POSTGAME: Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker GET CLUTCH With BOUNCE BACK Win Over Warriors, Curry

POSTGAME: Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker GET CLUTCH With BOUNCE BACK Win Over Warriors, Curry

Oh, this fit. Thanks for asking. I actually wore it to match the sun’s effort tonight. >> I’m a bluecollar boy. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Psycho. and sickos unite for a damn we needed that win edition of the BHNX Suns postgame show of course brought to you by our friends over at Bet365. Download the bet365 app. Use code PHNX365. Deposit 10. Place a bet for five. Get $150 in bonus bets. Hi. Hi. Hi. I’m back. I’m Eric. That’s Gil. We got the freckle bomb behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. Steven will be calling in live from the Morgans. The Phoenix Suns put the Warriors to sleep. It was a close one, but 99- 98, a clutch win for the Suns. Their first win in 10 days, their first win after losing two games and their first win over the Warriors this season. Devin Booker went crazy in the second half. Dylan Brooks had a great first half. And of course, some bluecollarness to speak to tonight. First things first, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, become a member today. Boy, did I miss talking basketball with all of you. Gil Suns picked up a win tonight. >> I miss talking basketball with you and I miss talking about wins. And I can see both things tonight. What a win. Much needed win. A lot of things to talk about. A lot of good, a lot of bad and yeah, >> more ugly than anything. But at the end of the day, the W is all that matters. And the Suns got that. And I’m happy to say that. Look, there were some ugly things tonight and we’ll and we’ll get to that. I I think it would be a disservice to just talk about this game in a positive light because if the score was 9998 Golden State, we would be sitting here just immediately ripping on the team. Just immediately diving into like this is an unacceptable performance. You can’t let Brandon Pod Spazenski put you away like that. Like Ge Santos, brother, like you can’t let him do that. if if they lost this game, if it was a two-point swing, then this is a completely different start to the show. So, I just I want to acknowledge that because I know I see you guys in the chat. You guys are like torn. Half of you are super happy and half of you are super upset. But let’s start with the good. I think it’s very fitting to name the good win. Our bluecollar boy of the night, Jordan Goodwin. Look, I can read you his stats for you and you know why he’s here either way. Hey, Jordan Goodwin played 30 minutes tonight, by the way. Nine points, three of 12 from the field, one of seven from deep. But six rebounds, three assists, two steel, a block, but of course, the most important is one of his three offensive rebounds coming with 04 seconds left on the clock. Gil, he gets fouled. He walks to the line. He breaks the first one. >> He just wanted to make us sweat a little more. >> And then he hits the second one. Suns win by one point. All thanks to Jordan Goodwin. Yeah, I mean they talked about it on the broadcast, but he had the mask on tonight. He just had a flare for the dramatic. I guess what it was like he just wanted to make us a little more nervous, you know, missed that first free throw, step up and cooly. As Devin Booker said, I’ve been teammates with Goodie before. I knew he was going to make the free throw. I felt pretty confident about him stepping up and making that free throw as well. You know, I kind of said he is his uh his one put back per game and I guess that counts as his one put back per game because it resulted in points, a second chance point at least. And you know with 4/10 of a second left it really gives you the confidence about that. But we always talk so much about him on the offensive glass and you know for him to be 6’3 215 or listed at 63 215 there’s an argument for him being the best offensive rebounder at his position >> pound-for-pound like gets up there for sure. >> I think I mean Colin Gillespie is is also somebody who constantly grabs offensive rebounds. He had one tonight. Interesting game for Colin that we’ll get into later. One, I’m glad the refs called the foul because I’m being honest with you, the refs >> two games in a row now where at the end of the game the refs uh the fk the earthfs which I believe we have a new emoji for that if you are a member. So look, Jordan Goodwin didn’t play a great game, but it’s kind of symbolic of this win as a whole, right? Jordan Goodwin shot three of 12 from the field and one of seven from deep. Okay, he did not overall have a great game. >> No, >> but when it mattered, when it counted, he put the extra effort in. put the extra energy in and he made the game-winning play. And honestly, like when he went to the line, I wasn’t feeling super comfortable. Uh my my my gut or as on ASU show, we call it our jellies. Uh we’re were not feeling too great, but I’m glad that he clutched up and he hit that free throw in. I I mean, look, the boys been out with a concussion, the boy, aka being me. But I’ve been pretty spot on. I don’t think my bet hit. Uh I don’t know. Did my bet hit? My bet might have hit. I don’t know if my >> I don’t think I don’t think Steph did enough for you tonight. >> I did the P though. Uh but I did call it. I said Jordan Goodwin’s wearing a mask tonight. Just automatically give him the blue collar boy. >> Yeah. >> But you got there from a very interesting final possession, Gil. And I think let’s take a step back and talk about the end of the game. Right. Going backwards, let’s talk about the shot that missed that led to the offensive rebound from Jordan Goodwin. About 10 seconds left. >> Devin Booker has the ball in his hands. He is getting fouled quite frankly. No call. Passes it off to Dylan Brooks. Devin Booker immediately jumps back up to the top of the key. Hey, >> I got it. I got it. I’m ready. I’m ready. >> Hey, here’s here’s the thing, though. Uh if you’ve watched Dylan Brooks play basketball, >> I have a couple times. >> You know that Dylan Brooks has taken that shot, which he did with about 3 seconds left to hit the side of the backboard and then the ball fell into Jordan Goodwin’s hands. All is well and good. the Suns win. But Gil [laughter] Davin Booker was not happy. >> He was not a happy camper. And even through the buzzer, I know he was happy with the win, but you could see Dylan Brooks coming in as soon as that fullcourt pass from the Warriors didn’t go through. You can see Dylan Brooks was hit with a my bad, man. That was probably his third my bad. >> I bet he’s still saying my bad. His book was still in his grill about it afterwards. >> Yeah. Yeah. It was not It was Yeah. It was one of those moments where it’s like, you know what? It’s better to learn that lesson in a win than in a loss. If things had gone poorly had it gone into overtime and the Suns had lost the game, now you’re win, you’re sitting here saying, >> “Man, my bad. I really got to get you the ball.” But you win the game and you learn a lesson and a win. So yeah, I’d expect the next time I’m more comfortable with Deon Booker, especially given the second half that he had, which I know we’ll talk about. >> I like him shooting from 30 feet on a catch and shoot rather than Dylan Brooks on the he pull up from the right wing. I I don’t in theory hate Dylan Brooks taking a shot like that. He’s been so good this season, not just in clutch situations, but just in general. You look at that first half, right? The first half was all Dylan Brooks. >> 20 points in the first half for him. He he was shooting great from deep from the field. He was the only reason why the Suns were even in this game. >> Now, the second half is a different different story. He ends with 24 points tonight. 10 of 23 from the field, four or nine from deep. did grab seven rebounds and two assists, which is really good to have nine rebounds and assists uh for Dylan in any game at this point. But like in general, in theory, if there are two guys that I want to take that shot, it’s it’s probably Dylan and Devin. Now, I think Colin then comes in depending on the game that he’s having. >> But what the problem was for me, and obviously the result ends up differently. Yeah. Miss shot, Goodwin, offensive rebound, foul, you win the game. But like I said, >> one small thing changes. That’s a 9998 score. We’re in overtime and the Suns could very well have lost that game because Golden State had all the momentum. We’re sitting here talking about an awful, terrible boneheaded decision from Dylan Brooks. My problem was 3 seconds left. It wasn’t just like, hey, I have to shoot it here. He still had a little bit of time left. Plus, he held on to the ball a bit before he did take the shot, which he could have given it back up to Book, who clearly wanted it, right? Book didn’t want to defer to Dylan Brooks. >> It was also Gil. He He took a bad shot. >> Yeah. >> He wasn’t open. Yeah. Yeah. It was contested. It was contested. It was a bad shot. It was It wasn’t a great shot. And like looking at it now, before that shot, he was two of six in the second half. >> Far cry from what he did in the first half. Kind of like you said, Devin Booker was 8 for 12 in the second half. So, kind of understanding that, listen, if it was the other way around, maybe you can justify the decision a little bit more. It’s not the right decision still, but you could justify it a little more. But at that point in time, it’s like, look, we have a closer regardless. we have to go down swinging with him being the one that’s swinging regardless of what the case is. So, it’s a lesson again learned, not even sitting here to pile on Dylan and you know a thing that happens and you know my dad used to always say this about basketball mistakes come in twos and he made a poor decision the play before, right? Like the flagrant foul was >> interesting depending on who you ask about it. >> Well, coming off of Sunday night. >> Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, and he made some comments about officiating and he tried to make some backhanded compliments towards them, but that probably was on the back of their mind a little bit. And we said it, right? Like, and they said it too on the broadcast because of the parties involved, Dylan Brooks and Steph Curry. You probably know how that’s going to end nine times out of 10 with a flagrant foul. So, probably human nature that’s on your mind, right? Like, I am half of the reason why the Warriors had a five-point play to tie this game in the first place. Let me redeem myself. let me redeem this team and and and help out after messing up a little bit. So, I’m sure that that was somewhere on his mind trying to to fix that as well. And again, not ragging on him for it because Jimmy Butler made a very tough shot after Steph Curry’s free throws. Like first three all >> his only attempt >> only three-point attempt all game. Quick trigger, very contested shot. And that’s funny enough. It’s basically the same dynamic because if he misses that shot, you’re like, man, the Warriors probably wanted Steph Curry to get the ball on that play regardless of what’s going on. So, you know, you see a little similarity as far as that goes, and he probably saw that as well. So, yeah, the full picture of all of that stuff. Just a funny sequence, a weird sequence, and honestly, kind of a fitting sequence the way tonight’s game went. >> Look, super weird game. We’ve got Devin Booker to talk about, Colin Gillespie to talk about, some good, some bad. Steven will be sending us sound calling in from the morg. We have a whole lot to get to. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Thank you all for spending your Thursday night as we are a week away from Christmas. Can you believe it? But a gift wrapped win for the Suns tonight. 98 to 98 over Golden State. We’ll be back on the other side of our first break. >> Look, we like to have fun here on PHNX Suns, but life can get serious. We’re talking serious injury, an accident, and if that happens to you, a friend, a loved one, you need to be prepared and call the right people. Luckily, we’ve done the research for you and found absolutely the best team. It’s the husband and wife Law Team. Mark and [music] Alexis Brier lead the most experienced team in Arizona with multiple certified specialists in personal injury and wrongful death. And the team brings hundreds of years of combined trial experience and they are proud to make you and all of their clients [music] promises. Now, nobody can guarantee the outcome of a legal case, but they promise that you have the right to trust them and that they’ll tell you the pros and the cons of your case, so you can make an informed decision that you can also cancel your fee agreement at any time for any reason, and you’ll receive at least as much in your pocket as they receive for their fees. So, if you’ve had a serious injury, call the husband and wife law team first at 6027838841 or visit their website at the link in our show notes and make sure you tell them PHX and specifically Gil sent you. And of course, we love telling you about our friends over at Branded Bills. It’s a running joke on the ASU show, but it’s not really a joke. 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Use code BBP phnx. That’s BBP phnx for 15% off your first order. Hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, as well as the Phoenix Suns take home a muchneeded victory over Golden State 99 to98. They will play them again on Saturday, but on the road. So, this one means a ton. Thank you all for joining us here on a Thursday night in the chat, including Espo, who’s off tonight. He watched his daughter and his wife’s play. So muchdeserved time with the family for Espo, but thank you all so much for hanging out with us as well, Gil. [sighs] >> It was a tale of two halves in a couple different senses tonight. >> Yeah, >> no more so than for our dude of the night presented by Hila River Resorts Casinos. You do you at Hila River Resorts and Casinos. Visit playhila.com for more details. It is Devin Armani Booker. Now, at the end of the day, Gil, not the greatest night statistically from number one. 25 points, >> nine of 19 from the field, only two assists, two rebounds, three turnovers. >> But it was that second half >> because he came out and scored 23 of his 25 in the second half. And for the first time in honestly what feels like forever. >> It was like, hey, it was the Leo meme pointing at the TV. Hey, I know that guy. That’s Devin Booker. And it felt like that second half he finally clicked back into it. >> Yeah. I mean, you let him tell it. He took his core shorts off and switched his different to normal compression shorts and that made all the world of difference. So, if that’s the fix, I’m looking forward to seeing him coming out of the gates Saturday playing well. But really encouraging to see him in the second half. Stick with it. the the confidence. There was a run that the Suns went on that kind of flipped the game where he had a pullup jumper, another midi to kind of add to that. And then he made a pullup three-pointer in transition. >> That one and contested pull up. >> Yeah, that was the one where I was like, “Okay, he’s got his swagger back a little bit.” He was 204 from deep in the second half. And we talked about three-point percentages tonight, you know, 25% or no, sorry, 23% on wide open, >> 22.9% wide open. I think he’s somewhere like around hovering around 20 since November 1st. So to see him go two or four because we’ve been trying to figure this out. Man, this guy is a former three-point contest winner. Like what’s going on? Something’s wrong. He’s not himself. And if it is the core injury, if it was the base layer compressions he was wearing, whatever it is, it looks like he snapped out of it. So because in a game that your team doesn’t even crack 100 to score 23 points in the half is very encouraging moving forward. >> I mean, look, it it was Dylan Brooks in the first half carrying it with 20 points and then fell off in the second half, only scored four. Deon Booker had two points at the half, comes out, scores 23. Yeah. In the second half. Now, we came into the season saying Deon Booker needed to be MVP mode, score 30 a night for the Suns to even have a chance. Yeah. >> It’s a testament to the rest of the roster that that’s not the case this year. >> But what still holds true is that if this team is going to reach its top potential, Jaylen Green back, Grayson Allen playing, fully healthy team, it does not get there if Devin Booker plays like he had been playing for the last couple of weeks. Correct. It was too long of a stretch. Now, we all believe in Devon Booker. I us in this room, I don’t think all Suns fans are fully on board with the Deon Booker experience still. I think a vast majority are, and it’s a very loud minority. And then you got a lot of other outside fans of just basketball who have been really, really critical of Book this season. And I think in some respects, it’s been deserved. But we’ve always said, okay, the bounceback is going to happen. Yep. >> Right. We knew that he was going to snap back into it. He’s had these LOLs before and then it’s almost like he hits one or two shots in a row, like you said. He gets to that midi bag. He gets that kind of midi floater range about 15 ft out and all of the sudden it calms down. He was due for that in the second half. He was due for that games ago. >> It was too long of a stretch and we cannot continue to see these stretches from him. >> He really needs to next game I think get out to a hot start and sustain it because what we still haven’t seen in a long time >> is an entire game. Yeah. >> Right. Think back to even the Houston game a while ago where it was like, “Oh, Deon Booker’s back.” I think he hit two threes early, hit a couple of shots first >> in that first quarter and then he stalls out, right? The other game that he started quick, he ended up getting injured. That one was against the Lakers. Now we see it in the second half with this one. >> Gil, is it just as simple as these shots aren’t falling or was there something that you maybe noticed in his process that changed when they came out of half minus the compression shorts? >> Yeah. Yeah, minus the compression shorts. You know, interestingly enough, I I do think that there was something a little bit different in just the way that he was approaching things. I think that, you know, we saw in the first half, actually, there was the play where he did not go at Quinton Post and you were upset about that. Understandably, [laughter] >> I was literally screaming at my TV, it’s Quinton Post. The exact >> his name is Quinton. >> The exact same thing happened in the second half with Draymond Green. But still, he went at him, right? And I think that there was something mentally kind of clicked and maybe it was him being more comfortable physically. And I think that with that, we saw it two games in a row now because he had a big second half against the Lakers as well. So now coming out of the gates a little bit stronger, I think is something we should expect to see from him because of that confidence and the approach that he had in the second half. And you know, we talked about what he did in that run and we talked about him not getting the ball on the play where it could have been a potential gamewinner, but there was that pullup that he made that put the Suns ahead briefly before Steph Curry got fouled and tied the game up with two free throws. So there was just that level of confidence and and reminding you that regardless of what’s going on for the first 24 minutes, first 30 minutes, he is your closer and that’s so important to trust a guy like that regardless of what’s happened, short memory, reminding himself who he is. And I think seeing that confidence in his approach is going to be big moving forward. I I think when you look at Devon Booker and you could take it to the first couple of weeks of the season when he was really playing well and then the last couple of weeks where he has just fallen off of a cliff offensively. This from a shooting perspective, his playmaking has still been pretty good. He’s having the best potential assist season of his entire career with 19 potential assists per 100 possessions, which is nuts. >> But when he plays confident, it’s not just you see it in the shot. I think you see it in the speed. >> Everything is just a tick faster when Book is in that mode, right? And I don’t know if it’s okay, I’m overthinking things. Again, I don’t know if it was the compression shorts that he was wearing before to help protect him from recovering with the groin injury, which I understand the team wants to be very cautious with. I don’t know what it is, but when Devin Booker has played at his best this season, he’s played fast. Yeah. at least just faster from of like a perspective of okay, you’re getting downhill a little quicker, that handle is a little tighter, and then the the actual buildup to the jump shot, it just feels like everything is just in an extra gear there. >> That quarter step that he’s slower, I think sometimes is enough with his lack of athleticism, top tier athleticism. >> Yeah. >> To let a defender get a little bit more in his business. the quicker that he is, I think the cleaner the shot is and I think the more confident he is that it goes in. >> Yeah. And I think it’s interesting too, like, you know, we kind of joked around about the compression sorts, whatever, but I think that him acknowledging that he was uncomfortable with things pertaining to his injury kind of suggests that that is a big part of what’s been holding him back. And you talked about the quick twitch, the first step, the things that he uses to separate himself because he might be at an athletic disadvantage sometimes as far as some other guys in the league because guys are so athletic in the NBA. And what it comes back to to me is trusting it, right? So him trusting that injury, trusting that it’s not going to give in on him, trusting that he can go at a big man that’s under the basket because if you remember the way that he got hurt was going at Jackson Hayes. So now you fast forward two and a half weeks, he sees probably a similar situation and first half didn’t trust it, second half did trust it. So, it does kind of feel like these small moments like that are breakthroughs and it does feel like him being so adamant about getting the ball in this down the stretch in the clutch feels like he’s had that breakthrough. So, you know, these small things add up and when you kind of think about it moment to moment, maybe he is getting back to that and we should see more of that because I feel like he’s regained the trust in himself and his body now after this process of getting back on the court. Have you ever had to play in some sort of gear or warn that’s like completely out of the normal for you? And how much does that throw you off? >> I had to play in a I had a bad shoulder. Bad shoulder when I played and I remember I had to play in like a restrictive should like I couldn’t move it back and forth and I absolutely hated it like >> shooting arm or off arm. Off arm I still couldn’t go for rebounds and stuff like that like I wanted to. And it was like athletic trainers orders and like after two or three games I like looked and snuck it off and like wore like a big t-shirt under my jersey so you couldn’t tell. I was like no I can’t do this. It’s like just we’re we’re such creatures of habit. You’re so used to it being a certain way and like as soon as something can restrict your motion, you just don’t feel like the same player anymore. And I feel like that’s exactly what it is with him. I’ve never worn core tights, but the way he spoke about him, he hated him. So I don’t I don’t think we’ll see it anymore. >> I mean, if it’s supposed to be protective of your groin area, I can imagine it’s tight in places that you don’t want it to be. >> It’s restrictive. >> Restrictive. Yeah. Not the restricted area. The restrictive area. Well, you can’t stop the sun’s motion. 99 to 98. They pick up a victory against Golden State. Yes, backed by the bluecollar boy, backed by their dude of the night. But there was a lot of other things that also helped get to this win. We’ll take a look at the numbers. We’ll talk about Colin Gillespie. And then we’ll take a look at maybe some of the other performances tonight that left a little to be desired. And we’ll do it on the other side of our second. Look, it is seven days until Christmas, which is kind of crazy to say. So last minute Christmas shopping can be stressful, but look, gift giving doesn’t stop at Christmas. You’ve got anniversaries, you’ve got birthdays, you’ve got other holidays that you need to buy gifts for. And that’s why I want to let you know about Aura Frames. Because right now, Aura Frames is going to give you $35 off with code phselling frame. But what do [music] you get inside the frame? Well, it’s unlimited free photos and videos that you can pre-upload before you give the gift. So it shows [music] up in a gift box that’s included. And every frame is packaged in that premium box with no price tag. 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One of the things that I love about Game Time is that the lowest price guarantee they’ll have the cheapest ticket or they’ll credit you 110% of the difference. I’m so cheap. I’ve tried this. I have tried to find cheaper tickets than Game Time for multiple different events. I just can’t do it. Plus, it’s all the pricing upfront. No surprises at checkout. So, take the guesswork out of buying Suns tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply, but again, create an account. redeem code phnx for $20 off your first purchase. Download the Game Time app today. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. And after you hit the subscribe button, there’ll be another button that pops up there. And it is for the supporters club. Join our supporters club. Like so many of you in the chat, like Deborah, like Buddha, like Cara, like Omna, like everybody who’s got a green name. They get access to exclusive emojis like the FK the roofs emoji and so many more other Suns ones. cuz I’m going to have to make a call about the Suns must win one to get that back in there. Just $5 a month plus you get a prepaid super chat for every month that you are a member. So once you hit that one month status, you’ll automatically get a prepaid super chat. We’ll read it here. Uh like we’ll read some of your super chats a little bit later. Thank you for being patient with us. And thank you to Colin Gillespie for finding a way to get back into the game. 16 points for Colin tonight. Five of 12 from the field, one of six from deep. Not the best shooting night from him, but six rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block. But Gil, he was in and then he was out and then he was in and then he was out. Brutal >> scared us, worried us. >> Brutal knee clash >> with Jonathan Kaminga. Hobbles off the court, goes to the locker room, definitely gets a shot of Toridol, which I got last week. Let me tell you, that stuff works. Uh, gives you a shot shot of TORIDOL CUZ BACK OUT THERE LIKE I 10 real time minutes later, maybe less. Yeah, >> that’s great. >> Yeah. No, it was crazy. It was good to see him play like that and like, you know, to think that he was one of six from three and still had the impact that he had. Two things. One, >> he was four of six from inside the arc. Yeah. >> Also got to the line was five of five from the charity stripe. So, what’s that what that says, and you’re the one, give you credit where it’s due, pat on the back. >> Oh, thanks. >> You uh you you said that he needed to be a guy who stepped up in the absence of Grayson Allen tonight. And we talked about what we talk about often times with Grayson Allen is putting pressure on the opposing defense. And in a game that is very ugly for both teams, and the numbers will show that, which we’ll get to in a little bit, he was able to find a way to be impactful by scoring inside the arc, by getting to the free throw line and converting at the free throw line. So when we talk about his growth and maturation as a player, look, the shot’s not falling for me tonight. How can I be impactful in other ways? And that’s exactly what he did. And it shows in his performance. >> Yeah. The thing with Colin that I’m really impressed with, yeah, the one to six from from three and then the shooting well from two is good. Okay, statistically speaking, that’s great. I think what’s interesting is >> Colin Gillespie was a great story and he still is, but was a great story and a surprise story. And I think back to that that first Lakers game where JJ Reick was like, I can’t believe we’re going under on on Colin Gillespie, right? Fast forward to the next Lakers game. LeBron James is in Kong Gillespiey’s grill. the entire like court like he’s he’s all up in there because now the book is out. >> Yeah. >> Right. He’s on the scouting report. >> Not surprising about anymore. >> Pretty high. And when Jaylen Green comes back and when Grayson Allen is healthy, things are going to scale, >> right? >> But he’s still going to be a primary guy that the scouting report looks at. It’s not just the fact that for me he shot well from two, but it’s how he got there, which was leveraging his three. He had a lot of pump fakes, including when he came back from the the knee clash, Quinton Post went for a a three that he pump fake and Quinton jumped for it because honestly, if you watch Kong Gillespie film, he’s going to take some pretty audacious threes, but he pump fakes it. Bang. Drives the rim. I believe he had one a little bit earlier in that game, too, where he switched. >> Yeah, he did. Which left hand on the Yeah, I like that one. >> He’s crafty around the rim. I like that. >> And and Stephen and I talked about this over the summer where he kind of needed to add a little bit more to his game beyond the three-point shooting. And I think being able to leverage that gravity that he is going to be taking now with guys just completely closing out on him and selling out by all means if he’s able to add that extra wrinkle. Basketball is a game of counter skill and if he starts adding that counter there then maybe they can’t sell out as much which means he kind of has that defender in no man’s land. >> Yeah, exactly. Like again, talk about like growth and improvement. And now at this point, it’s like, are you going to plateau or are you going to jump into being another tier of player that we didn’t even necessarily know you could tap into and and you pointed out perfectly and we’re longing for that day to come. And we knew Grayson Allen joined the injury report tonight and we hope that nothing flares up with Colin’s knee after that. >> Honestly, that feels like uh >> Grayson’s back Saturday. Colin. Yeah, cuz he was in the locker room twice cuz there was another point was like, did he leave the bench again? And he left like very briefly and came back out there uh again. So hoping he doesn’t pop up on the injury report on Saturday, but we talked about it time and time again. Eventually, hopefully by the end of the month, this team gets as close to full strength as it’s been all year. And then naturally, he just has to move down two pegs on the scouting report. And at that point, like he’s going to probably have his way with other teams second units. And that’s going to be very exciting to see. His five assists were a team high, which again maybe want more assists from across the board, but that happens when you shoot as poorly as they shot tonight. But also a team high plus 14. So making winning plays, making winning contributions, winning efforts. We’ve seen that with Colin Gillespie tonight. >> Yeah, he he’s been awesome. And when he scales down, the best part about Colin is I think that his game is just so malleable and I think he could play alongside really anything. And we talk about the counters and it’s not just offensively the threes and the layups, but the playmaking like you mentioned. >> You have those three things in your bag as a backup point guard. I know there’s been some talk about him starting and I do think that he’s good enough to be a spot starter, but if if this team wants to be a a good playoff team this year, which I I believe is their expectation considering we have not pretty much seen Jaylen Green at all, and right now this team is three games above 500, 9 and five at home, and we’re nearing up on Christmas when they just went through the most brutal stretch of their schedule. >> You need to have really good players off of the bench. the best teams always do. And Colin’s going to be helped so tremendously by getting to share the court with one of Devin Booker, Jaylen Green, and Grayson Allen at all times. >> Yep. >> Right. There should never be a minute where he’s like tonight, one of the lineups that helped power things, Colin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin were the two best offensive options. >> Yeah, >> that should never happen when this team is fully healthy and and the pecking order will continue like we talked about with Book and everything like that. Beyond Colin though, which which the fan reception for him was amazing. The the cheering for him to get back in there. The fans absolutely loved him. >> T-shirt night for him. >> T-shirt night for him. The we 12’s pretty good at basketball. Let’s talk about some of these other players. A lot of conversation in the chat about Oso Igodaro. Really weird stat line, I think in a good way for Oso tonight. Only two points. Okay. Took three shots, two points. Not great. >> 13 rebounds. >> Game high. Five steals and a block. Was Oso Igodaro the best center on the court for the Suns tonight? >> I think he was. It was a somewhat forgettable game for for for Mark and and you talked about the last time these two teams played when Mark had 16 rebounds. You said it was one of his worst games of the year. Mark just I won’t say he didn’t have it tonight, but it just didn’t you didn’t really notice him out there a lot of the times tonight. And I think that was tough. But I think also coming in and making that impact, the five steals, I didn’t even realize that in real time that he had that that activity that he had. And I think the most gratifying or encouraging part about that, and I know plus minus will say one thing because Mark was plus 12 and OSO was minus 12. Beyond that, OSO had a tough game on Sunday and we said that there was wasn’t a good matchup for him. wasn’t a good night for him, but for him to bounce back again a few days later, especially as a young player and make his impact felt in a lot of different ways, doing the little things that do show up in the stat sheet. Sometimes they don’t show up in the stat sheet. That just speaks to his resolve. that speaks to the confidence that’s instilled within him because it’s very easy for a young player to have a bad outing and just have a couple more after that and it just kind of piles up and it’s like man but for him or as we saw on the other side of things with Jonathan Mingan trying to do a little too much. You’re trying to do too much and play outside of yourself to just get back in good graces but for him to stay within himself and make an impact like that attack the glass against a team who has vulnerabilities there is really impressive for him. We’ll keep talking oso in a second, but want to welcome die hard Russell Smith. Just became a member. Just became a Hall of Fame member, which is awesome. So, we got to give him the chant. >> MVP. MVP. MVP. >> Thank you so much, Russell. You now get access to exclusive video content. Freckled Mamba was a part of a video that we just released out there. Really fun stuff. Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame. A diehard. A member. get access to exclusive emojis and everything. Back to Oso Igodaro here before we take another break and then look at the numbers because of the beginning of the season which I was very harsh on him. There was even a point where I was saying this guy maybe shouldn’t be in the rotation with the way that he was playing and honestly I think it was deserved with how poorly he was playing at the beginning of the season. I think because of that he has now opened himself up to very very harsh criticism. >> Right. It’s like you earn the reputation and you can talk about it in the good way and the bad way, right? When you have a guy like Dylan Brooks, sometimes he can get away with things that other players can’t get away with. Or Devin Booker, you’re allowed to take shots that other guys aren’t allowed to take, even if you’re cold. You have this kind of earned reputation. >> Because Oso has hit such lows, I think anytime in game he messes up or does something wrong, it stands out to maybe some fans more often than others. And when you have a guy who’s a second round pick backup center, >> you’re not going to get perfect minutes from him every night. That that just can’t be the expectation with him. And it shouldn’t be the expectation with him. 13 rebounds from your backup center. I don’t care which way you slice it. >> In a one-point game, that’s like gamedefining. Five steals from your backup center, six stocks overall from your backup center. That’s gamedefining stuff. He it’s he’s a guy that when it’s all said and done, if he can just get a little bit more consistent offensively or maybe not make as loud of blunders defensively because sometimes he does get a little bit lost out there from what I think overall is usually pretty solid defensive performances for Moso when the matchup is right. He’s going to be a good role player in this league for a long time. >> No, 100%. And I think everything that you outlined and explained is pretty common place for a young player. and a backup center and a second round pick. Like I think that ultimately you really hope that these things come with time and you should be confident that these things come with time because you believe in the coaching staff, you believe in his abilities because the high the highs have been high, the lows have been low, but that comes with the territory of a young player who is learning to play in the NBA. So, you know, moments like the ones he had tonight, his ability to be who he is against a team like the Warriors and the unique challenges that they bring to a front court, an opposing front court. It’s good to have that flexibility, especially as you work to become a contending team, because you’re going to see different looks. You’re going to see different types of teams. And to be able to employ a guy like that against this Warriors team who’s right next to you in the standings who you’re trying to kind of measure yourself against for him to be as impactful as he was in the moments that he was impactful, I think is big for the Suns team. >> He has been good. Now, has he been a great center? No. But that shouldn’t be the expectation for him. I still think the Suns need another backup center, somebody who can maybe counter some of what OSO’s weaknesses are. Hopefully eventually come on Malawatch maybe gets the rotation this year. I know that you have much higher expectations for the number 10 overall pick your alternate backup center. Clearly Nick Richards is not that guy. Another DNP coach’s decision from him tonight. And all in all, I I don’t think Mark had >> a terrible game. No, I >> I just don’t think that it was best. Right. He had a couple good boards there, only six points from him tonight, but he also only took three shots. The thing with Mark is when the threes aren’t falling, when other guys aren’t really going offensively, it’s a little bit harder for him to get going offensively because Mark doesn’t go create his own shot. He kind of plays off of everybody else. Now, he can create so much gravity when there is kind of this pull. But when it’s Draymond and Jimmy and these kind of tougher, shorter, stockier, stronger defenders, you don’t just get an easy one. Cuz sometimes, okay, dump it into Mark, go for the post up, put the layup in, it’s an easy one. You can’t get that against this team even though you have the size advantage. And if you’re not getting easy ones the other ways because nobody else is hitting shots and like Devin Booker had two assists tonight, it’s just not going to be your night as a center who doesn’t have a lot of self-creation. So, I’m not mad at Mark Williams game tonight, but certainly you would expect a little bit more from him. Uh we’ll we’ll get to the rest of the role players and we will get to the number. Stephen will call in and we’ll continue to talk about a Phoenix Suns 99 to 98 victory. We’ll do it on the other side of our third break. I pride myself on being a good giftgiver, but sometimes the best gifts are the simplest [music] gifts. And sometimes the simplest gift skill, well, it could be cash. And you want to have a little bit of a game, you can throw in the Arizona Lottery scratchers. And this holiday season, [music] it’s the best thing made for gifting. You wake up on Christmas. You find Arizona Lottery scratchers in your stocking. How are you feeling? >> Hopefully lucky. >> Well, yeah. I mean, hopefully lucky. But I think that’s part of the fun game. I know. Uh, last year my mom filled our stockings when we went and celebrated Christmas with my parents with Arizona Lottery scratchers. And she was funny enough. She’s like, “I bought these before you guys even did the ad reads for Arizona Lottery because I thought it would be fun.” And it was fun. We all gathered around. We scratched off with the quarters. And >> it was a great time. Won a little change, but I didn’t win the big prizes. But you could win the big prizes with the holiday cash. And players can win up to $10,000 cash or free gas for a year at Circle K as well. Visit azplayersclub.com to learn more about all their points and promotions now. Play and gift today. Also, when a team is playing, you want to rep them, or at least a guy like me. I’m all about repping my team. I know that Gil’s rocking some Suns merch right now. And if you’re a Valley Sports fan, Rally House is the goto shop for all your local Arizona team gear. They got inhouse locations, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, brickandmortar stores. You can walk in and see all the merchandise for yourself, but also they have a robust product [music] selection online. I’m talking hundreds of pages for each team. Not just the basics, your hats, your shirts, your shorts, all of that, but also the fun stuff. Drink wear, signage, cooler, socks. Hell, they even have sunscreen, which clearly I need. And they only carry Arizona sports teams, too. So, find your local Rally House location. Shop their entire product assortment online at www.allyhouse.com today. I know a lot of my favorite team gear that I get to wear I found at Rally House. I always like to shop [music] by in person because they keep on refreshing it. They keep on adding new stuff. So once again, find your favorite local Rally House location and shop their product tournament online at rallyhouse.com today. Woo! Yeah, Phoenix Suns won 99 to 98. A big victory over Golden State. And then they play them again on Saturday. But thank you all for spending your Thursday night with Gil the Freckled Mamba and myself. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Five star reviews on audio. I know you hear it from every show that you listen to and you hear it from every show on PHNX. We only ask because it does make a massive, massive difference. Let’s go ahead and take a look at the numbers. Presented by Desert Financial Credit Union, Arizona’s number one credit union, named by Forbes. Of course, the only number that matters. 99 to 98. The Phoenix Suns take home a victory, shooting 40.9% from the field. That’s 36 of 88 shots. Better than Golden State, 39.3% from the field, 35 of 89. From deep, it wasn’t pretty for either team. Both shooting 28.6% from deep. Only difference, Suns took 35. Golden State took 42. Free throws. Sunshot 77% on 22 attempts. almost 90% of the line, 16 to 18 for the Warriors, 54 rebounds for the Warriors, 49 for the Suns, and 27 assists for the Warriors, 19 for the Suns. What number stands out to you, Gil, and what kind of looks like it should have been a Golden State victory? >> Number stands out to me is the three-point shooting. The Warriors were 12 of 42. And that stands out because one guy on their team made 12 threes just a couple days ago, and his name is >> Draymond Green. Oh, [clears throat] maybe 12. Maybe in practice, maybe in shoot around, but Steph Curry made 12 threes on Sunday and tonight he was three or 14 from the field. >> The Suns held Steph Curry to 15 points and we talked about the heater that he had been on since coming back from injury. 40 48 on Sunday. I think it was 37 the game before that. 38 game before that. So to hold him to 15 points coming into the game, we were worried about what he was going to do. Was he going to continue that? We said there were going to be some shots that were just downright frustrating that made you upset. And what actually stands out to me, do you know who took the most threes in this game? >> I just saw it. [laughter] >> Yeah. >> My guy. Our guy. >> Quinton Post. >> Quinton >> Post attempted more threes than anybody else, including Steph Curry. So honestly, that >> when you’re shooting 20% from deep in the game, >> you got to keep throwing them. >> You got to keep doing it. And I promise this is no bias against Boston College. My man Quinton Post, you don’t need to be taking more threes than Steph Curry in any game and under any circumstance. It does not matter. But that fits into the game plan. >> Do you think that was a choice or do you feel like that was just more of a okay when the Suns play Luca, it’s we’re going to let Luca get his, we’re take away everybody else. You go to tonight, the story with Golden State is everybody else can’t do it. >> Yeah. >> So Steph can’t. So then they focus in on Steph. Now, they did get some good performances outside of Steph, but like you mentioned, only nine threes attempted for him, only 15 points. It feels like it was intentional. >> Yeah, absolutely. And to see I think that’s what we’ve seen this year. And it’s very interesting to talk about it this way because we’ve talked about how the team tried to limit Luca and Anthony Edwards and Shay because there’s so much top tier talent around the NBA and how you manage them or at least try to contain them is really what defines your success as an NBA team and to deal with Steph Curry the way that they dealt with him the night. it was Jimmy Butler that hurt you 31 points and then it was Brandon Pajimsky that we had a couple shots was like you know what we’re probably living with that and one thing that we said was look Pod’s made this shot here and that’s probably going to come back to hurt the Warriors because he’s probably going to go to this again when the ball should probably go to 30’s hands and that’s what happened. So I think that it’s interesting to see and I I’ll be very curious to see which makes this really interesting to see this kind of home and home situation. Does Steph Curry look for his more on Saturday? Can the Suns kind of try this again on Saturday to really employ a similar circumstances and and a similar I guess approach to defending this Warriors team? I >> I think it’s interesting because you kind of look down the line of top end talent the Phoenix Suns have faced so far this season. And you kind of now have this laundry list of guys that maybe sometimes the stats were good but they were made to feel uncomfortable. Of course, what kind of felt like the breakout party there was Victor Webbyama shutting him down to one of his worst games of his career after he was coming in off of a hot stretch that he was absolutely going crazy the beginning of the season. Right? You have Luca Donuch who goes out there and says the Suns defense kind of messed with him because for the first time they were letting him score and they were taking away the pass, right? And you have Steph Curry tonight with just 15 points in and 33 minutes. But it wasn’t like he wasn’t looking for his shots. It just felt like the Suns played a really sound defensive game and got him a little bit uncomfortable, which is really hard to do. You have to give credit to some of the other guys like you mentioned for for helping get you to the point where this was a close game. It felt like Jimmy Butler took 50 free throws. I can’t believe he only took nine. Every time Pod hit a shot, I was so pissed off. I can’t I [laughter] can’t lie to you, man. I was talking to you that it’s got to be the most hatable guy in the league, right? >> I mean, it’s like just like seeing him out. >> No disrespect, but your own team doesn’t like [laughter] >> No disrespect, but I think nobody no disrespect, but nobody in the league is more hateable than you. >> Like, and look, man, like here’s the thing. Like, we got Grayson Allen and Dylan Brooks on our team, okay? And those are two guys that were at the top of even my hatable ratings before. And so it’s like it’s different when they’re on your team, right? >> To your point. Yeah. But I say TO YOUR POINT, [laughter] >> YOUR OWN TEAM HATES YOU. >> It’s none of my business. It’s none of my business. [laughter] >> But you know, I was getting to your point. I was going to say like, yeah, there’s always a guy’s like, “Well, you love him when he’s on your team.” But I haven’t I haven’t really heard that yet. But maybe maybe >> Dude, he was hitting some [ __ ] man. It was hard. He had Yeah, he had some Yeah, like the the the fader going like middle of the lane was something. I was like >> you kind of just have to live with that. >> You know, like when you’re like hooping at the park and you’re on like your fifth or like your sixth game, right? Or pick up wherever you wherever you play >> and you you’re like, I’ve seen this guy play basketball, right? And he’s on he’s on the other team now. Maybe he played like three or four games with you and he just he’s just terrible. And now he’s on the other team and all of a sudden he just like can’t miss. >> That’s what it felt like with pods tonight. It was like, dude, where was THE WARRIORS PROBABLY LIKE, “DUDE, WHERE WAS THIS WHEN STEPH CURRY WAS dropping 40?” >> They have some of that a little more of that on Sunday or last Friday in Golden State, they probably wouldn’t be on a twoame uh losing streak, but now three-game losing streak after tonight. So, it’s interesting, too, just to think about that and and to see again if he how he follows that up this weekend. And speaking just generally to that rotation, the Warriors played what 11 12 guys. >> Two guys got DNPs and I believe Seth Curry was on the injury report. Will Richard is a rookie. >> Yeah, the the Suns had a pretty tight rotation. They played nine guys and I think when we kind of talked about it and I know Grayson was unavailable, but we said this is going to feel like the postseason a little bit, right? And the the the rotations tighten up a little bit in the postseason and you know, obviously they’re still going to tinker with things. Jaylen’s going to be back. Grayson’s going to be back and and we’ll see what the rotation looks like and how that changes a little bit. But I did take that away from it. Aside from that, the game felt like a pickup game. Aside from that, >> dude, it was it was gross. >> I said it at one point. I was like, you know, when you’ve played like one pickup game too many, it just gets real sloppy. There were like three or four turnovers in a row and I was like, >> well, dude, it felt like the these teams never played together. >> Yeah, actually that’s exactly what it was. Like, hey, hey, nice. Hey, man. What’s up, Colin? My name’s Devin. Like, nice to meet you. Like that. That’s what it really felt like. I mean, and the Warriors, the turnover numbers for the Warriors tonight. And that’s >> 20 leading to 30 points >> leading to that’s a third of the Suns points coming off of turnovers, right? A couple of clutch deals from Colin Gillespie. Now, the funny uh brick, whatever that was. >> Damn it. That’s our love to play presented by Arizona Lottery play and gift today. Our love to play. Colin Gillespie back in the game post knee injury. gets the steel, drives, [laughter] goes up. It was like a dunk attempt, but it wasn’t a dunk attempt. Clearly travels because he just threw the ball to himself on the other side of the rim >> and then gets the book and Quinton Post. I don’t know why Quinton Post because his name is Quinton decided to No, no disrespect to people named Quinton. But like name the best basketball players of all time named Quinton. >> Those to Quinton Richardson. >> That’s true. Q Rich, I’m so sorry. You know what, man? That’s the That’s the concussion. I was doing the three to the head a little too hard. Uh that that’s uh that that is uh yikes. >> We’ll bounce back. Keep going. >> Quinton Post way worse name than Quinton Richardson. We’ll say that. Um but no. Yeah, it hit the backboard, but it’s a travel. [laughter] But they didn’t call it. >> Yeah. >> Thank god they didn’t call it cuz guess what? I think Book went one or two from the line in that. >> Yeah. Led the led the points. >> That point led the points. Led the points. I was going to say like >> I said in that moment I was like I don’t know why Quinton Post jumped on that play because the only thing Deon Booker could do was get him off the ground and he did. That speaks to the savvy of Devin Booker. And that’s the second time that he went into somebody because he didn’t go into Quinton Post in the first half. There you go. It just full circle it all comes back to that. And for somehow it all ties back to that drive on Jackson Hayes on December 1st. >> I am I’m blaming the Quinton Richardson for getting on sustaining a head injury and being in front of bright lights for hours. Uh that that is what I I’m going to be blaming. Uh other than that, I mean, 16 steals to nine for the Suns tonight. six blocks to three. The largest lead for Golden State was 14 as well and they led for 62% of the game. This was a really really gritty win for the Suns. And when you come off of losing to the Lakers in the fashion that you lost where you stormed back and then obviously all the bull crap happened at the end and then the game before that is the largest loss in franchise history and you beat the Kings before that. That’s all well and good. That’s great. But then before that you were losing as well. Th this is one of those games that you’re going to look back on and you’re going to be really grateful the Suns won. And once again, Gil, we’ve seen this as their identity in these close games. You think about the two Minnesota games. They they pull off a win. Tonight, they pull off of a win. The first game of the season against Sacramento, you’re down and then you storm back and you get a win. >> This is their identity. >> Yeah, >> you can get them down, but you can’t get them out unless you’re the Thunder in the Cup. >> Yeah. we won’t flint and we won’t talk about that. But but yeah, whatever. >> Who could beat the Thunder anyway? Definitely wouldn’t happen the next game. >> But I will say there is definitely something to be said about winning ugly because there are good teams, there are really good teams that don’t know how to win ugly. And I think for a Suns team who is down a couple guys and has basically been down a couple guys all year, you name who the guy is. Jaylen Green has been the one constant in that respect. But to be able to win ugly is a trait that teams just don’t necessarily have. And it’s an important trait to have because playoff games, postseason games are ugly games. Must win games. We had a 8.7 on the meter tonight. Tonight, Suns must win a big game as far as the standings because >> again, you have an opportunity to not necessarily deliver a knockout blow, but you can give a haymaker. Nice. Tonight is a body shot. The Warriors have lost three in a row. The frustrations are rising a little bit. Yeah. >> If you can hit him again on Saturday, that might that might cause the the ref to start counting. >> You might you might need to wear a cup on Saturday cuz Draymond Draymond for the one thing we know about him, he’s going down. >> He’s gonna hit back. He’s going to hit back. And but I say that to say to be able to win a game like this ugly, it was about as close to a must-win as you could have. You get a 2 and 1/2 game lead over them. Timberwolves lost last night. You gain a game on them in the standings with the win. You’re not looking in the rearview right now, but you’re taking care of business. You’re almost out of the gauntlet at this point. And you know, we know the Pelicans are on the other side of this. They beat the Rockets tonight. So the Pelicans are figuring some things out as well. So games against them will probably be ugly. So just to be able to win ugly games like this because when you’re a gritty team like you talked about a blueco collar team like we always talk about winning ugly is really important and again tonight was mostly ugly but you come out with a win and you can’t complain about that at all. >> Can’t complain when you’re missing two of your three best offensive players and Jaylen Green and Grayson Elm. You’re not just winning ugly, you’re winning ugly short-handed and you’re winning short-handed this whole season. We’re still waiting an update from Jaylen Green. It’s been about five weeks. They said update in four to six weeks. I have to imagine sometime before Christmas we hopefully get some sort of update on what his status is. Maybe it’s a return against the Pelicans. Maybe he needs a couple more weeks, but looking forward to getting an update from him. Hopefully Grayson Allen’s back. Hopefully it’s nothing longterm uh with Kong Gillespie tonight. Obviously, we talk about the chaotic nature of so many of their games. We’ll hear from Devin Booker on the chaotic nature of their games. We’ll hear from Devin Booker on OSO’s impact and how he’s grown this season. And then of course we’ll hear from Stephen as well as we wrap things up on a 9998 victory for the Phoenix Suns on a Thursday night. Don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back after our final break. Look, it’s clear over a long season that no moment is ever ordinary in sports. And [music] it’s of course it’s never ordinary also over at Bet 365, the pioneers of live in-game betting and something that I’m still trying to master. But the thing that I love about Bet365 is they continue to up their game. This season for the NBA season, which is where I like to do my betting, they’ve added trackers for the last five games on the stats that you are betting on. I absolutely love it. Still a skill issue for me. I can’t seem to get one to go through the hoop recently, but I know that’s going to change soon enough. And right now from Bet 365, new customers get $150 in bonus bets, but you bet [music] five bucks. Win or lose. Sign up. Use code PHX365. Deposit 10. Place a bet for five. Get $150 in bonus bets if your bet wins or loses. Bonus bets can be used on a spread, totals, player props, sutures, and more. Whatever the moment, it’s never ordinary at bet365. You must be 21 plus and physically located in Arizona. If you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1800 nextep. Textep to 5342 or visit promgambling.az.gov. And there’s a lot of things about me that you all know. 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Get started by visiting desertfinancial.com/200 today. That desertfinancial.com/200 to get $200 in bonuses when you open up a free checking account. Thank you all for spending your Thursday night with us. Devin Booker with a 23-point second half and the Phoenix Suns take home one-point victory before facing Golden State on Saturday. Apparently I look like uh Matthew Murdoch from Daredevil with uh with these glasses. So either thank you or how dare you. I’m not exactly sure how to take that, but we’ll keep rolling. Uh, I do want to hear from Devin Booker who spoke on whether the Suns are used to the chaotic nature of many of their games this season. >> Uh, no, I’ll never get used to it. Uh, I think we, you know, we’ve talked about it just channeling it the right way. You know, there there’s some great in there. Um, just sometimes outcome isn’t isn’t the best. And, you know, these last two games, just the point of the game that they’ve happened in um, have put us in a tough spot. So, um, we we learn from it. You know, we’re we’re a full unit. We’re not, you know, we’re not we’re not mad at Dylan. You know, we’re asking him to bring bring that energy, bring that fight every night. So, you know, on the other hand, there would be times like this, but it can be controlled. >> Yeah, it’s interesting the way he closed that. You know, we’re not mad at Dylan. We’re trying to just keep it keep the chaos controlled. I think you hear that a lot more so like AA teams and small college teams. [laughter] Like, >> dude, tonight was an AA game control. was the the the third game on a Saturday for the consolation prize. >> First off with some fast food like >> oh my god they are so stopping an unbranded fast food place afterwards. It’s going to be crazy. Um but tonight did feel like an AA [laughter] game. Dylan Dylan Brooks feels like the dude who play What are those like pink and green jerseys that those guys wear? >> Yeah. They always got some shenanigans going on. >> Yeah. Dylan Brooks plays like he’s on that team. >> Yeah. No, but but again like the controlled chaos, which obviously you want more control than chaos, especially at this level. >> Sometimes like sometimes you use the chaos to win. >> No, for sure. Especially against a team again and that goes back to a point that we’ve kind of hit leading up to this game. It’s desperation and it looked kind of weird in this sense, but these are two teams who are fighting for their lives in the standings. Again, there’s over 50 games left to play. So, they’re not fighting for their playoff lives, but >> they are trying to make sure their season doesn’t go off the rails. And for the Suns, it’s more of we don’t want to undo what we’ve earned with a surprising start. For the Warriors, it’s man, we are on the verge of things just going haywire. There’s a lot going on with them. And I think that that does sometimes result in a chaotic game where there is a sense of desperation on both teams. The shots aren’t falling. Things get a little ugly. guys are taking more shots than they probably should be taking. Whatever the case may be, it it results in a game like this and I guess it does, you know, again feel like some some AA elements there. >> It it did. Now, look, I know that we don’t want to look at the standings and I I was doing this weeks ago, but I think when you are playing teams that realistically you can find yourself in the same grouping with, I think it’s important to understand that these games are going to matter when it comes to the end of the season, which is why I think it’s okay. 15- 12 for the Suns so far as uh Mugsar, who I believe is the goon in the chat, says 15 wins, halfway to the 30. The press said we would win. Uh they’re 15- 12 on the season. Okay, they are two games ahead the ahead of the Grizzlies, who are the eighth seed. The Suns are currently the seventh seed. Golden State drop down to the ninth seed. They’re now two and a half games back from the Suns. The Suns are two games back from the Timberwolves, who they hold the tiebreaker over. Timberwolves are 17 and 10. Uh, realistically speaking, I know it kind of feels like, okay, the Suns were in the the six seed and now they’ve fallen down to the playin. I I think given the nature of where this roster has been at, and given the nature of their schedule, the fact that they’re still over 500, >> they are the only team in the playin in the West who is over 500 and they’re four and a half games above the 10th seed, which is at the end of the playin. to to position yourself there given not just you’ve missed Jaylen Green but you’ve also missed Mark Williams on backto-backs. He’s had been on a minutes restriction. You’ve missed Grayson Allen. You’ve missed Ryan Dunn. Uh Colin Gillespie, who knows what happens with him going forward. You’ve really been rotating. Dylan Brooks missed a big stretch at the beginning of the season. You have to imagine that getting these tiebreers over the teams that you were around, Minnesota, Golden State, it might end up being critical in this Western Conference come April. >> Yeah. No, for sure. I I think about it like the way through the scope of a game, right? Where game-winning plays, you think they’re only made in the last five minutes, but a game-winning play could be made in the second quarter, right? And that’s kind of where we are right now where games that are important to the playoff race can don’t just happen in March, in April. They also happen in November, December because again, you don’t want to look back and say, I wish I would have done XYZ in November, December or January. And I I I think the interesting thing about where it is with this Suns team right now is that or the impressive thing with what they did tonight is that they didn’t let things compound, right? They lost two in a row. They already lost at home this week. And when you’re a team that’s dealing with what you’re dealing with and up against what you’re up against, you cannot afford long losing streaks. So for the losing streak to have gone past two games would have been bad for this team. You halt it tonight. you get some momentum and you also harm a team that’s directly in there in that with you. So, it makes Saturday’s game all the much more important because both teams can be much better on Saturday. But what we saw tonight, I think right now the Suns are a better team. >> Well, and I think it it even actually takes a little bit of the pressure off. It does a little bit of Saturday. Now, here’s the thing. You did lose to the Warriors earlier this year. So, you lose here, you’re down 2-1 in the season, series. So, there’s still plenty of pressure there. But the last thing you could have afforded was going 0 and2 right ab stretch. And I’m sure the Suns aren’t looking at it that way is okay, we got one an hour on the road in Golden State. But yeah, you’re right. It’s a playoff simulation. Not just you’re playing this team back toback, but your road and your home and you’re you’re flopping that and so are they. And I think it’s interesting because you’re playing against a veteran team in this sense. You talk about winning ugly. It’s hard sometimes to win ugly against guys who made a career off of winning ugly. Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green. I mean, Steph Curry has been able to step up in clutch moments. So to be able to get a win like that with a team that is this young, a team that is this short-handed and team that has been this doubted, it’s huge. And this is something that you take into the playoffs, what you did tonight, because when does the game get ugly? When does the game slow down, right? We saw Houston really struggle with that last playoffs when they played this very team with basically the identical roster here. you saw it get ugly because Golden State was able to really really grind it down and when it got to the half court game, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green and and Steph Curry before the injury, they they were able to put them away. Yeah. And so to be able to to take that situation and to harness it and to harness the chaos and to pull out a win and to have that be a repeatable thing that they’ve done so far this year, it’s a testament to the mentality and the mentality is going to play well when it does come to play in playoff time. And somebody said in the chat, you don’t want to be in that eighth seed. >> Absolutely not. >> Because you I think you have any other seed I know Denver’s playing incredible basketball right now. any other seed that you’re in, I think you have a shot, right? Even though you’re probably not going to be the favorites, you have a shot. >> The eighth seed is a little different, [laughter] >> but that is for the future about tonight. Deon Booker uh talked about the the reason for his difference in play in the second half, and I think he just kind of clarified a little bit more what he told Amanda post. >> Um I said in my post, I took my core shorts off. If you’re familiar, it’s like some super tight tights to, you know, restrict you from moving too much because I’ve been coming back from injury. So, I retired those. >> Yeah. I’ve always declined wearing them. Uh, I wore them last game versus the Lakers. Uh, have you ever tried them? If any of you guys ever tried them? You Yeah, they’re they’re Yeah, they’re they’re tight. I mean, I wear tights already, but they’re they’re super tight. And you know, maybe it was just an excuse that I was shooting the ball better. >> What led to the change of heart and like finally accepting to put him off for once? >> Um, not wanting to get injured again. Um, you know, it I hate being on that sideline and, you know, I was fortunate enough that it was one of our breaks in the season where we had we had a lot of games. I mean, a lot of days in between games, so only missed three, but you know, if it was next month or what we’re doing come up, it’ have been seven or eight. So, you know, I don’t want to miss any more games. >> That was kind of my first thought when he said he took that off. I was like, “Oo, okay. I’m glad that you were hitting the shots, but uh why exactly were you wearing that in the first place? Obviously, you’re coming back from a groin injury. Let’s let’s not get you back on the bench there.” But I like how he also goes, “Yeah, maybe it was just an excuse for my [laughter] poor shooting.” >> Yeah. Yeah. Again, I mean, now that core shorts number one enemy of of us and all fans, >> I feel we gota get some >> and and and report on how they how they I think I think they’re readily I mean, you ask everybody if they’ve had them before. So, something like >> that to me feels like I’m an athlete and that’s my life and I don’t realize that I’m talking to a bunch of like >> Yeah. Like why >> sports journalists >> and why would we have had any core >> core shorts pro 3.0? >> I mean they just expensive. >> There you go. Well, core shorts, come holler at us and send some our way so we can >> guess. Can we expense? >> We can. We should get them to holler at us. >> I want you to get I want you to guess how much a pair of core shorts are. >> I’m going to guess 120. >> Oh, okay. A little high. $104.99. >> That was close. Dang. >> $104.99. Uh, this one only comes in extra large, double extra large, and triple extra large. This is just for professional athletes. >> There’s only three left in stock. Um, but that’s an expensive pair of underwear, my guy. >> Yeah. And especially to to impact your performance. >> And that was that’s not even like the name brand one. That’s like the the off the off brandand one. Hold up. I got to find I got to find out. I’m sorry, guys. I’m sorry, but I got to find out how expens Okay, first of all, they’re all out of stock. Uh, >> they must be they must be hot. >> The Pro shorts are 100 and then 109 and they got leggings as well. $129. Uh, >> so yeah, there you go. >> Yeah. Well, >> no, Devin Booker, I have not worn a $100 pair of underwear before, but thank you for assuming that maybe some of us in the media are athletic enough to have said that we have >> done. I mean, I guess like there’s a chance that you would have. >> Yeah, there’s a chance. >> I I I maxed out at the ones with the pads on the uh on the >> but didn’t have the money for that. >> The walk ones did weren’t in the budget for [laughter] that. You’re like, you go, “Hey, coach, my groin’s a little sore. I think I need some pro shorts.” Buddy, that’s on your own dime. And no, we don’t do NIL over here yet. So, good luck with that. >> You have to for >> Oh, man. But look, uh, we did hear a little bit more from Devin Booker tonight. Last thing we’ll hear from him is he just talked about Oso Igodaro and his impact and his growth uh over his career in this season. >> Uh, yeah. I mean, he’s been working. you know, he he he’s put the work in and, you know, it’s it’s his time to show it. So, you know, we’ve been seeing it behind the scenes and, you know, a little bit of a slow start, just getting acquainted with everything, but, you know, I think he’s getting more and more comfortable every game and, you know, he gives us the versatility to be able to play five out, play faster, um, switch a lot of actions, you know, so I like the dynamic of, you know, having Mark and him, you know, back and forth. Look, >> Oso Aarono, we said it before. He’s somebody that’s going to be a little bit polarizing, but we have seen him put a lot of work in, and I do think that he’s improved from his first season as a Phoenix son to this year. >> Yeah, I think the most important thing to remember, and this goes for any young player outside of OSO, like growth isn’t necessarily linear. So like you’ll see him have some high moments and like really think he’s taken some steps forward and he it’s because he has and he might have a misstep or a step backwards or whatever but remembering that it’s all part of the process and it’s not just a two threeear thing. It’s you know a bigger picture thing where give him that next contract and really kind of firmly keep him in that rotation. Um, so I think that he’s probably right where he’s supposed to be as far as a path and it might not necessarily be as uh gratifying as it should be at this point, but I think through the lens of this season, get the ups and downs out of the way now to when these high lever situations in the postseason kind of come around, he’s he’s doing better. So, I think that’s kind of kind of where it is. >> Uh, we’re not going to play the clip here. Audio is a little rough, but I love this quote from Dylan Brooks postgame. Uh, asked just kind of about everything. He takes some accountability. He says, “Got to do some soul searching.” That’s really it. It’s the second time I’ll learn from it. >> Talking about obviously taking that shot >> at the end there. And I think also probably about the the flagrance and all that. >> Again, I talked about I think it was the the postgame show, the second Minnesota live at Hilo where it was like, I understand that we need Dylan to be a certain way, but I don’t think that can excuse you fully fully from accountability when it comes to making mistakes. >> Yeah. And I think another one that we didn’t even think about cuz it happened so long ago in the game. What this is game 27 of the season and he’s got nine texts already. So >> is it 10 now? Like does the flagrant count or No, >> I don’t know if the flagrant count. I think the flagrant’s in its own little pool of things, but he’s picked up a couple of those too. >> If the flagrant counts, it’s 10. >> But if it doesn’t, then it’s just nine. But regardless, he’s more than halfway there to an automatic suspension. He got an automatic suspension last year for technical fouls. And obviously, you want the fire. We talk about the competitive nature. talk about the assertiveness and aggression on the offensive end and we always talk about harnessing it as well, right? And a lot of what he does offensively as far as the shots that he takes >> out of necessity given who’s available and who isn’t available, but you know, the technical foul was probably avoidable. Um, you know, and it’s just one of those things where it’s like >> you don’t want him picking up seven more. And again, the fact that he’s picked up nine in 27 games and he hasn’t even been available for all 27 games leads you to think that he’s probably going to get >> Well, he did pick one up when he wasn’t playing against the Warriors. >> Yeah. So, leads you to believe that like, man, you don’t want him missing especially because >> around that time that he would pick up a seventh would be when the games are more high leverage and you need him to play in these games because you are jostling to get out of the playin tournament or for playoff positioning. So that’s the biggest thing I think more than anything else like the the competitive part of the fire that comes with it and him being him as far as that goes fine but the technical fouls your pockets are getting lighter and also you get closer and closer to your team having to play without you. >> Yeah. And if you get to a point where you’re in the playin or you’re fighting for playoff playin status and you’re trying to stay out of that eighth seed to give you a shot to win a playoff series. Every single game matters and it comes down to it. If Dylan Brooks either ma misses that playin playoff game or misses the games leading up to it in April when we have some pretty big matchups to end the season that’s going to be like okay well damn I wish I didn’t pick up the technical when I was on the bench against Golden State or on the random game on on December 18th right but again it’s you know we’ve also won so many games because Dylan Brooks he was getting physical and he got physical in this game as well and he was really good in the first half you kind of got to live with it and even hopefully it gets to a point where he doesn’t feel like he has to do so much when everybody is back healthy. Maybe it is kind of a mentality thing where you know the most dangerous dog is what a dog backed into a corner, right? I think that’s the quote. Did I just make that up? I don’t know. >> If you did, that’s a bar. >> I’ll take it. I don’t think I made that up. But, you know, it’s like I I came up with iron sharpens iron. >> Yeah, you trademark that. >> I was like, it was like a couple months ago. I was like, how’s nobody thought of this yet? Um, [laughter] but it with Dylan, if he can kind of ease in when he knows that Jaylen’s back, right? He knows Grace is back. He knows that they’re fully healthy. >> Maybe then he can not feel like he has to do so much and get in this mindset of not just, hey, I’m going to do a lot. So, I’m going to take a lot of shots offensively, but I’m going to do a lot on the defensive end to get scrappy to kind of get this game out of rhythm so that we have a shot to take advantage of that. >> Yeah. And I think one thing that we kind of acknowledge, we talked about that with everybody not named Devin Booker. Basically, everybody is again playing a role that’s larger than what they expected going into this season. And I think that takes a toll physically, but also takes a toll mentally. So, I think that a lot of that and he said he needs to do some soularching. So, the accountability and the self-awareness shows that this is kind of taking a toll on him. And I saw I think David in the chat said just get the text out of the way and get the suspension out of the way. That would be great except every two texts after that is another suspension. So, I think the best option is just just just cool out on the technical fouls for a little while. >> I think what would be funny is we all pick a game >> that we think will be >> that Dylan Brooks >> There you go. >> picks up his 16 technical foul. >> I I I could >> because here’s if it’s going to happen, which it’s >> probably going to happen. >> Luck. [laughter] >> It’s gonna happen, right? I think even if you told me before the season, will Dylan Brooks get suspended for a game due to technical fouls? I would say yes. >> Probably. Yeah. >> I mean, who who’s the like the league leader in technical fouls right now? >> It’s got to be him, right? >> Sorry. I I I got to know. These are just things that I have to know now. Uh yeah, I Yeah, I believe that it is him. Uh some people are this this list is stupid. It says Derek Queen with three. >> No, this this one’s right. We got it’s Dylan Brooks with nine now, Bobby Poris, and Luca Donic with five. So, he’s got a pretty he’s got a pretty healthy lead. He has almost double. >> Yeah. Yeah. Listen. >> And Luca complains a lot. >> Yeah. And and and I will be to be fair to Dylan. One, I’m not here like again, I’m not ragging on him for technical fouls. It’s a reputation thing. A lot of times I think some some players ref are quicker to whistle you for a technical. >> How much does Draymond have, does it say? >> Four coming in tonight. Did he pick up I think he picked up five tonight. Did he pick up six tonight? >> I think he did. >> Yeah, I think it was. Yeah. >> So he’s up to five now. So, he’s in the tie with Bobby Poris, Luka Donis, Duke who might have gotten tech tonight. They played tonight. So, you know, we’ll have to look at the the updated tally tomorrow. Um, but yeah, just to think think about that. Um, but but yeah, I think there’s a little bit of like a a situation, too, where like refer to whistle it for certain people because they don’t want situations to quote unquote escalate. Yeah. >> Right. So, I think that >> too bad it’s escalating. >> Yeah. It’s like Yeah. So, it’s just one of those things that, you know, I think you you deal with it. It’s so funny to think that, you know, one of his vets was Mike Connley who to this day has never picked up a technical foul in the NBA. >> Do you think last game for Mike Connley just says, “Fuck it.” >> And just >> and just like loses it like pushes somebody to the ground. He’s like, “Oh, I’ve been waiting to do that.” Like, “If I’m not going to get an All-Star appearance, at least I’m push somebody to the ground.” Uh, couple other names I think we should mention tonight. Good defensive game from Jamari Buouay. He continues to get minutes in this shortened rotation. Obviously, >> they short him a block. Uh they did short him a block. He blocked Jimmy and he blocked Draymond. They only gave him one. Also really great uh close out on one of the 10 Quinton post three-pointers where Quinton grabbed the ball and was again as a sevenfooter. He’s he’s so wide open. Jamari is literally two feet in the restricted area. >> Yep. >> Sprints out and as Quinton Post loads up, Jamari is able to get out there, go and contest and force a miss. Just a great game from Jamari Buouay. Uh, overall I I don’t feel like we need to talk too much about Ryan Dunn and Royce O’Neal. I I feel like their game’s pretty self-explanatory tonight. One other player on on the Warriors before we get to super chats and Stephen eventually calls in here. Boom. Look at that off the brain. I’ll get him set up. Uh, Jonathan Kaminga. Jonathan Kaminga tonight. >> 10 minutes, two points, one over on the minutes, by the way. >> It’s the over on the minutes under on everything else. [laughter] >> Yeah. >> I just want to say thank you. I would like to say thank you to Jonathan Kuminga for driving your trade value so low that we’re just going to trade you for Nick Richards. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kuminga. Uh we do greatly appreciate that. We also greatly appreciate our guy checking in from the morg. Let’s get with uh he was using your full government in pregame. So make sure people knew >> Pan Garner calling in live from the morg for the Phoenix Suns 99 to98 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Uh blue collar galore tonight. Stephen, I had to break out the fit to match it. What a win for the Suns. >> Yeah. Um I’m making an amendment right now and I started to do this when we decided to make this a thing. Jordan Goodwin was my number two. I was met with resistance on the blueco collar spectrum as far as where he is. People saying he’s too high, this that and the third. His collar is the bluest on the team. >> This is breaking news. >> No, not if you if you’ve been understanding the essence of what that is. He is quite literally embodies it from how he’s gotten to the opportunity that he got being the last player picked to make the main roster after Jamari Buouy or before Jamari Buouay got got brought in after training camp and preseason and everything. um having a fight and scrap for minutes, fighting and scrapping for possessions, then building that trust with guys, literally guarding Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green in one possession, and then going down on the other end and knocking down a pullup or getting a contested layup, grabbing an offensive rebound with 4 seconds left, and then ended up winning the game with the free throw at the end. his collar is the bluest and this is a long laundry list of moments that he’s compiling that’s kind of further supporting this claim. >> Yeah. I mean I can’t argue with that at all. Especially we talk about it. He has his one put back of the game that we always kind of laugh and joke about, but I mean it just so happened that tonight the the what would have been a putback resulted him getting fouled and knocking down the free throw to win the game. And we had the conversation. I’m curious where you stand on it too. list him at 63 215 pound-for-pound probably the best offensive rebounder in the league just at that size at the position. [sighs] >> There’s a guy in New York >> that will give him a great run for his money. >> I wonder how he measures up. That’s what I was thinking about. >> If you like blue collarness, you’re not gonna like it more than me. I would pay great money to watch him and u Josh Hart get into a blue collar off for off. >> Yeah. just barking at each other. [laughter] Just foaming out of the mouth, >> barking. >> Some people love boxing. I love guys that go for offensive rebounds that are undersized like those two are. Let’s go. >> They like boxing. You like box outs. It’s one and the same. >> Exactly. Exactly. Yep. >> Look, >> he’s he’s in that he’s he’s elite in that conversation. To answer your question, Gil, there’s only a couple other guys I would consider in that. Obviously, Josh being at the top of that list. Those guys are one of one in multiple respects. >> I mentioned in the pregame show, Jordan Goodwin’s wearing a mask. Automatically give him the bluecollar boy of the night. But Stephen, this was all in all, it was an ugly win if we’re being just honest about everything. A win is a win. It’s great for everything because it ends up with the 9998 victory. But two points difference in this game, a two-point swing, and the mood of this postgame show is is completely different. The Suns take on the Warriors on Saturday. What can they absolutely not repeat on Saturday when they’re now on the road against the same team in order to make it two wins in a row against them? >> Yeah. Uh, I’ll answer the question in a second. Um, Eric, you know, you know better. You know better. Jay-Z Hov has said before, there’s no such thing as a ugly billionaire. Me, Stephen Pon Gardner, has said before on this very podcast, there’s no such thing as an ugly win. If it’s was desired, it can never be ugly. It’s was desired. If you said they won it on these terms and they looked backwards and they kind of saw it before it actually did, they take it. No such thing as a ugly win. Uh, not the prettiest win for sure, [laughter] but I can’t call I can’t call a win ugly. >> OKAY. NO, NO, NO, NO. What’s the difference? >> If somebody SAYS, “HEY, YOU’RE UGLY.” OR, “HEY, you’re not pretty.” It’s like that’s the same [ __ ] >> There’s a difference between not being pretty and being ugly. >> I mean, I mean, >> uh, sure. You know what, Stephen? I’mma let you go. >> Let me know. We can do a supplemental video on [laughter] >> member that this is membersonly content for sure. Pretty, not pretty versus ugly. 1,00%. But no, um, to answer the the actual question, um, they have to get a better start, man. Last time they played against Golden State, it was not a pretty start and they found themselves having to play catchup pretty much the entirety of the game and they weren’t able to do so. Um, today they were able to get some not lucky bounces because I feel like they earned some of the opportunities that the game presented to them, but they had to scrap and claw for this one in ways that I don’t feel like they should have had to because Golden State didn’t play well. Like they genuinely did not play well. Steph didn’t have a great game >> in any kind of respect. Um, and if the Suns are able to play to their quality, to their style earlier on, I feel like this should be a game where they won comfortably by about 10 to 15 points. if I’m being honest. Now, obviously, you don’t make those guaranteed because there are some dudes on the other side of the court and those dudes also have some jewelry that comes with their cache as well. But I don’t think they played their best game tonight. And I think because of that, if the Suns play even close to what their typical game is, this is a game that we see them win by double digits in a comfortable manner. >> Yeah, you said that at one point you were like, man, it feels like the Suns should be up by 10, 15 points. And that was I think in the second half when the Warriors were just continuing to make mistakes after mistake. You mentioned Steph Curry and we talked about it a lot yesterday. Came in tonight on a heater off of a game where he made 12 threes, 15 points on three or 14 shooting. Did you see anything specifically that the Suns did defensively tonight to limit him? And how do you think that there will be adjustments on both sides? I guess kind of because it kind of feels like a playoff game now. We got the day off and then they go again on Saturday. Yeah, it it definitely to your point, you brought it up earlier this week, it feels like a playoff style situation because of the nature of the home and road within a couple of days of each other. Um, more than anything, it felt like they were very physical with Steph. >> And if there’s ever one weakness that he has outside of the untimely behind the back passes or untimely behind the back dribbles, it’s that physicality. if it’s used with the right timing in the right situations can not rattle him because I feel like he’s almost unrable but it can kind of slightly throw his game off even just a little bit. And if you have a group of personnel that can kind of pull those strings at the right time over the course of a game, you can get some some some ste games like this one tonight where it’s kind of the suboptimal efficiency in a way that we really hardly ever see from him. Um, so some of that credit goes to Dylan Brooks for sure, but there was a handful of other guys that had their chance at guarding him. Jordan Goodwin, Colin Gillespie, Ryan D had a little bit of a chance as well. also Igodaro on some switches, not necessarily chasing him around screens, but being able to flatten him out and really keep him perimeter oriented and kind of get into his handle some. I think they did a good job collectively, especially in the second half where the defense turned some corners and it felt like it kind of weighed on him just enough to be able to eek out a win. Uh, that being said, to Eric’s point in the last question, in their home court, I doubt that’s going to be something that you can rely on. Not saying it won’t happen, but the chances of it happening at home are a lot slimmer. And I imagine he’s not going to have two bad games in a row because he is who he is as all >> Steph Curry. >> Breaking news. He’s Steph Curry. >> Breaking news. K Gillespie is Kong Gillespie. And there are two things that I want to talk about about Colin Gillespie with you. First thing is obviously the the >> He’s one of those with to answer your question. Yes. >> Yes. Yes. [laughter] Uh the the the knee to knee contact with Kuminga and everything. Uh what was it like from a a fan perspective when that happened and then when he checked back into the game, just how loud did it get? Yeah, it was it was a little concerning because he obviously was on the floor and he was writhing in pain. He was grabbing the knee with the sleeve on it. Um that definitely wasn’t the prettiest of moments. Um had to have some teammates come over and kind of console him for a minute and then true to his kind of Terminator demeanor just pops up under his own power hobbles to the bench and I guess they tell him, “No, you need to go get this checked out.” So he hobbles to the bench. He might even sat down for a second, then got up under his own power, went to the back, and then comes back out. I think he honestly like he hobbled to the bench, and then he kind of had like a half jive from the bench to the locker room, and then when he came back out, it was like John Cena and everybody was, >> can you do this? Can you do the theme song? >> I can’t do the theme song. >> Yeah, you can. [laughter] >> You know it. I know you know it. >> KNOW IT. I >> GET out of you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, >> it was kind of it was kind of one of those moments and then he for like maybe 30 seconds and Jordan not gives him the signal, >> gets back in the game and then does what he does. Couple steals in a timely manner, takes what should have been a charge. They said his heel was on the line. I’m not sure if it was or not. I couldn’t tell. But, uh, yeah, just comes up with timely plays. Knocks down some shots early in the fourth quarter as well before the injury right before that happened. That dude is just a winner. I think that’s the best way to put it. And we saw yet another example of that tonight. >> The only difference is he didn’t lose. >> Oh wow. Wow. The WWE reference from Stephen. >> Wow. >> Wow. You WWE guy or were you at one point? >> John Cena is a culture figure. So >> that’s that’s real. Good point. That’s real. Uh, speaking of of culture, Colin Gillespie, I had another question with him, this one a little bit more related to to the actual basketball part. You and I talked over the summer about what Colin needed to improve on, and it was beyond the three-point shooting, right? What are you doing around the rim, what are you doing in the mid-range? Something that Gil and I were going back and forth about earlier in the show is how Colin has now leveraged his three-point threat and where he is on the scouting report to be able to now make an impact. I think the most the most viable one is twice in this game. He pumped faked to three. Guy bit on it. Even after the knee injury, guy bit on it. Quinton posted. He drives to the rim and gets a layup. One switching hands the left. Another one just wide open with the right. Have you seen this natural evolution in his game? Not just okay, he’s making threes, he’s making shots, but what shots he’s taking. >> Yeah, I’ve seen I’ve seen a bit of the shots he’s taking part shift some. Um, I think it might have been Dylan Brooks that told him he needed to uh find his way to making those midies count. Uh, which unironically is coming from him. Um, kind of telling him that. But I think the other part of it too is Colin continuing to step into his own and just playing his game more than he was playing to a role in years past. U, which speaks to the empowerment part from Jordan not and everything that his system is on offense. Um, but with Collins specifically when he gets in pick and roll, man, there’s those two plays early in the fourth quarter before the knee injury happened where I think you hinted at one of them, Eric. He kind of puts the guy in jail and then gets to the midi and then does what he does there. And then the other play was he um Nash dribbles underneath the basket, gets off of the ball, gets it back, and then ends up getting to the drive and then gets to the finish on the inside hand. Those are things that he wasn’t necessarily doing to the extent that he is now. And I go back to that second drive after he did the Nash dribble. What happened on the Nash dribble is he made Quinton Post switch onto him. So he gets to the perimeter and now it’s Quinton Post that’s guarding him and at that point he’s at his mercy. He has no chance of staying in front of him, especially with the space that Colin was operating in at that moment. And so it’s a blowby into a layup. And it’s like those little moments are where, okay, the jump shot is awesome, but you have to have a couple of other counter punches if you’re going to be an elite super sub, almost like a sixth starter, if you will. And he’s ascended into that into his own right. But while we’re on the topic of Colin, I have to go back to the defensive end because it’s a little bit of a PSA to a lot of players across the league. Just because Colin is small in stature does not mean you’re going to take advantage of him in terms of matchup hunting. Anthony Edwards found out the hard way multiple times to the point where he had to give the Suns an opportunity for merch, which we saw them cash in on today. Um, we’ve seen Shay Gilders Alexander try it. It hasn’t really worked. We’ve seen LeBron James and Luca Don try it in the same game multiple times now. It just hasn’t worked, guys. Jimmy Butler tonight, guys matchup hunting to try to go and get the switch with Colin and him being solid enough to stay attached to them and not give them an easy opportunity, but then also his teammates being timely with the types of help that they’re showing around him when he does get switched onto those guys. It says a lot about the team, but it starts with him because if you can’t guard the ball, you can’t have a scheme. And he’s doing a great job of just staying attached to dudes, making it tough. I have a lot more detail on that in the notebook series. uh piece that’ll drop tomorrow. But this is just another chronicle in that story for Colin this season on the defensive end. >> Any uh final thoughts, Stephen? You’re you’re heading home for the holidays, so we won’t be able to hear from you uh that often, but obviously this was a good win for the Suns. any overarching thoughts or or thoughts about this game, the Suns in general, your favorite holiday snacks, what you want for Christmas, uh, anything on your mind. >> Uh, for the show’s purposes, all I want for Christmas is a son’s outright playoff birth. >> Bang. Um, and to live in to live in the the dust settling on a lot of people taking accountability on social media >> for their [clears throat] um careless use of words and making assumptions and all of these things. Not getting ahead of myself or anything like that, but you ask for a Christmas gift for a son’s related Christmas gift, it would be that. Um, but yeah, I’m looking forward to being home. I’ll say though on the Sun side of things, I’m looking forward to while I’m home, um seeing what those two games, that second game against the Warriors and then that game on Christmas Eve against the Lakers, what those games are going to look like because they needed to get today’s win. Job well done there. But they need to go get these next two in succession with one another again to really kind of validify themselves or validate themselves rather in that kind of middle class of the Western Conference, but also give themselves that tiebreaker against those two teams in particular because the Suns have been going through all of this injury adversity. What if when Jaylen Green returns, they don’t have much or any more of that going forward and teams that really haven’t seen it start to have their moments with it? What does that look like in terms of the shape shifting of the standings? How does that work as an advantage potentially for the Suns? So, handling your business in order in this present moment with this kind of hellacious point of the schedule. Very important. Um, and then yeah, turn the calendar going into the new year, hopefully being a team that’s top six in the Western Conference. I think that’ll be a great spot to be in for them. >> Oh, that would be awesome. Always awesome hearing from you, Stephen. Safe travels. Enjoy your time at home. We’ll try not to have any breaking news uh while you are out there. >> Eric, you know better than anybody, man. That is a bad bet. [laughter] >> Every time somebody call themselves trying to be responsible and take care of themselves, we get some Sun’s news in >> Hey, you know, maybe it’ll be a Christmas miracle, my guy. A Christmas miracle. It could it could happen. It could. It could. [laughter] >> No, I’m I’m not putting no stock. >> Breaking news. Devin Booker retires and Jordan Au decides to start coaching football. Steven’s calling in on from home and that’s going to be an announcement on Christmas Day. Uh although I heard A’s going to go coach the Ravens, so I think you should be pretty happy. >> Hey, listen. He got he got the culture. He got the culture in him for sure. But [laughter] he’s from he’s from Pennsylvania. He probably don’t like too much of the of the Ravens, but >> Steelers guy, >> I would imagine. So yeah, I’d imagine. Stephen, we appreciate you. Of course, if you are a Suns fan, you got to follow Stephen at StephenPG3. That’s Stephen with a Ph. Oh, >> real quick. My bad. Uh Eric probably me uppercut if I forgot. Um we got some fun coming for y’all um Saturday morning film session wise. So, be on the lookout for that. >> Um and then I mentioned earlier the notebook will be out tomorrow. So, yeah, we got we got y’all covered while I’mma be away from everything. We got some things on back order. So, be on the lookout for the content. We appreciate all of y’all in the chat. And I won’t get to see y’all. So, enjoy yourselves over the holidays. Be safe. Take care of yourselves. And please enjoy this time with your loved ones. Let somebody know that they you love them and let them feel that as well. >> We’ll see you for the Jonathan Kaminga Breaking News Trade Pod. As soon as you have the most important family outing, uh we appreciate you, man. Make sure you follow Stephen at StephenPG3. That’s Stephen with a PH. Dropping incredible stuff like explains and breakdowns and everything of the sort. important when he’s not at home enjoying much deserved time with his family. He is at every Phoenix Suns practice, shootaround, Valley Suns game and home game. He of course is our man with boots on the ground. So make sure you give him a follow again at Stephen PG3. See you around, man. Happy holiday. >> Save travels. >> All right. Uh let’s knock out these super chats here. Round things out as we approach midnight. It’s your time to shine, Gil. >> Where do we start? Oh, you know where to start. >> Be calm. God bless the Seahawks. And go Suns. I see y’all. >> Just keep ripping them off. Honestly, >> be calm. Hawks up, man. Sam Darnold, we won. >> This Seahawk stuff is making me sick. At least it’s the Rams they got to win over. [laughter] >> A double win. I’m a effing cream man. Snatch. >> No. Say that again. I couldn’t really hear you on that one. [clears throat] >> Double win. I’m a effing cream man. Sna. Snatch. A double win. Shout out the double win. >> Oh, I love that. Uh, super chat from Kevon Davis says, “Sons dub success Rams hatewatch and my bets hit W. Big W for you. I can only relate to the Suns win. I didn’t get a hate watch the Rams, but my bets also didn’t hit. But thank you for being here, Kevon. And you’re back. >> Be calm. Super chat. $10. Suns up. Suns up. Suns up. Go Hawks. Sam Donald is for real. Go Hawks. And I see my ex out there making it work. And much love, a double win, a Suns and Seahawks win. Wait a second. Watch out now. >> Oh, >> Carolina and 49ers, you’re next. Take notes. Oh, io. I don’t know about the Carolina. You’re next. Now, come on. >> Say this is where you draw the line with draw a line here. We might draw a line here. We’ll see. We’ll see. December 28th. We’ll see. At the bank. >> Oh, at the bank. Lonnie with the 199 super chat says, “We beat the refs by one.” It’s real, Lonnie. That’s real. And uh let’s get out of here. Of course, there’s only one way to do it. >> I can’t stop throwing up. OMG. Crying, laughing, woozy. Sick. Crying, laughing, crying, laughing, snatch all day. >> We got to clip that cuz he didn’t even see say be calm clearly. He just started saying it. >> That’s all me. >> No better way to round it out. Thanks for keeping the lights on in here. Be calm clearly. Even though I cannot see clearly right now. That’s a joke. I’m fine. Uh, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, become a member today. Suns show is off tomorrow. Back on Saturday, pregame postgame show as they take on the Warriors for round three of the season. Round two and three days coming off a 99 to 98 victory. But just because we are off tomorrow doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty for you to joy enjoy here on PHNX Sports. Of course, Southwest Buans with Espo tomorrow morning. If you are missing him, I’m sure he’ll give his thoughts on the Suns of course. Kenny Dillingham saga with ASU. Uh the Wildcats show just had Brent Brennan on. They’re leading up to a big bowl season for them even though it makes me sick to my stomach. Diamondbacks offseason trade rumors, signing rumors, Alex Bregman, Catel Martine, and of course BHX Cardinals trudging through the large pile of dudu that is the Cardinals season as they take on the Falcons this weekend. And boy, that game’s going to suck. But the the guys at PHNX Cardinals don’t suck. And luckily, we have all of the fun here on PHNX Suns. You can follow the show at PHNX_s. Did I forget a show? Are we I think I think I hit every show. Awesome. Uh, you can follow, of course, the freckled Mamba behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. You can follow him at freckled Mamba. But of course, you can follow Gil at Gil McGregor_. And I use the term follow on the social media sense. Be calm. Clearly, do not just follow Gil around. >> It might be beef over this game next week. >> Might be beef. Trouble in paradise with becom clearly and Gil. And you can follow me at E R A K R U B Y until Saturday. Be in a golden state of mind. [music] City like the mayor.

The Phoenix Suns earned a much-needed one-point win over the Golden State Warriors thanks to a 23-point second half from Devin Booker and the last-second heroics of Jordan Goodwin. Booker’s 25 points led the way for the Suns while their defense limited Steph Curry to 15 points on 3-of-14 shooting.

With the win, Phoenix moves to 15-12 on the season and gains a game on Golden State in the Western Conference standings. PHNX Suns postgame takes you through a much-needed win for the Suns, who snapped a two-game skid ahead of another meeting with the Warriors this weekend. Follow the show @PHNX_Suns, @ErikRuby, @GilMcGregor_, @StephenPG3 & @Espo!

0:00 – Intro
1:40 – Suns Win!!! Barely…
3:00 – JORDAN GOODWIN Seals The W
13:40 – Devin Booker Had A KILLER Second Half
25:25 – Collin Gillespie Is TOUGH
40:30 – By The Numbers
1:16:30 – SPG Joins Us From The Morg!

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