both these teams are shooting 40%+ from three this game on a solid number of attempts. the mid range ability helps open up the 3. offensive diversity with good shooting and passing… results in good offense lol.
I know Terrence Mann only recently had his coming out party and you can’t expect him to be the man… but I’m surprised he’s only payed 26 minutes. meh also only took 4 shots… made 3 of them.
Man, Suns are an extremely deep team. I think a lot(including myself) have underestimated just how good these guys really are even without Chris Paul. I dont see any weaknesses in their lineup.
this has been part of my confusion on the CP3 love fest this year. most people don’t know that Ayton only played 38 games last year (they were 20-18 in those games) and Payne only played like 2 games for them. And not many people know how good Mikes Bridges in (lol at the 76ers for that trade). Dude shot like 63% from 2 and 43% from three and is a long versatile defender. bridges and cam Johnson both young so got better. THEN our add CP3 and Crowder. They’re only real weakness, when healthy, is that they don’t have backup bigs. But not many teams really do. this is absolutely a better deeper squad than what the Rockets had around Harden/CP3. And oh btw Booker and CP3 like playing with each other and fit.
Im wondering how good they can really do without Cp3, these next few games will be interesting to see. I wonder how they deal with more small ball though. It seems like they understand that Ayton can take advantage of it. Nah lol.
I be surprised if it was a short series but we’ll see. They’re good but all still young. most importantly it’s entertaining basketball to watch. I know you rep Harden to your death bed… but that **** just wasn’t entertaining… even when it worked as it often did. Suns are what many of us were asking for year after year. Add just a BIT of movement and a BIT of mid range to go with the threes, layups/dunks and free throws.
I don't think these kids would be this good this year without the presence of CP3 and Crowder, though. Ayton himself has said that CP had been in his ass all year preparing him for the playoffs. Those guys bring a different mentality that would have been difficult for peeps like Cameron Johnson or Ayton to develop without that kind of leadership. He wasn't on the court today, but the resilience that these young Suns players showed has CP's DNA all over it. Just my 2¢
While Doncic should be drafted over Ayton, it'd be such a butterfly effect if the Suns took Doncic first overall. Suns would probably still look good with both Doncic and Booker instead of Ayton and Booker. But if the Suns had Doncic, they wouldn't have been compelled to trade for CP3. If CP3 never arrived in the Valley, Booker might not have developed into the player he is, today. Booker really looked like CP3 out there: made good passes, was deadly from midrange and seemed to be a calming presence when the Clippers threatened.
Clippers really went from having to play against Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert to...playing against a better Donovan Mitchell and a more versatile center. PHX did what it was supposed to, though. Win game 1 on their home court against a team without its best player. Game 2 is going to be super important, since you know Kawhi is for sure out. We'll see if PHX can keep this up.
and they went from a team shooting 3s and layups only to a midrange shooting team... midrange kept suns afloat today during a tough stretch ...they stole momentum from clippers by midrange....momentum is hard to express in points... few timely hit midrange shots can save you 20 points .... basketball is game of runs...stop their run and start your own run and keep it alive..forget about efficiency
Clippers were playing off a brutal bo7 and only 36 hour rest. Kind of ridiculous the NBA made them play with 1 day off and a super early game to just make things worse for them. Think they can bounce back game 2 for sure as long as CP3 is out as well.
well yeah. He’s an all time great. There’s no one disputing that. the confusion by me was the media’s anointing of CP3 as the best player on the team. he came in 5th in MVP voting. That’s insane. Booker came in no place cause he received not votes. Some would say but without CP3 they missed the playoffs and with him they were the 2nd seed. But I already went through that. They added Ayton, Payne and Crowder in addition to CP3. Remember once they were finally healthy last year they ripped off 8 in a row to end the war and almost snuck in. I’d go as far as saying that if you took one or the other off the team and made no other changes … they’d have a better finish without CP3 than without Booker. I don’t even think it’s a question. Imagine this game today with Booker out it CP3 in for example.
what? Y’all really just don’t pay attention to great players on bad teams or something? Booker was just as good last year as he was this year. Heck statistically he was better in most base and advanced categories. Luka and Booker would be a dominant duo with a ver long runway to win multiple rings and they had the assets to make trades and wound have found a D and Dunk center no problem. Not as good as Ayton for sure but pick the duo you’d prefer. the only concern on my part would be Luka is slowly falling into that Harden slow game super high usage trap where the fit with Booker wouldn’t be “perfect”. But it’s still a better two some to go with the next 10 years
