Why We Lost
Yesterday night the Phoenix Suns opened up the season against last year’s reigning MVP, and the team that they [the Suns] swept in the semi-finals. At halftime the game was close with the home team Suns leading by 7 points. After the half the Nuggets went on a 13-0 run and then pretty much never looked back. This was largely due to the fact that neither of our stars really took over the game. While the Nuggets’ unquestioned best player went off for a 27 point double-double.
Devin booker and Chris Paul our two best shot makers were struggling to get open shots. The Nuggets defense covered both players tightly and with extreme prejudice. Paul at least managed to grab a double-double of his own with 15 points and 10 assists, yet the rest of the team, including Devin Booker who had gotten compared to Kobe numerous times, just couldn’t get a consistent flow from deep. As each shot attempt clanged off the rim, the hopes of a comeback dwindled. Another big issue we faced were turnovers. Last night we gave up a very unpleasant 18 turnovers, and 27 points resulted off those mistakes alone. This is very unacceptable behavior for a team that plans to fight for a spot in the playoffs this year. We will see what adjustments come in the ensuing games.
let’s Just face it though, The largest reason for the loss was REFUSAL.
- The REFUSAL to sub Jae Crowder out for the rest of the game, especially in crunch time.
- The REFUSAL to double team Jokic in the paint and once he began the dribble drive.
- REFUSAL to call plays that specifically targeted Devin Booker or CP3
The Suns have a lot to clean up before they play the Lakers. The reigning Finals runner ups need to prove that they didn’t get that far last year because of injuries to Murray ,AD and Kawhi.
The Best Performance
The best player on the court last night was Chris Paul followed closely by Mikal Bridges. CP3 got off to an 11 point night with 5 assists and seemed pegged for a big game. This was halted by great Nuggets adjustments and sloppy Suns possessions. Paul is a pass first guard who will pick you apart with his vision, but the recipients of those dimes weren’t cashing in and that inevitably hurt the teams morale and likely discouraged Chris. Mikal Bridges had 16 points on the night one more than Paul and Ayton. Though the double-double is why I gave CP3 the edge.
The Worst Performance
I really want to say Jae Crowder because I watched him continue to shoot while also continuing to miss all night long. Though instead I’ll highlight a different bad performance given by Abdel Nader. At least Jae Crowder managed to score 2 points and grab 8 rebounds. Nader on the other hand played the equivalent of a quarter and dropped a goose egg. I always get so upset when a player making millions to put the ball in the hoop can’t even manage to get 2 points. You’re a professional athlete you should be able to get some sort of points on the board especially if you play 10+ minutes. Adam Silver should fine players 100,000 if they don’t get at least 2 points. Maybe fear of losing your money will force players to care a little more.
Friday vs Lakers Predictions
I foresee a close game at least until the 3rd than we will see the better team pull away. At this point in time the Lakers look like the better team seeing as how they’re superstars played lights out combining for 67 points. Hope is not lost though, history could very well repeat itself and we could be looking at our first win of the season. What we need from our guys is precise clean basketball. You can’t afford to give away possessions to good teams. We need Booker to be himself, and Ayton to take it to AD down low. He struggled a little against Jokic and AD is arguably better in the eyes of some especially when he’s 100% which he seems to be.
Conclusion
The Suns need to get better shots in better spots than they were and this will determine who pulls ahead faster. That and whoever can win the turnover battle, this will be a hard fought battle but we are battle tested and ready roll.
Prediction: Suns win by 6 points.
For more Suns related content check out this link: http://thepeachbasket.net/deep-dive-into-the-ayton-sarver-standoff/
For the full boxscore checkout this link: https://www.nba.com/game/den-vs-phx-0022100012/box-score
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PHOENIX SUNS GAME 1 PHOENIX SUNS GAME 1
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