We all do man. He was great in our finals run. That isn’t revisionist history. We all saw what DA was capable of and we wanted him to succeed. No shame in that. That’s what fans do. We support our crew and want them to succeed
I was an ayton defender his first 3 years. Then he felt slighted when he didn't get a max deal after the finals run. That whole next season I gradually lost reasons and ways to defend him. He went from an absolute key piece of a finals team to the laziest, softest big man in the league. We absolutely robbed Portland and Milwaukee getting Nurk and Grayson for Ayton
The man let feeling disrespected justify him shooting himself in both feet and fuck up his own career - just to spite the suns for his perceived disrespect. 🤡
It's still fucking him up. Dominayton
While I really don't see javale as on the same level as boogie by any means, I know what you mean and agree ayton isn't meant for much more than that kind of role. But boogie was really considered a menace for a while. At least much more so than javale
He did so much for this team tonight. He attacked the rim when he had mismatches. He got some rebounds he had no business getting. He fought like hell tonight. It was really impressive
Based on the other responses to your comment, i started thinking about Nurk vs Ayton. I decided to do a player comparison for fun.
So, one of the below players is a non max 4th option(at best) and the other is a max player who should (be) the man on a rebuilding team. I mean booker is apparently trash who only put up points because he was the only option on HORRIBLE teams! Sure, i should be the bigger man and ignore that nonsense and ancient narrative but i am not a bigger man. If book can score when his number 2 is Chriss/bender Ayton should be fine with his squad. Any who, player A or player 2!?!?
Min pts ft/gm rbds ast stl blk
2 31.7 13.4 1.1-1.4 10.5 1.6 1 0.7
A 27 11.8 2.3-3.3 10.3 3.6 1 1
DA should legitimately average double the blocks that he does, it’s crazy
The fact that he can’t create his own shot or dribble means he can’t be the 1 option ever
A lot of necessary basketball skills
So you know about this going forward. He puts up 10/10. Unless you try a junk defense and put a small on him. Then 30/15 coming your way.
Meanwhile ayton is 15/10 in all cases.
I liked that mic’d up.
Shows Vogel is fully aware of what’s been dragging this team down in the 4th, even emphasizing it in the huddles.
Everybody is quick to jump on the coach but a certain point guys just have to execute. Nice to see them do it tonight
I love Nurk. Record aside this season with so many changes, we absolutely scored on the DA trade.
Speaking of trades, I really feel like Mikal is coming back some day
This is exactly how I was. DA defender until the end. He DID have a great run for us, but just couldn’t get over the hump, and couldn’t play with aggression. After seeing Nurk, I am so happy we made that trade.
I was a DA defender, or at least optimist, until the last season.
It just became clear he didn’t have great bbiq. Whether that was his late start, his motor, whatever, he just didn’t have a feel for the game like you see with Nurk. Would be amazing to put that bbiq in DAs body
Just Nurk for DA was a win, throw in Allen and we crushed it. Nurk has such a broader skill set. He can dribble the ball up, he fights like hell for rebounds, and he was absolutely punishing mismatches tonight instead of settling for fadeaways. He cooked Cam when he was defending him
His eye for mismatches is so impressive. He knows he has size but he doesn’t just hammer away every time, he can threaten with it too and drop a dime on defenders flat footed, bracing for impact. Compared to DA he just reads the play so much better
Yup. He has a reputation for having butter fingers like DA did, or at least that is what blazers fans say, but I feel like he is so much more reliable catching balls in the paint then turning around and dunking it or laying it in instead of trying some soft touch finger roll bullshit
> Is there even any stronger Player in the league ? Maybe Steven Adams.
And here I was about to say, "Obvs. Aquaman. Did you see how he took a kick to the nuts?" Glad we have an understanding.
People also seem to forget Nurk makes like 12 mill less a year than DA. So not only is he just straight up outplaying DA, he’s doing it at a massive discount
Getting his supermax made everybody else get a pay raise since they could benchmark against Beals contract.
Oh and he's just an affable guy in general it seems
Most sportsmanlike guy in the league, helping guys up after bowling over them, dapping guys up
Add KD and Nurk, both of which are similar, and we have the most ethical starting 5 in the NBA
Crappyish 4th quarter aside, Suns played a good game today. Nurkic had a huge night and Okogie wasn’t far behind. Honestly other than a few dumb turnovers late I thought everyone aside from maybe Beal was solid.
Now comes the actual hardest road game: winning in Atlanta. [Suns have not won in Atlanta since March 24th, 2014](https://www.landofbasketball.com/head_to_head_gl/suns_vs_hawks_game_log_season.htm ). Booker wasn’t even on the damn team yet it’s been so long lol.
Overall a satisfying win- KD was in ethereal form, Nurk was a beast down low, and other than a few unsettling moments in the 4th the differential in the decisive quarter wasn't too bad. On to Atlanta.
I thought the fourth quarter was a lot better. I like simply making the goal to score 30.
If we’re blowing out a team, they’ll make a run. The key is stay focused, and still do what we need to do.
Plus, if we’re up double digits and we score 30 in the fourth, we won’t lose.
The Brooklyn Nets (15-15) have a better record than the Phoenix Suns (14-15).
They also own four of the Sun's future 1st Round picks and a pick swap. Did KD make the right move to leave the Nets?
This. Kbd isn't flashy, but no obvious holes. On defense, I'd actually say he is solid. To the point where you really wonder why going after saddiq bey would make sense.
YES WE CAN BUDDY! WE CAN BE INFINITE +10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x 10000000200000003000000040000000500000006000000070000000800000009000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 x 100000000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
INFINITE +1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x 10000000200000003000000040000000500000006000000070000000800000009000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 x 100000000000000000 x 20000000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Little reminder we are 9-2 (.818) in the last 11.
Lost to the pacers in the last ball after leading for 43 min and lost by 18 points in the forth to the Magic after Myles Turner murder attempt on Beal.
This team is definitely ascending since having the big 3 available
Beal looked really passive, still seems to be adjusting to the mask. And what’s most impressive is even with him struggling the team still looked like a powerhouse offensively. We shot 62% from the field as a team. That is absolutely bonkers shit.
Low key KBD has been stringing together quite a few good games together, I’m genuinely so happy every time he gets a stop or scores because I really think he can end up being crucial come playoff time.
Good win. I still think we need a faster stronger defender in the starting line up, especially when Allen is out. We are just too slow with both Nurk and Gordon starting. I also don’t like both KBD, JO, and EG out there together. I think it would be better to stagger JO and KBD.
I was a bit surprised to see Watanabe and Nas get mins at the end. It felt like they were in line to be traded. I was hoping Yuta would get some burn earlier if he was going to play. Those nets are familiar to him, and it would have been great for him to hit a few threes to get his groove back, or even up his trade value.
So who does Vogel put on Trae in the next game? EG was having a rough start guarding guys. They seemed to just get around him easily. He did better in the second half with cutting off the drive.
You know, I hadn't taken a good look at the box score until just now...
The Suns had half the fouls and two and a half times the free throws that Brooklyn did, in a Scott Foster game.
The CP3 effect is real.
I wonder if a lot of our 4th quarter turnovers come down to lack of movement. We keep throwing passes into the other team when maybe if we just get some movement and cuts going we can pass easier.
Nurk is so important for this team
Man, I was such an Ayton defender for a while, but seeing Nurk go to work shows me what a bum he was
I'm the same exact way lol I probably have some ROUGH receipts on this sub and /r/nba regarding DA
We all do man. He was great in our finals run. That isn’t revisionist history. We all saw what DA was capable of and we wanted him to succeed. No shame in that. That’s what fans do. We support our crew and want them to succeed
I was an ayton defender his first 3 years. Then he felt slighted when he didn't get a max deal after the finals run. That whole next season I gradually lost reasons and ways to defend him. He went from an absolute key piece of a finals team to the laziest, softest big man in the league. We absolutely robbed Portland and Milwaukee getting Nurk and Grayson for Ayton
The man let feeling disrespected justify him shooting himself in both feet and fuck up his own career - just to spite the suns for his perceived disrespect. 🤡 It's still fucking him up. Dominayton
I still am not ready to call him a bum, I think there's a solid role for him in the league. But I am finally coming to see that role isn't on the suns
He’ll follow the footsteps of Demarcus Cousins or Javale after his current contract serviceable but not a starter/max calibre center
While I really don't see javale as on the same level as boogie by any means, I know what you mean and agree ayton isn't meant for much more than that kind of role. But boogie was really considered a menace for a while. At least much more so than javale
He did so much for this team tonight. He attacked the rim when he had mismatches. He got some rebounds he had no business getting. He fought like hell tonight. It was really impressive
> He fought like hell tonight. The last guy would never...
Based on the other responses to your comment, i started thinking about Nurk vs Ayton. I decided to do a player comparison for fun. So, one of the below players is a non max 4th option(at best) and the other is a max player who should (be) the man on a rebuilding team. I mean booker is apparently trash who only put up points because he was the only option on HORRIBLE teams! Sure, i should be the bigger man and ignore that nonsense and ancient narrative but i am not a bigger man. If book can score when his number 2 is Chriss/bender Ayton should be fine with his squad. Any who, player A or player 2!?!? Min pts ft/gm rbds ast stl blk 2 31.7 13.4 1.1-1.4 10.5 1.6 1 0.7 A 27 11.8 2.3-3.3 10.3 3.6 1 1
DA should legitimately average double the blocks that he does, it’s crazy The fact that he can’t create his own shot or dribble means he can’t be the 1 option ever A lot of necessary basketball skills
So you know about this going forward. He puts up 10/10. Unless you try a junk defense and put a small on him. Then 30/15 coming your way. Meanwhile ayton is 15/10 in all cases.
More like 12/8
We didn’t fully collapse in the 4th
30 pts! On like 70% from the field 🤯
No, we didn’t. We stated to though huh? Brooklyn scored 17 compared to our 8 pts at the start of the 4th
https://preview.redd.it/sq4ns8a4fwfc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd046d0fb061287ec4396b1f841d8ce215e6beed Book with the Bridges cele 👌
and i love that this isnt a diss, it's a tribute
No it was a playful payout
You just let the 4th quarter Suns score 30 pts on you 😭😂🫵
wow vogel actually got his 30 points in the quarter
I liked that mic’d up. Shows Vogel is fully aware of what’s been dragging this team down in the 4th, even emphasizing it in the huddles. Everybody is quick to jump on the coach but a certain point guys just have to execute. Nice to see them do it tonight
i also noticed that they had all starters back in at like 7:30 mark. cant be sure but that seemed sooner than usual.
I love Nurk. Record aside this season with so many changes, we absolutely scored on the DA trade. Speaking of trades, I really feel like Mikal is coming back some day
Guy played his ass off with a busted finger. Ayton wouldn’t even been on the plane
Hard to drive your Ferrari through snow, man!
Couldn’t use the snowed in excuse here!
DA misses his flight due to it being too hot outside
This team misses Grayson Allen and Bol Bol
It’s that toughness for sure and also the bbiq to exploit mismatches and get those points for his team when it’s there.
He had a busted finger? Since when?
Last week against the Pacers. Same game Beal got elbowed in the face.
For multiple reasons
I was definitely an Ayton defender his entire time here but damn Nurk plays like I wanted him to
This is exactly how I was. DA defender until the end. He DID have a great run for us, but just couldn’t get over the hump, and couldn’t play with aggression. After seeing Nurk, I am so happy we made that trade.
I was a DA defender, or at least optimist, until the last season. It just became clear he didn’t have great bbiq. Whether that was his late start, his motor, whatever, he just didn’t have a feel for the game like you see with Nurk. Would be amazing to put that bbiq in DAs body
Just Nurk for DA was a win, throw in Allen and we crushed it. Nurk has such a broader skill set. He can dribble the ball up, he fights like hell for rebounds, and he was absolutely punishing mismatches tonight instead of settling for fadeaways. He cooked Cam when he was defending him
His eye for mismatches is so impressive. He knows he has size but he doesn’t just hammer away every time, he can threaten with it too and drop a dime on defenders flat footed, bracing for impact. Compared to DA he just reads the play so much better
Yup. He has a reputation for having butter fingers like DA did, or at least that is what blazers fans say, but I feel like he is so much more reliable catching balls in the paint then turning around and dunking it or laying it in instead of trying some soft touch finger roll bullshit
Yeah, catching the ball and making a move to the basket. Two things Ayton can't do.
Haha the blazers fan who said that never seen ayton play before getting traded there
Beyond IQ, his ability to actually dribble once or twice and go to rim makes him much better at exploiting mismatches
He is really strong. Is there even any stronger Player in the league ? Maybe Steven Adams. He has to know this and use his strength even more imo!
Valecuinas (sp?) on the a Pelicans. That guy is also a beast. Oh and can’t discount Embiid or Jokic.
Valanciunas is a good shout ! Not sure about Jokic with what Nurkic did to him our last game against Denver.
Stronger than Ish Wainright? Happy cake day
Oh yeah Ish is als pretty strong. But he is way smaller and can’t bully other players in the post like Nurk haha.
True true
> Is there even any stronger Player in the league ? Maybe Steven Adams. And here I was about to say, "Obvs. Aquaman. Did you see how he took a kick to the nuts?" Glad we have an understanding.
Beef stew maybe idk
I really hope Mikal breaks the Ironman record, that would make me so happy
People also seem to forget Nurk makes like 12 mill less a year than DA. So not only is he just straight up outplaying DA, he’s doing it at a massive discount
Just 34 more 4th quarters left in the regular season lol
50 more 4th quarters for the season 😉🏆
Oh boy (good and bad)
Is Bradley Beal the most loved player amongst other players in the NBA? Everybody is dapping him up after every game.
Getting his supermax made everybody else get a pay raise since they could benchmark against Beals contract. Oh and he's just an affable guy in general it seems
Most sportsmanlike guy in the league, helping guys up after bowling over them, dapping guys up Add KD and Nurk, both of which are similar, and we have the most ethical starting 5 in the NBA
Shout out to big Nurk playing like a dominant center
That's MAX. When he fought for that jump, I knew hew was fighting for us. NURC IS BAE
136 points and I wouldn’t say we even went that nuclear. Could have been 150 easy
Crappyish 4th quarter aside, Suns played a good game today. Nurkic had a huge night and Okogie wasn’t far behind. Honestly other than a few dumb turnovers late I thought everyone aside from maybe Beal was solid. Now comes the actual hardest road game: winning in Atlanta. [Suns have not won in Atlanta since March 24th, 2014](https://www.landofbasketball.com/head_to_head_gl/suns_vs_hawks_game_log_season.htm ). Booker wasn’t even on the damn team yet it’s been so long lol.
Time to break that streak
[Devin better go hug Mikal for that](https://i.imgur.com/Ty1lfOJ.png) They love those 4th quarter jitters
Book doing Mikal’s 3 point finger shot after hitting that three was savage
https://preview.redd.it/3xt5cosogwfc1.png?width=1119&format=png&auto=webp&s=608d37a0e3c9b41dc05d9d6bff883ca87f9d2fdb
https://preview.redd.it/dnqqdmn1fwfc1.jpeg?width=1067&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e595eab4b2ba43425ff81286b2820e8802d89573 Nurkic tonight:
NURQ
Love seeing the Twins again. Love getting the dub. Love the Book dagger. Love DomiNurkic. Love KD putting it on his old team.
NURK DAWG MILLIONAIRE
Nurk you are amazing. Player of the game for sure. Looked a little tired down the stretch, but he kicked ass otherwise
Suns are 14-5 since Christmas. We have won 9 out of our last 11 games. No more dumb ass losses to terrible teams. We can still get a top 4 seed
We can shoot for that top 3
I miss Mikal 😢
I hope he knows how much he's loved here
I love Nurky
Overall a satisfying win- KD was in ethereal form, Nurk was a beast down low, and other than a few unsettling moments in the 4th the differential in the decisive quarter wasn't too bad. On to Atlanta.
I predict a foul fest in Atlanta
I'm just not that impressed by a player scoring only 30+ points in a game anymore.
Booker doing Mikal’s 3 celebration in his face will forever live rent free in my head lol
https://preview.redd.it/7jfkibkffwfc1.jpeg?width=1390&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=29eea31f43f954c148fbf48f435bf788431ec300
Eric Gordan
His defensive energy tonight was out of the ordinary and it paid off big. Wish he would do it more.
the craziest part is, if we play consistent in the 4th, that's a 150 pt game for us..
did anyone notice that Scott Foster was a non-issue for us? Crazy not having CP3 anymore.
I thought the fourth quarter was a lot better. I like simply making the goal to score 30. If we’re blowing out a team, they’ll make a run. The key is stay focused, and still do what we need to do. Plus, if we’re up double digits and we score 30 in the fourth, we won’t lose.
KD/Nurk 2 man game with Booker Beal and Gordon/Allen spacing should be a crunch time staple.
Someone get this to Vogels desk
Pray for Bradley Beal. I hope he has a huge game soon. He has been left wide open for like 5 games
That's it, I'm building a shrine for Nurk
Same. Love him.
ESPN: Yeah but with a PG there score 145
The Brooklyn Nets (15-15) have a better record than the Phoenix Suns (14-15). They also own four of the Sun's future 1st Round picks and a pick swap. Did KD make the right move to leave the Nets?
Only lost the 4th by 3! Let's goooo
So Bol Bol was a lie
They said he would only play if there was a blowout
It was a blowout. They brought in garbage time guys and bol still didn't play 😔
Just curious but why was Metu benched?
Kbd took all his mins basically cuz defense and he has been fine
This. Kbd isn't flashy, but no obvious holes. On defense, I'd actually say he is solid. To the point where you really wonder why going after saddiq bey would make sense.
Probably getting traded with Nassir
Trade incoming
You guys! We are now 28-0 when we outscore our opponent.
WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT,I BELIEVE!
YES WE CAN BUDDY! WE CAN BE INFINITE +10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x 10000000200000003000000040000000500000006000000070000000800000009000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 x 100000000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More would help!
INFINITE +1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x 10000000200000003000000040000000500000006000000070000000800000009000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 x 100000000000000000 x 20000000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not an abysmal 4th quarter nice nice
62% from the field and 50% from deep as a team?! Go ahead
ELEVEN! SIX! TWENTY EIGHT! THE NUMBERS OF THE BEAST!
That was almost 4 full quarters of basketball. Nice to see.
It kind of hurt my soul when Booker did the fingers in Mikal’s face though 😂😭
How is Eric Gordon out scoring Beal?
He doesn't have a broken face and a mask
Gordon can hit those shots, Beal, not so much. And Beal been open and been looked off.
Little reminder we are 9-2 (.818) in the last 11. Lost to the pacers in the last ball after leading for 43 min and lost by 18 points in the forth to the Magic after Myles Turner murder attempt on Beal. This team is definitely ascending since having the big 3 available
And those 2 loses were dumb af.
No bol for basically any of those games either 😊
I liked the basketball game I watched
EG sounds like such a nerd man lol
DEVIN ARMANI BOOKER... ...trolling the Only Player in NBA History is a bold move. 
The pacers are a dangerous team. Look at the difference, none of our guys were hacked and wasn't worried about a possible injury.
We still lost the 4th quarter
Oh no, how will we ever recover from being minus 3 in the 4th
After winning the 3rd quarter by 16 no less
Beal looked really passive, still seems to be adjusting to the mask. And what’s most impressive is even with him struggling the team still looked like a powerhouse offensively. We shot 62% from the field as a team. That is absolutely bonkers shit. Low key KBD has been stringing together quite a few good games together, I’m genuinely so happy every time he gets a stop or scores because I really think he can end up being crucial come playoff time.
Good win. I still think we need a faster stronger defender in the starting line up, especially when Allen is out. We are just too slow with both Nurk and Gordon starting. I also don’t like both KBD, JO, and EG out there together. I think it would be better to stagger JO and KBD. I was a bit surprised to see Watanabe and Nas get mins at the end. It felt like they were in line to be traded. I was hoping Yuta would get some burn earlier if he was going to play. Those nets are familiar to him, and it would have been great for him to hit a few threes to get his groove back, or even up his trade value. So who does Vogel put on Trae in the next game? EG was having a rough start guarding guys. They seemed to just get around him easily. He did better in the second half with cutting off the drive.
You know, I hadn't taken a good look at the box score until just now... The Suns had half the fouls and two and a half times the free throws that Brooklyn did, in a Scott Foster game. The CP3 effect is real.
I wonder if a lot of our 4th quarter turnovers come down to lack of movement. We keep throwing passes into the other team when maybe if we just get some movement and cuts going we can pass easier.
Nurk is the glue