Game 10: OKC Thunder (5-4) @ Phoenix Suns (4-5) | Sunday | 6:00 PM

[grumpysaddle]

It's why I barely check in here lately. Wet blankets everywhere.

That's what happens when the team loses and looks bad. It's what happens...When/if they start winning, it'll change.

OKC is a future juggernaut if they can keep all of these guys. Plus the picks. They'll be beating many teams this season. Many.

I remain unworried about the team or about Vogal. Let's see when Booker gets back and they have some chemistry developed.

Exactly. The start of this season has gone about as poorly as it possibly could with injuries to key players and an entire new team of role players that never got to learn their role and new coaches. Booker won't fix everything but he will fix A LOT of the current issues. Hopefully that's with KD and Beal healthy as well. If we are still struggling like this after 10 games of a fully healthy squad then it may be time to start mildly panicking.

[sunsbg]

Other teams probably call us 3/4 Suns by now. Just looking at the box-score it was a brick fest from KD and Beal. Not sure it's worth spending my time watching even first three quarters on replay. Watched Kings beat OKC without Fox and thought we can beat them without Booker, but seems we are a bad team with only Big 2 and need all the help to win against anyone but worst teams of the league.

[sunsbg]

I doubt this team fails as miserably as Mavs last season, but their fanbase is already preparing for it.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=2328265&start=40#p109212409

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

I get it we’re waiting on Booker but the fact that the Suns are an absolute dog**** team unless Booker, Durant or Beal are 100% healthy and playing is not worrisome to the team is crazy.

Every big 3 in the NBA has been able to at least stay afloat even any one of the big 3 misses some time. Some even if 2 of the big 3 is out. For the Suns, the entirety of the big 3 has to be healthy and playing for them to win any games basically. That’s crazy for a team with Kevin Durant still healthy and playing on it.

Edit: to add, this is a big 3 that is extremely injury prone. I think the Suns big 3 is the most injury prone big 3 the NBA has seen since the Pierce/KG/Williams trio. Even the more recent Nets big 3 that failed Harden/Kyrie/KD were more durable than the Suns current big 3 imo. Kyrie basically was sitting out games not even for injury reasons.

The reason I mention this is because when people say “Oh let’s just wait till March or April when everyone will be healthy again”, what’s the guarantee on that? Sure anything can happen at anytime and there’s no guarantee on anything, but the odds are actually more in favor of at least one Beal/KD/Booker not being healthy and not available come March or April than it is of them being healthy and available.

[lilfishi22]

Do the Suns have some really worrying issues? Yes
Will having everyone healthy fix all our problems? No
Will bringing up JJ missing the Haliburton pick or complaining about Ishbia do a damn thing to improve this team? F No

We're in mid-November right now, no team makes drastic moves this early in the season especially when 1/5th of the NBA is not even trade eligible because they were just signed last offseason. So the way I see it, either ride with what we have, wait for the guys to get healthy and hope for the best or if the product isn't to your liking, turn off your TV and come back when you're ready to jump back on the bandwagon

[lilfishi22]

Read on Twitter

I get it we’re waiting on Booker but the fact that the Suns are an absolute dog**** team unless Booker, Durant or Beal are 100% healthy and playing is not worrisome to the team is crazy.

Every big 3 in the NBA has been able to at least stay afloat even any one of the big 3 misses some time. Some even if 2 of the big 3 is out. For the Suns, the entirety of the big 3 has to be healthy and playing for them to win any games basically. That’s crazy for a team with Kevin Durant still healthy and playing on it.

I honestly think things would be different if it was Book who has been healthy this whole time instead of KD. Beal gives us some firepower, he gives us some scoring in the paint and KD gives us consistent scoring and high level shot making but it's not that one guy is out or two guys are out, it's that Book specifically is out that's the problem. Book is the guy who actually makes this team run with his playmaking. Now as per my post above, having all 3 guys healthy doesn't solve all our issues but Book is the guy that can and does get others involved. He's the guy this offense has been built around and he's the most versatile player amongst the Big 3 right now. Playmaking is not really Beal's nor KD's games, even though they can make passes but they are primarily versatile scorers. Having Booker run the show should give us some semblance of a structured offense that isn't KD iso or Beal iso

[Slim Charless]

That's what happens when the team loses and looks bad. It's what happens...When/if they start winning, it'll change.

OKC is a future juggernaut if they can keep all of these guys. Plus the picks. They'll be beating many teams this season. Many.

I remain unworried about the team or about Vogal. Let's see when Booker gets back and they have some chemistry developed.

Exactly. The start of this season has gone about as poorly as it possibly could with injuries to key players and an entire new team of role players that never got to learn their role and new coaches. Booker won't fix everything but he will fix A LOT of the current issues. Hopefully that's with KD and Beal healthy as well. If we are still struggling like this after 10 games of a fully healthy squad then it may be time to start mildly panicking.

The whole dynamic of the team is to have 3 legit 30ppg guys out there. Meaning 2 on the floor at all times presumably. That goes to smoke when 1 is injured. Plus, none of them have played with the bench guys

[sunsbg]

So we'll be 8/8 and then take off like in '21. Is that the plan or should we wait for a Christmas present with this team ?

Btw a very nice stretch of games around Christmas for me. Blazers, Kings, Mavs. Already feels like a present. Hopefully we are healthy by then.

[schnakenpopanz]

the problem is you have to allign the peak of your best players in order to win a championship and then add veteran pieces who are not paid tooo much to the roster and young cheap ones.
the suns had that chance but added declining injury prone players and have 0 future assets (not picks neither young players to develop) it is a matter of time until booker wants out and/or the rebuild begins.

[Saberestar]

What a terrible 4th quarter, this one was the worst of all the bad 4th quartes that we have already had....****.

Three good quarters weren't enough, we need Book back and HOPEFULLY Beal doesn't need to be out with back problems again.

[handsome salary]

They're a boring and badly coached team right now. Getting easier by the game to stop paying attention. Halfway through the fourth I was out after having it mainly playing in the background.

Vogel and Beal have been especially underwhelming.

Oh well.

[sunstrooper]

Absolutely nothing to worry about...I mean it is just 10 games...we are still only counting games, so all is good!
Imagine being a Nets' fan prior to the previous season....or a Clippers' fan - those guys are counting in seasons: "Oh, it's only 3 seasons, but wait for next season when all our stars are healthy" and then "Oh, it is just 4 seasons, but you will see next season".
As I said - nothing to worry about. Well, the roster is made of 3 injury prone stars and a bunch of random pedestrians, but wait for when the 3 stars are healthy....

[enigmatics]

Missed yesterday's game.

Yeeeeesh another 4th Q collapse eh? Is Vogel TRYING to get fired?

[Sunlight]

Miss Sarver and his young guns like OKC.

This should result in a 1 day ban. I actually reported you for this. Real talk. Not joking.

Supporting a team is a lifelong thing, so it's almost inevitable that you'll hit the spot once, if it's not the smallest market, even if the owner is an unpleasant person. We Suns fans got to experience that two seasons ago. The current team is still very distant to me. If you can look for something good, the Suns are finally being talked every day in the media. It's been 10 years without a word being spoken and it was crying here a lot. Luckily, those days are over now.

[handsome salary]

Never watched Wizards Beal before this but is he a bad defender? He looks pretty dismal on the Suns so far. Out of position, biting on fakes, overplaying his man.

[Biff]

Near the bottom of the league in TO's is concerning. Booker isn't going to help that much. Yeah he's a decent playmaker but also has his own issues with sloppy play. The constant 4th quarter collapses are concerning too. This team doesn't look championship caliber at all.

[dremill24]

What a terrible 4th quarter, this one was the worst of all the bad 4th quartes that we have already had....****.

Three good quarters weren't enough, we need Book back and HOPEFULLY Beal doesn't need to be out with back problems again.

Im worried on that front...hes had a lot of instances where he seems to be moving gingerly, holding/stretching his back, and grimmacing in pain. Plus its a back injury, those dont go away easily.

[NapoleonII]

Missed yesterday's game.

Yeeeeesh another 4th Q collapse eh? Is Vogel TRYING to get fired?

You don't fire a championship level coach who hasn't had a healthy roster 11 games into the season.

That's how you start panic.

[Bogyo]

Absolutely nothing to worry about...I mean it is just 10 games...we are still only counting games, so all is good!
Imagine being a Nets' fan prior to the previous season....or a Clippers' fan - those guys are counting in seasons: "Oh, it's only 3 seasons, but wait for next season when all our stars are healthy" and then "Oh, it is just 4 seasons, but you will see next season".
As I said - nothing to worry about. Well, the roster is made of 3 injury prone stars and a bunch of random pedestrians, but wait for when the 3 stars are healthy....

I think this was our biggest concern before the season, and it is now for sure. But I don't blame them for this gamble too much. The bigger mistake was that we always lost value in trades in the form of players, picks when we were only bidding against ourselves and the other team pretty much had no other choice but to trade with us. Had we gotten other stuff for Crowder and/or not given away all those picks in that trade, etc... we'd be in much better position right now as we'd have one more trade in us to put in a final piece.
Having the worst possible injury luck sucks, but not much you can do about it, wether you count on it being probable or not.

[enigmatics]

Missed yesterday's game.

Yeeeeesh another 4th Q collapse eh? Is Vogel TRYING to get fired?

You don't fire a championship level coach who hasn't had a healthy roster 11 games into the season.

That's how you start panic.

It was a figure of speech.