The Durant Sweepstakes

Ouchie-Z-Clown

I'm better than Mulli!
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Posts
59,905
Reaction score
51,234
Location
SoCal
At least Paul has shown some flashes recently.
Too few and far between imo. He can no longer get his shot at will. It used to not be a problem except against top defenders. Now there just has to be a warm body near him and he struggles. I’ve given up on any hope of him being anything other than an occasional impact player.
 

Carolinacacti

Hall of Famer
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Posts
2,198
Reaction score
1,154
Location
Charlotte NC
Too few and far between imo. He can no longer get his shot at will. It used to not be a problem except against top defenders. Now there just has to be a warm body near him and he struggles. I’ve given up on any hope of him being anything other than an occasional impact player.
Kinda like the Lakers big three and Clippers.
 

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
33,987
Reaction score
11,800
Location
Arizona
I know how you feel. But I still believe this team, fully healthy with an impactful Chris Paul is a little better than last year's roster. I'm just not sure we'll ever be fully healthy this season.

And I have no idea how much of CP3's decline is due to injury rather than age. I'm still holding out some small hope that he can become the CP3 of last season where he was mediocre for most of the game and then played like a superstar for a stretch in the 4th quarter. But even that small hope fades when the scoreboard reads 52 to 20.
Not a chance. This team even healthy is soft compared to last years.
 

AzStevenCal

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
Posts
35,866
Reaction score
14,554
The pieces they lost and what they brought are exactly what this team is missing.
I think losing Crowder hurt but Javale was no big deal IMO. He helped us a lot early but was almost unplayable late in the season and the playoffs. But I like the addition of Lee, Okogie, Washington and Landale a lot more than the players they replaced, Crowder notwithstanding.

I think we took a little hit in the top 7 by losing Jae but improved this team greatly from the 8th man to the 11th. Unfortunately injuries have forced the deep bench guys into bigger roles than they are capable of every night.
 

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
33,987
Reaction score
11,800
Location
Arizona
I think losing Crowder hurt but Javale was no big deal IMO. He helped us a lot early but was almost unplayable late in the season and the playoffs. But I like the addition of Lee, Okogie and Landale a lot more than the players they replaced, Crowder notwithstanding.

I think we took a little hit in the top 7 by losing Jae but improved this team greatly from the 8th man to the 11th. Unfortunately injuries have forced the deep bench guys into bigger roles than they are capable of every night.
I disagree. I went to a bunch of games and watched him. He brings more than numbers. He not only brought toughness but he pushed other guys. Often during time outs he would jaw with his team mates and challenge them. He was a good fit for this squad. When you lose Crowder on top of it? That was the bulk of your toughness last year and I called it before the season started.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

I'm better than Mulli!
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Posts
59,905
Reaction score
51,234
Location
SoCal
I disagree. I went to a bunch of games and watched him. He brings more than numbers. He not only brought toughness but he pushed other guys. Often during time outs he would jaw with his team mates and challenge them. He was a good fit for this squad. When you lose Crowder on top of it? That was the bulk of your toughness last year and I called it before the season started.
You, me and cheese called that.
 

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
33,987
Reaction score
11,800
Location
Arizona
It’s that, but more. They’re also missing a second superstar, even when healthy.
You can get it done with one if you have a 2nd tier star and a few players who can heat up or deep bench. The Bucks did it. No we don’t have a player like Giannis which is the reason you have to be a deeper team.
 
Last edited:

95pro

ASFN Icon
Joined
May 10, 2007
Posts
11,934
Reaction score
3,569
Sometimes I wonder if it would have been “bucks in 4” if Giannis wasn’t coming off that awful looking hyperextended knee. Maybe it took him a few games to get going.
 

AzStevenCal

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
Posts
35,866
Reaction score
14,554
Sometimes I wonder if it would have been “bucks in 4” if Giannis wasn’t coming off that awful looking hyperextended knee. Maybe it took him a few games to get going.
There's so many what-ifs from that postseason. I think the Suns win it easily if CP3, Booker and Saric don't all get injured even if Giannis was fully healthy.

I doubt the Bucks even get to the finals if Atlanta hadn't lost Trae for games 5 and 6. And had the Lakers stayed healthy, we might not get past them and no way would we have advanced past a healthy Clippers team. To win it all, you have to be good and you have to be lucky and you have to be both at the right time.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
88,107
Reaction score
60,415
You can get it done with one if you have a 2nd tier star and a few players who can heat up or deep bench. The Bucks did it. No we don’t have a player like Giannis which is the reason you have to be a deeper team.
No. The difference is absolutely that the Bucks had a HOF legend level player playing at the peak of his powers. AND they STILL had TWO more All-Stars.

We have nothing close to that level of legend OR all-stars so you’re comparison makes no sense.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
88,107
Reaction score
60,415
Yet we were two wins away. Which means if you don’t? You have to have a really good supporting cast around your best player.
We had Paul playing at an MVP level AND Booker playing All-NBA level.

You continuing to ignore this is hilarious.

The idea that the Suns could build a really deep team, sans All-Star level players outside of Book and win a title is preposterous and as usual, an argument without evidence.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

I'm better than Mulli!
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Posts
59,905
Reaction score
51,234
Location
SoCal
Sometimes I wonder if it would have been “bucks in 4” if Giannis wasn’t coming off that awful looking hyperextended knee. Maybe it took him a few games to get going.
That’s always been my thinking. He was coming off what looked horrendous and we took two games at home. Then got back door swept.

That’s not to downplay what we did. We were close in almost every game. A play here or there and who knows. But we also had a near perfect storm of opposing players injured, Ayton playing at a higher level we’d ever seen and just riding some of that rare mojo momentum that one-year wonders sometimes exhibit.
 

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
33,987
Reaction score
11,800
Location
Arizona
We had Paul playing at an MVP level AND Booker playing All-NBA level.

You continuing to ignore this is hilarious.

The idea that the Suns could build a really deep team, sans All-Star level players outside of Book and win a title is preposterous and as usual, an argument without evidence.
Huh? In the other thread I literally listed the players responsible for our run the last two years. Evidently, you missed that. Oh...and a theoretical build without evidence? Really dude? OK. LOL. You have no idea who they could get to play alongside Booker. We already landed CP3. I would imagine they might be able land another similar player to play alongside him to give us another shot in a trade or something. CP3 as good as he played for us isn't CP3 in his prime. You are acting like he was.

No. The difference is absolutely that the Bucks had a HOF legend level player playing at the peak of his powers. AND they STILL had TWO more All-Stars.

We have nothing close to that level of legend OR all-stars so you’re comparison makes no sense.
Again..huh? I said Superstars. Not Allstars. To me they are different levels. Lots of players become all-stars in this league but never are as good as the LeBron's, KD's, etc. You don't need two superstars to win a title IMO. It's been done plenty of times with one and at least one all-star caliber player playing alongside. CP3 is a hall of famer but he is no longer in his prime. He is still good enough, when healthy, at the tail end of his career, mixed with Ayton playing out of his mind in the playoffs and Bridges playing really well to almost get it done. I would LOVE to have 2 superstars here. It would make it much easier for sure but very few teams have 2 superstars. That's why I was disagreeing with so many people that didn't believe KD was the right move. Very few teams EVER get the opportunity to have two players like Book and KD on the same team.
 
Last edited:

GatorAZ

feed hopkins
Joined
Oct 17, 2011
Posts
24,247
Reaction score
16,392
Location
The Giant Toaster
There's so many what-ifs from that postseason. I think the Suns win it easily if CP3, Booker and Saric don't all get injured even if Giannis was fully healthy.

I doubt the Bucks even get to the finals if Atlanta hadn't lost Trae for games 5 and 6. And had the Lakers stayed healthy, we might not get past them and no way would we have advanced past a healthy Clippers team. To win it all, you have to be good and you have to be lucky and you have to be both at the right time.
Didn’t Giannis miss those same games vs Atlanta? I believe the true fluke was Atlanta beating Philly. No way in hell that should’ve happened.
 

AzStevenCal

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
Posts
35,866
Reaction score
14,554
Didn’t Giannis miss those same games vs Atlanta? I believe the true fluke was Atlanta beating Philly. No way in hell that should’ve happened.
You could be right, I had thought Trae was out for at least one more game than Giannis. Anyway, yes, at the time, I thought the Bucks were very fortunate to get past Philly. Like I said, you need to be good and you need to be lucky. We were lucky all season long, it just ran out at the wrong time. Bucks were good and had the luck they needed at the right time.
 

Finito

ASFN Icon
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Posts
20,906
Reaction score
13,586
KD isn’t on the block from multiple reports this is the package he wanted for Kyrie
 
OP
OP
Phrazbit

Phrazbit

ASFN Icon
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
Posts
19,562
Reaction score
10,284
The internet is a hilarious place.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
534,804
Posts
5,246,524
Members
6,273
Latest member
sarahmoose
Top