Game 5: San Antonio Spurs (2-2) @ Phoenix Suns (2-2) l Thursday l 7:00pm l NBATV

[sunsfan1o1]

Uh oh. Please remind me which of these two teams is a lottery team and which a title contender.

Spurs are a playin team and if they played in the east they’re a top 6 team easy.
Probably why Suns lost again to them. They keep thinking Spurs aren’t good. They have Wemby, Vassell is lights out and the greatest coach of all time.

[Revived]

I hate to say it but we’re missing CP3’s leadership right now. Look at the Suns roster, there’s no leaders. Just a bunch of individual contributors really.

KD’s definitely not a leader and he’s said it himself that he doesn’t want to be one either. Book is great but he’s never been a vocal leader type guy.

And outside of them two, there’s basically nobody else. Eric Gordon maybe? lol no.

[sunsfan1o1]

And Sochan looks like a lockdown defender kawhi lite. Spurs are really good.

[garrick]

Our team lacks mental fortitude which was supposedly the reason we overhauled the roster but the replacements that are playing major minutes don't look to be much better.

I wonder if part of that problem is we are playing players out of their position. Yuta is not a PF, Grayson is not a SF. Mehtu and Azubuike are power forwards but they aren't getting any playing time.

[DirtyDez]

I hate to say it but we’re missing CP3’s leadership right now. Look at the Suns roster, there’s no leaders. Just a bunch of individual contributors really.

KD’s definitely not a leader and he’s said it himself that he doesn’t want to be one either. Book is great but he’s never been a vocal leader type guy.

And outside of them two, there’s basically nobody else. Eric Gordon maybe? lol no.

Instead of getting into with opposing players Book needs to use that energy on his teammates. You never really see him say anything during huddles.

Also these past two games Yuta has missed multiple clutch moment 3’s. He’s gotta nail the corner ones.

[enigmatics]

Our team lacks mental fortitude which was supposedly the reason we overhauled the roster but the replacements that are playing major minutes don't look to be much better.

I wonder if part of that problem is we are playing players out of their position. Yuta is not a PF, Grayson is not a SF. Mehtu and Azubuike are power forwards but they aren't getting any playing time.

They came back from a 27pt lead to tie it so I'd argue they have SOME mental fortitude.

I know I'm being repetitive but they have got to stop shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers. That among everything else is central to the issues they're experiencing in this young season.

[SunsRback4Good]

I would rather have a racist owner than an owner who spends money on superstars amounting to nothing moving forward. All we needed to do was make minor charges instead we traded our entire team for superstar players (one of which will miss 70% of the season). We are Brooklyn Nets 2.0 just scoring and not playing much defense. Suns never have an idea on how to construct a winning team for many years instead they either trade their farm system or lose a significant piece like Joe Johnson. We always seem to get this old farts for a few years before they retire or leave like Barkley, Shaq, KD, CP3.

[Chuck Everett]

I would rather have a racist owner than an owner who spends money on superstars amounting to nothing moving forward. All we needed to do was make minor charges instead we traded our entire team for superstar players (one of which will miss 70% of the season). We are Brooklyn Nets 2.0 just scoring and not playing much defense. Suns never have an idea on how to construct a winning team for many years instead they either trade their farm system or lose a significant piece like Joe Johnson. We always seem to get this old farts for a few years before they retire or leave like Barkley, Shaq, KD, CP3.

Seriously? Barkley slander?

[enigmatics]

Seriously? Barkley slander?

Trust me when I say just let him wallow.

[garrick]

I would rather have a racist owner than an owner who spends money on superstars amounting to nothing moving forward. All we needed to do was make minor charges instead we traded our entire team for superstar players (one of which will miss 70% of the season). We are Brooklyn Nets 2.0 just scoring and not playing much defense. Suns never have an idea on how to construct a winning team for many years instead they either trade their farm system or lose a significant piece like Joe Johnson. We always seem to get this old farts for a few years before they retire or leave like Barkley, Shaq, KD, CP3.

Our core team was missing a couple pieces with a core of Booker, Ayton, Bridges and Cam.

If Ayton wasn't a key piece we could have tried flipping him for assets but we had to blow up the entire team and we have zero continuity or identity on this team. The history of super teams is not that great also besides the Heatles but those guys were three super stars all in their prime and one of them was a perennial MVP at that.

[sunsbg]

Uh oh. Please remind me which of these two teams is a lottery team and which a title contender.

Spurs are a playin team and if they played in the east they’re a top 6 team easy.
Probably why Suns lost again to them. They keep thinking Spurs aren’t good. They have Wemby, Vassell is lights out and the greatest coach of all time.

I thought we were still with two of Big 3 out when I posted. Now start watching a reply to see Wemby embarrassing no D Suns team.

They better not load manage any of our stars this season if we want this team to have any cohesion come playoffs.

[Puff]

What do you think about our Championship coach, 5 games in.

Don't use injuries as an excuse. Forget about wins and losses.

Do you like this style of play?

I think it sucks.

[Qwigglez]

What do you think about our Championship coach, 5 games in.

Don't use injuries as an excuse. Forget about wins and losses.

Do you like this style of play?

I think it sucks.

Injuries and lack of cohesion. When Booker was running things in the 2nd half, the offense moved like butter. Defensively things need to change, but I'm unsure how that is going to happen when we have Nurkic in the middle. I mentioned before acquiring him that the Blazers defense was essentially a turnstyle door in the paint because he was so awful, though apparently defensive metrics rated him fairly well, so what do I know.

I do want to wait a bit just to see if the players start to mesh better, but the stand around the perimeter and have KD shoot stagnant offense is incredibly boring and hasn't yielded great success.

[Slim Charless]

I hate to say it but we’re missing CP3’s leadership right now. Look at the Suns roster, there’s no leaders. Just a bunch of individual contributors really.

KD’s definitely not a leader and he’s said it himself that he doesn’t want to be one either. Book is great but he’s never been a vocal leader type guy.

And outside of them two, there’s basically nobody else. Eric Gordon maybe? lol no.

I think that there's a decent chance someone like Kyle Lowry will be bought out later in the year. IMO Miami will make a deal for someone and Kyle's contract will be needed to make $$$ work.

New teams buys him out. He signs with a contender. He's not the same player he was, but he IS a former champion and was the 2nd most important player on that Raptors team. Better then nothing.

[sunsbg]

What do you think about our Championship coach, 5 games in.

Don't use injuries as an excuse. Forget about wins and losses.

Do you like this style of play?

I think it sucks.

Injuries and lack of cohesion. When Booker was running things in the 2nd half, the offense moved like butter. Defensively things need to change, but I'm unsure how that is going to happen when we have Nurkic in the middle. I mentioned before acquiring him that the Blazers defense was essentially a turnstyle door in the paint because he was so awful, though apparently defensive metrics rated him fairly well, so what do I know.

I do want to wait a bit just to see if the players start to mesh better, but the stand around the perimeter and have KD shoot stagnant offense is incredibly boring and hasn't yielded great success.

A big red flag when Nurkic gets only 18mins against the new twin towers of the Spurs. Old and slow CP3 was getting open shots against him too. Imagine what Doncic will do to him in a playoff series. But hey, he's not DA, so you won't see two pages of bashing from certain posters which is the main plus with him.

Offense was a mess too. There was a stretch with Gordon defending Collins and of course Spurs took advantage inside. Suns on the other hand had Booker shoot from midrange instead of taking advantage against Spurs big lineup and hitting some threes.

[grumpysaddle]

What do you think about our Championship coach, 5 games in.

Don't use injuries as an excuse. Forget about wins and losses.

Do you like this style of play?

I think it sucks.

Injuries and lack of cohesion. When Booker was running things in the 2nd half, the offense moved like butter. Defensively things need to change, but I'm unsure how that is going to happen when we have Nurkic in the middle. I mentioned before acquiring him that the Blazers defense was essentially a turnstyle door in the paint because he was so awful, though apparently defensive metrics rated him fairly well, so what do I know.

I do want to wait a bit just to see if the players start to mesh better, but the stand around the perimeter and have KD shoot stagnant offense is incredibly boring and hasn't yielded great success.

A big red flag when Nurkic gets only 18mins against the new twin towers of the Spurs. Old and slow CP3 was getting open shots against him too. Imagine what Doncic will do to him in a playoff series. But hey, he's not DA, so you won't see two pages of bashing from certain posters which is the main plus with him.

Offense was a mess too. There was a stretch with Gordon defending Collins and of course Spurs took advantage inside. Suns on the other hand had Booker shoot from midrange instead of taking advantage against Spurs big lineup and hitting some threes.

Suns hit 16 of 32 3 point attempts. Three pointers were not the reason the Suns lost tonight.

Nurkic also doesn't call himself "DominAyton" only to sit out a close-out game in the playoffs with a minor rib ouchie that no one knew about. He also makes like half the money Ayton does and wasn't the franchises only number 1 pick.

[sunsbg]

Suns hit 16 of 32 3 point attempts. Three pointers were not the reason the Suns lost tonight.

Nurkic also doesn't call himself "DominAyton" only to sit out a close-out game in the playoffs with a minor rib ouchie that no one knew about. He also makes like half the money Ayton does and wasn't the franchises only number 1 pick.

Do you have any comments on Nurk's play though ?

[grumpysaddle]

Suns hit 16 of 32 3 point attempts. Three pointers were not the reason the Suns lost tonight.

Nurkic also doesn't call himself "DominAyton" only to sit out a close-out game in the playoffs with a minor rib ouchie that no one knew about. He also makes like half the money Ayton does and wasn't the franchises only number 1 pick.

Do you have any comments on Nurk's play though ?

It wasn't his best game. It happens. He also seems to have the softest whistle in the league.

[Saberestar]

Tough game to watch, we couldn't get an stop at all in the first half. 75 points at the half by the Spurs...****.

Nurkic and Eubanks with really bad games. Nurkic struggled against Collins and Wemby's mobility and he was a non factor around the rim.

Eubanks basketball IQ is limited as hell. He is a nice energy big but he doesn’t look good playing too many minutes.

Allen and KBD played well, they did their job and a bit more. Happy for KBD.

Book and KD played great and you know what you are gonna get from them every single night, but we need another players to step up their games. Watanabe for example was WIDE open in some threes and he couldn't buy a bucket. He made some mistakes on defense too.

Okogie showing why he is on a minimum contract. It’s a must for him to improve his shooting, Popovic is too smart to defend him like any other player...he was alone and it worked pretty well for the Spurs. It is a shame because I love his defense and energy.

Well...3 losses but we have been in every game until the last minute. We are better than our record for sure. Go Suns!

[sunstrooper]

When you blow your salary cap on 3 stars, that is exactly what you have - 3 stars. You don't have a team, you have 3 stars in a 5 man game.....oh, wait, you don't even have 3....single digit IQ is required to understand this.
It is laughable to make excuses like the ones i see here:
1. oH, bUt It iS oNlY fIvE GamEs - no, it is not five games! With your 3 stars and with everyone crowning the Suns before the season started, you may have excuse to lose by 1-2 points from Denver, Boston, GSW maybe.....you don't have an excuse losing twice to the worst team from last season and to the Fakers.....
2. oH, bUt tHe ReSt dIdn''T sTeP uP - of course they didn't....that's the roster. Today's "stars" play alone, hog the ball and do iso and the Suns have 3 of those.....no, you are being served exactly what you ordered. There are no players on the roster who can or should step up and this is by design!
End of rant.