POSTGAME: Phoenix Suns DEFENSE & HUSTLE Power BLOWOUT Over Lakers

POSTGAME: Phoenix Suns DEFENSE & HUSTLE Power BLOWOUT Over Lakers

You know, everybody says preseason doesn’t matter, and yet look at the reaction from Suns Twitter and the Suns community, and you tell me that preseason doesn’t matter. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Psychos and sickos unite for an oh my god we needed that so bad edition of PHNX Sun’s postgame show presented by Bet365. Download the bet365 app. Use code BHx365. Deposit 10, place a bet for five and get 200 bucks in bonus bets. I’m Eric. That’s Espo. We got old Fisherton aka the freckle mamba aka behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. We saw a lot of magic tonight. It’s his maiden voyage. It’s not just Kaman Malawatch and Rashir Fleming making their debuts. It’s Eritan making his postgame debut. The Suns postgame debut for Eritton. He’s sitting on a couple Dbacks post games and that doesn’t count. Welcome to the big leagues. Welcome to the big leagues Eritton. Uh welcome back Espo. And uh welcome in everybody in our chat. Angel, Mario, Napros 2 Junior, and Deborah who are members, Aiden, Lucas. We got a bunch of stars in the chat right now. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button as well. We appreciate all of you being here. If you want to be a member, well, you can do that by hitting that join button right there. Uh Espo, we have a lot to get into today. We’ll give our big bright shining star. We’ll give our PHNX Factor. We will talk about the defense. We will talk about everything that we saw in tonight’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and DeAndre Aton. Hell no. What? What are you feeling right now? I’m feeling so alive. Why? Because because here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. A lot of people are feeling that way right now, too. And I am too. But why are you taking away this much from a game that literally means nothing? Well, honestly, I’m not taking away that much. I just it there is a sense of relief because for the first time in a long time there was a sense of joy and hustle and heart and trying even in a preseason game that we haven’t felt from a Suns team uh in a while. I mean you Dylan Brooks diving on the floor. You got guys hop running around on offense and defense putting in effort. The ball’s moving around like this felt like basketball again. This does not feel like a chore. It felt like, hey, this is fun to watch. And sure, will it always equate into big wins or or wins in general? Probably not. But the bar had been set so low when it came to what we saw last year that now these kind of efforts are going to feel that much better because it was fun to watch basketball. It was fun. I mean, just like hearing that, right? And what do we spend this entire offseason saying? We kept on saying this team doesn’t need to win a lot of games. It’d be nice, but we need to enjoy watching them. Last two seasons, the burden of expectations have been exactly that, a burden. This year, it’s the exact opposite, right? It’s a lack of a burden of expectations because everything was so bad because the bar was set so low. You win preseason game one and and everybody’s saying, “We’re so back. I’m so in.” It means something to me. And honestly, it does. like Dylan Brooks picking up a guy right off of the tip off literally past half court means something, right? Because you know that he’s going to do that in the season. We heard a lot of talk from this team this summer as well. We heard a lot of talk about pace, a lot of talk about shooting threes, a lot of talk about playing defense and rebounding. And it’s the same talk that we heard from teams beforehand. And this team showed up and in the only opportunity they’ve had to prove it so far this year as in the first time they did that. That’s why this is important. Like, and and to me, I I don’t care about anything but the attitude. Like, early on, it’s it’s just the attitude is what I care about because I got so sick of watching guys hang their heads and walk up the court and, you know, dribble off their legs and all these things that we saw uh throughout last year. I want to see the attitude. We heard we heard about alignment. We heard about a new culture that was being built. And this is the first time that you’re seeing it. You’re seeing these guys that will do anything. There’s been a workmanlike mentality from media day through training camp and everything we’ve heard. And you saw it in practice tonight. You saw it on the court. And that alone they talked about, HP has talked about, Brian Gregory’s talked about, Jordan Kn’s talked about it. But a team that you can be proud of tonight. You were proud of the effort that you saw out there as Suns fans. You felt like they were trying as hard as you try to root for this team. That’s what you need. And and not just from a fan perspective, right? Because the payoff is there. We’re sitting here and we’re happy and we’re excited and would consider us two of the biggest Suns fans in the world, right? The the fans in the chat are happy. You go on Suns Twitter. I don’t think they’ve been that happy since I don’t know when. Maybe a massive win at the beginning of last season. And the the payoff is there for all of us. The gratification is there for all of us. The reality is that’s also how you win basketball games. And that’s what they proved tonight. I I said it in our watch along and I’ll say it again here. every single year in every single sport there is a team that people do not expect on a national level to succeed that does. Now, it comes in different bits and varieties. Some of them are like Arizona State football last year who were picked last and became champions. That’s not what I’m talking about here. But there are lots of teams that people say you’re not going to be good and then you end up better than a lot of people expected. The commonality between all of those teams is what the Suns have been preaching. An identity, defensive grit, hustle, and a given f attitude. And if this team brings it every single night, it’s only been one night, but if they bring it every single night, they will win some games they are not supposed to win. This is a team built to win those Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday games in the NBA where the the top teams will take their foot off the gas or overlook somebody. We know those that the the scheduled losses for some of these teams, the Suns team will have those wins where they’re not supposed to to win on a given night. I I don’t think this is going to be a Cinderella story of a year, but they will be entertaining. You will get some of those surprise wins. And there is a a serious case of addition by subtraction. And who are you talking about when you say addition by subtraction? two guys that I won’t name, but that at war number 35 and number three left. You’re not talking about Mike Benhoer. No, cuz that cuz I’m not even kidding. When I see addition by subtraction, I think about Mike Benhozer first. I I look I I think all of them were are are addition by subtraction because you take those expectations away and without the weight of that expectation it makes a lot easier both for players and for fans to enjoy it because we’re not sitting here thinking because the last three years, let’s be honest, it was championship or bust. Yes, there was no no doubt about that. It was 100% that. And right now it’s if I have fun, I’m counting it as a win. Yeah. You don’t have to actually win the game. If I’ve enjoyed watching it, you’ve done your job. And I know that that that that’s a vast difference. And nobody wants to to root for a team that doesn’t have championship aspirations, but you’re starting to build a foundation. You’re starting to build the culture. Jordan Au is gonna prove why people think that he is a basketball savant and you build on it and by next year I think you have to have playoff hopes and two three years down the road is when you shift your attention back to can we be a true contender but this year for me is good enough is good enough for me this year just show me something and show me that you’re building towards it Devin Booker be Devin Booker Jaylen Green, show me why why people consider you one of the better young guards in the league. Uh Dylan Brooks, go out there and be the the dog that you are. The judge dreads it. We’re not calling him. We’re not We’re not doing him that. You can’t you can’t stop me from call. You can call him that, but what are you going to have mute my mic every time I try to say let’s let’s see how that goes for anybody. We’ll talk afterwards. I will just shout into your mic. No, try You don’t want to get in shout off, brother. I mean Well, that’s true. You’ll win. But I that’s that’s just what I’m looking for this year. And and night one, preseason game one, we got it. We did. Now, now we got to wait a week and see what they do at 400 a.m. in China. We’ll see. Which, by the way, 4 a.m. uh the Friday game, we will be doing a postgame show for that. You guys are I am going to be wearing a Suns onesie on that show. I just I I’m I’m telling you right now, I’m going to be wearing a Suns onesie. I’m not kidding. I will be in the chat from vacation while my family sleeps and I will a very welltimed vacation from I will be the sicko watching the game. Speaking of Jordan, freckled Mamba, what did you tweet during the game? I tweeted that the Jordan offensive experience will literally save lives. Mine included. I mean, I stand by that. It already has. We We watched the ball move around tonight. We saw threes being taken. We saw the ball movement. You saw different types of screens and actions and involvement from bigs and guys standing in the dunker spot. Like it it really felt like a comprehensive cohesive team. And I I know what you said Espa where you don’t expect them to be some Cinderella story. And I’m not going to sit here and say I do expect them to be a Cinderella story. But if they are going to be, which they expect themselves to be, because we also have to understand this team is not trying to tank. This team does not have a draft. Yeah. There’s no point. So this team’s trying to win, right? Maybe they won’t, but they’re trying to. That’s the goal. That is the goal. I guess it dep like a Cinderella story for me is getting in the playin and maybe making some noise. Like to to me, I can see that being a Cinderella story this year. But when some people hear that, it’s all of a sudden they’ll they’ll be a top six team in the West. They’ll be that’s not in the cards here. And I’m not I’m not going to set myself up for for disappointment like that, but there there’s definitely the chance that they’re uh that they’re in the uh they’re in the playing race for at least for a while. Absolutely. And I think their expectation is that they do make the playoffs. Uh by the way, a brand new MVP, the most important MVP to me, my father Jeff Ruby is now an MVP, a most valuable parent, a most valuable parent. uh a member now of PHNX Sports, which means that my dad gets exclusive access to all different emojis that he can spam in chat, which I’m sure he is going to do. He gets a prepaid super chat every single month, and that is awesome. He also gets a green letters on his name and a nice little badge. So, congratulations to my dad. He also gets a weekly phone call from Eric to talk sons, which if you me if you sign up, too, Eric will do that. Well, actually, that’s just what the Discord is for, cuz you could become a dieard today. I mean, Arritin Eritton will uh will record your voicemail message. Uh and whatever you want. I mean, that’s that’s how Well, we’re here for you. Especially you, Jeff Ruby. Yes, we we are here for for for my dad. Uh it’s very funny a comment in the chat saying we don’t have to talk about Bookers versus Katie’s numbers no more. I will say it it the the the burden of expectation comes in many different forms like we mentioned. And I think playing freely also understand that yes, this is Deon Booker’s team. He led the team in scoring tonight and I think we could start talking about book here. Gas spoil alert alert. He’s not our big bright shining star or our X-factor of the night. N but he did score 24 points. He was a plus 22 which is my favorite stat of the night faciciously. Seven assists. So 24 and seven. Eight of 19 from the field, two of six from three, six of eight from the free throw line. What did you make of of Devin Booker’s night on and off the court? Well, first off, Aiden, uh we love you too and there’s no pressure to sign up. Uh, I’ve lived that life of the PB&J. Uh, we just appreciate having you here. Uh, what did I think of Devin Booker on and off the court? On the court, it’s Devin Booker. The typical uh, but the hell no when uh, when he that was the biggest thing that he hit on Petty Book was in was in full force because they asked him about DA uh, before the game uh, and how he would do in LA and it was the essentially I don’t care. It was it was yeah we’ll have to see. It was like what do you think that DeAndre and can beat to the Laker bring the Lakers he goes yeah I I don’t know I guess we’ll have to see and then silence and you pair that in in in conjunction with after the Portland game last year when DeAndre had one of the best games of his season. Devin Booker of course has asked about it which I think is fair. Some people said those questions aren’t fair. They were teammates for a long time. They went to the finals together. I think these things are fair to at least ask. And Deon Booker goes I’d like to see him do that every night. It is very clear and I don’t I don’t care. It’s very clear he does not have respect for DeAndre. I mean it’s very clear. I whatever it’s like I I do enjoy the My favorite book is Petty Book or or Fu. I don’t know why but I was like what really what’s your favorite book? Petty Book Pride and Prejudice. I love to read Petty Book. Uh, no. But I love I I love that he did the hell no that you audibly heard on Mike when when DA took the hook shot and missed. And then you know for a fact I he’ll deny it, I bet, if you ask him, but he went down and he hit a hook shot of his own. And I know that that was that was a this is how you do it. And and I love I love that about sports that that that there could just be that little I’m going to use this. I’m going to motivate myself with that. We saw Nigel Hayes Davis talk about that while he was here when he was at at the podium at media day and Devin Booker has that as well, but Book did book things tonight. Uh he it shot under 50%. He sleepwalked. He he sleepwalked at 24 points. Who I mean again I honestly didn’t really expect him to play 25 minutes. All the starters played at least 22 minutes. Grayson Allen and Ryan Dunn at 22. Dylan Brooks, Devin Booker at 25, OSO at 26. I want to I want to talk about DeAndre just a little bit. Just a little bit because do we have to? But here’s just just for this just for this. Okay, we we’ll do this and then we’ll kind of leave it at that. Do you want to know who outscored DeAndre Aton tonight? Almost everybody. Well, yes. Literally, you were you were two points away from doing there are only there are only two players on the Suns that got minutes tonight that did not outscore DeAndre Aton, and that was Jordan Goodwin and David Duke Jr. What center? What lottery center outscored DeAndre Aton tonight? Well, of course, it was our guy, Kaman Malawatch. DeAndre Aiden, one point. Eight rebounds, two blocks, 0% from the field, a minus two on the night. Come on Malawatch, four points, six rebounds, a block, shooting 50% from the field, a plus two on the night. It’s very clear to say that Kamalatch is better than DeAndre. Did you mention the minutes? Come on, Malawatch did that in 10 minutes. Uh, and DeAndre Aton did that in 18 minutes. So DeAndre Aton’s not good at basketball, folks. I I hate to break it to the Lakers fans. He’s not good at basketball. He’s an empty stats player who doesn’t know what he’s doing out there. He is not physical. He cannot finish around the rim. And when g when going up against the Phoenix Suns backup center rotation, he played 20 minutes and scored one point and he was shot 50% from the free throw line and that was the highlight of his night. I love I love that this is this is petty petty season right here. A game with a breeze. You know, you know what upsets me about DeAndre Aton is the the comments of I’m excited to finally play meaningful basketball. That was such BS, dude. DeAndre Aton has always said dumb things. That was DeAndre Aton’s calling card. You put a mic in front of him, he’s going to say something stupid. All right. And and that’s fine, but he’s LA’s problem. I don’t care. DeAndre Aton is not my problem anymore. He is not of my concern. And you know what? I’m sorry he only scored one point. I’m just here to celebrate man. Yeah. All right. That’s I I’m going I’m going to enjoy Come on, Malawatch. And I don’t need to remember my ex because I am with somebody new now. I He’s younger. He’s more exciting. Done. We’re done. He’s a better physical. I am ready. I am ready for I’m real men. I don’t need my follow at ESPO if you even want to after that. Um I thought Kaman looked good. I I I think we can get to Kaman a little bit more later when we get to some more of the bench guys. He looked like an absolute unit out there. There are a lot of guys that we do need to get to. What’ you say? I said I’m the one saying this. He looked like a unit. Okay, that’s a common thing to say. Okay, that’s a command thing to say about Malawatch. Uh we are going to get to Big Bright Shining Star. We’re going to get to our PHNX factor. And by the way, these are the some of the last times we’ll be doing these cuz we’re rebranding and renaming all these for our regular season postgame shows. So savor it, enjoy it. It’ll be the man man of the game. I don’t hate that. And we’ll get to it right after our first break. What goes better than kicking the Lakers ass? Well, how about 50% off weed? That is a sentence specifically dedicated to Eric and specifically dedicated to all of you listening with Zen Leaf Dispensaries. Your go-to spot for cannabis. I’m talking flowers, vapes, edibles, and more from all across the valley. Chandler, Gilbert, North Phoenix, and more. It’s easy to swing by before tip off or post-workout or right before you’re about to listen. The PHNX sons postgame show. And right now when you use promo code zen phnx, that’s z-nx, you can get 50% off a onetime purchase. There’s just one catch. It’s a limited time only, which means you got to go do it now. You can order online. You can pick it up in store. They can point you out to whatever you want, whatever you need, cuz the people there are great as well. Also, once again, use promo code Zen, PHNX, and get 50% off a onetime purchase. Zen Leaf, great weed, great service every time. Look, college football’s back. So is the NBA now. And if you’re looking for the best tickets at the best prices, our friends at Game Time have you covered. I mean, the Game Time app gives you the advantage back to the fans, not not to the not to the teams, not to the people selling tickets. No, it’s to you, the fans. It’s the hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. Uh, it’s incredibly easy to use. I’ve done it before myself. And the game time guarantee means you can trust you’ll get 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best prices. I’ve used other sites. I’ve gotten fake tickets. There’s nothing more frustrating than paying your good, hard-earned money and getting tickets that are not authentic. They’ve got you covered at Game Time. I’ve used Game Time for concert tickets, plays. Yeah, you know that. I’ I go to plays from time to time. I’ve used time for that. I am a cultured man only because I’m married and I have a child. Uh not because of my own doing. Uh but if you want to get to a Suns game, you want to get out to an ASU football game, whatever your thing is, they got you covered uh right now. And you can make sure to take the guesswork out of buying college football tickets, NBA tickets, any sports tickets with Game Time. Download that Game Time app, create an account, use the promo code PHNX. It’s that easy. And you’re going to get $20 off your first purchase. And in some cases, that’ll cover everything uh that you’re going to pay for those tickets. So, uh terms and conditions apply just like everything in life. Again, create an account, redeem the code, uh PHNX for $20 off. Tap ticket, go download the Game Time app. URA. Uh Mike from Mesa with a good question. Uh said, “I signed up to be a diehard. Does that mean that I’m a member?” Well, we do wish that it could be both. Uh membership is a YouTube exclusive thing. So, for $5 a month, you get a prepaid super chat. So, it’s just like sending a super chat, access to exclusive emojis, and the more Suns fans that we get signed up, the more Suns emojis we get, a green name, a badge next to your name, and so much more fun stuff. It really is a great time. All the members can can attest to it in the chat. Yeah, but as a diehard though, you’re going to get access to the Discord, too. There’s perks for both. So, highly recommend checking out both. But if you’re just a YouTube uh uh you know, person, you don’t you don’t dabble in the Discord or other things, hit that join button. And it’s just that easy as well. One of our members, Billy Barton, in the chat says, “That was the most refreshing Suns game I’ve seen in quite some time.” I I think a lot of people would agree with that and and that’s why I want to get to our Big Bright Shining Star of the night. It’s somebody that we’ve already mentioned. It’s somebody that we’ve already talked about and it’s a big reason why it is refreshing. The Big Bright Shining Star, of course, presented by Hila River Resorts and Casinos. You do you at Hila River Resorts and Casinos. Visit playhila.com for more details. It is Dylan Brooks. Oh yeah, Espo. Not the flashiest stat line, but still good for Dylan Brooks. You had 10 points on the night, three assists, two rebounds, one steal, four fouls, three of five from the field, three of four from deep. But it was the energy, it was the intensity, and it was that cultural foundation that felt like was laid the second the ball was tipped off. why this game was so refreshing. It starts with Dylan Brooks. Take those stats, couple them up, do the book hook over to that garbage can. Stats eight and missed it. Don’t stats don’t matter, right? What mattered was this guy, like you mentioned, full court right out the gates on the tip, picked up a guy, diving on the floor, blowing kisses to the crowd after he hit a shot. It’s the attitude era. And Dylan Brooks is a guy that when you look at what this team wants to be on the court. He’s the prime example of it. And just because it was game one of the preseason didn’t mean he was just going through the motions. He went out there and he brought that energy and the intensity that this team’s going to need to be predicated on, especially on the defensive end. I loved it. And and that’s why I think he stood out above the rest tonight was just simply that. Like we we joked on on the watch along, it’s preseason games are very much like who’s liners in any ways. It’s all made up in points all matter. But Dylan Brook’s effort and that intensity and setting that tone for his teammates that matters. It did matter. It mattered because again go on Twitter right now. Let’s say you’re just listening to this and you didn’t watch the game or you’re not on socials or whatever. Go on Twitter and just look up the name Dylan Brooks. you’ll see so many tweets about a guy that scored 10 points in a preseason game, right? And and doing it in a preseason game is just the encapsulation of of Dylan Brooks. And I think the thing is like you look at him and you’re like, “Okay, it still stands out, right?” But it doesn’t stand out because he was the only one doing it. And I don’t want to give Dylan Brooks credit for other guys playing their asses off, but it is. And you got to imagine like we’ve seen the practice clip, right, of him guarding Oso and and playing in in a beanie in in Phoenix, Arizona. and we saw him dive on the floor for a loose ball, pick up guys full court. It obviously you hate this guy if he’s on the other team, but you got him on your team now. I know that it is a it’s a cliche, but oh my god, it’s so true with him. Like, I already love the guy. It already means something to me to watch him die for a loose ball. He’s already my big, bright, shining star of the season, dude. Like, I love this guy. I mean, you you know, we’ve all been in situations, right? Not not not NBA situations, but we’ve all been in situations where somebody’s attitude directly impacts the way we approach things. As much as we we all want to act like that doesn’t h happen, it does. And as an athlete, when you’ve got a guy out there that’s going to do that, a guy that in a lot of cases is making a lot more money, has been in the league a lot longer, uh is a guy that’s proven a lot of him about himself, and he’s going out there in game one of preseason, you damn well bet better bet that these other guys are going to go out there and match that intensity. And we saw what the opposite could be last year where when those guys don’t have intensity, guys match that as well. Dylan Brooks is infectious. Dylan Brooks has been in the league for almost a decade now at this point. Dylan Brooks, yes, had to earn his way in the league. He was a second round pick. He had to kind of get his way onto the court as time goes on, but he’s an established veteran in this league who’s coming off of a career year shooting from deep on the number two seed in the Western Conference. He was the first piece the Phoenix Suns asked for in return for trading Kevin Wayne Durant. They already won the trade. I love that. Oh, don’t tempt me with that. Don’t tempt me with that. Um, tonight they did. Dylan Dylan Brooks is not the kind of guy who needed to do what he did tonight. He is not the kind of guy who needs to bring He could have just done that in practice, too. But that that’s what makes him special. That’s what makes him different. Now, will there be nights where I am sitting here in this same chair and I am angry at Dylan Brooks because he took a couple ill-advised shots and possibly cost the Suns a game or or got it an ill-advised tech. I’m sure. Absolutely. But that comes with a territory, Espo. It just does. My My favorite moment was Dylan Brooks throwing a lob to Grayson Allen. That was so sick. And if you told if you told Suns fans four years ago that you would cheer for that, everybody would look at you sideways and go, “We want we like those two guys now.” Do you remember how bad it was when when they got Grayson Allen? Every I’m I’ll never be able to root for that guy. Yeah, we saw some of that with Dylan, too. And and tonight everybody’s like, “Oh, yeah. I’m all in.” Well, because you know when the guy’s not on your team, you you see them one of two ways if you’re not like a league passo, right? You either see them when they play your team, which means you f and hate them because they’re doing that against your team. They’re putting the hustle, the grit, three-point shooting, making big meaningful plays. Or I’m getting I’m getting accused of plagiarism by Aiden. What’ you steal? What did I say? Aiden, I didn’t even see it. I swear. Oh, Aiden said, “Imagine telling a Suns fan six months ago that Dylan Brooks is throwing lobs at Grayson Allen.” Literally word for word, bar for bar. Eh ghost riders. I I said four years ago. Thank you. Esco has ghost riders. I said four years ago. Apologize, but great minds think alike. Aiden, Aiden, Aiden lowkey on it. We were playing Odel the other day. Aiden just getting it off the dome. Are there other things I can steal from Aiden? Uh, let me just say Nigel. Nigel. Nigel. Uh, hey. You know what? I feel like Aiden saw my comment and stole it and said said it. You know what? Okay, before you start before you keep beefing with a Nigel’s playing infectious basketball, I listen uh we know that you we know that you get all your takes from the chat anyway. We don’t need to lean into it. Okay. Hey, sometimes I steal them from Gambo, too. That’s fair. I mean, it’s pretty easy, too. You know, you say, “Oh, that’s mine now. I’ll take that.” Um I forget what I was saying. Steal my comment now. Stop. There there are there are only a couple of times that you see these villain guys when they’re not on your team. It’s when they play your team or usually there’s a highlight or a low light of them doing something that’s dirty or illtimed or ill- advised. And with Grayson Allen, I believe the season before he got traded here, he really hurt somebody. I forget who it was. Uh but I think they’re like going up for a for a dunk and and he was it was I think it was Caruso. He he really hurt somebody. And you know, you get that and then you kind of take that and you expand upon it. You say that’s who this player is. And sometimes it’s true, but most of the time it’s not. Dylan Brooks will probably have some questionable stuff that goes down to this season that it it when you put It’s not questionable when it’s No, but like when you put yourself in a position that you’re diving on the floor for loose balls, right? Like shout out not shout out, but I guess highlighting Solomon Hill on LeBron James, right? Like when you’re diving for loose balls, when you’re gritty, when you’re putting yourself in a position that’s risky, sometimes that risk is adverse for the other person that you’re involved with. I don’t think Dylan Brooks goes out there and says, “I I’m going to go hurt somebody.” I think he goes out there and says, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make a positive, a plus one for my team.” And you saw that with him tonight. And he didn’t have to do it tonight. And you didn’t just see it from him tonight, though, because if it was just Dylan Brooks, they would have lost his game by 40. But it wasn’t. It was all of them. Every player that touched the floor for the Phoenix Suns tonight played with heart, played with hustle, played with grit, and played with intensity. I can tell you that happened exactly zero times, zero times last year that I would sit here and say every single player on the roster showed up and played like that. It is preseason game one and it is a box that is already checked. That means something to me. It just does. I don’t care if it’s preseason. Well, yeah. Again, we were hurt so badly. We were so traumatized so badly. We’re so traumatized that we’re like, it’s like coming out of a bad relationship and then that person is like, “Hey, I’d like to take you out.” Or, “I got you a birthday card.” And you’re like, “Oh my god, you did. This is amazing.” Just because the last person was so bad, okay, that you were hurt so bad that you’re like the little just the tiniest of things. Do we need to like turn down the street? No, I’m good. I’m good. That was that was I haven’t been in that kind of relationship since like 18 years. Okay. It was it was a little it was a little specific, but but you know that’s how hurt Suns fans were and now we’re like oh my gosh that the little bit of effort is is amazing. Uh it is amazing that we are getting effort and I I I’m I don’t know how long this will last. There is a bit of a honeymoon phase going on but I I will take it. I’m going to enjoy what what we saw tonight. I don’t care that it was preseason in some po California town in an arena that hosts like 40, you know, 40 people with a terrible camera angle, like with a camera angle that looks like it was from a ‘9s video game. I I don’t care. I’m going to enjoy what we saw for the evening and we can worry about whatever comes next when it comes next. That’s all I care about. I And that’s the thing, man. If if I’m talking about this game in two months from now, like then you can come at me. I mean, it’s the only basketball game that we’ve been able to see from this team. I’m going to react to it. I don’t care. Well, I I I agree. By the way, I didn’t realize this. Not to go off on a tangent, but Ryan Dunn, eight rebounds. Osgodoro, nine rebounds. Yeah. I mean, that’s that’s the rebounding, right? I mean, if Ryan Dunn’s going to be your power forward, he needs to grab eight rebounds. I mean, they had they had 50 rebounds tonight. Well, the Lakers miss a lot of shots, Steve. I mean, that’s fair. I mean, that is fair, but fif 50 50 rebounds, you know, 41 threes taken, like this is these are the kind of things that we we longed for last year. We absolutely did. Well, you mentioned the fact that Dylan Brooks threw a lob to Grayson Allen. So, why don’t we throw a lob from Dylan Brooks to Grayson Allen and get to our PHNX factor. This guy came in starting shooting guard while Jaylen Green was out with a lowgrade hamstring strain. However, he was warming up before the game. You can check out our Twitter for that video. Yeah, he didn’t look like he was hurting too bad. Um, no, he did not. Grayson Allen tonight, 13 points, five of 11 from the field, three of six from deep, two rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block. Plus 20 on the night for Grayson Allen. You could tell by the way that he played. He never stopped moving. He knew exactly what his role was, and he felt comfortable getting up those threes. Did he score the most points? No. Did he score the second most points? Yes. Is he going to be your starting shooting guard? No. No. Could he be your starting shooting guard in spots? Can he play with the starting lineup? Yes, he can. Absolutely. He will not be your starting shooting guard. He won’t be. But if if Jaylen Green is injured or if Devin Booker is injured, okay, I can see Grayson Allen slotting into that starting spot. Sure. Sure. But if if if Deon Jayen Green are hurting or hurt there, there’s a lot of problems, right? in an ideal situation. Saying we’re going to the finals and Grayson Allen starts at shooting guard. I’m just saying he can do it. I’m just I’m simply saying that Grayson Allen start Yeah, I could start at shooting guard, too. Like could could is a doing a lot of work there. But yes, Grayson Allen is a quality player. Grayson Allen will have an impact on this team. I think that’s the point you’re trying to make with it, right? So, I I agree with you on that. I like what Grayson Allen brought today. If he can have a season like he had two seasons ago, which isn’t as far away from last season as as it might seem, but just from eye test and an impact standpoint, like, okay, you did see a difference between those two seasons as a guy off the bench as a shooter. And honestly, the the conditioning that we heard him speak about at media day, that we heard Brian Gregory talk about at media day, I feel like that was apparent. It’s not about how he looks, it’s about how he moves. And it felt like there wasn’t a moment that he was standing still. Now, part of that last year that he was standing still was the Mike Buddhen Holder offense, which was give the ball to Kevin Durant or Deon Booker and don’t do anything about it. I mean, almost everybody was standing still. But also, when you don’t stop, that’s a skill that when you look at some of the best shooters in the league, especially off of movement, especially off of screens, why defenders hate defending them isn’t just because they can shoot. It’s because they don’t stop moving. And that’s what I feel like I saw Grayson do. I I think Jordan Kn is building a system that’s going to put a lot of guys here uh with that kind of movement like the system matters with that as well and and I think Grayson in a Jordan system that seems to be more predicated on movement than what we saw with Mike Benhoer will find his opportunities there. Uh, and I what I care most about is can Grayson Allen hit his three on a consistent basis because that that is going to be the most important thing for this team and that movement will get him open looks, right? And that’s that’s what I care the most. If I’m seeing him having to play lead guard a lot, I that’s not what I want to see from him. And and I think at times he did tonight just because of the weird rotations. But but if Grayson is is hitting his three, they’re moving him around to get those looks. That’s all I need out of Grayson Allen. And I think that will that will make him look a lot more like the guy that first year here is it just hitting at a high clip from three. That’s that’s that’s your main objective if you’re Grayson Allen is doing that. Uh, and time and from time to time when a defender is trying to cheat off you uh on you to because of knowing you can hit that three, cut to the basket and that’s it. That’s that’s all I need out of Grayson Allen. Don’t don’t over complicate it. It’s a simplified role and I think he can thrive in it. The fact that he actually has a role uh we are going to get to by the numbers. We’ll talk about the other guys as well. I know there’s a lot of Nigel Yeah, there’s a lot of Nigel Hayes Davis love in the chat. We’ll go back to Kaman Malawatch. We will talk a little bit more about Oso Gadaro, Ryan Dunn, and Royce O’Neal hitting a crazy shot. Plus, what do we want to see in the next game that maybe we didn’t love from this game? We’ll get to all of that, but we’ll do it right after our final break. Listen, it’s easy to talk about Hilo River Resorts and casinos. It is because there’s so much that you can do. A lot. Whether you’re at Wild Horse Pass, Lone View, Vqua, Santan Mountain, you can experience the best the valley has to offer. Whether that best is lounging at their 4A diamond resorts and let relaxation take charge. 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Erikson hasn’t dealt with this, dude. Oh god. Me love branded Bills. Greatest hat I ever have. Me love Cookie. Me love branded Bills. It is amazing. I’m gonna stop now. But I just had to bring that back. You want it back? Okay, fine. Me love branded Bills. Great hats. You see me wear them every time. Me love me. Love the Branded Bills. Unbelievable. If you need custom headwear and apparel, I haven’t done this voice in this long. Repres if you if you need custom headwear apparel branded Bill I could do it both back they from Mesa now they located in Tempe local company you love quality hats even better apparel you want it they’ve got it I highly recommend 40 partnership with university including ASU UVA they also partner with your Phoenix Suns you see the Suns hat on me right now uh and so right now you get 15% off on first order when you use BBPHNX. The BBPHNX 15% off first order. Head to Brandonbills.com to use the code. Can’t believe we got a Cookie Monster this early in the season. Wow. Uh Okay. No, I’ve got preseason voice going on. I’ll be on I will be on the IR for the next week. You will not see me. That’s fair enough. Can Can we show off the hat? The hat’s really sexy. I don’t know if how close can we get. I know I know the the ad read’s over, but I just got to show some love to that hat. It’s a great house. I will probably steal that. Oh, the people the people must have missed the Nookie. I’m glad I’m glad I can bring that. I definitely will. Maybe I’ll bring some new characters this year. Like who? I don’t know. Like who? I don’t know. I’ll work on some workshop some. I’m going to workshop. Well, now you’ve made the promise. So, you’re going to have to deliver to the people. I can do one of those. Okay. Thank you for tuning in to the PHX Suns postgame show presented by Bet365. Uh, really great stuff going on over here. You can become a diehard today for just $36 for the first year as an intro offer. Uh you can become a member today by hitting that join button right next to the subscribe button, which is right next to the like button, which you should be hitting all three of those, but the like button, subscribe button, those babies are free. If you’re listening on audio and you just got through the Cookie Monster, five star reviews go a very long way in helping share this program and finding more Suns fans. Uh, Sandman 520, who’s always in here, so I want to take your question. Says, “Are you guys worried about Book’s three-point shot? Two of six from three from Book tonight.” No, I mean, if if that proceeds throughout the year and he’s, you know, he’s one of three, shooting 33% from deep, yeah, we can have we can have a talk in December, but it’s night one of preseason. I mean, freaking Royce O’Neal’s hitting one foot corner three-pointers will falling out of bounds. Like, I Crazy shot. Yeah. I you know I I don’t know. So does Royce O’Neal need to start over Deon Booker? Is that the dialogue that we’re starting tonight? Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Royce O’Neal better three-point shooter than Deon Booker. I mean, he’s got to be better than 206. I like that he got up six. I think he needs to get up a couple more in a regular season game, but I really felt like Book let the game come to him tonight. I didn’t feel like he was forcing things. I’m actually kind of shocked that he took 19 shots. I don’t feel like I saw him take 19 shots, but you know, the three-point percentage is one of the few things in Book’s game that you’re like, okay, like that’s a pretty big thing you need to improve. Obviously, the defense as well. I didn’t have any moments where I was like really upset at Deon Booker’s defense, especially in preseason. Other than that, he was really, really solid. You’d like to three see the three-pointers get better, but am I concerned and worried about it? No. The vibes are high. I’m not concerned or worried about anything. I think it’s simple. book was shook that Bad Bunny’s play playing the Super Bowl and SNL. So, he’s a little off tonight. I mean, it is that was unnecessary. Plus, he was in Palm Palm Desert. I mean, who isn’t a little off when you’re in Palm Desert? All right. Hurrah. I know. The opposing center was pretty off. Let’s talk about our center though before we get to by the numbers. Oso Gdaro, five points, two assists. Really great assists. A steal. The highlight is the nine rebounds for him. The low light is the one of six from the free throw line. We talked about how concerning or not concerning Book’s three-point shot is. How do you feel about Oso’s free throws? I mean, it we know that that is the the glaring flaw in his game. I mean, shooting in general, but we’ve known that the free throw shooting is bad and and that will be what if he does not figure it out will keep him off the court in the long run because that is a liability. You can’t have a guy that can get fouled and and have to go to the line and not be able to convert at at least a a 70% clip is my belief. So, as talented as OSO is, the court vision that OSO has, what we’ve seen from him that he’s able to do, even bringing up the ball, at some point those free throws uh will will keep him off the court unless he fixes that. And tonight was a a a particularly bad showing for him from the free throw line, but there’s time to work on that and and hopefully they figure out how to get it. We talked about on the watch along. I do not understand how an NBA player, any NBA player can’t fix that. I it is mindboggling, man. It’s like the old why can’t pitchers hit in baseball? Like, and it never makes any sense to me. But I I think that that is part of his game that eventually he can turn around. I think it’s the only big weakness of Oso Igodaro’s game that you look at and you say that needs to be fixed this season. Oso doesn’t need a jump shot. I don’t think really ever. I don’t know if if he’ll ever develop a three. He brings so many unique skills and you’re like, “Okay, do you need a three?” No. No. Would it be nice? Yes. the the free throw if you’re going to be the Sun’s most versatile defender, especially as a big uh being able to switch out there, guard on the perimeter, slide your feet, also protect interiorly, make great decisions, great passes, and athletic and drive to the rim and grab the ball and push it up the court. Those are all godsends in crunch time. Those are all things that can help break open a game that’s close with the different hustle plays, the defense, and everything. But if a team knows that you’re going to shoot sub 60 sub 50% from the free throw line, you simply can’t be out there. Now, obviously, if Mark Williams is playing, he is your closing center. He can hit free throws. He could play defense. Maybe not as versatilely as Oso, but he could do all those things. Well, the reality of the situation is hopefully not a lot, but you can expect Mark Williams to not be there for every single game. He wasn’t there tonight. I think also Gdaro is the second best center on this roster right now. I mean, I like Nick Richards, but like there’s a certain ceiling with Nick Richards, but but there’s also we’re banking on a lot of hope and potential with those, but I think the passing, the rebounding, and the defense are not hope and potential. I think those are those are there. Those are those are here in the NBA. I agree that that that they most of the time they are there. But to your point, you cannot you cannot have that big of a glaring weakness in your game when you don’t have any other offensive ability, at least shooting wise, right? So, it’s great that you can you can be in the dunker spot and you can do that and that you can pass, but you will not see the court in important minutes if you shoot free throws like that. And and I think there is an opportunity for him to have a very big role in this. Jordan offense because of what he can do and because of his court vision uh and that we’ve heard a lot of talk about oh the Suns have no point guard but then we’ve heard the Suns talk about there’s not point guards in the NBA. there are guys that can distribute the ball from various positions and that you need that versatility and he fits right in there if he can hit those free throws and that is a big big question mark and something that he’ll have to prove and he failed at it tonight but he did so many other things all right that you go okay hopefully that is a one night first preseason game thing and not something that carries through one one of what was it one of six is is abysmal right it’s worse than what he shot last season. What he shot last season was terrible. I mean, I would hope that one of one of six is is worse than he shot last year. He needs to be making them more often than not. And that’s a low bar. I need 70%. I I I don’t know if you’ll get that this season. I hope so. 65 is is is about the bottom of the barrel that you can be to to actually play some significant minutes because you cannot put yourself in a position where they can just foul a and you’re at a net negative. Let me steal from your playbook and steal from Aiden who says Rick Barry free throws are in order, please. I Okay, I never understood why guys don’t do that. I I know there’s a shame thing in it, but who the hell cares? Isn’t it more embarrassing to shoot one of six than to actually try something that might work? I think if there’s a guy that might be willing to try something like that, it might be an Oso who’s who just seems like whatever it’s going to take to get it done. But I don’t know. We’ll see. I think it’s more likely he tries to shoot a floater from the free throw line than go Rick Barry because that that’s like the only offensive skill he has besides dunking. I do like that he was aggressive. He drove to the rim and and drew some fouls. I think getting to the free throw line six times inherently is a skill. It’s just not a skill if you can’t hit the free throws. Free throws are costly, not free if you miss them. Yeah. I mean, and obviously in this game it didn’t cost you, but there will be games where it will. Uh it’s okay. We’re just going to gloss over you for me, too. Um, before we get to by the numbers, which I know I keep on teasing. It’s everybody’s favorite part of the program. Uh, let’s talk about a couple of the guys that came off of the bench that we haven’t talked about. Numbers, huh? Sorry. I don’t know what you said. I literally didn’t hear what you said. Uh, I’m deaf. But Royce O’Neal, nine points off the bench, 14 minutes. Nigel Hayes, 18 minutes, three points off the bench, but also six rebounds everywhere defensively. We also saw Nick Richards, 12 minutes, nine points. Probably the best player off the bench. How did you feel about those guys? Because realistically those are three guys who are going to be in the Suns rotation off of the bench and we’ll talk about Kong Gillespie here in a second. How did you feel about the wings and the bigs off the bench? I mean obviously you want the shooting to be better for Nigel Hayes Davis, but I liked the energy. I liked the aggressiveness. It’s pretty obvious that Jordan not said uh any of you have the green light to go out there and pull and and he wasn’t afraid to. Uh and and I liked that, right? because you can’t be shy in today’s NBA. And so I enjoyed the aggressiveness. He was good on on the boards. I certainly think there’s a rule here. It’s probably like 12 minutes, 15 minutes a game that he comes in. He’s another guy that I think is kind of the archetype for what what they’re looking for in this culture. A do anything uh I’ll I’ll do whatever is asked me kind of guy. So So I like that. I think Nick Richards is is gonna turn into the break glass in case of emergency center on this roster. I think you’re gonna have uh Mark Williams, you’re gonna have uh come on Malawatch, you’re going to have Oso playing minutes and then Nick Richards is the guy that’s there in case Williams gets injured or Malawatch just isn’t capable of of playing this early in his career. So, I’m not I’m not going to read too much into that, but tonight he was active and I liked what he was able to do. I would have liked to see a few more rebounds. He only got three of them in his in his 12 minutes uh where, you know, Nigel got six of them uh while he was out there, but overall, I mean, it’s a better group than it was last year to start the season. We’re not we’re not talking about Nerkach and and and Plumbley out there. So that to win and of in and of itself. Uh you think that if you had to put a guess on who plays more games for the Suns this season, you would pick Kam Malawatch over Nick Richards? Plays more games, checks into more games. Yeah. Yeah. I think I I think if he can prove to be the defensive stalwart that they they think he is, I think he winds up playing more minutes than Nick Richards. I I don’t know if Nick Richards is here for the long run, honestly. So, no, but I think because of that, I think that that he’ll he will start the season in the rotation and come on will probably start out of it. That’s it depends on what we see over I mean tonight would suggest that. Yeah, tonight would definitely suggest that, but we also didn’t see Mark Williams. I think there are a lot of question marks and what we see in that first month will be far from what we see uh the remainder of the year. I’d much rather have four guys we’re debating uh who’s going to get the minutes than have two that we don’t want getting any of the minutes like last. Lord knows we’re not talking about Yousef Nerkach right now, which is all that matters to me. Okay. At least we’re not talking about Yousef. But I I think Nick Gri is that break class in case of emergency. He’s fine. If if Mark Williams is is the guy that he showed to be in Charlotte and just can’t get on the court, he’s a guy that will play minutes. If Mark Williams is more healthy, I don’t think we see Nick Richards as much as as you might. I think Nick Richards is a serviceable backup center. I think uh we talk about PTSD and everything went through his Suns fans. I don’t think that’s any more apparent than my reaction to when we traded for Nick Richards last year because I was like, “This guy’s the savior.” And then he walked into that 20 and 20 and I was like, “I was right.” And then I wasn’t right. And that’s okay because I can admit that. Yeah, I can admit it. Uh, I can also admit that it’s time to take a look at by the numbers presented by Desert Financial Credit Union. Arizona’s number one credit union named by for ESPO, as Anthony Doy likes to say, the only number that matters. The final score 103 to 81. However, ironically, that doesn’t even matter. No, nothing matters really tonight. But if it did, these are the numbers that would matter. Sunshot 42.2% from the field, 38 to 90. to the Lakers. 31.1% from the field, 23 of 74 from deep, 31.7% from the Suns, 30 13 of 41, 6 to 35, 17% from deep for the Lakers. From the free throw line, the Suns shot an abysmal 53.8% 14 to 26, 29 to 37. So the Lakers and the refs were in mid-season form with the whistle that they were getting. 78.4% rebounds. The Suns outrebounded the Lakers 50 to 46 and assists for the Suns 29-10. What’s a number that stands out to you? I’m just going to say if I open my Desert Financial uh credit union account and I looked and I saw some of these numbers in particular, uh the free throw number for the Suns and the three-point shooting, I I would cringe. Those are some ugly numbers. 17% from deep for the Lakers tough and 54% from the free throw line for the Suns screams first game of the preseason. But that assist number stands out to me. 29 uh at one point I believe uh nine of the 10 guys that had stepped on the court had an assist uh for the team. Ball movement, ball movement, ball movement. And that’s what that number number screams as compared to 10 assists for the Lakers. I want to keep seeing that that assist number pushing 30 throughout this year because that means that that ball is whipping around. Totally agree on the ball movement. I think I also want to take a look at the defense. I know that people are going to say preseason, whatever. The Lakers played multiple starters tonight. I know it wasn’t Luca. I know it wasn’t LeBron. Wasn’t the start. I get it. Austin Reeves who gets a superstar whistle. Well, he played. Uh Ru Hachimura played. DeAndre who’s a starter for them played. like they had some of their guys play to be able to hold them to 31.1% from the field, which is lower than what you shot from deep and 17.1% from deep from the Lakers. And the only reason why this game wasn’t a 40point blowout is because of the the free throws. I mean, they over doubled the amount of free throws the Suns hit, which was in part because of the Suns and in part because they took 11 more as well. Realistically speaking, this this could have been a 30 40 point win from the Suns. It could have been. It’s fine that it’s not, but you look at the numbers, you’re like, “Yeah, it could have been it.” Yeah, I sure. I mean, it could have been that the again I I can’t read too much into into numbers. This is everything in preseason. This is everything, dude. You You could have put by the numbers and made up all those numbers and I would have been like, “All right, that would have been so funny.” You could have been just like, you know what? Uh, they shot 14 of 53 from deep and I would have been like, okay, it’s preseason hoops. That is true. All right. I I probably wouldn’t have been able to f those numbers could have been fake. Uh, no. I’d be looking at ESPN. I think Erid did a job. Uh, the next preseason game, Espo, is a week from now in China, which by the way, Dylan Brooks saying we’re on our way to China is gonna get clipped to oblivion. Uh, yeah. If anybody was watching, which maybe not. I There’s been some players in the past have said that, but they were just going to play for, you know, a team over there. Hey, hey, you leave Jaylen Mchugh alone. Jaylen Mchugh, Jimmer Fett. Uh there’s all sorts of guys. Jimmer was a bucket. Yeah. Anyway, we saw a lot of good tonight and I think we we rightfully for the last 50 plus minutes celebrated a preseason win. About as much as you could celebrate a preseason win. What did you not see tonight that you want to see a week from now? Jaylen Green. Okay, fair enough. That’s fair enough. You know what I mean? You look You know what? This is why you do what you do, man. This is why you do this. Why you call yourself the godfather of NBA Twitter? I am the very first social media manager in the NBA. All right. So, uh, no, but yeah, I I want to see I want to see Jay Jaylen Green. Jaylen Mchugh. I saw Jaylen Lchu and I saw enough Jaylen. Uh, no. I want to see Jaylen Green because that is that is the the one guy that we’ve all been wondering how it’s going to look, right? How are he and Devin Booker going to look together? Does his athleticism bring a a different, you know, thing to this offense that we did not see over the last few years? Uh, and and how will he play? How how aggressive will he be uh in Phoenix? That is that is the only the only thing I really need to see after tonight. You know, you want to see Mark? I’m not going to see Mark in the preseason. I don’t know if you’re going to see Jaylen in the preseason, man. I think you are after what we saw him warming up. There will be a pressure from the NBA to play certain guys in these China games. That’s why you’re only seeing the Suns play four games. That’s why we already know they’re not going to play anybody in that final preseason game. You you said you could start for shooting for the Suns. You will. I mean, look, we’re going to have Brian Gregory at the point. You’re going to have Matt Ishpia at the two. You’re going to see Josh Bartlestein playing. Like, they’re not going to play anybody of any any significance in that final. No offense to people who do play. I think it’s like 22 hours after they get back. Like, so that would So, you really essentially have three preseason games. This is these are guys that haven’t played together. I think you’ll see Jaylen Green play at least one of those games, if not both. I hope so. In China, I don’t think we see Mark Williams because I don’t know what shell game they’re playing, but we can’t get a straight answer as to why he hasn’t played in five on five. It’s just simply we’re try we have a plan for him and we’re obviously not going to be read in on that plan. I hope it’s we’re just going to let him play once the season starts and uh and monitor his minutes. So that’s the all I care about is give me Jaylen Green next Friday or next Sunday, you know, and and we’ll go from there. Let’s let’s see that. I saw a lot of the pieces in terms of what we were hoping to see. I saw some of the broad strokes of what a a Jordan system will look like. Now I just want to see Jaylen Green and Devin Booker in the same back court and then you can just get me to the regular season. As much as I want to see Jaylen Green, and it definitely is possible that we do, I’m not going to be angry if they think, okay, a hamstring strain, even the lowgrade one is something that for a guy like Jaylen Green and how he plays could end up, you know, biting him in the ass. If it was serious, they wouldn’t have they would not have let him do what he was doing out there. And they wouldn’t have him fly with the team to China, which that’s what the plan is. But Jord did say that the plan for him was to get him ready by the time the regular season started. But I think if there is any inkling of anything, they’re not going to have him play. No. No. And and who knows? Maybe uh I mean that is a very long flight to China. Maybe there maybe at that point it’s like yeah, we’re not sure that uh that we want him to play. Maybe maybe that’ll be the case because you never know how things react to that. But what we saw him warming up today uh there in uh in in I was going to say something that I probably shouldn’t in in Podunk, California. Okay. Uh where you going with this? Panera Bread University, California. No free. Uh you know, we saw him warming up there. I imagine that he’ll be okay to play at some point in this preseason. But yes, the only thing that matters is if you’re reg ready for the regular season. Yeah, if you are watching on TV, the party always continues over at gophnx.com, which means it’s time for overtime on the first postgame edition of PHNX for the 2025 2026 season. So, hit that like button. Hit that sub subscribe button. That really threw me off. Hit the join button and wild now. We’re in overtime. I know. I could say whatever I want. Anything [ __ ] goes in overtime. Usually I’m the one who curses, right, which is what I like. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to. There. Yeah, cuz you’re not going to overtime on Southwest Bias. Um I think No, nobody wants that at at 11:30 in the morning either. You Nobody wants to hear you say [ __ ] 11:30. You could you could get away with it a little, dude. I I would definitely like to hear you say [ __ ] 11:30. I I rarely say nobody wants Anyway, sorry. We already got a thumbs down. I got to say I’m sorry for I’m sorry for the people who are watching with their children right now or or who I’m sorry if you’re watching with a child that can’t hear that word. Uh they should go to bed. It’s 10:47. Maybe they’re watching it later. This is on the internet. It lives forever. That’s true. True. If if you were watching at 11:30 in the morning, I’m sorry. Um I agree. I’d like to see Jaylen Green for sure. Um I’d like to see Mark Williams. I don’t think I will. As far as guys who I feel like could have played tonight and probably should have. I’d like to see Kobe Brea play some basketball. I know we’re going to probably see a lot of Kobe Brea on October 14th. I think probably start. I think you’re gonna see Kobe Bre play like 38 minutes which which I get and also he is not one of these guys who’s trying to earn a spot. He is certified on the two-way for the G- League in the Suns. He might be I mean there is a chance they do have a a full roster spot left and if a guy popped in preeason you might see you might see him be able to do it. But I agree I want to see him get more minutes because a lot of people got excited for him. So, uh, so I I I would love to see him get an opportunity, but again, only four preseason games. You’re trying to figure out who you are with a lot of these guys. Uh, I I think that that’s that’s what I is part of why we’re going to see some of these guys sparingly. Yeah. Uh, my wife is asking for me to say [ __ ] So, [ __ ] Uh, it’s preseason basketball. I would like to see a little bit more from Ryan Dunn offensively. He took three shots tonight. He was two of three, 01 from deep for four points. I’d like to just see a little bit more, maybe a little bit more with the ball in his hands as well. Um I I’d like to see that and I would like to see some more minutes from Kaman Malawash maybe in some more meaningful time just to see what he’s able to do. Um but other than that, I I feel pretty good about tonight. I think the only guy we haven’t talked about that we should is Colin Gillespie. Yeah. Yeah. His another guy that, you know, as our friend Stephen who who will be back, he’s just covering Mercury in game one of the finals. But, uh, he’s a blueco collar boy. I mean, that’s that is what Colin is. He’s a guy that’s going to bring the lunch pale and and put in the work. And he did that tonight. Had some great passes. Uh, and I think is going to be one of the the primary ball handlers for that second unit. four four assists, three rebounds, eight points. Not a great shooting night. Was only one of six from deep, but again, those things will even out as preseason goes along. But you did see flashes from him and his ability to pass. His court vision is going to be very important for this team. Yeah, he made a really good pass to Ryan Dunn on a cut. It was a really, really nice find. Like to see him shoot a little better, but again, it’s it’s preseason. I’m not worried about it. I like the energy that he played with. I like the energy that everybody from the Suns played with tonight. And I just got a nice little surge of energy because Josh the point guard with a super chat. I thought you were going to say no. Uh anyways, says, “Hi, guys. All the way from South Africa. I’m back again. It’s been a while, guys. Missed Suns basketball so much. Well, thank you for tuning in all the way from South Africa and we missed you.” I I read that as it’s been a white guy. Sorry. Been a white guy. Uh we I I’m getting older and we talk about Colin Gillespie and farther away screen further back. Reading is going to become more difficult and yes we were talking about Colin Gillespie. Uh Lenny says can we talk about that OSO passed the book? I I thought OSO had a couple of the best passes of the night. Yeah. I mean he had he had some nice ones. Uh Dylan had some nice passes as well. There’s all this concern about who’s going to be the point guard, but they’ve got a lot of guys that are capable of making very very nice passes. Uh and and those 29 assists are are proof of it. Uh they had 16 turnovers. Uh but you know what, it’s again, you’re learning a new system, too. That’ll be part of it. I I think we will see a downturn in uh in turnovers from last year. and and I loved what I was able to see uh from them passing also included. So, any final thoughts on the Phoenix Suns pre-season victory over the Los Angeles Lakers 103 to 81. Uh what do you want to leave the people with here on this postgame show? We’re so damn back for a night. I just it felt good to enjoy Sun’s basketball. I know I’ve said that multiple times, but I can’t get past it. It was nice to have fun with basketball again. And if that’s what is the is the spirit of this season, I will be all right. [ __ ] it felt good. Yeah, I they’re asking for doing that. They’re asking, you know, there this is somebody’s first time watching the show. We don’t usually do this in overtime. Uh when Stephen’s not here, we get a little bit crazy. Uh I just want to say that I’m glad to be back with with all of you, with you, Espo, with with Fisherton behind the Mac making all the magic happen. Why are we calling him Fisherton? Why not? He’s got the greatest nickname in this show. Yes. And I and I and I call him that, too. But dude, say say Fisherton again. Tell me he doesn’t roll off the tongue. But why? I don’t know. I just said it one day and it I just said it one day. I need you in here. I’ll give a quick rundown of how it happened. I was wearing a flannel and a hat one day and totri came in and was like, “Wow, you look like you’re a fisherman.” Oh, like a fisher tin. And then Eric thought that was the greatest thing since sliced bread and it’s Sorry, but you have the greatest nickname of this program and that’s from a guy that goes by one nickname. Uh, I suppose your name freckled Mamba is a freaking fantastic nickname. I agree. And and I think he’s a secret assassin as well because I heard he dunks on fools. And no offense, sometimes he tries, but if I looked at you, I would not say this is this is a poster waiting to happen. Uh, so I I That’s kind of offensive. You know, it’s a little offensive. Is it a little? I mean, Eritton, I I take I I bestow that to you as as a as an honor. I I love a guy that’s sneaky athletic that could dunk on a fool. And Freckle Bomba is is vastly superior to Fisherton, but Fisherton feels good coming off the tongue, man. It just feels good. Uh, just because it feels good doesn’t mean you should. Obviously, obviously Freckle Mamba is the best nickname. I still call him freckled Mamba. Uh, we have a 499 super chat from Charles says, “We need the craziness of Espo to make this entertaining again.” Thank you, Espo. Charles hates me. It’s great. I love it. Certifiably insane on this program. We know that. Yeah, Charles hates me, but it’s okay. Which is so weird because my middle name is Charles. I thought we would have something. Maybe it’s selfhatred. Are you sure you’re not sending those me? Are are the messages coming from inside the house? First time be calm see clearly and now I’m the guy who literally does not keep my name out of his mouth. Like Charles is absolutely obsessed with me. It’s kind of funny. Uh, do appreciate everybody, I guess, including Charles, for tuning in here on a late Friday night preeason psychos and sickos edition of PHNX Suns for a must-win critical, got to have it, do or die preseason victory for the Suns. Undefeated. Unde undefeated. Uh, I’m obsessed with all of you. I’m especially obsessed with Megan. I know. Okay, we’re not going, but the team’s going to be there. We are not going to China. Uh, but Stephen Fisherton and I will be doing a postgame show for Friday’s China game. Uh, super excited for that. I’m going to be wearing my son’s onesie on the show. Uh, but of course we will be back before that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 300 p.m. all around. Make sure you’re tuning in as we continue the leadup to the regular season on October 22nd. And remember, if you’re new around here, pregame, postgame shows for every single one of the 82 games. Plus, we’ll have watch alongs like we did for today’s show for a lot of those games. A lot more watch alongs than we did ever before coming your way. Plus, live events coming at Hila River Resorts and Casinos. And of course, social coverage where you can follow us at phnx_s. That’s on Twitter. That’s on Instagram. Having fun reporting news, everything in between to keep you up to date as a Phoenix Suns fan. So, make sure you give us a follow there. You could follow the Fisherton at freckledmamba on Twitter and you can follow Espo at Espo. You can follow me at E R I K R U B Y. Until next time, remember, [ __ ] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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The Phoenix Suns took down the Los Angeles Lakers in the first preseason game of the year due to grit, heart and hustle!

Erik and Espo dive into the good times and good vibes brought by a hard-working team who looked like they had a real identity. They discuss Dillon Brooks’ impact, Grayson Allen’s shooting, Devin Booker’s “hell nah” and more from a much-needed victory!

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