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Game Thread Oct 28, 2023 08:00PM MT: Jazz at Suns

Added to Calendar: 10-28-23

Well it was our third game on the second night of a B2B, on the road against ostensibly the toughest team in the west so I wasn’t expecting much. Maybe buoyed up by the absence of Booker and Beale though I was expecting a little bit better than what we got. After a pretty solid unified effort on Friday, wow did we ever look ragged in this one. Was Laurie basically the only guy that showed up?

Fighting the urge to point fingers until I have a better sample size at this point.
This is been a test of the emergency broadcasting system. We now return you to your regular scheduled programming.
 
Not sure what’s up with Kessler but man dudes aren’t feeling him around the rim Eubanks and Nurk were eating. Our guards just have so much dribble without much of a plan.

WTF is this zone? Sexton has no clue where to be in it. Why are we being so cute?

The holy trinity of dribbling combo guards gonna make me lose my mind.

Keyonte is awesome … def had some tired legs at the end of his last stint.
Yeah I was about to write my thoughts but your post pretty much sums them up.

I also wanna add about the holy trinity is that I dont see our opponents being worried much about them defensively.
- Only thing you dont want to give THT is clear path to the rim. Everything else you want him to take.
- Sexton and Clarkson are so easy to trap and they either cannot find the kickout passing lanes or miss the passes. Also while last year Clarkson shot from PnR I cannot remember either him or Sexton taking a single three out of a good screen this season.

Also Dunn doesnt shoot and when he does he hesitates, so with him you dont even have to chase him around screens. He also gets spazzy and overplays on both ends. At least he can at times make a difference on defense.

Keyonte just has to get bumped in the rotation. Hopefully all the way to the top.
 
Also what @SoberasHotRod said in the previous gamethread about frontcourt pairs was definitely true for this game.

Hardy mixed it up a bit but mostly subbed them in pairs as well.
 
Hardy gave high praise to Keyonte in the postgame, especially his decission making. Said he could have had 11 assists with better finishing and also said he thought Key took the right shots even if his shooting percentages werent great. Added that he doesnt care about those efficiency numbers with the young guys as much as whether they make the right calls.

Also said: "I told him when he played with the starters that I dont care how many years of experience they have. You are the point guard now and I'm using you to communicate to them.". He is definitely prepping Key to take over sooner rather than later.
 
Also in that same presser Hardy was asked to assess Kesslers first 3 games and he didn't really hide that he has struggled. Said that Walker himself has also been very disappointed and hard on himself.

Hardy didnt point out any individual reason why he has struggled but didn't seem too worried about it. Spoke as if its just pressure caused by higher expectations.
 
I kind of wonder if we should have just kept Conley. TNT is not a starting PG in this league.
It's clear hes a back up scoring guard, andddd we already have plenty of those.

This team needs a floor leader, and more defenders.
 
I really like Dunn, and havent given up on him ,but I haven't liked what I've seen these past few games.
He and Clarkson have been painful to watch.
Dunn has frustrated me as well. Every time he makes a great defensive play he fumbles the extra possession away. He also gives away easy and unnecessary shooting fouls.

I'm still holding hope he can return to better form. I think the main thing is he needs to calm down a bit.

Keyonte is the only guard playing with rhythm and composure. Its like all the vets are spazzing. Maybe they stil feel like the hunger games are on..
 
Dunn has frustrated me as well. Every time he makes a great defensive play he fumbles the extra possession away. He also gives away easy and unnecessary shooting fouls.

I'm still holding hope he can return to better form. I think the main thing is he needs to calm down a bit.

Keyonte is the only guard playing with rhythm and composure. Its like all the vets are spazzing. Maybe they stil feel like the hunger games are on..

I do think THT, Sexton, and Dunn probably feel a lot of pressure from Keyonte and are trying to do too much. It feels like Dunn was much better at decision making last year, it could be I have different expectations for him now.
 
-This was a bad THT game, I'm not going to try and balance out the THT hate with Cy gone, but it does feel a little extreme.
- Keyonte was our second best player in the first half, but I don't think he played quite as well in the second half. He sure looks ready for a bigger role, but I still worry about throwing too much at him too fast.
- I've enjoyed watching Collins, I like his game, but the fit on this team is still off for me.
- I couldn't find anything on Agbaji's injury, are there any updates? I'm guessing it's a knee bruise.
 
As far as Kessler goes, I think he'll be fine. He just looks like his timing is a half step slow. The only concerning thing for me is that last year he always followed up a bad game with a great game. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a monster game next game.
 
**** that was a ********. i turned it off early in the third to go to bed (had to get up at 5 for work). that was a good decision.
 
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