POSTGAME: Phoenix Suns FALL FLAT Against Denver Nuggets As BRUTAL Schedule Continues

POSTGAME: Phoenix Suns FALL FLAT Against Denver Nuggets As BRUTAL Schedule Continues

Look, I don’t know what’s grosser. This being the fourth backtoback the Suns have already played this season or Nicole Joic foul baiting on a rookie who doesn’t play. Up 12 in garbage time. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Psychos and sickos. Unite for a what the hell did we do to Adam Silver edition of the PH and Exxon’s postgame show presented by Bet365. Download the bet365 app. Use code PHX365. Deposit 10. Place a bet for five. Get 150 in bonus bets. I’m Eric. That’s Espo Gil and Eritton. Whole squad here while Stevens at the Morg. And of course, none of this can happen without all of you filing in on a Saturday night for what will be our 21st postgame show in 38 days as the Phoenix Suns ran out of gas on the second night of a backto-back against the Denver Nuggets. 130 212. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button as well. We’re going to talk about everything. We’re not just going to talk about the schedule or Nicole Yic being weird at the end of the game. We’ll talk about a tiger can’t change his stripes. That’s what doesn’t mean it’s not gross. It doesn’t mean it’s not gross. If Shay did if Shay did that, it would be like front page news. Shay did it last night. Also fair, but it was a close game at least. Look, uh, this was a tough loss, so hang in there with us. Hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. We’re going to tell you all about it, talk all about it, and, uh, take maybe a big picture look as the Suns approach a rare off day it feels like tomorrow. But, uh, initial reactions to an 18-point loss at home, it was fun until it wasn’t. Um, that 80 run to start the game, Grayson Allen being back in the lineup, there were a lot of reasons to be excited. Um, but we just saw a team on the second end of a backto-back that ran out of steam. Um, also, not for nothing, a Nuggets team who was desperate for a win. They had lost two out of three. So, I think we saw them having a little bit more uh, having the best player in the world on their team who kind of did it pretty effortlessly. And the biggest thing that I would take away from this is that the Suns just did not have enough. Yeah. I mean, no excuses. And that’s kind of the motto of this team. And tonight, you just didn’t play well enough, especially in that second half to actually compete against a really good team. And uh yeah, you were you were under manned, but you still had your opportunities. You just shot poorly and uh made some mistakes. Look, I I want to say that I will be upset if anybody on the team goes out there and makes an excuse in postgame about the amount of games they’ve played, how short-handed they are, and I don’t expect any of them to do it. You cannot, but I’m going to do it. Look, at at a certain point, you got to take a step back because we’ve heard a lot about, well, the Suns schedule have been easy. Oh, it’s so easy and they’ve they’ve been such a cakewalk. The Suns are over 500, having played 21 games in 38 nights, four back-to-backs, and only having multiple days off in between games twice this season. We are almost in December. We’re talking about a team that’s played three or four more games than a lot of other teams in the Western Conference. That in addition to Jaylen Green has been out and by the way missing more games than usual due to the Suns packed schedule. Same thing for Grayson who came back tonight. Ryan Dunn who’s been out for a little bit. You’ve gone through so much adversity in this first half of the season beyond the schedule that when you break down the fact that this team is basically playing a packed every other night schedule for the entirety of this month of play so far, it’s brutal. And it makes sense that they’re starting to run out of gas a little bit. It’s frustrating to see a loss Espo and it’s frustrating when Denver shoots so well and clearly outplays the Suns. But I do think we need to take a step back and add some context to the situation. Nobody cares. That’s the problem though. I mean the you were going to have a stretch like this at some point in the season. Yeah, you drew drew the short end of the stick having to do it to begin things, but you’ve played well. You you are still well above 500 at 12 and N. You have to go out there. You’re going to get this week to kind of lick your wounds and and get back out there with only two win or excuse me, two games this week. and it evens out in the end. I know it’s rough, but you couldn’t have had a better start based on what everybody thought. And this is only the second time this year that you’ve lost two in a row. I mean, it was during that one and four stretch to start the year or that four game stretch that you lost there after that first game and now. So, even though you had to go through a difficult schedule, you’ve pulled through in a way that nobody expected you to. So, it’s overall a net positive in terms of it and tonight you weren’t very good and that’s as simple as it gets. The three-day layoff this week could not come at a better time. Obviously, a tough test awaits on Monday, but um you know, looking at it, not for nothing, these back tobacks that were talked about are are hard ones. This second time this year that the Nuggets were waiting on the second of backtoback. Obviously, the Nuggets were dealing with the same thing having traveled here uh to play tonight. But, yeah, it is what it is. Everybody has this type of stretch on their schedule one way or another. It just so happened that the Suns had it to begin the year and we’ll be talking about it probably down the line when it bounces off and it gets a little bit easier and they take advantage of it. Hopefully they’re in a better position to take advantage of it. But right now it sucks. Yeah, it does suck. And I don’t want to go out here and say this is like we’re the only team who faces any sort of adversity. It’s like talking about injuries. Yeah, every team faces injuries. Every team’s going to have a brutal stretch. I do wonder how many teams are going to have this many games in this many days throughout the season because a lot of the times you will get a little bit of a reprieve. But you’re right, Espo, it’s going to even out on the back end and that does mean that if the Suns, let’s say, get fully healthy and near the end of the season, they’re going to be in a little bit of a better position to be prepared for every game. Plus, as a team to be able to fight through this and to look back at this, you are still coming away from the stretch overtly positive. Michael in the chat said, “No need to sugarcoat it. This is a two-game losing streak. Yeah. Okay. Can we talk about like a two-game losing streak being disappointing for this team that most people thought was going to be losing the entire season. Objectively, like the expectations have shifted a little bit. Well, I mean, okay, it’s OKC and it’s Denver who are probably going to finish one and two in the West. Yeah. Yeah. And OKC at at OKC and in two nights and you wound up playing OKC down to the wire. Like if I had told you that at the beginning of the year or in preeason, people would have been like, “Okay, yeah, that sounds good.” Because you didn’t you expected them to get their the doors blown off of them this year. I I get it. Expectations have started to swing, but I think they’re swinging too far in the other direction now, too. Like, and two losing two games in a row sucks. Let’s not let’s not lie. Of course, it sucks. But the fact is, it’s only the second time you’ve done it. I I’m I’m going to choose to look at the the uh the 12-9 record and go, “Okay, I can I can deal with losing to the top two teams in the West in backto back nights.” Yeah. And I was going to say it’s a team that was desperate to not lose a second game in a row themselves. Um and had a little more I know they were down and they were short-handed as well, but you were facing a pretty desperate team. So, thinking about it from that that standpoint, it was one of the things we’ve talked about kind of throughout the week that expectations are a funny thing. like you come into the season without any and quickly shift where they are after a pretty hot stretch and to be at this point at 12 and nine obviously more good than bad coming into it I said a six and a half because you don’t want to lose two games in a row but so what it is what it is you lose by one you lose by 18 it’s just one more loss in the loss column and all you got to do is just come and regroup and be ready to go get some wins next week because that’s all you can control I mean if you threw these losses in the middle of that win streak where you beat the Clippers and the Pelicans and the Mavericks and the Pacers you threw a loss in there and sandwich it in between two two wins and you got the same record. People aren’t really that angry. And again, like we look at the competition level. The Nuggets were short-handed tonight. Absolutely. They’ve also been one of the best teams in the NBA on the road. They actually have a better record on the road than at home, which is really strange for a Denver team that usually boasts a pretty significant homecourt advantage. So, they were a team not only desperate for a win, but of course full of veteran players, even without Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown. And of course, in my opinion, the best player in the world. There are a lot of reasons why the Suns lost this game. It wasn’t just the schedule. I think we just go ahead and get into by the numbers. Presented by Desert Financial Credit Union, Arizona’s number one credit union, named by Forbes. Of course, unfortunately, this time the only number that matters, Espo, was 130 to 112. The Denver Nuggets take home the win over the Phoenix Suns for the second time this season. But the Suns were just simply outperformed tonight. Uh look, it comes down to these first two numbers, and it very clearly does because the Suns got uh 12 more shots than the Nuggets, but they wound up making five fewer shots in total. And the difference was the Suns were 14 of 42 from three-point line, only 33%. The Nuggets were 22 of 38. They shot almost 58%. Right, there’s the game. None of the other numbers are going to matter because you’re not going to overcome that difference there and how poorly you shot from deep. I mean, yeah, sure, you missed six free throws. That’s not going to change uh things. You you won the battle at the free throw line. You got there 26 times, they got there 21 times. Uh but again, only 23 assists as well. Tonight, you did move the ball well. You just missed your open looks. And as we’ve said always, you cannot win if you’re this team if you are not hitting your shots. Uh when you get those good looks because you are not talented enough to overcome uh those kind of differences, you’re not going to beat very many 18 very many teams in this league letting them shoot 58% from from beyond the arc. And I will say one more number that does matter, 36 assists on 44 field goals for Denver, which speaks to the shot quality that they were getting. It speaks to Nicole Joic with 10 assists. Bruce Brown off the bench with 10 assists. There was a point in the game where I was like, when did Bruce Brown get 10 assists? And I mean, credit to him for doing that and fitting within the system. Tim Hardway Jr. got a lot of assisted looks. There were a couple where the defense lost him. That was tough. But again, you’re outscored by 24 from beyond the arc. And a lot of them are high quality shots because of what Denver is doing. And again, I just want to say it again. 36 assists on 44 made field goals is you’re not going to win a lot of games when you’re letting a team run their offense like that. That’s the kind of stuff the Suns were are doing in some of these wins is lots of assists, you know, and and that’s that’s the equation there, right? They they were good defensively. They got in the passing lanes. They got steals tonight, but if you’re not hitting your shots, it’s not going to matter. Yeah. And look, the Suns did force a lot of turnovers tonight. They had 11 steals to Denver’s two. Denver had 17 total turnovers to Phoenix’s seven, and Denver allowed 23 points off of turnovers. Obviously at the beginning of the game there was a really big stretch that was powered by that. But I do think that the Suns played an okay defensive game. But again at the end of the day when you run up against Nicole Joic who again had a great night tonight was one of three Denver Nuggets to score over 20 points added 10 assists and nine rebounds attempts by the way. Yeah. Only seven shot attempts for him. He was 10 of 11 from the line. He it gets to a point where that guy getting the ball moving, drawing so much attention and Denver being so good at moving the ball on the perimeter. You can play 20 seconds of really good defense and it might still end up in a wide open shot. Yeah, that’s what we talked about coming into the game, right? When it was just like who’s going to have the unenviable task of guarding Nicole Joic and we said it’s a team thing, right? And we saw the Suns try to send doubles and try to bump him when he was off the ball, but obviously it doesn’t really work. He’s the best player in the world for a reason. And that’s how he was getting his teammates such quality looks from different spots on the floor as well and being that hub for their offense that he’s been for so long, so long as he’s been at the top of of the the food chain in the NBA. I almost would have preferred in the second half if you changed your strategy after you saw how well they were hitting from deep and just gone one-on-one with Joic and stayed home on the other guys and tried to even out that three-point advantage for them because really that’s where they won the game was in that three-point shooting and that difference uh tonight. But you know what, you’re not always going to pull all the right strings. And tonight, Jordan Knot uh didn’t have that magic that he, you know, made that an adjustment at half that made things work. Didn’t tonight. Well, it’s also hard to adjust, Gil when Tim Hardaway Jr. is seven of 11 from deep, eight of 14 from the field and 23 points in 27 minutes. Yeah, it didn’t take long for us to realize that Tim Hardaway was going to have one of those nights. I think it was like a a three-pointer he made, maybe a sideestep three that he made. He was five of eight from three in the first half. And I was looking at the half by half disparity in three-pointers. The Nuggets were on fire all game. They shot 63% from three in the first half. The Suns stopped 43%, but in the second half, it cooled off. We talked about Colin Gillespie couldn’t really find it. Five of 21 in the second half from three for the Suns. And that I think, you know, again, not making excuses, but probably trying to find a reason and figure out why this happened. It does seem like a team that lost a little bit of juice out of their legs in the second half, missing that many threes and going from shooting 43% from three, which is great, to 24%. and also just allowing what they allowed from beyond the arc is not a a recipe for winning. Well, and you’ve got Grayson probably not probably your best three-point shooter who’s still trying to get back into a rhythm after missing all that time and he hit a few misses there on good looks. So, yeah, I this I think this evens out on Monday and they find find their shot again and hopefully can play uh a little bit better defense around the perimeter against the Lakers. Well, we’ve seen this team recover after a loss, bounce back and fix certain problems. Now, I think it’s easier to maybe fix your turnover problems than it is to just say hit shots. And so, that’s going to be an interesting test for them. Grayson Allen tonight, only 10 points in 26 minutes. So, assume was on a little bit of a minutes restriction there. Two of seven from deep. You’d hope that that goes up. I still think you saw glimmers and flashes of his impact out there, especially off of drives and passes and moves. But again, the shots don’t fall off of that. We don’t look at that impact as much. There was one impact play that still sticks out. My the love the play. The love the play of the game brought you of our friends at uh at the Arizona Lottery play and gift today. Grayson Allen got up on a dunk like up on a dunk. Sneaky athleticism. I mean so sneaky. It’s almost to the point where he’s been doing it for years, like a decade almost. Almost. I I know I’m not supposed to think this song given the artist, but all I could think of is I believe I could fly when he took off uh from outside the dotted line and uh and slammed it home. It was uh it was a pretty play and yeah, got to look out. That stuff’s sneaky. Yeah, I mean, look, he’s just a real first in the gym, last out, understands the game, sneaky tangible. Just a just a just a gritty guy who you know, you won in your locker room, man. Right. Yeah, that’s the kind of guy that all about the hustle, right? Yeah. No, I mean just wants it, right? That guy, he just wants it more than everybody else. It was good to see him the NBA cup. Yeah, the because it means more because it means more. Uh it was nice to see Grayson Allen out there. Of course, he’s not going to be our blueco collar boy or due to the night. We’ll give those awards out. Plus, we’ll continue to talk about what was a disappointing loss, an 18-point L to the Nuggets, 130 to 112. We’re going to get into all of that on the other side of our first break. Maybe you want to get away. Whether it’s the sun’s crazy schedule that’s driving you insane, or maybe you just want to go out for the holidays, heal River Resorts and Casinos is the best place cuz quite simply, no one does it better. But you might ask yourself, Eric, what is it? Well, it is whatever you want it to be. At Wild Horse Pass, Lone, Vqua, and Santan Mountain. It could be a night out on the town. hit the state-of-the-art gaming floor, maybe go to some upscale dining. It might also just be a casual little station, kick back by the pool, go catch a show, and go to maybe some of the more approachable dining. Look, you can do whatever at Hila River Resorts and Casinos, including going to their sports books for, of course, big NBA slates, NFL slates, college football slates. As we get to bowl season, they’ve got everything at Hila. From upscale to approachable, from casual to classy, from bar to bar none. Their selection of dining options are always in good taste. And with an unprecedented level of entertainment and excitement that you won’t find anywhere else in the desert, they’ve set a high bar. You do you at Hila River Resorts and Casinos. Visit playhila.com for more details. I I am a man that loves to use technology to make my life easier. That is that is just the way I go at it. I mean, I I’m turning to chat GPT for random stuff like maybe making my bets moving forward. Talk about it. That’s cheating. I I I I just I love to make my life easier with technology and our friends at APS have a way to do that as well. Uh you should use a smart thermostat. I have one in my home and it makes the whole process of keeping my house hot or cool so much easier because it kind of figures out what your rhythm is in terms of the way you like things. You can set it automatically and help you save. APS customers are going to get a new smart thermostat for as low as $0, which in my books is free uh at aps.com/sale. Shipping and taxes are not included. Other restrictions apply, but I highly recommend it, especially uh as we go through the winter months, but you know, when summer’s coming, you’re going to want to have one of those smart thermostats. So, look, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. Obviously, this was not a fun outcome, but don’t worry. PHNX Suns is here for you. Win or loss, rain or shine, we will be here talking about still one of the biggest surprises in the NBA and your Phoenix Suns who lost the Denver Nuggets 130 to 112. Talk about the chat GBT thing real quick. Hold on. I got I got one other big surprise. Oh, okay. 90% off at our live now uh for Black Friday and and you know what? As the GM, I might keep this rolling through tomorrow and Cyber Monday. Wow, that’s that’s a you call or did GBT make that that decision for you? Oh, no. My smart thermostat. So, go to 90 feels like you might be paying a lot of money nowadays. Well, no. Well, yeah. I mean, I guess in winter, sure. In summer, it’s super easy. You can save up to 90% off on our hats, uh, you know, our great t-shirts, anything and everything in the locker. You got to check it out. Go to gophnx.com right now. Uh, and check it out. Hit that merch link and you can get that up to 90% off. Uh me and ChatG That’s You want me to do that or have the mustache behind the Mac? Well, see that’s that’s not fake. That’s not cheating. No, that’s absolutely cheating as the GM. That’s just me. That’s just me delegating. That’s called That’s called good business. Somebody else place your bets is unacceptable. The only reason why I would be okay with you using chat GPT for your bets is because I want to say that I also kicked AI’s ass in betting as well. That’s that’s the only reason why I would want to do it. You talk a big game for the guy that’s in the seller with me. I’m not in the cellar with you. Yes, you are. I might be negative, but you’re like 200. I’m like 20. Last I checked, you were in the negative. Look, a week ago, I was and the freckle mamba are kicking both. We can’t really hear you guys from where we are. All right. All right. All right. I’m I’m I’m happy for you. It’s a lot easier when you can just jump right in in the middle of the season. Some guys got to get it out of the mud. Look, Hold on. You had a big You had a big lead and you squandered it. That’s on you, bro. Uh look, all I’m saying all I’m saying is I will not be turning to J chat GPT for for my bets. I won’t be doing that. But if you want to do it, go ahead until you start hitting. Then we’re going to have to put a an end to that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You wouldn’t know the difference. That is fair. We might not know the difference. Uh, I don’t know the difference between Michael Jordan and our due to the night presented by Hila River Resorts and Casinos. You do you at Hila River Resorts and Casinos. This is a playhila.com for more details because it’s Dylan Brooks who continues to have one of the nastiest mid-range post games in the NBA today. Also continues his red-hot scoring streak at just 28 minutes tonight. He had 27 points, 10 of 18 from the field, two of six from deep, a five of six from the line, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. three three rebounds and two assists. Almost a season high. Literally almost a season high. Uh but Dylan Brooks has been maybe the most consistent scorer on the Suns this season. I think it’s a conversation. I don’t think it’s maybe. I think it is. When he’s out there, he’s found a way to get it done. And like you’re saying, that post up kind of fadeaway is almost become automatic for him, which is a nice little thing to have in the bag. Sometimes the three is not there, but that shot almost always is. He had a couple tonight. I remember one in the first half put a shoulder into Tim Hardway Jr. hit the turnaround. Then he had one on the baseline in the second half. And you know, it’s one of those things when watching as an observer, you have the confidence in that he’s going to do it. And I think watching him play, you see the confidence with him. He’s never been a guy who’s lacked for confidence. Um, but now being in a position where he’s entrusted to do these things and also asked to do these things, it says a lot that he’s stepped into the role and consistently done it over and over again. Because one thing about being in that role, you’re on the scouting report and you’re high up on the scouting report and the fact he’s still getting it done despite that says a lot about him. Well, and I think we have these conversations about the Sun start of the season and just like macro all the things we mentioned at the beginning of the show, right? The schedule and the injuries and and whatnot. and how many times guys have had to step up in the pecking order. when it comes down to crunch time at the end of the season, if they are fully healthy, let’s say competing for a playin spot, a playoff spot, whatever it is, to be able to look at a guy like Dylan Brooks, with Devin Booker, and with Jaylen Green on the court, and be confident with the ball in his hands, not just catch and shoot from three or get to the rim, but to be able to create out of the post when the game slows down, when the games get more important and you’re not running and gunning and things are a little bit slower, this is the type of offensive game that’s going to translate, right? and to have that alongside other dynamic playmakers and creators with Colin Gillespy’s emergence as well. And then you throw Grayson Allen, we’re talking about four guys, five guys that can go and just get a bucket for the Suns on any given possession. That is not very common in most teams. So Dylan getting these reps when he’s higher up on the scouting report hopefully Espo means when everybody’s fully healthy and he’s kind of forgot about a little bit. Maybe the stats aren’t going to be as high, but the impact will be just as much there. I mean that that’s your hope is that you find the right situations at the right time to get him involved when everybody’s back. And if that shot, especially that post shot, uh, is hitting, that’s going to bode very well for what they’re doing in unless defenses get smart to it somehow. But I don’t know how you can with that kind of move because it’s back down and and spin out and try to hit that, that that’s tough to defend even if you send a couple guys at it. Yeah. One of the things you talk about, and we are still a ways away, but getting the team healthy and hopefully still being in a position where the games are meaningful and they’re playing for something down the stretch of the season, your level of comfort or I guess how calm your your your your blood pressure is in those high lever situations is how many guys on the court do you trust to make a play? And at this point in time, you named three guys, four guys, Jaylen Green, Dylan Brooks, Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, who you would trust in these situations. When the team knows your first, second, and third option and the play breaks down, what can you go to? How can you make that work? These are invaluable reps in getting that done as far as that goes down the stretch. Again, long ways to go, but seeing what we’ve seen, he’s pass the test with flying colors up to this point, and you hope to continue to see that, especially during this tough stretch. Well, look, I I was listening to an old clip from a podcast I used to listen to uh over the weekend, and they’re talking about how J.R. Smith treats every game like it’s the same whether it’s the NBA finals or how far did you go back and archive it go back it came across my timeline right and somebody’s like oh I was digging through our first episode was how many years ago in like 2016 2017 and you know we were talking about this and it was like JR Smith shows up to every game and treats it all the same whether it’s the NBA finals and he’s pulling a 40 foot three-pointer off of the tip off or if it’s game one of the NBA season or the middle of February so he’s high off his ass all the time all I’m saying is Dylan Brooks approaches every game like it’s exactly the same, right? Whether everybody’s fully healthy or he’s the number one option, Dylan Brooks just plays like Dylan Brooks. And guys, for better or worse, for better or for worse. But honestly, for the season, most of the time it’s been for better. And I do think that defenses in general, and we’re even seeing it now without a star-studded Phoenix Suns fully healthy lineup, are still living with the fact that Dylan Brooks is going to go out there and try to create his own shot. I think in general, teams are going to live with that. And I know that Dylan Brooks understands that. And I think the coaching staff understands that and has empowered him to go out and say, “Look, if you feel like you can get a good shot off and you can create something, we have faith in you to do it.” And a guy like Dylan Brooks thrives off of confidence. And we have seen that in spades. I know people might expect a regression and honestly the way he’s scoring. I can see a slight step back especially on this volume, but we’re talking about a quarter of the season basically at this point that Dylan Brooks has been as we are saying the most consistent scorer on a team that has had Devin Booker play in all of their games. That is about as impressive as I could have imagined Dylan Brooks a quarter of the way through the season. Yeah, there’s a half empty and a half full approach or a way to look at that too, right? because you mentioned Devin Booker is on this team and you would like for him to be the most consistent guy for the entire breadth of the season and obviously he was at one point and I’m sure he will be again. But I think again kind of going back to the confidence piece, it speaks a lot to the way that it’s I always say confidence is like a revolving door, right? Your coach kind of instills it in you and you instill it back in them and doing what they entrust you to do. And we’re seeing that with Dylan Brooks up to this point in the season. Um obviously you hope he continues to to pull that. You question, you know, is it sustainable? I remember Steven pulled those numbers earlier in the season where he kind of ranks up high in the NBA among people who are getting as many isolations as he’s getting. Do I expect that to continue at this rate? Probably not. But again, like you said, when it gets a little bit easier for him, you hope it gets easier for him. It will feel easier as well. But can a guy like that get too much confidence where it actually can become a detriment when you have your full uh you know, your full group back? because that’s that’s one of my concerns here is that he’s getting maybe too comfortable with being the guy that scores the most or being one of the top couple scorers. And when you get Jaylen back, when Grayson gets back into his his groove, does that confidence become a little too much where there’s too many shots that are being taken by a guy that probably shouldn’t be taking too much? Yeah, harnessing it is probably the biggest thing and and it’s hard to tell, right? cuz he hasn’t really had this asked of him at this long of a period of time really at all in his career. Maybe early Memphis, but other than that, like no, not at all. And knowing him and I know he has, you know, known for his antics and this that and the third, but I also know he’s a good teammate. I think he has a good basketball IQ and a high enough. So, I trust him to take a step back, but at the same time, if I’m a guy who’s averaging 21, 22 points per game, I might eventually think that, you know what, you have to fit in around me and I don’t and not vice versa. So, um, and to a certain extent, that could help in easing people back in, but it will be a lot for him to just have that IQ and have the understanding that look, it needs to be Jaylen Green, needs to be somebody else. I think the benefit, the one benefit is the guy that’s coming back is Jaylen Green, a guy that he’s been familiarity. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and with with Dylan as well, we’ve needed him to do this. It is not like he has had to go out there and put his foot on the gas more so than we would want from him considering of course all the struggles I know you guys touched on with Deon Booker last night in great length. We’ll talk about it a little bit tonight as well, but the injuries, Grayson being out, Jaylen being out, but then also not getting what you need from some other guys offensively on the court. You’ve needed Dylan to do this. I think he’s smart enough to know that like will we get some stupid Dylan Brook shots? Yes. But overall, I don’t think he’s going to be the kind of guy that’s going to harm the game to a crazy degree when he’s got these other offensive creators back. I do think it’s interesting. The one game that Jaylen Green did fully play, Dylan Brooks was still out. They only played on the court for seven minutes together against the Clippers, but I will be interested to see how that dynamic works out. But I also think he’s coachable and I don’t think the coaching staff will let him run rampant for long stretches of time. He gets he gets that tunnel vision. the ball will hit his hand sometimes and it’s like everybody else just kind of disappears. It’s monumano. I’m I’m going to try to take you and that’s my bigger concern when these guys are back. Does he default into that because he’s been doing it so much this year and and will they be able to find the right balance? That is my only concern because like you said, he has one speed and he does what he does. And if this is becoming what he does, is it going to be a an adjustment that he that takes a little while for him to get into that headsp space when they finally are healthy? If they finally are healthy. I mean, yeah, big if. And again, I mentioned harnessing it and is is harnessing look like a quick pull if he does have the the tunnel vision because you will have full complement of players. If he does some things that we’re not okay with, do you pull him? How does he react to that? And these are big ifs, too. Like again, he could just fall right in line and be cool with it because ultimately he just wants to win. But again, it is very hard to be at that level and be contributing and scoring and producing at the level that he’s doing right now and then just be like, “All right, tone it down a little bit.” That’s hard. Well, that’s the toughest thing, too, with this hot start and you’ve done it without Jaylen Green. When he eventually does come back, it it’s this whole readjustment period for everybody to try to figure out, okay, what does this work like? How does this look? What is Goodwin’s role? What is Colin Gillespiey’s role? Like, how does this all come back together? And and that’s another thing that that we’re going to have to figure out when we get into December and probably late December when Jaylen comes back is, okay, now how do you make this work? Grayson on the bench now. Like, what does it all look like? I mean, good problems to have, right? And we saw in a game where where Grayson Allen was still in the starting lineup when Jaylen Green was back. I would probably assume that that’s going to be the starting one, two, and three for the Suns considering how well Grayson was playing obviously pre-injjury. Rarified air in the chat says there’s no way y’all worried about Brooks balling out of his mind. And I do think there’s something to be said about at the end of the day, if this team’s fully healthy and Dylan Brooks is scoring nearly 30 points on 50% shooting and he’s continuing to sustain it, at a certain point, you just got to you got to rock out with it, right? Yeah. No, I agree. You’re winning. Yeah. But and if it gets to a point where you feel like it’s not impacting winning or you’re feeling like other guys are kind of taking a step back or he’s not hitting his shots, I do have faith in Brooks and then this coaching staff which seems very good at relating to players and putting them in the right position. having a conversation saying, “Look, you’ve been great. There will be many times where we’re going to ride the hot hand with you, but overall we need you to take a step back.” At the end of the day, if that’s the problem this team is having is Dylan Brooks is, you know, being too good on offense that Jaylen Green and Devin Booker and Grayson Allen are having a harder time fitting in, I have confidence in figuring that side of the equation out rather than the opposite of Dylan Brooks can’t hit the side of a barn. Yeah. No, I agree. And I think there’s a much bigger problem, you know, than any perceived thing that might happen that we got a front row seat for tonight. And it’s the fact that you need another center on this roster. So, and that’s that’s something that I think is is more of an issue than uh than anything with Brooks potentially. Well, we’re going to talk about that backup center position. We’ll present our due to the night. We’ll hear from Steven live from the morg where the Suns they were slammed shut tonight 1:30 to 112. A loss to the Denver Nuggets. We’re going to keep it rolling here on PHX Suns postgame show on the other side of our break. You want to be prepared in life for anything, but you never really want to think about the bad stuff. A serious injury that maybe you sustain a wrongful death in your family or your friends. You want to write down this number just in case. 6027838841. That’s 6027838841. Of course, you’ve heard it by now. It’s the number for the husband and wife Law Team, and they are proud to make you guarantees as your lawyers. Mark and Alexis Brier lead a firm with certified specialists by the State Bar of Arizona and personal injury and wrongful death. This is an entire firm dedicated to personal injury and wrongful death. They actually go to trial. You get access to your attorney at all times. 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But if you sign up right now to become a member of the inner circle, you’re going to save 25 cents off per gallon on your first five fillups. then 3 cents off per gallon after that. Then you can hit the espo level or the freckled bomba level and you’re going to save 5 cents off per gallon after that. But it’s not that’s not it. 79 cent polar pops, 99 cent frosters and deals on all sorts of meals that you’re going to love. So if you’re hungry, thirsty, or your car needs gas, become a member of the inner circle today for free by downloading the Circle K app. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit circlek.com for details. Hit that like button for Espo’s birthday, huh? Just snuck that one right in there. I say one win one win for the NBA schedule makers was that they didn’t schedule on your birthday so you can go home and relax. Oh yeah, they they only scheduled like six games in nine nights and then we got another one on Monday. So I’ll sleep tomorrow. Yeah. Uh Charles with the $5 super chat says, “Happy birthday, Aspo. The OG and the real star of the show.” Thanks, Charles. Just means I’m old, Charles. I just I’ve done some version of this show now for a decade. Yikes. Well, and uh you’ve seen a lot of centers in the time over the last decade here. Look, let’s start with the positive first. Let’s name our blue collar blue collar boy. Of course, you would start with chocolateale of the night. It is going to go to Oso Eigodaro who got the start tonight. In 32 minutes, he had eight points, was 44 from the field, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. played some good defense, missed three free throws, hasn’t hit a free throw in like 14 or 15 days, but he is our blueco collar boy of the night. I want to give props to him, but there is this larger conversation that needs to be had about the center rotation. Very sorry to the current birthday boy in Nick Richards who in seven minutes tonight recorded zero points and three rebounds with a turnover was a minus 11 in 7 minutes. The Phoenix Suns have a backup center problem. Yeah, they don’t have one right now. Exactly. They Oso I like Oso and he’s a good change of pace. I don’t think he’s really a center when you look at it. He he’s probably a big that you’re playing alongside a center or a change of pla pace center. Not a guy that you can rely on when Mark Williams can’t play right. I I just I I don’t think he can be the man. So, you got to be looking at at what point do we feel we have to make a trade because it’s pretty obvious that Kaman Malawatch is not going to be ready uh in the near future. And if you feel that this team is good enough to be in playing contention and playoff contention, you have to seriously consider, is there a guy out there that you can move one of your wings for? Uh, and and find a guy that can help you in that spot because we know Mark Williams health questions. We now know that he’s dealing with a calf issue. We know backtobacks he’s likely not going to play the second half of that for the foreseeable future. You got to find somebody. Yeah. And I think when I think about that outside of Mark who has his own issues that he’s dealing with, it kind of feels like everybody’s punching up a weight class, right? You’d be fine if your second string center was your third string guy and so on and so forth until Kamala watch is ready. Obviously, you’re betting on that happening hopefully sooner rather than later, but it’s going to take some time as we were reminded last night. But, you know, on the flip side, it does remind you that it is a good problem to have the amount of wings that have been impactful. Some of them maybe more expendable in putting together a package to get a big man down the line this season. It is a decision that you’re going to have to make. What do you think this team is going to be down the stretch? Is it going to be meaningful to have a guy like that this year? Is it worth parting ways with somebody that you value in order to get somebody else that you might value more? But all in all, it’s very clear that that’s something that needs to be addressed. Yeah. Uh, Royce, get ready to speak Flityian, I think. Yeah. I mean, obviously Gogetad is a name that I’ve really loved and we’ve been talking about him for a long time, but to be honest with you, I’m kind of interested to see the names that the Suns are interested in. Now, Jake Fischer reported that the Suns have been trying or open to moving Nick Richards since the summer. And if you weren’t able to trade him over the summer after he’s had quite a bit of success actually at the end of last season, I don’t know exactly what type of suitors you’re going to find here. You’re going to have to be looking at trading somebody else. Like you mentioned, Gil, I think Royce O’Neal is the name that kind of pops up the most. Have you seen those commercials where the woman brings in that old giant TV and she’s like, I can trade this in for some That’s what I feel like that that whole rumor was. Right. I I appreciate that Nick Richards goes out there and works hard, but nobody’s going to trade valuable assets for a guy that’s struggling on your roster right now. Well, not when everybody’s having great success. And one of the reasons why it’s so clear that the Suns have a backup center issue is because they clearly don’t have a starting one when he’s on the court. Mark Williams has been a godsend for this team on both sides of the ball. He’s been playing great basketball and giving you a higher level of output than you probably would have imagined. Now maybe OSO’s in a better situation when for the millionth time this show we talk about the team being fully healthy and OSO being surrounded by guys. But another big body center to go alongside it or a floor spacing center. Obviously Kam Malawatch is the one who marries those two things in theory but it’s getting increasingly clearer and clearer that he’s not going to be getting meaningful minutes anytime soon especially if this team continues to compete which I think we all expect them to do. I think Brian Gregory and the front office have done a very good job at taking swings on guys and evaluating talent. I don’t think they need to go out there and shed a lot of valuable assets to this team to poach a bigger name center and maybe not a guy like Goa who maybe isn’t getting a ton of burn in Orlando but is still probably as far as centers in their price range at the higher end. I wonder if they find a younger guy maybe in a spot that’s not utilizing him correctly and say come on over here we’ll find a better spot for you right because they’ve done such a good job of doing that with Tom Gillespie Jamari Buouay Jordan Goodwin Isaiah Livers like they have been very good at evaluating that I wonder if that’s the route that they go you took a thought out of my brain like this brain trust in the front office has earned goodwill in a short period of time that they will figure something out and maybe do something that unconventional that doesn’t necessarily seem like it might work and it could work for this team. It’s also interesting that you mentioned there are two archetypes they could go for more of a bruiser or a floor spacer. So, kind of gives you a little more wiggle room because I know when you get one, you are kind of sacrificing the other, but either way, it would benefit this team and improving in that area. So, it gives you some flexibility, kind of gives you more options, and obviously also we know we’re a quarter of the way through the season and and rumors will start to heat up a little bit, but I do think in the next month, month and a half, you’ll start hearing more about teams who are over somebody. A guy might be disgruntled and maybe some names who you don’t expect to be available right now at the beginning beginning of December could be available for you when the year the calendar flips to 2026. Yeah, unfortunately, sounds like those are going to be a lot of guards based on what’s going on in the league. That December 15th date obviously a big day when it comes to trades too because a lot of people that sign deals in the off season become trade eligible there. I’ll be fascinated to watch over the next few months what if anything moves-wise the Suns make because we’ll understand what their thinking is for this season based on what they do. Do you go in on a move that’s more focused on this season or are you playing uh the odds and the long-term game and do you just accept whatever happens this year is is kind of a bonus based on where a lot of people expect you to be? Well, I think that if they’re going to make a move, I don’t believe they’re going to be trying to get any one-year rentals, right? I don’t think they’re in the business of going all in on this season. I think they’re going to try to find somebody that’s under control. I mean, obviously this wasn’t Brian Gregory, but when you trade for Nick Richards, he had two years on his contract, you had some control over that. They like having a guy like Grayson Allen under contract, extending him after trading for him. I don’t think they’re going to try to push their chips to the center of the table and say, “We’re all in on competing this year, but they they don’t have their own pick.” I think they are definitely in on on trying to to be a team that is competing for a playoff spot. And if you look at some of the teams that you might face in the playoffs, a lot of them have pretty good center depth from a size perspective. So I do wonder if you go more the Bruiser route and say we’ve got the shooting to go around it. But tonight against Nicole Joic and Yonis Valenunis, which is the biggest probably center rotation in the league, you just didn’t have anybody out there that could just stand their ground slightly. Well, no. And then you’re going to face a similar problem when it comes to Houston, too. I mean, we know and we we saw that uh I I guess that was last week. I’m I’m losing track of time with all these games, but that that’s going to be another duo that’s going to be difficult. You need some size on this roster and probably need it sooner rather than later. Yeah, size and mobility would have helped too cuz I thought about Oklahoma City. Obviously, Isaiah Hartenstein was not in the lineup last night and might not be available when they run it back for the cup quarterfinals. But we saw a team win a championship playing like that and it is a copycat league as some people like to say. So to have that opportunity, even if it’s a guy who can come in and just give you that double big lineup for seven, nine, 11 minutes, that would do a whole lot. So I mean, is it a younger guy? Is it maybe a guy who was highly touted once and then a team just kind of gives up on them? There are a lot of different guys who sometimes become available when you least expect it. Um, but again, it’s easier said than done, especially knowing what you have to offer uh to to make that happen. I saw somebody in the chat suggest Jaylen Smith. We could introduce him to Sticks Kids if uh Oh my goodness. We We’ll wait for that to actually happen. I I recorded a song for Jaylen Smith. Okay. I think it’s also worth noting just keep an eye on these teams that are falling down in the standings that’ll try to sell guys off for really anything. There’s a lot of day sharp talk in the chat. He would be a very athletic big. He definitely wouldn’t give you that shooting touch, but he would give you a nice athletic big body rim running center that I think the Suns could definitely benefit from. Uh, also looking at the Indiana Pacers and a guy who scored 14 straight points to start the game the game today and Jay Huff. If the Pacers want to get any sort of assets for a guy that’s not in their long-term plans or futures, I think he would fit in wonderfully. Phoenix don’t really have anything that the Pacers are going to want, right? I mean, a second round pick and Royce O’Neal is probably what it would take and then they try to flip Royce O’Neal for more second round picks because this is a lost season for Indiana. I see them if you’re gonna if you’re going to go for that, they probably want different assets that are that make more. I guess it depends on what the what the market is for. I mean, that’s that’s the toughest thing right now. The Suns don’t have a lot to offer in anything as well. So, if you’re gonna you’re going to have to find somebody that matches their need matches your excess and and that’s really going to be probably another play a team that thinks they have playoff aspirations who wants a guy like a Royce O’Neal or or somebody like that because you’re not giving up your young talent uh in anything. You have no draft capital. So, that’s what it’s going to come down to. I think it’s why it feels like Orlando has just always been that team that you’re looking at and saying, “Okay, you obviously need to continue to get a little bit more shooting. Hell, they might want to trade a guy like Jonathan Isaac.” Jet Howard, uh, they have him listed as a guard. That guy’s not a guard. He plays forward and center. Like Wendell Carter Jr. is also a name that maybe you can monitor as well. They’re definitely not going to trade Mo Vagner, even though I think that would be a really fun fit here in Phoenix as well. Obviously, we’ll do trade machine, whatever. When we get closer, hopefully it’s the Suns being buyers instead of sellers. Uh, but it is certainly in my mind that biggest glaring issue with the team at this time. Yep. I there’s no doubt about it. And, you know, tonight showed that. And if Mark Williams is out for any extended period of time with that calf, I think it’s something we’re going to see again and again. Well, and I think that is kind of the final bow to put on this conversation for those who miss it in pregame. Obviously Mark Williams not playing another backtoback, but he did not miss tonight due to right knee injury management. Gil, he missed it due to a sore calf. Jordan not said pregame, it’s something that definitely happened in the game against OKC. They were evaluating for his backtoback today. Listed him with right calf soreness. We’ll see what has to happen with him on Monday. Yeah, calves are really tricky. I’ll say it time and time again. And obviously, you want to be very careful with that, especially knowing Mark Williams is a guy who has had his health issues in the past. And there’s been a plan with the knee and now this is something else just to monitor and be careful about. Um, you know, you don’t want to sound the alarm until you hear more about it because we could see him play Monday or see him play next Friday and all is is is is forgiven and all is forgotten. But, um, you know, it’s one of those things where until I’m I’m ready to dial up the panic meter, but I’m just not ready yet until I hear more about it. It’s the PTSD with L Williams and kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. But obviously, we’ll have to wait and see. and maybe he wasn’t going to play today anyway and just to abide by the NBA’s rules. They listed the calf strain because it’s something they found and they’ll move on from there. We’ll see. We’ll hear from Steven soon. He’ll be setting up and calling in. We’ll have some sound from Grayson Allen and from Jordan postgame. We’ll continue to wrap things up here on the second night of a backtoback on PHNX Suns. And of course, we’re presented by Bet 365 Eritton and Gil’s favorite app because they just can’t stop winning money. All they do is win win win no matter what. And that makes me upset. But what doesn’t upset me is opening up bet 365 every single game and saying, “You know what? 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If you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1800 Nextstep text nextep to 5342 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. Oh, you know, I am proud to be a Suns fan and I’ve always wanted one of those debit cards with the Suns logo on it. Uh, I I’ve always wanted one of those and I’m gonna have to go to Mountain America Credit Union and get one now because I can get it with my debit card or my credit card and I can get it with the my style checking account right now and that’s going to unlock extra benefits for you at teleaalth access, mobile phone protection. Who has not dropped their phone and almost shattered the screen or actually done it like me uh before? Loan rate discounts and so much more. I I highly recommend it and Mountain America is here to guide you forward on your financial journey. So why not get in there and uh to take a trip with them both uh metaphorically and you know with their uh vacation discounts, you can do that as well. So uh visit macu.com/sons to learn more. Insured by NCUA terms and conditions and exceptions apply loans on approved credit. Hit that like button. Stephen will be calling up here in just a second. Hit that subscribe button as well. will be off tomorrow. Then we’ll be back on Monday for Suns Lakers a Peacock game. 8:00 tip off Monday night. Then guess what? Three 300 p.m. shows in a row. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday as the Suns finally get a little bit of a break before Friday, they face off against the Houston Rockets for the second time this season. And then they’ve got the weekend free after that. So, a lighter week after five games in seven days for the Suns here. Let’s put a bow on this game and this conversation, Gil, do you feel like there’s anything that we haven’t really unpacked about a 13112 loss for the Suns? One thing I want to revisit, you talked about like, you know, shooting. Can’t you just say just make shots? And after after going 14 to 42 from three, you tell shooters all the time, listen, short memory, forget about it and just go into the next one. You want the team to have that that mentality coming out of this one. Say it wasn’t our night. Our legs might have been tired. Whatever it is, not excuses, just trying to figure it out and put it behind you and say, you know what, Monday we’ll knock down more shots because that’s a big part of how this team is who they are and that’s a big part of the formula for winning games. So, don’t think about this one. Don’t lo the third game in a row thinking about Saturday night. Agree wholeheartedly. Well, let’s uh go ahead and check in with Mr. contacts himself live from the afterlife as the Phoenix Suns were dead in the morg. Tonight it’s Steven Pjon Garner of course the fourth member of our panel there at every single home game. Stephen, this was the Suns fourth backto back their 21st game in 38 nights. Do you feel like they just ran out of gas against the Nuggets? I mean a little bit. I think a lot of it was Jokic being by far the best player on the floor and him kind of triggering a lot of what they struggled to do defensively and then on the other side of the floor um they struggle to put the ball in the basket in the second half. I think 52 points or 57 points something like that in the second half it’s not going to get it done against a team like Denver. Um so they had their struggles independent of the context of it being the second night of a road home back to back. But Denver also came off of a backtoback as well. So like just don’t know if that’s the only reason why they lost today’s game, but it is a part of the the story to tell for sure. I I think the center rotation’s a big reason why they lost tonight’s game. We were just talking about that last segment and how that’s starting to look like a weakness for this team. I mean, Oso Agodoro did everything he could, uh, but you really don’t have the size to compete against a guy like Joic. Yeah, you felt it in moments. Uh they went with a lot of their cross matching scheme similar to what we saw uh when they went up against Victor Wyama about a month ago from uh from today’s game. Um but yeah, you could feel you could feel their lack of size around the rim at times. Uh the one-on-one matchups with Joic after they got to initial action, the trigger switch, they end up organizing their switches afterwards. It gets back to Joic. You could feel it because he didn’t really feel much resistance when he was trying to negotiate himself to the post and then at that point it was his pick of the litter. The hook shot was there getting fouled was definitely there. The skip passes and all of that stuff was there as well. So it felt like death about a thousand options just because Jokic is such a gravity for attention that he’s also able to kind of leverage it into opportunity for his teammates. Yeah, you talked about the Suns struggles offensively and one thing I noticed the Nuggets were mixing in some zone looks a lot defensively. You think it was an execution thing from from the Suns tonight or you think they just have the personnel do that and that’s something that other teams can replicate moving forward? Yeah, that’s a that’s a good question, Gil. I feel like I feel like they struggled a little bit against the two-3 zone tonight. Uh but Eritton, we can go ahead and cue up Jordan’s response to me asking about their second half struggles and he spoke in detail about the two-3 zone from Denver. I mean, there’s so many possessions, Stephen. It I’m sure it’s a little bit of both. Um, we we got stagnant against that zone. That’s what sticks out right in my mind right now. That was a big stretch. I thought early we had great looks in the third quarter. There’s multiple possessions where we had multiple really good looks. Um, we’re a three-point shooting team. We We don’t get to the rim. We We’re especially without Mark. Uh, you know, it’s that’s that’s what we got. and we’ll continue to take the highest quality shots available. Last night we got 44 of them up. Tonight we got 42 of them up. Um but yeah, I’m sure it’s a little bit of of both. Like I’m sure we could have got some possessions where it was. We took care of it tonight. So that that’s a positive after last night. So we’ll keep we’ll keep trying to find solutions for for whatever we have. Always love hearing coach. Stephen, was there anything else that interesting that he had to say postgame tonight? Uh yeah, real quick to before we transition from that one. I think him mentioning that they’re not a team that spends a lot of time at the rim is important. He obviously mentioned by name Mark Williams, but the other part in that they’ve only had one game of Jaylen Green. And I feel like that’s another dynamic that because of his absence, there’s really no one else that can replicate to the same volume the things that he can do getting downhill, which will naturally create more opportunities for himself and others to get there. So, it’s a little tough on the formula side for them in terms of how they’re approaching the offense when the threes aren’t falling. Uh, but yeah, Eritton, uh, we can go ahead and cue up the clip where I spoke with, uh, Jordan as well about their cross matching against Nicole Joic and how you felt they rotated out of that to try to take away the three-point line tonight. Yeah, tonight we came from the top. That’s usually what we do. Um, especially because we don’t have a ton of size on the on the bottom anyways. Uh, so we just try to use our speed, use our intelligence to then rotate all the way around. And Joic does such a great job of not going to the person you think is going to go to. So then when he starts to skip your rotation, now you’re in closeouts. And then when you shoot 60%, obviously our impacts or our contests weren’t good enough or we weren’t weren’t good enough there in the rotation. But at times I thought we took away the rim. That’s what they do. You know, we ended up similar points in the paint as they do. They’ve usually crushed teams in there. So, yeah, we we’ll take a look. I think they heard us from the three-point line, obviously. Um, and usually it’s at the rim. So, um, yeah, we rotate from the top. Yeah. So, they had they had some struggles there. Um, just when Joic gets it going and he’s able to start making you guess where the next pass is going to go, even if you give him a outlet by sending him a double team, you got to leave someone open, he doesn’t always throw it there. He’ll make his eyes tell lies. does all those little things that the best passers do. And this was a game where it felt like more than any other one this season. I can’t wait to see what the numbers look like um to add the full context, but it felt like they were scrambling more than they were rotating. And there’s a difference in those two if you kind of walk with me there. Scrambling, you’re behind schedule and it feels like you’re chasing the ball, you’re chasing the possessions. Rotating means you’re either early or you’re on time. And it felt like it was a whole lot more of the former than the latter for the Suns in this one. And that’s why they conceded some of the shot quality they did on the threes that they conceded. But generally why they just felt like they were playing catchup the entire game. Stephen dropping a bar telling lies with his eyes. I I love it. Uh Grayson back uh tonight and I don’t believe that your eyes were telling any lies when you were watching him. What did you think about his return to the court tonight? Yeah, I thought he looked good. There were obviously some points of rust with uh just basketball rhythm in a game. Um that’s something that has to come back over the course of games being played in succession with one another. Hopefully a little bit of practice mixed in there as well, but you know the way the schedule is set up for them. Any off day that they have is not related to a game is typically rest at this point in the schedule. So it gets tough to find those gaps to get the individual work in. But um yeah, Grayson Grayson looked all right. Um, I felt like the dunk was the real telltale sign that he wasn’t just back, that he was like actually in his athletic space that he was in prior to the injury happening. So, um, I thought he looked good, but I think the route to returning to the floor was interesting to hear him kind of speak to the rehab and the time off to help with the rehab. So, Erin, we can go ahead and uh get the video of Grayson speaking to the journey back to the floor for him prior to today’s game. Um very strange um rehab. I guess I’m call rehab or just time off with this. Um just cuz it was there was such a large amount of swelling and like blood and the muscle that uh it got to a certain point where I kind of felt like I got strength and mobility back but it wasn’t quite ready to go back out there and play. And then there’s some other complications and risks on court. So it was a really weird rehab where I kept feeling like I was one or two days away and that one or two days away turned into another one or two days and that’s just kind of how it went. But um it was also kind of helpful cuz I was able to um do a good amount of basketball stuff for the majority of the time. So I didn’t feel like I had to ramp back up or anything crazy. I think the positive side is that he did mention even though he wasn’t able to come back as soon as he hoped for, maybe about a week or a week and a half after when he thought he was ready, he did say he was able to get some oncourt work in which helps with that rhythm part that I was speaking to. But, uh, yeah, what were you all’s thoughts when you you got to hear what he had to say about the the journey back to the floor and all of the details with that? I said it just now. We we talked about it and kind of laughed at it, but when they said it’s not your average bruise, when he talked about like the swelling and like the the bleeding and all of that, like that actually isn’t not your average bruise. So, they weren’t just blowing smoke when they said that. So, it’s pretty crazy to uh to think about. I don’t know if you had the similar thought with with hearing that, but it sounded painful. I I was thinking something from like Stranger Things was coming out of his leg or something like it and that did not sound normal, you know. So, I’m glad he’s back and I’m glad it wasn’t any worse than it turned out to be. Yeah, I was going to say one of the things we talked about with him coming back, too, is how much it was going to help and benefit Devin Booker. We talked about it to no end about Devin Booker struggles, 24 points tonight, but 5’11 from the field. Got to the line 15 times, which stands out to me. But, you know, I was curious your thoughts about how he and Grayson looked, especially with the rust that Grayson’s dealing with and and what the overall product was looking like for Deon Booker tonight. Yeah, I think the the offense as a whole definitely hit a snag and then some in the second half. Some of it was by way of the things that Denver was doing. Some of it was because their defense wasn’t up to par, so they kept taking the ball out the net. But I think generally to Eric’s initial point, it felt like some of the succession of games and the back-to-back nature of so many of these games felt like it kind of caught up with them a little bit in terms of the legs, but I still think they can do a little more on the execution side of that all to kind of help aid some of that. We talked about it um I think it was after last night’s game, them being a team that hits a lot of threes, takes a lot of threes, but that’s not always what ultimately determines how successful their offense is because they can do so many different things. Um so I felt like some of that was off the board tonight, but particularly to Devin Booker. Um this is what he had to say about his struggles of late and in particular to this game regarding the three-point shot. Yeah, transitions usually, you know, I’m not initiated. the ball was going to absolutely be. So, I have had a few opportunities that still open. I mean, him saying that he’s had a few opportunities and he’s missed it. Stephen, I mean, I don’t think anybody’s more frustrated about the colder stretch that Book has been on than Book. Yeah. I mean, it’s clear because this is the same tone that he had after the last home game when he had some struggles shooting the ball and he fessed up and took accountability before anybody could really ask him any further questions on that topic. So, um, for the Suns fan, the faction of Suns fans that continue to question, I guess some of his approach to it mentally, I think his responses in post games the last week and a half should tell you enough about his approach to it and how badly he wants to kick that door down and get back to that north of 30 points per game average on efficiency that he enjoyed early in the season. I mean, but tonight didn’t feel like the last three games to me. uh 24 points, but he had seven assists, only one turnover, got to the line. Uh and so tonight started to feel different for me uh than the other few nights. Sure, it wasn’t 30 points. Sure, he missed uh he went 0 for four from three, but it started to feel a little bit more like Book finding that rhythm. And we we hammered it home that he needed to be a guy that got to the free throw line a lot. and he got the mo got there the most out of anybody tonight with those 15 trips. That number shows initiative to me if nothing else, right? And I think that, you know, we’re saying that he can play better and still needs to be playing better than he is after a game where he had 24 points. And that’s saying that he could be much better than that. Obviously, it’s unfortunate and it’s disappointing because you want him to be better. But it is encouraging thinking, hey, all right, this guy can be better than 24 points on 11 shots. And there is room for that because we’ve seen it. It’s just a matter of kind of the the the blueprint and the guidelines for getting back to that. And I could tell he looked melancholy. He sounded upset, sound like he’s tired of talking about it. So, if anybody wants to get over the slump, it’s him. So, we’ll see what happens moving forward. But I will say this, I thought he was really engaged on the defensive end tonight. And I do think defensively Devin Booker has had a pretty good season bouncing back from last year when he left a lot to be desired. to the fact that he might be in a slump, but he is still trying and sometimes really succeeding in bringing it in the playmaking side of things and being a defender. That is not something that all superstars do. He does need to be better. You guys did a great job talking about why and how that could happen last night and it feels like a topic we’ve been getting into a ton, but I I have enjoyed him on the defensive side of the ball a lot more than I did last year. Yeah, I have too. Um, I do think he will greatly benefit from Grayson finding his game rhythm, bringing some dynamic nature of how he operates to everything that it is that Devin does both on the ball and off the ball. I think that’s going to be a heavy burden lifted off of him. I think also Colin Gillespie though, he’s been playing exceptionally well the last week and a half. Um, I think it’s six games or 15 or more points per orif or double digits rather, eight eight straight there. in I think it’s six straight with 15 or more. Uh he’s been doing a very good job, but I think he’ll greatly benefit from Grayson being back in the mix as well. Uh I think the big one though is Mark being able to play more often, which will take a load off of Deon because of the gravity he has. And then lastly, Jaylen, uh hopefully by the turn of the calendar going into the new year. Stephen, any final thoughts on a tough loss on the second night of a backto-back against Nicole Yic and the Nuggets? Uh yeah, Denver had 36 assists on 44 field goals made. First of all, that’s Looney Tuners type numbers, but when you have a dude like Jokic that’s just a hub for your offense, but also as selfless as it gets, but also knows how to manipulate a defense and not just make the right pass, it gets tough, man. It gets tough. You have to find a way to take something away from them. And I think they took away the rim. Well, to Jordan Kn’s point, but how much of taking away the rim versus conceding a three do you want? Because if it’s death by a thousand cuts and it’s more two-point assist than three-point assist for him and you’re struggling on your end of the court, you would love for that math to be traded trading twos for threes in in terms of what you’re giving them away. So, it gets tough when you don’t have the personnel to kind of take something away from him. Other thing for me, 40 to 32, that was the rebounding margin tonight. For the Suns, they can’t afford to allow teams to dictate to them on the glass. I think a lot of that came from the Suns just missing so many shots, but that’s where you hope for your multiple efforts in your offensive rebounding process to give you some outlets on the second night of a backto-back against a team that has a little bit more top end talent than you. Stephen, it’s always awesome getting to talk ball with you. also loved reading your notebook over at gophnx.com. I know that came out a couple of days ago, but still absolutely evergreen. And if you want to keep up with all the great work that Stephen is doing, whether he’s at shootound, at practice, at home games, or bringing you great stats and clips and breakdowns, you can follow him at StephenPG3 on socials. That’s Stephen with a PH. Uh we will talk to you again on Monday. So enjoy your Sunday and uh we’ll see you soon. Appreciate you. I’ll talk to y’all in a minute. See you, Stephen. All right, y’all. Any any final thoughts before we wrap up here? Uh, get Espo home for his birthday. Yeah, just forget about this one, like Gil said, and move on to Monday and and don’t worry about the shots you missed or the turnovers you had last night. You go in and you focus on the Lakers and you try to take care of business in LA because when you get to three, four game losing streaks, that’s when it becomes concerning. two you can live with. Three that becomes problematic and then you got Houston on Friday and you do not want to go down a four games slide. Yeah. Two thoughts. One I’m going to add Looney Tunish into my vernacular when I’m when I’m explaining things but the other one is you know you’re about in the middle of this just hellish stretch that this team has and you’re 12 and N right now. Doesn’t even sound like loser talk but you want to stay around or above 500 as it goes on and you’re in good position to do that. So, like you said, forget about this, forget about this weekend. Come back ready to play Monday and you’re still in good position to be where you want to be at the end of the season. We’ll have to get to some super chats here in a second. My last thoughts, uh, it’s Nuggets related. You know how when when you see guys on a new team and you’re like, you know what, that just looks right. It’s the exact opposite with Cam Johnson. He he doesn’t look right in a Nuggets uniform. And I’m not just saying that as a Suns fan. I’m just saying that it it looked weird. He had a good night tonight, but he looks strange in that jersey because that jersey and those shorts are complete and utter trash. That uniform sucks when Denver has such a great history of cool uniforms and that’s the crap they’re running out there. Anybody looks weird in it. I mean, hell, Nicolic looked weird in it. Jamal Murray looked weird in it. That guy named Jones that was hitting threes everywhere looked weird. Spencer Jones. Spencer Jones. I don’t Okay, Mr. Jones. Yeah. Good game. Look, uh, always having a good game. It’s be calm, see clearly. And, uh, I think we just hand the mic over to Eritton and let him cook. Got $5 from B. Clearly, I heard they had a problem. I can’t say that name today, but it’s uh, Michigan. Imaginary Smoke. We said it’s up 27 to9. Oh, respect and all the things I want to do to Caleb Downs. Salute. Snatchy. Deep dive. Clap. Clap. Hey, scoring nine in honor of JJ McCarthy. Good job on the Wolverines. $5 BC comply. Wall lonely featuring Shabuzzi. That’s how OSU feels. It’s lonely at the top. Looking down at the rest of the subordinates, our sons actually snatch back. Keep it rolling. $2 BCOM. See clearly. W on chill featuring Jeremiah. We good. # snatchbacksons salute. I like that. And then finally, $2. B com clearly. I’m a baddie. Mcn snatchy double cake clappy snatch salute. Beautiful salute. Sounds like a Drake bar. Uh, look, thank you. Be comy. Clearly, a minor, right? Uh, I I do think that there’s a chance that Eritton’s burner is Becomy. clearly given the the fervor uh Ohio State talk as of late. Ecom is way too creative to be me and I just don’t have the time. I think it’s a good ruse. I don’t have the time or the money. No, you know what, Ericton, I see you out there dropping $15 super chats all the time. Wait, is that why you asked for the company card, Eric? I think BCOM needs some competition. That’s why I asked. Yes. Well, look, no competition for the freckling mamba. Always killing it behind the Mac. making all of the magic happen. You can go ahead and follow him at BCOM, sorry, freckled Mamba. Of course, you can follow Espo at Espo. Wish him a happy birthday on socials and catch him on Southwest Bias weekday mornings as well. You can follow Gilg McGregor. You can follow me at Riky. You can follow the show at PHNX Suns. That’s on Twitter and that’s on Instagram as we are off tomorrow, but we’ll bring you injury updates on our Twitter account. And then we are back Monday night on Peacock against the Los Angeles Lakers. It is always an interesting game when you play LA. So we’ll see you all there for pregame and our postgame show. But until then, enjoy your Sunday. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

The Phoenix Suns fell short to the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic despite Grayson Allen’s return to the court in their fourth back-to-back of the season. Was this a scheduled loss? PHNX Suns dives into a brutal loss without Mark Williams and Ryan Dunn. They also discuss Devin Booker continuing to look out of rhythm, the backup center problem Phoenix is experiencing and Dillon Brooks continued offensive output. Was there any lesson the Suns could learn tonight? Our crew breaks it down on another postgame show! Follow us @PHNX_Suns, @ErikRuby, @GilMcGregor_, @Espo, @StephenPG3 & @FreckledMamba!

0:00 – Intro
3:00 – The Suns Schedule Has Been A Gauntlet
9:00 – By The Numbers
15:00 – Play Of The Game
20:50 – After Two Rough Games, Dillon Brooks is BACK
36:10 – Oso Has a Blue Collar Tonight
36:47 – The Phoenix Suns Have A Backup Center Problem
52:30 – SPG Joins Us From The Morg

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