The Phoenix Suns Got Disrespected By Memphis On Their Home Court

The Phoenix Suns Got Disrespected By Memphis On Their Home Court

The Phoenix Suns took a step backward on Sunday night losing at home to the Memphis Grizzlies on today’s episode of lockon suns we break down the stretch that really tells the story of the game beyond the fourth quarter collapse and why teams just don’t seem to respect the Suns as an opponent let’s

Go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every Day and we are back this is locked on Phoenix Suns we are part of the locked on podcast Network I’m your host brenon clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons writer at suns.com and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get

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Locked on to the Phoenix Suns right along with me all season long Today’s Show brought to you byy game time the best place to buy any ticket download the game time create an account use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase we have a lot to get to today

The Suns Grizzlies game was just too big for me to not do a show on appreciate your patience being a little later with the episode than normal celebrated my little sister’s 18th birthday so happy birthday a little belatedly to Claire we went out to dinner and all that during

The game I was able to catch the end of it and then rewatch the whole thing Monday and now have my thoughts in order for all of you obviously a loss final score 121 to 115 at home Kevin Durant Returns the big three get another game

Together and yet with no johnar on the other side the Suns still lose so the fourth quarter collapse is going to get a lot of attention and rightly so the Grizzlies nearly doubled Phoenix up in that quarter and we’ve seen that that movie a million times this

Season but rather than go on another rant about that and and bore you all what I think makes the most sense is to tell you the stretch I actually think decided this game and it was not in the fourth quarter it was during the third quarter and while the Suns would end up

With about 30 seconds to go going up 13 in the third quarter which was their biggest lead of the game and set them up for the collapse that they went through in the fourth the third quarter I think takes me to the takeaway that I have from this

Game which I will get to in the next segment but it is just so it’s it’s a perfect example of how even with the sun’s advantages sort of going their way they still are not able to get the job done all right at the 8 minute and 502 Mark of the

Third jiren Jackson picks up his fourth foul happens with him a lot right foul trouble and he goes to the bench the suns are up five points at that point after uh a few minutes minute and a half or so about seven minutes left to go in the game in the

Third Memphis calls a timeout or Phoenix I can’t there is a timeout at that moment the score is 80 to 73 What followed over the next 2 and a half minutes was a 10 to3 Grizzlies run in which all three of the Suns big three are on the

Court and only Desmond Bane is on the court of between obviously the two stars but really if you want to say three and just remind yourself once again that chamar rant was not playing in this game and that the Grizzlies had to bench their starting center in this one cuz it

Just wasn’t working they bailed on Xavier Tillman early he only played three minutes that’s that that’s the level of adjustment that Memphis was already at and the lineup they had out there was Bane smart Canard Vince Williams and bismack biombo one of the only units you could

Put together on a competitive team in the west that is as small as the sun’s best lineups tend to be and in this case the sun’s best lineups were not small because Durant was actually playing so 2 minutes and 30 seconds 10 to three run and the score ends up tied at 83

And within this stretch you saw Marcus Smart be assertive driving downhill I believe that his own he made a shot in this stretch as did he also generated a Desmond Bane three on the wing both were the result of drive and kick opportunities from smart or driving opportunities from him just getting

Downhill trying to make something happen I believe in this stretch you had a hand handful of missed shots by the sun’s best players where you live with it sure but you don’t see the same level of assertiveness to get downhill that Memphis had overall if you look at the run from

The minute jiren went down it is a 16 to 11 run but again within that a 10 to3 run and within that an 80 run was in here as well those are just not moments that should ever happen when the Suns have all three of their stars on the court and really any

Opponent is out there you should not be in a situation where foul trouble injuries all mounting against that opponent and somehow you’re the team falling behind and again it didn’t end up becoming a Grizzlies lead because the Suns got their act together by the end of this quarter but only barely because

As soon as the fourth quarter started Memphis picked up right where it left off the final thing we saw in this stretch that I think is the moment of the game is within the aggressiveness from Smart within the transition three that Luke Canard hit here you saw a level of not

Only a lack of fear toward the Suns that Memphis demonstrated but frankly a lack of respect for the Suns I’ll tell you what I mean by that next and how we saw it play out as the Suns did cough up this lead but first Today’s Show brought to you by game

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All right let’s keep it rolling here the Phoenix Suns lost to the Memphis Grizzlies I told you why the third quarter to me is particularly frustrating and maybe even more indicative of what’s the problem here than the fourth quarter was even though the fourth quarter is exhausting we’ve seen you know the bad

Transition defense the turnovers I happen to think those things are effort and so maybe if you wonder why I don’t harp on them enough or it doesn’t feel like I’m maybe noticing I’m noticing but there’s only so much graveling we can all do toward professional athletes

Veterans most of them to put in the requisite amount of effort to not make boneheaded decisions to execute and everything else and there’s plenty of that to go around I’ve done it before I’ll do it again but in some cases the problems are different and maybe more concerning even than

That I talked in the last segment about respect and fear teams certainly aren’t afraid of the Suns right now they’re 19 and 17 they’re 500 at home they’re actually playing a team who has a similarly strange Home Road split situation somehow the Memphis Grizzlies

Are 10 and 10 away on the road and 3 and 13 at home so I guess some van bases have it even worse than Phoenix in the NBA this season and Memphis is one but they’re not afraid and they shouldn’t be what they also are not that is more serious is They Don’t

Really respect the Suns and what I mean by that is a few things the if you feel like the Suns get Road team calls at footprint Center I think you’re absolutely right the Suns get the wrong end of a lot of calls against non-star players in their home building the past couple

Couple of Seasons not just this year then I can remember and that is not me being a homer complaining about the refs whatever that is me criticizing the team because that is earned and teams opponents that come into footprint Center feel emboldened to play physically to be the initiators of

Contact be the tone Setters of the game because they don’t seem to think that the sons are going to push back or fight back or do much of anything to change the tide of the game and so the game is from a physicality and intensity standpoint that is determined by the opponent most

Knights even when the suns are at home that is way one way we see the respect not be there teams also this season more of a more of a this year thing are not afraid to run even if it might feel a little out of control at times and look for

Transition opportunities every chance they get because they don’t respect the son’s ability to do anything about it what I would also say is you just don’t see right like Let me Give an example from the other Vantage Point first before I talk about the opponents Suns fans any of you who watch

These games you know like if jaw had played last night perfect example that the suns are going to most likely want to counter that with Josh aogi playing more right you could come up with any number of examples there have been times when the Suns have played you know uh extra big

Lineups to counter those types of teams and whatever every team does that of course I’m not saying they don’t but last night Memphis they didn’t really care much who was on the court for the Suns you know like I just mentioned this lineup that made the third quarter run had

Smart okay that’s a Defender but other than that Bane Canard Vince Williams bismack biombo who’s guarding Kevin Durant in that grouping right who is you only have one great point of attack Defender you have Booker and Beal on the other side Grizzly said all right we like those odd give it to

Us and it worked the Suns don’t demand that you adjust to them and right now they can they should there’s clear Pathways to exerting what makes them a special roster on a night toight basis and making teams adjust but that’s not happening right now and so teams don’t

Have to respect that and they don’t have to respect the team they can play their game bring an intensity and physicality that they don’t have any reason to believe will be matched by the Suns and get calls play as fast as they want really just not face any resistance to

Anything and things are most likely going to work out for them doing that and we saw that again last night I think that the last part of how this game illustrated my point about how teams are not respecting the Suns which is you know it’s a pretty big claim I don’t

Mean that on an individual level I don’t mean that people walk into footprint Center or any road game that the suns are playing in and specifically to Booker or be or Durant or vogle or anybody personto person not respect them as competitors but as a team as a group

As a culture as an organization I don’t think it’s there and Vince Williams is a great example of of why as well Vince Williams is the guy who filled in admirably during John morant’s absence has now been moved back back to the bench even in last night’s

Game when ja didn’t play but ended up playing 37 minutes Tom Leander on the broadcast called him the surprise of the night or something like that on on the broadcast and I don’t agree Vince Williams is he’s been doing this you know he’s not the biggest name but if you watch Memphis at

All if even if you watched Memphis in the couple of nationally televised games when jof first came back he’s a guy who absolutely plays with the level of hustle always seems to you know just get involved defensively offensively loose balls whatever plays bigger than he is

Made three of his four threes and had four offensive rebounds against the Suns two blocks the Suns have nobody like that you could make the case Josh aogi is that and he is to a degree but he’s not playable enough on the offensive end to consistently make that type of impact

It’s hit or miss with him is his three-point shot going in is his confidence there if the answer to either one of those questions is no then you just turn the page because you know it’s not going to be an aogi Knight and of course I’m sure Vince Williams has games

Like that too I’m not trying to make him into an All-Star just to prove my point but when we’re talking about respect can talk about the Stars can talk about the fouls and the pace and the rotation and lineups and Ma and matchups and all the things I’ve

Mentioned already and those are there but is there any Suns role player outside of Grayson Allen who you think teams are respecting right now even Yousef nurkic and he had a solid enough game I thought they used him as a as a post passer and high post passer in a

Really nice way in this game he helped get jiren in foul trouble he had six offensive rebounds is anybody scared of Yousef nurkic respecting of Yousef nurkic worrying about Yousef nurkic no I don’t think so metu Eubanks Bates Diop Lee all the guys who played in this game maybe

Eric Gordon you know he didn’t play so I guess it’s an easy thing to say now I would okay Eric Ordon you got to guard him so are we up to Five Guys there’s no Vince Williams on this roster there hasn’t been in James Jones entire tenure

Those guys are free to be claimed and grabbed and developed every year across the whole league by anybody Vince Williams was I believe either a second round pick or undrafted came into the season as a sec as a two-way player look what he did look what he’s continued to do that’s

Not some built-in advantage that the Memphis Grizzlies had it’s not a number one overall pick that they got because they sucked the previous season it’s a guy that they went out scouted signed developed put in a position to succeed and got the fruits of that effort and

His work ethic clearly Suns don’t have anybody like that there’s nobody on this Suns team that comes off the bench or plays a smaller role that might not be on The Scouting Report but everybody on the court is aware watch out there’s no watch out guy on the Suns and until

Those things change we can talk about scheme and all the rest all that we want um that that’s not you don’t say that about championship teams let’s get to the box score odity of the night focused on jiren Jackson and his impact on a few aspects

Of what the suns were able to do on the offensive end first Today’s Show brought to you by FanDuel America’s number one sports book and the official sports book of the locked on podcast Network here’s the deal the NFL season is wrapping up but there’s still time to get in on the

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Into your account I’m looking at Tuesday nights NBA odds the Los Angeles Clippers our six and a half Point favorites at home against the Suns on sorry this is Monday night on the second night of the back toback for Phoenix what I like there though if you’re

Listening to this before tip off of that game is the over under of total points at 230 I think that that is a nice one but of course there’s plenty all across FanDuel live game same game parlay’s creative bets in the explore tab that you might not otherwise have

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Um let’s start a a little bit less negative which is the free throw attempts and the impact that jiren Jackson Jr had on the game despite having five fouls and despite our impression of him as somebody who doesn’t do well playing Center he certainly did in this game played

Well and while yes okay he had five fouls he only had one block you can tell that the sons were worried about him conscious of his whereabouts on the court by how they attempted I would say I’m I’m going to double check myself look at the shot

Chart here but it felt like a lot more floaters than layups you know and they did have 62 points in the pain it can be a little hard on these shot sharts even to look at specific individual attempts but I see like six misses at the basket I can get the at

The Rim numbers actually here as I talk but more than that the Suns only got to the line 22 times and to me it might sound counterintuitive but a handful of of jiren’s fouls were not were non- shooting and even if maybe let’s say all of them were shooting I don’t think they

Were let’s say they were it doesn’t really matter when that’s still only five the point is by the Suns kind of hesitating to go all the way to the basket they drew less contact they gave themselves fewer opportunities to make the refs call something and as a result they got to the line

Less so you had a game in which Desmond Bane all 6’4 of them got to the line the same amount as any of the sun’s most heavy free throw shooters tonight jiren Jackson got to the line as often as Bradley Beal did Marcus Smart got to

The line as often as Devon Booker did Kevin Durant only attempted one free throw nurkic three free throws even aogi who in the previous game against Miami did a pretty good job of getting into the line only two in 14 minutes I have the the at Rim numbers

And I was correct the suns were very solid on floaters where they shot 12 of 23 but on shots at The Rim they were only 22 of 41 which would put them around the 10th per pertile of all NBA games this year very very bad they were

Fouled four times at The Rim but honestly I’ll take that as a W for what I’m saying because when they got there they got fouled more often than Memphis but they didn’t get there enough and they didn’t convert them when they did right so that to me

Is a problem and even if you want to extend it past jiren when bism bomo in there test him make him foul you maybe he’ll get a couple blocks on you but I’d rather try it than not you know just felt like a game where they

Could have done more of that and I think the free throw discrepancy where the Suns walk into most games with an advantage there against a johnar rantas Grizzlies team they were out free throwed that that shouldn’t be happening the other thing that shouldn’t be happening is the three-pointers right

And we could talk about this all day but the bottom line is it is a tight RPP walk for the Suns offense without a true true true point guard and with three stars all trying to get comfortable and with the message clearly being that everybody has a green light

You’re going to run into some nights where the shot distribution may be a little funky you can try to poke holes in things you can try to be revisionist history about it and take issue with this or that and that’s easy to do especially after a

Loss so while I do try to avoid doing that the reason it is such a tight RPP walk is there has to be a point at which the best players say F that let me get mine and that also has to be done in an efficient way without rubbing anybody

The wrong way stepping on anybody’s toes finding a balance finding a happy literally happy joyful medium Middle Ground where everybody is involved and feels committed but where you do not have Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal taking one three-pointer each now Durant Cil took 23 shots a lot

Of those were sort of when the game was starting to get out of hand so I think he definitely could have and should have become involved earlier on he I wrote it down here I feel like the first set in which Durant initiated in the fourth quarter when the game was

Starting to slip away was at the 7 minute and 30 second Mark after the suns were already down two so they went into the quarter up a bunch they were already down two by the time Durant finally initiated something so the these are all part of the problem the offense clicked for large

Segments of this game especially the first half and even in the end of the second the end of the third quarter all of the St Stars had five plus assists and even naged it good all good signs but when at the end of the day Durant

And Beal both shoot below 50% from the field only get to the line of combined five times and only attempt a three-pointer each that’s just not going to be what you want to make this Trio the best best that they can possibly be consistently

So easy for me to sit here and look at the box score afterward and point to all the things that could have and should have and would have but at the same time that that whole distribution and shot diet in this game that that can’t

Be a pattern so I don’t think it will be but it’s part of why they lost last but not least young forward breakout watch and I’ll make it quick chimi metu this game is why he doesn’t play a bigger role consistently okay this this game this

Game is why he you know there’s a world in which shimi metu stay sticks with his starting spot even with how hot Grayson Allen has been from deep and Durant returning and everything else there is a world where that happens where Durant theoretically plays you know the Three metu

Is out there as a two-way big athletic role player not hard to imagine at all they need what he brings but he doesn’t bring it every night and you know Eddie Johnson pointed it out on the broadcast his jumper form wasn’t consistent in this game he consistently makes defensive

Mistakes he seems to be in his head a little bit on offense his best games come when he scores when he’s involved on offense he’s going to have plenty of games where he you know plays the passing Lanes he’s going to be good for one of those every night a breakaway

Dunk because he has the IQ to read those plays and the athleticism to finish him off but this type of game is why it’s not all the time why he’s not playing 20 minutes a night 25 minutes a night 30 minutes a night why he’s at this point

His career frankly not to get too ahead of myself and be you know overly harsh but they desperately need what he brings they’re begging for him to give it to them on a nightly basis and he has not done that let’s hope that changes sincerely truly hope that changes because if metu

If you’re getting the version of metu we saw when he scored a million points a few weeks back or when he’s really really on it defensively or even as a passer he can have some great moments if all those things consistently come this team’s a lot better they need that so I

Hope it happens but that’ll wrap us up for the day the Clippers games on Monday night check back here for a recap of that game with Brandon dwas we will be back late late late after that buzzer and I will talk to you guys all then

The Phoenix Suns not only collapsed in the fourth quarter vs. the Memphis Grizzlies, but Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal were disrespected by a team without its star Ja Morant.

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans explains how the Suns broke down starting in the fourth quarter, how the disrespect showed up, and how the Suns got off balance with their shot diet.

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