GM 8: Suns @ Bulls

[Jdiddy701]

Caruso locked up KD. Who cares?

KD demands double/triple teams every night. What are we arguing about here? I’m confused


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[sunsbg]

Won't complain about a close win, a lot more deserved than first Spurs win against us. These games integrating a player back(finally a Brad Beal sighting) are dangerous from chemistry POV, 2nd Spurs game for reference. When talking about chemistry KD and Nurk's connection is special. Waiting to see this on a team level once Book is back and we get set rotations. As the commenter said Allen was glamorous. KBD used his length to bother Derozan twice in final mins of regular time including the last shot and also hit an important three in OT. A lot to like and a lot of things to work on, but as long as main guys remain relatively healthy this team is a true contender.

[sunsbg]

Trust your own eyes, not other people’s words. Not just in basketball, but life in general.

Just found it funny it's coming from you being you often post random over reactionary stuff from Tweeter.

Not the best game from KD, but there is no denying he draws a lot of attention from defenders. The last shot in RT while defended well by Caruso is still something KD is perfectly capable to hit. Hopefully with Book back we will get better percentage shots at end of games though.

Btw even Luka had his worst game against Caruso/Bulls. He's one of the best defenders for a reason.

[WeekapaugGroove]

This has probably been brought up by others but my brain keeps thinking KBD is TJ Warren for a split second every time he gets the ball.

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[Revived]

Trust your own eyes, not other people’s words. Not just in basketball, but life in general.

Just found it funny it's coming from you being you often post random over reactionary stuff from Tweeter.

Not the best game from KD, but there is no denying he draws a lot of attention from defenders. The last shot in RT while defended well by Caruso is still something KD is perfectly capable to hit. Hopefully with Book back we will get better percentage shots at end of games though.

Btw even Luka had his worst game against Caruso/Bulls. He's one of the best defenders for a reason.

Oh I definitely post a lot of tweets and opinions from others but it’s always posts and tweets that I agree with myself and supports what I see when watching games as well. And many times it’s just stats.

Caruso is a very good defender and I really would like there go have been more sets to get Caruso off KD with double screens or whatever. KD trying to take him on 1 on 1 many times just doesn’t work anymore, he’s 36 and not 26.

[Jdiddy701]

This has probably been brought up by others but my brain keeps thinking KBD is TJ Warren for a split second every time he gets the ball.

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My brain can’t tell who is who from Okogie and Jordan Goodwin when a game is on.


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[lilfishi22]

Did you not watch the game? Caruso locked him KD plenty single handedly including the last possession of 4th QTR when not one Bulls player even thought about doubling. It was 6’4 Caruso vs 6’11 KD 1 on 1 and Caruso had his ass.

Obviously I watched the game and pretty much the Bulls trapped KD or double teamed most of the time. Yeah, on some plays he defended him one on one but it wasn't the norm at all.

You can heard it directly from KD here.

Read on Twitter

Respect to KD but I don’t need to hear what he said, I saw the game myself and the Bulls did not double KD once on that last 4th qtr possession when KD couldn’t score 1 on 1 against a guy 6-7 inches shorter than him and every single OT possession was also Caruso single handedly defending KD and locking him up. They doubled him earlier in the game and then realized they don’t need to double him and that Caruso can handle him by himself.

I don't know what you expected. 100% FG% against an elite defender just because he's shorter than KD? KD could take 10 of those shots undefended and it wouldn't be some world ending event if he misses one. Scorers miss sometimes, the chances of them missing is higher when defended by an all-NBA first team defender. Steph doesn't hit every single 3, Steph doesn't hit every single undefended FT. Don't get me wrong, Caruso did a great job on him, there's no doubt about it and KD gave him props.

Oh and they definitely doubled him throughout the game, they also defended him with single coverage. They gave him different looks all game. Teams do that to not give elite scorers a steady diet of the same defense. As for the lack of a double in that last play, we had Yuta, KBD, Beal and Nurk out there, if they doubled, KD is sending that ball to an open shooters.

[lilfishi22]

Trust your own eyes, not other people’s words. Not just in basketball, but life in general.

Just found it funny it's coming from you being you often post random over reactionary stuff from Tweeter.

Not the best game from KD, but there is no denying he draws a lot of attention from defenders. The last shot in RT while defended well by Caruso is still something KD is perfectly capable to hit. Hopefully with Book back we will get better percentage shots at end of games though.

Btw even Luka had his worst game against Caruso/Bulls. He's one of the best defenders for a reason.

Oh I definitely post a lot of tweets and opinions from others but it’s always posts and tweets that I agree with myself and supports what I see when watching games as well. And many times it’s just stats.

Caruso is a very good defender and I really would like there go have been more sets to get Caruso off KD with double screens or whatever. KD trying to take him on 1 on 1 many times just doesn’t work anymore, he’s 36 and not 26.

That's exactly what Saberstar just did. Post a tweet that he agrees with and supports what he saw when watching the game.

[lilfishi22]

This has probably been brought up by others but my brain keeps thinking KBD is TJ Warren for a split second every time he gets the ball.

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I just see Kawhi. Both have super long arms, roughly the same physical dimensions and similar hair style

[lilfishi22]

This has probably been brought up by others but my brain keeps thinking KBD is TJ Warren for a split second every time he gets the ball.

Sent from my SM-F731U using RealGM mobile app

My brain can’t tell who is who from Okogie and Jordan Goodwin when a game is on.


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It's a little bit easier now that Goodwin has the mask on but yeah they look and play very similarly

[suns12345]

This has probably been brought up by others but my brain keeps thinking KBD is TJ Warren for a split second every time he gets the ball.

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I just see Kawhi. Both have super long arms, roughly the same physical dimensions and similar hair style

Glad KBD is in the rotation, seems a better option for us than little etc.

Suprised to see his 3pfg% is decent over his career with his clunky looking jumper. That and his length make him an upgrade over okogie as a starter IMO

[sunsbum]

Did you not watch the game? Caruso locked him KD plenty single handedly including the last possession of 4th QTR when not one Bulls player even thought about doubling. It was 6’4 Caruso vs 6’11 KD 1 on 1 and Caruso had his ass.

Obviously I watched the game and pretty much the Bulls trapped KD or double teamed most of the time. Yeah, on some plays he defended him one on one but it wasn't the norm at all.

You can heard it directly from KD here.

Read on Twitter

Respect to KD but I don’t need to hear what he said, I saw the game myself and the Bulls did not double KD once on that last 4th qtr possession when KD couldn’t score 1 on 1 against a guy 6-7 inches shorter than him and every single OT possession was also Caruso single handedly defending KD and locking him up. They doubled him earlier in the game and then realized they don’t need to double him and that Caruso can handle him by himself.

I mean I think that’s a testament to how good of a defender Alex is. It’s also very hard to dribble when someone is much shorter and faster than you and pushes up in your space. I mean I’m 6’1 and I’ll never forget this guy that I would always play around town with, he was like 5’5 tops but had the quickest hands and unless you were a really skilled ball handler you couldn’t put the ball on the floor when he was around you. I understand KD and I have a small talent gap but that kind of defender translates.

[bwgood77]

That is the best thing about KD though, the tweet above where it mentions his drives. He gets to the line a ton and usually knocks them down. His defensive gravity is huge too, which helps Book immensely when he is healthy.

The turnovers between him, Book and Nurk are killing us though. Book is averaging 5.5 and KD 4.3, so almost 10 turnovers a game between them. Nurkic 4 last night.

I expect the turnovers to gradually decrease as guys get used to playing together. There are stretches in these games where you can tell it's a group still trying to figure it where their teammates are going to be.

I haven't commented much this year because I don't think the team we're seeing right now is really a good representation of how it will look in like March.

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I agree about not being able to judge the team until we see it at full strength and them having played together awhile.

I am unsure about the turnovers. I don't expect KD to have 6 every game, Nurkic to have 4 or Book to avg 5.5, but we likely have a lot more than when we had Paul here doing the majority of the ballhandling.

[garrick]

We don't have anyone that can really attack the paint besides Beal so it's a real problem when teams take away the 3 or we just aren't hitting our shots during stretches of the game.

We need a slasher like Oubre or someone who can get free throws to get us in the bonus because the weakness of last season hasn't been fixed coming in to this season. We are entirely too reliant on jump shots for the offense.

Kevin Durant is at 10.8 drives per game so far this season, which although is likely not sustainable, it is the highest rate of his career since the NBA started tracking it in 2013-2014.

Read on Twitter

And Eric Gordon and Book can attack the paint from the perimeter too.

While he can drive to the basket since he's pretty injury prone I don't think he should be the primary attacker in the paint and he also has a big problem with turnovers when he tries to dribble so he should get the bulk of his shots on jumpers.

I'm thinking someone like Kelly Oubre or Tyrese Maxley who excel at drives to the rim, Book can sometimes do it but he's not athletic enough to finish through contact and EG has a habit of coughing up the ball and at his age I don't think this team should depend on him all that much.

[Revived]

Just found it funny it's coming from you being you often post random over reactionary stuff from Tweeter.

Not the best game from KD, but there is no denying he draws a lot of attention from defenders. The last shot in RT while defended well by Caruso is still something KD is perfectly capable to hit. Hopefully with Book back we will get better percentage shots at end of games though.

Btw even Luka had his worst game against Caruso/Bulls. He's one of the best defenders for a reason.

Oh I definitely post a lot of tweets and opinions from others but it’s always posts and tweets that I agree with myself and supports what I see when watching games as well. And many times it’s just stats.

Caruso is a very good defender and I really would like there go have been more sets to get Caruso off KD with double screens or whatever. KD trying to take him on 1 on 1 many times just doesn’t work anymore, he’s 36 and not 26.

That's exactly what Saberstar just did. Post a tweet that he agrees with and supports what he saw when watching the game.

Right and I showed him that he was wrong in saying KD was “doubled all the time he had the ball” and that Caruso didn’t defend him 1 on 1 at all when he clearly did in the end of the 4th qtr and also every single OT possession when KD had the ball. There was plenty of possessions KD was defended single handedly by Caruso. I said it based on what I actually watched and then showed it to him in the clip as well. Before that yes, he was doubled but not towards the end of 4th qtr and OT.

And Caruso is a great defender, I already said that. You’re coming into the middle of a conversation without having read the rest. And replying to your other post, no I don’t expect KD to shoot 100% but I also don’t expect him to shoot 1/6, better offense beats better defense and KD is supposed to be a great offensive weapon for us. At the least, he needs to find ways to get Caruso off him with screens and such.

[lilfishi22]

Oh I definitely post a lot of tweets and opinions from others but it’s always posts and tweets that I agree with myself and supports what I see when watching games as well. And many times it’s just stats.

Caruso is a very good defender and I really would like there go have been more sets to get Caruso off KD with double screens or whatever. KD trying to take him on 1 on 1 many times just doesn’t work anymore, he’s 36 and not 26.

That's exactly what Saberstar just did. Post a tweet that he agrees with and supports what he saw when watching the game.

Right and I showed him that he was wrong in saying KD was “doubled all the time he had the ball” and that Caruso didn’t defend him 1 on 1 at all when he clearly did in the end of the 4th qtr and also every single OT possession when KD had the ball. There was plenty of possessions KD was defended single handedly by Caruso. I said it based on what I actually watched and then showed it to him in the clip as well. Before that yes, he was doubled but not towards the end of 4th qtr and OT.

And Caruso is a great defender, I already said that. You’re coming into the middle of a conversation without having read the rest. And replying to your other post, no I don’t expect KD to shoot 100% but I also don’t expect him to shoot 1/6, better offense beats better defense and KD is supposed to be a great offensive weapon for us. At the least, he needs to find ways to get Caruso off him with screens and such.

The whole conversation isn't even a dozen posts long. Of course I read the whole thing. Chicago threw a bunch of doubles at him throughout the game and made ball denial a point of focus especially in the 4th. In that final possession, where we had 4 shooters out there, Chicago had their defenders stayed home on their assignment and had Caruso defend KD one on one, which he did a great job on. With regards to getting Caruso off him, he used screens, he set up his own back screens, he got the iso on the high elbow, he iso'd and passed out when the help was about to rotate. He certainly wasn't just standing around and waiting for the ball to get to him. And again, props to Caruso for doing all he can to deny KD the ball and defend him well when they were in a 1 on 1 situation. When he wasn't in a position to score, he made great passes to the open man which doesn't always show up as an assist because it ends in a foul or 2 at the line.

For example, in B2B possessions in OT, KD makes a great pass to an open Nurk after Vuc steps out with AC to trap KD, Vuc recovers and fouls a rolling Nurk which got Nurk to the line for 2. Then that big KBD 3 was set up by KD in a great play drawn up by Vogel. KD had 3 defenders on him at one point at the top of the 3pt line with Vuc, ZL and Caruso all tracking and as he makes his move after getting the Nurk screen, he makes the great hockey assist to Nurk who then made the right pass to KBD in the corner. That's 2 possessions in OT where he was making the right plays which culminated in 5pts despite not registering a stat. Id' argue these two passes are not ones he may have made earlier in the season when he may not have been looking for those passes and was focused on getting his own shot. Now he's seeing those passes during the 4th quarter when the defensive pressure is ramped up.

[dremill24]

This has probably been brought up by others but my brain keeps thinking KBD is TJ Warren for a split second every time he gets the ball.

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My brain can’t tell who is who from Okogie and Jordan Goodwin when a game is on.


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Neither can KRay/Eddie lol they say Okogie when it's Goidwin at least two or three times a game

[Jdiddy701]

This has probably been brought up by others but my brain keeps thinking KBD is TJ Warren for a split second every time he gets the ball.

Sent from my SM-F731U using RealGM mobile app

My brain can’t tell who is who from Okogie and Jordan Goodwin when a game is on.


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Neither can KRay/Eddie lol they say Okogie when it's Goidwin at least two or three times a game

Can you imagine Drysdale?


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