurs starting lineup after they rested key players in their loss to the 76ers on Wednesday in Philadelphia.

Here is more from the ESPN Preview:

The Spurs head into Friday's matchup on the heels of a 112-106 loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday that dropped San Antonio (26-13) to 9-11 on the road.

The Spurs, on a back-to-back after a win in New York on Tuesday, played without five players, including forward Kawhi Leonard, guards Tony Parker, Danny Green, and key reserve Manu Ginobili, all of whom were held out for rest or rehab from injuries.

The Suns head to the Alamo City after losing 134-111 at Denver on Wednesday in what amounted to a back-to-back-games with a travel nightmare in between.

Six players scored in double figures as Devin Booker scored a team-high 17 points. Greg Monroe had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Marquese Chriss added 16 points, Josh Jackson scored 14 and TJ Warren had 13 for Phoenix (15-25).

http://www.espn.com/nba/preview?gameId=400975319

 

[Ronin]

Go Suns!

 

[Ronin]

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[CardsSunsDbacks]

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Here’s to hoping that JJ can build on his last performance. Also would maybe like to see a more extended role for Chriss assuming T.J. can’t go.

 

[SirStefan32]

Poor Booker. No TJ, no Canaan. This game is ugly.

 

[SweetD]

This thread says it all about this game lol

 

[SirStefan32]

This thread says it all about this game lol

Poo emoji would sum it up more efficiently.

 

[Mainstreet]

Poor Booker. No TJ, no Canaan. This game is ugly.

After the 1st quarter the Spurs concentrated on shutting down Booker with no other scorers on the court. Obviously it was successful. Poor shooting and turnovers seem to be the Suns bane.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Wins are nice, but this is about personal development. Chriss had a decent game. When his bad games are 12 and 7, its progress.

Would have liked to see more from Josh, but 11 and 5 on 50% shooting is not horrible.

Will mark it up as a good step in development and move on.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Wins are nice, but this is about personal development. Chriss had a decent game. When his bad games are 12 and 7, its progress.

Would have liked to see more from Josh, but 11 and 5 on 50% shooting is not horrible.

Will mark it up as a good step in development and move on.

JJ has had a could solid games in a row. That is definite progress over where he was at the start of the season. Hopefully by the end of the year his 12 and 5 games will be considered bad or average games.

 

[Hoop Head]

Glad I missed this game. I figured with Kawhi back that he'd be guarding Booker all night and it'd be an ugly game. I'd rather see Booker on the bench then have to battle with Leonard on offense. Did the Spurs have him guarding Booker?

Surprised that a game thread had such little activity, especially a Suns vs Spurs game but then again, I avoided it for a reason and I'm sure I'm not the only one who did.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Wins are nice, but this is about personal development. Chriss had a decent game. When his bad games are 12 and 7, its progress.

Would have liked to see more from Josh, but 11 and 5 on 50% shooting is not horrible.

Will mark it up as a good step in development and move on.

If Jackson averaged 11 and 5 on 50% shooting for the season we would consider it a good rookie year.

 

[GatorAZ]

If Jackson averaged 11 and 5 on 50% shooting for the season we would consider it a good rookie year.

Hoping for MKG at this point.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Glad I missed this game. I figured with Kawhi back that he'd be guarding Booker all night and it'd be an ugly game. I'd rather see Booker on the bench then have to battle with Leonard on offense. Did the Spurs have him guarding Booker?

Surprised that a game thread had such little activity, especially a Suns vs Spurs game but then again, I avoided it for a reason and I'm sure I'm not the only one who did.

Leonard really wasn’t the issue. The issue was that after the first quarter the Spurs just started trapping Booker to get the ball out of his hands and there was nothing the rest of the team could do to make them pay.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Hoping for MKG at this point.

It’s midway through his rookie year on a Bad team that started the season in turmoil. I’m not ready to set my expectations so low.

 

[Mainstreet]

Leonard really wasn’t the issue. The issue was that after the first quarter the Spurs just started trapping Booker to get the ball out of his hands and there was nothing the rest of the team could do to make them pay.

I agree Leonard was not the issue but on one play Leonard took about 4 steps without dribbling in front of the referees and they didn't call it.

I'm not saying this changed the game, but it's sad that stars are allowed to get away with blatant non-calls. It's always been this way but obvious plays need to be called by the referees.

When a Suns player made the slightest travel they called it.

 

[GatorAZ]

It’s midway through his rookie year on a Bad team that started the season in turmoil. I’m not ready to set my expectations so low.

It was a popular pre-draft comparison for ppl who weren't high on Jackson.

 

[Hoop Head]

I agree Leonard was not the issue but on one play Leonard took about 4 steps without dribbling in front of the referees and they didn't call it.

I'm not saying this changed the game, but it's sad that stars are allowed to get away with blatant non-calls. It's always been this way but obvious plays need to be called by the referees.

When a Suns player made the slightest travel they called it.

It wouldn't be that bad if stars on the Suns got superstar calls. Booker deserves them, if they did. I know Nash didn't get them back in the day and neither did Stoudemire.

I'd prefer the game be called consistently but it'd be easier to accept if Suns players benefitted from ref's swallowing their whistles also.

 

[Mainstreet]

It wouldn't be that bad if stars on the Suns got superstar calls. Booker deserves them, if they did. I know Nash didn't get them back in the day and neither did Stoudemire.

I'd prefer the game be called consistently but it'd be easier to accept if Suns players benefitted from ref's swallowing their whistles also.

This is true, neither Nash or Stoudemire got the calls but the abuse was worse for Nash. He could literally be manhandled for the whole game with few fouls called. I used to want the Suns to take him out of the game when it really got bad. His fatigue really showed.

 

[JCSunsfan]

This is true, neither Nash or Stoudemire got the calls but the abuse was worse for Nash. He could literally be manhandled for the whole game with few fouls called. I used to want the Suns to take him out of the game when it really got bad. His fatigue really showed.

KJ was handled worse. But it was a different era.

 

[Mainstreet]

KJ was handled worse. But it was a different era.

KJ was the Suns inside game back then when he drove to the basket. Most of the hard fouls happened at the rim when he was going over taller players.

However, Nash was abused all over the court, but your point about KJ is well taken.

 

[gimpy]

The refs need to call the play. Doesn't matter who it is for or against. No superstar or rookie treatment. If it's a foul or travel against a rookie, it should be called the same way against the superstar. I hate that "they have to earn their respect" crap.

That's all sports, not just bb.

 

[Hoop Head]

I can understand why Stoudemire didn't get calls because he'd constantly scream "And 1" after scoring in the lane with even in the slightest contact which rubbed the officials the wrong way but Nash was abused here, as a 2 time MVP. I'm not sure why refs dislike the Suns but it definitely seems that way in regards to players getting or not getting "superstar calls" or "rookie calls" for that matter.

 

[BC867]

I can understand why Stoudemire didn't get calls because he'd constantly scream "And 1" after scoring in the lane with even in the slightest contact which rubbed the officials the wrong way but Nash was abused here, as a 2 time MVP. I'm not sure why refs dislike the Suns but it definitely seems that way in regards to players getting or not getting "superstar calls" or "rookie calls" for that matter.

In life quite often, those who retaliate are the ones who get punished, because it is considered more blatant and easier to spot.

To put it another way, power in the NBA always gets rewarded more than finesse, but especially as the season begins to wear down and certainly during the playoffs.

KJ, Amare, Nash. All victims of the Suns identity of 50 years. A "pretty" team. Only for the past eight years or so, we're not even "pretty". Even our recent ID of three Centers rather than three lead Point Guards isn't changing that. Jerry had a plan. I didn't like his plan, but he had a plan. Sarver has no plan.

The only way we are going to beat teams manhandling Booker is to add proven NBA talent to the rest of the team over hoping for even more rookies in the draft.

Right now, our whole roster consists of players who are too old, too young, or too mediocre.