Game 54: Sacramento Kings (30-22) @ Phoenix Suns (31-22) l Tuesday l 8:00pm l TNT

[Saberestar]

Give credit to Frank Vogel for his late game management, especially after criticisms the other night.

Checked in Nurk when small ball got stale, then back out again. *Then* used Okogie and Gordon in select possessions on either side to seal the game.

Agreed. Frank Vogel nailed this one.

Read on Twitter

[Kyler Murray]

Easy to come after the fact and say it.

And no I think the reason most people stopped posting is cause they don’t see this team doing anything special at all in the playoffs. Plus most of the players are pretty unlikable with no charisma and team overall has no togetherness.

It’s nice to win lot of reg season games just on pure talent alone but who here actually thinks this team can win more than 1 playoff series (and even that who knows) in April?

Nah man, even those putrid years with 20win teams the vibes were not this bad so it's not about how far we can go. And some folks like me are from Europe and watch mostly on replay.

You’re from Europe and you are a Cardinals fan who enjoys watching Kyler Murray?

I like pain

[Frank Lee]

Give credit to Frank Vogel for his late game management, especially after criticisms the other night.

Checked in Nurk when small ball got stale, then back out again. *Then* used Okogie and Gordon in select possessions on either side to seal the game.

Agreed. Frank Vogel nailed this one.

Read on Twitter

Nailed it? That’s rich. Yup, ol Franky took a page out of coaching 101. Pity he had to be informed of this remarkable new strategy.
This is a lazy coach who doesn’t inspire confidence.

[Frank Lee]

4 fast break points vs Sacramento's 22?

We made this game a lot harder than it had to be, even without Beal.

Good win, but this team needs to learn how to put teams away and how to stop getting punked.

Honestly I just don't see them being a quality fast break team. They don't have a legit floor general for that nor do they create enough turnovers.

Maybe things change a bit with some defensive IQ/effort from O'Neale and Thad.

We lack a reliable ball handler. Both Book and KD get sloppy. I still like our chances in an uptempo game over a grinder.

Sometimes I wish D’Ant was here. At least he’d play to our strengths… and not silk purse/sows ear this D. Comes a point where you just have to accept the the fact we don’t have any stoppers (is Okogie one?), we lack overall length and athleticism.
Have to think ONeal will help some, but this appears to be a personnel problem as much as scheme … oh and then there is the effort thing

[Calvin Klein]

Team plays well, up to expectations: Fans happy
Team plays lousy, disappoints: Fans miserable

not a big deal

[enigmatics]

To me, that's even more reason to pick our spots, run and attack the rim. Especially with a player like Booker and Gordon and Beal.

We shouldn't be in the bottom 25.

The only players to me that even look to push the pace before the defense sets are Allen, Bol and weirdly Little. Booker does it at times, but he settles way too much given his skill set and touch.

Hopefully Young and Prince can change some of that.

Yeah I dunno man - I mean the DNA of the team is that of a collective group of shooters (3's and middies).

I'm hoping the new additions will help create more turnovers - but without any true rim runners and an elite dime guy it's gonna be hard to significantly improve that area. Hope I'm wrong.

Please quit complaining about our team in a game thread. The pot calling the kettle black.

Complaining

Is it that lost on you the difference between incessant soap box whining and pointing out a FACT that they don't have a true ball handler or create enough turnovers.

Notice though I can both compliment the team for a solid win vs. a good western conference opponent(in fact their 2nd straight against them) in the same thread I offer a constructive criticism as it's called BALANCE. That's a stark contrast from relentless crying in the thread allllllllllllllllllllllllll game long only to egg faced have to watch the Sun notch the win.

[enigmatics]

Little was weak in this one, but I think he'll be good for us down the stretch, especially if we do commit to the small ball lineup for large portions of games. We'll need his size / length on wing.

He showed some signs earlier in the year then got lost from missing time due to the birth of his kid and then being sat because he was a potential trade piece.

[enigmatics]

Team plays well, up to expectations: Fans happy
Team plays lousy, disappoints: Fans miserable

not a big deal

Don't forget the third type i.e. "Team doesn't blow the doors off every opponent because we naively think this is Heatles v.2: Fans miserable."

Seriously if you were to waltz into all these game threads as a casual spectator you'd think the Suns were bottom of the barrel and can do absolutely no right. It's very noticeable - that's why I mostly stay out of them now during the game. Hard to watch the Suns when my fellow fan is dousing himself in kerosene threatening to self-immolate.

[kennydorglas]

D# all around the league is all-star type of trash
its not surprise teams are scoring 150pts with EASE, so many fundamentals wrong... its frustrating

good W tho, both team played trash defense but we finished the game strong for this one

[Ghost of Kleine]

D# all around the league is all-star type of trash
its not surprise teams are scoring 150pts with EASE, so many fundamentals wrong... its frustrating

good W tho, both team played trash defense but we finished the game strong for this one

Ironically though you'd figure that the inverse to that would be that the postseason teams with the best defenses and good offensive capability would have the best chance to upset these offensive teams with porously bad defense. Perhaps it's best to bve solidly in the middle of both categorie. BOTH very solid defensively while being proficient defensively. Although teams in the postseason may likely turn things up a notch defensively too?

[dremill24]

Little was weak in this one, but I think he'll be good for us down the stretch, especially if we do commit to the small ball lineup for large portions of games. We'll need his size / length on wing.

He showed some signs earlier in the year then got lost from missing time due to the birth of his kid and then being sat because he was a potential trade piece.

This is quite the claim that ive seen multiple times. You have inside info?

[enigmatics]

Little was weak in this one, but I think he'll be good for us down the stretch, especially if we do commit to the small ball lineup for large portions of games. We'll need his size / length on wing.

He showed some signs earlier in the year then got lost from missing time due to the birth of his kid and then being sat because he was a potential trade piece.

This is quite the claim that ive seen multiple times. You have inside info?

He's been a healthy scratch for weeks and he's on a cap friendly deal. Easy to see how he was being dangled as a trade piece especially when it comes to making salaries in a trade work.

Mind you the below are just a few excerpts but it hasn't been a secret.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2024/02/09/nassir-littles-stressful-trade-deadline-experience-remains-with-phoenix-suns/72531488007/

Read on Twitter

"Sources informed The Arizona Republic that the Suns are still showing interest in Hornets forward Miles Bridges, but they continue to struggle moving Nassir Little packaged with second-round picks. "

[bwgood77]

Team plays well, up to expectations: Fans happy
Team plays lousy, disappoints: Fans miserable

not a big deal

Funny thing is if it comes down to one basket, where the game could have gone either way, it is a huge difference in reaction. Not surprising, but GS and Sac for example. Either game could have gone either way but the final reactions are big time difference. Not much difference in competitiveness.

[dremill24]

He showed some signs earlier in the year then got lost from missing time due to the birth of his kid and then being sat because he was a potential trade piece.

This is quite the claim that ive seen multiple times. You have inside info?

He's been a healthy scratch for weeks and he's on a cap friendly deal. Easy to see how he was being dangled as a trade piece especially when it comes to making salaries in a trade work.

Mind you the below are just a few excerpts but it hasn't been a secret.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2024/02/09/nassir-littles-stressful-trade-deadline-experience-remains-with-phoenix-suns/72531488007/

Read on Twitter

"Sources informed The Arizona Republic that the Suns are still showing interest in Hornets forward Miles Bridges, but they continue to struggle moving Nassir Little packaged with second-round picks. "

Him being in trade talks is one thing but im just not following the logic of that being the reason he doesnt play.

[enigmatics]

Him being in trade talks is one thing but im just not following the logic of that being the reason he doesnt play.

To prevent injury to what was considered the major cog in their trade chess pieces. Hell even Metu wasn't really getting any run the last few weeks.

I'm actually ecstatic that the Nets valued pieces they could cut right away as I believe Little can be a legitimate contributor as a utility or "swiss army knife" type of player.

[dremill24]

Him being in trade talks is one thing but im just not following the logic of that being the reason he doesnt play.

To prevent injury to what was considered the major cog in their trade chess pieces. Hell even Metu wasn't really getting any run the last few weeks.

I'm actually ecstatic that the Nets valued pieces they could cut right away as I believe Little can be a legitimate contributor as a utility or "swiss army knife" type of player.

You can draw a through line to the conclusion but it's just a lot of assumptions and I've just never seen anything to indicate that's actually how it works in most circumstances. Also treating it as a confirmed fact is mostly what prompted the question.

Though not really the point of the inquiry, I also liked giving up the min guys and keeping him around in that trade.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Him being in trade talks is one thing but im just not following the logic of that being the reason he doesnt play.

To prevent injury to what was considered the major cog in their trade chess pieces. Hell even Metu wasn't really getting any run the last few weeks.

I'm actually ecstatic that the Nets valued pieces they could cut right away as I believe Little can be a legitimate contributor as a utility or "swiss army knife" type of player.

You can draw a through line to the conclusion but it's just a lot of assumptions and I've just never seen anything to indicate that's actually how it works in most circumstances. Also treating it as a confirmed fact is mostly what prompted the question.

Though not really the point of the inquiry, I also liked giving up the min guys and keeping him around in that trade.

The whole teams holding guys out before the deadline is really really over blown by fans. Like it happens a little but far less than people think. **** we've seen guys traded while actually playing in a game in the past.

Guys like Metu and Goodwin weren't not playing because they were potentially being traded. It's really the opposite, they were used as filler BECAUSE they weren't playing. Since the Griz/Nets were going to cut them anyway I assume the suns got to choose which min guys went out.

Little fell out of the rotation because he was shooting 30% from 3.


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[lilfishi22]

Team plays well, up to expectations: Fans happy
Team plays lousy, disappoints: Fans miserable

not a big deal

Don't forget the third type i.e. "Team doesn't blow the doors off every opponent because we naively think this is Heatles v.2: Fans miserable."

Seriously if you were to waltz into all these game threads as a casual spectator you'd think the Suns were bottom of the barrel and can do absolutely no right. It's very noticeable - that's why I mostly stay out of them now during the game. Hard to watch the Suns when my fellow fan is dousing himself in kerosene threatening to self-immolate.

There's no such thing as perfection. Even in "perfect" blow outs there will always be some Debbie Downer who goes out their way to deep dive on the minor flaws. It's what gets them up in the morning

[lilfishi22]

Him being in trade talks is one thing but im just not following the logic of that being the reason he doesnt play.

To prevent injury to what was considered the major cog in their trade chess pieces. Hell even Metu wasn't really getting any run the last few weeks.

I'm actually ecstatic that the Nets valued pieces they could cut right away as I believe Little can be a legitimate contributor as a utility or "swiss army knife" type of player.

You can draw a through line to the conclusion but it's just a lot of assumptions and I've just never seen anything to indicate that's actually how it works in most circumstances. Also treating it as a confirmed fact is mostly what prompted the question.

Though not really the point of the inquiry, I also liked giving up the min guys and keeping him around in that trade.

I also just think he hasn't been that consistent on top of the trade stuff and he's had some knee issues that probably impacted his play.

I'd love to see him get more minutes and be more consistent but with the addition of RON who basically does the same thing and is a proven vet, it'll be tough to find him more minutes than garbage time making forward

[Maze]

Easy to come after the fact and say it.

And no I think the reason most people stopped posting is cause they don’t see this team doing anything special at all in the playoffs. Plus most of the players are pretty unlikable with no charisma and team overall has no togetherness.

It’s nice to win lot of reg season games just on pure talent alone but who here actually thinks this team can win more than 1 playoff series (and even that who knows) in April?

Nah man, even those putrid years with 20win teams the vibes were not this bad so it's not about how far we can go. And some folks like me are from Europe and watch mostly on replay.

It's because we play lazy, non-chalant, inconsistent and often unintelligent ball and that makes it hard to watch and be happy with the team, combined with the lack of progress in those key areas. We win because we have elite shooting and overwhelming talent that helps overcome tons of blunders. If this team played as hard as possible all game it would have all of us as fans. I can tell you I watch probably 3-4 games a night and I do not see any other team aside from the Pistons making the TYPES of errors we constantly make. In my opinion, we are WOEFULLY coached. And it's painful to watch, but because I'm a diehard fan I still do.

I am hoping that the trade and adding O'Neal and Young helps here. We need guys who play hard. We need our stars to play hard and play smart.

Today, here is the reality:

1. We played absolutely 0 defense in the first half, resulting in us shooting 72% in the first quarter and somehow not be up a ton of points. I think we were tied or a 1 possession game in either direction.
2. Stars made a ton of liveball turnovers and didn't get back in transition.
3. Nurk started playing like a baby, and we switched to small ball lineup which changed the game. We've had some success with it the last few games and this is the first real sign of improvement I've seen for awhile, and the only real optimism I take from this game aside from O'Neal appearing to be much more confident from 3 than Okogie and other role players.
4. We subbed Nurk back in, and to his credit he played really hard for about 90 seconds and made some plays but then with 1 minute left after blocking the Fox bucket, he stayed on the OPPOSITE KEY and didn't even attempt to walk to the offensive end of the court. Fox hustled his ass off and chased down KD to steal it from behind, ho had no idea Fox was even there or that we were playing 4 on 5 because Nurk was lazy and KD unaware.
5. We then IMMEDIATELY DARED Fox to shoot a 3 in a 4 point game. Allen was in position and there and chose to let up. When up 4 and that much time left, that 3 MATTERS. You cannot dare the best player on the other team and their only all star guard to shoot that shot. They hit it and it took our superstars hitting mid range jumpers and an effort play from one of our only full-effort players in Okogie to save us.

When Beal, Booker, and Durant are healthy and rolling we will be really difficult to beat, but we will absolutely lose if we don't play smart or don't play hard, and that just doesn't appear to be in our DNA and that is frustrating. We have to get better in these areas, and the longer we go without actually showing signs of improving in these areas (not just getting healthy) the less likely we will be able to turn it on in the playoffs.

Great post!!