The Phoenix Suns’ 4th quarter problem isn’t just ONE thing

The Phoenix Suns’ 4th quarter problem isn’t just ONE thing

But it still felt like at times their defense kind of breaks down at certain times the rotations aren’t quite there and I don’t know is that coaching or is that these guys kind of losing focus because defense is all about focus and knowing where you’re supposed to be and

Who’s rotating all those things but to s’s point it’s all confound I don’t know why this team has these moments where they just disappear he co co co how much of this loss do you put at the Fe Frank Vogal and the coaching staff so we got a super chat from Scott

Thank you for your Super Chat Scott said time to replace Vogal with young if young doesn’t work out then H Cur in the off season D um but beyond this comment there were quite a few in the chat that have been pointing out coaching as one of the culprits for this fourth

Quarter continued Struggle Bus I think this is a I think this is a a meltdown by a lot of different people and coaching included you know I don’t know why they went away from the book starting in the fourth quarter minutes um I thought that that’s something that

That at least slow down the chaos that was happening in the fourth quarters of late and um but they opted to sit book down I get the four fouls but you know it’s the fourth quarter it just I don’t know I I I I am confounded by this team

And by Frank vogle at times I just don’t understand some of the decisions that they make uh and it leads to a lot of distrust about this team because I don’t know what to believe in like the numbers will tell you one thing but then you look at how they play sometimes you’re

Like man but my eyes are telling me something completely different and it’s super frustrating you know what I mean and so this is just another example of that and Frank Fogle is he’s got to do better he he does have to do better he’s got to understand

What is really going to work against a team like the Hawks and I felt like he was experimenting a little too much especially in the second half with guys that weren’t really performing I mean who who like who was who was not performing like Eubanks wasn’t wasn’t playing very well and I’m

Like I get you get you’re gonna throw him in there in spot minutes I get that but I didn’t feel like he was really a factor like he had been he had been playing at a high level he wasn’t playing very well I would have I would

Have preferred to stick with Nur a few more times than than Eubanks uh abbd was pretty good in the first half I thought in the second half I thought he was he was kind of not really much of a factor um I mean you know you got met to and

You got NZ little on the side and I know there’s other things going on but that’s all I’m gonna say I don’t know I didn’t have a problem with the Eubanks minutes he still R some energy had six points on three to three shooting four four

Rebounds there were a few times I would have rather he grab the ball than tip it out and stuff I just my my my issue is is the book thing you know I think from time to time Frank could falls into that Monty thing where he doesn’t take a

Timeout when when runs start happening a little bit I disagree I feel like he’s really good about that I it I don’t know I think we’re I think we’re this is a perfect example it’s confounding you don’t know what to believe in and it’s it’s it’s confusing sometimes sometimes

There’s a rhythm to it sometimes there’s not and that’s that could be said for players and coaches like I just don’t know what to see but I feel like our impulse when we’re confused by something or when something doesn’t make sense on the court is to chalk it up as a

Coaching thing and call it that like oh the coach isn’t motivating them the right way or the coach isn’t doing this and that I agree I think book should start fourth quarters and they need to Tinker around with that a little bit more and continue to experiment I was

Kind of disappointed they went away from that tonight but like vogle is not the reason that Kevin Durant is getting stripped he’s not the reason that Eric Gordon is tiptoe going on the sideline and falling out of bounds like these are plays that Veterans of their caliber

Should be able to make and a lot of their Miss shots their defensive lapses their turnovers like these are just confounding plays because we don’t understand why players this good are not figuring it out in that regard that’s not a coaching thing might but that might be why you’re looking to blame the

Coaching staff is because you’re like it’s Kevin freaking Durant like but Kevin freaking Durant turns the ball he’s turned the ball over like that for years like he’s been a high turnover guy but he’s phenomenal in every other area of the game like going back and watching

His tape from Brooklyn when he first came here I was kind of flabbergasted like damn he gets kind of loses the handle a little bit he gets stripped more than I thought he did honestly at this stage but everything else that he does is way more important than that so

It’s just one of those things that when you have Superstars they’re going to have the ball a lot they’re going to turn the ball over quite a bit you hope that they’re not the live ball ones that KD has sometimes where he throws it cross court gets picked off for a pick

Six like that’s I don’t know I I tend to agree I I I get I I’m there with Saul that this team is confounding in a lot of ways and I don’t understand what is what the thing that I think this team loses Focus sometimes it feels like and

I don’t know I I don’t think that’s on the coach but like we were talking before the there were over the last 10 games before this they were ranked second in off net offense 11th in net defense but it still felt like at times their defense kind of breaks down at

Certain times the rotations aren’t quite there and I don’t know is that coaching or is that these guys kind of losing focus because defense is all about focus and knowing where you’re supposed to be and who’s rotating all those things but to Saul’s point it’s all confound I

Don’t know why this team has these moments where they just disappear and and turn into a team that that reminds you very much of 19 win Sun teams in the way they take over or don’t take care of the ball or don’t rotate appropriately on defense my concern is

That there might I don’t think there is this mindset but my concern is the mindset that kind of reflects a lot of what some of us say from time to time is that like you know we got time to work these things out they’ll get better as

The season goes on they’re still time there’s still time and yeah there is still time until there isn’t and you get eliminated then you’re like damn we probably should have fixed this this and this you know what I mean and so I just hope that that we’re not going towards

That path where we see these things you know book book said that in the in the 64- win season there were things that needed to be improved but because they were winning it kind of hit those blemishes and they’re not winning nearly as much as they were in that 64 win

Season right now but because you have the talent of the big three maybe it’s giving you a false sense of security that you know what at some point we’re all going to click and it’s going to be okay and I’m just not that fervent of a believer that that’s going to be the

Case at some point you have to improve you have to be better with the ball when you have in the The High Teens amounts of turnovers for a professional basketball team that is going to cost you games and it has for the Suns multiple times when you get outrebounded

When you get less shots than the other team like it feels like every single game we’re getting less shots the other team right now and it’s just these are the things that that can be prevented and need to be prevented if you have any aspirations of doing anything in the

Playoffs and that’s my concern but wouldn’t you say though I I totally agree with that because I don’t I don’t think it’s a guarantee that this team is just going to suddenly click and magically be a title Contender but when you say we should probably wait until

After they played 20 games together to start ruling definitively either way like they’re still only what was this game 18 I’m tired I know you are I know everyone is but like I keep going back to this it’s not going to [ __ ] happen on your terms it’s going to happen when

They get enough reps together like so so all right so this is this is my other thing okay if we’re gonna say that are we talking about just the big three or the entire team I’m talking about the big three I’m talking about the starting lineup I’m talking about

More games for him to figure out okay who is in this rotation this playoff rotation because it feels like we’re getting closer if you look at the guys that have been playing over this last week or two it’s Drew Eubanks it’s kbd it’s Josh aogi it’s Eric Gordon and all

Four of them have showed flashes of moving towards something more stable like moving towards something a little bit more consistent like Gordon was shooting the lights out he was only two for five tonight but he’s been good aogi had a string of good games wasn’t great

Tonight um but Drew EU Banks three for three I think he’s missed like two shots in the last two weeks overall like we’re getting closer but it’s not going to magically click it’s not going to happen overnight and they’re still being able to string along winds while they face

These junk defenses that they’re seeing every night so I get it’s frustrating but but that’s kind of going back to what you were talking about when book was saying we’re getting adversity we’re seeing different looks we’re seeing all this different stuff like it’s not going to be smooth sailing it’s going to be

Choppy Waters but you hope that when you get through the other side of it you’re prepared for a lot of what you’re going to see come play off time when you are getting hit with all these junk looks and all these different things that

They’re going to throw at you I I get it and I understand the games with the big three Sunday marks the 50th game overall for the team I get the big three at that point will have only played 19 but we’re seeing the same mistakes if there were

Like a bunch of different things and it was different things that were occurring that were causing the issues I I tend to agree but we’re seeing the same mistakes in loses in losses yes and we can’t just ignore the win not necessarily not necessarily wins Suns just are able to

Get the win still there just like in general like like for instance like I could understand chemistry issues when when you think somebody’s going to make a back door cut and they don’t and you throw the back door cut and it goes out of bounds like I can deal with that kind

Of stuff but it’s the it’s the dribbling off the foot it’s the lazy passes that they have full control over but they’re just playing sloppy that’s just sloppy basketball and that happens in the wins and the losses it’s not just it’s not just the losses for sure um you know and

And those are the things that need to be tightened up and even in the winds they’ve been outrebounded before in the winds they’ve given up more shots to the other team in wins too but again like either they’re going to address it and get better about it or they’re not and I

Don’t know if those things specifically those things turnovers and rebounds are they going to get better just because they’re playing more together as a team by the time they get to game 82 I don’t know yeah I think I think that’s the fear is okay sure they need more time

But you’re running out of time as well and okay what happens if they don’t get it together well you have no options after you know 6 days from now to make any any changes so then it winds up just being a Lost season because nothing does

Change uh even with more time and I think that’s the fear for people that’s why it’s the I want to know now because I’m not going to have an opportunity to change anything the [ __ ] show is coming and if they don’t fix it right now they will not have any other opportunities to

Be able to fix them in the off season and moving forward and that’s the Panic that that eso’s talking about is like you know like this team is going to be extremely limited moving forward after this trade deadline season so there’s a little bit of a sense of urgency I would

Say for sure and that maybe that is contributing to a little bit of the panic that we have after some of these losses because we’re hoping that they’re going to figure it out because we feel like [ __ ] you know like I don’t know what’s going to happen after this season

You know what I mean MH well and just the expectations that we all had coming into this season too like don’t get me wrong I know we talked ourselves into some of the guys that are coming off the bench for the squad but like as far as

The big three the starters like Grayson Allen has outperformed what I think we all anticipated him too so that’s been a pleasant surprise but even knowing that that was a surprise I still think we expected you know the big three plus Grayson Allen or the starters whoever

That fifth starter was to be better than sort of what we’ve gotten all season and I know a large majority of the reason has been injuries and that’s out of their control entirely but it doesn’t it doesn’t fix the feeling like you can you you have the The Logical

Side of your brain that’s telling you well injuries make things harder to find chemistry and to build it and to go through all of this and figure it out and iron out the wrinkles but emotionally it doesn’t it doesn’t matter I get that I’m I’m but I’d never approach it from a

Place of emotion like it’s I’m sorry they haven’t played 20 [ __ ] games together like what are we doing they’re at 18 is two games going to change anything I’m not saying the 20 Mark is makes a big difference I’m saying they haven’t even [ __ ] played 20 games

Together yet like we’re like we said coming into the season we need to see them play 50 to 60 ideally for us to feel good and even then they’re still at a continuity disadvantage compared to a team like the nuggets compared to like even at this point they’re going to be

At a continuity disadvantage severely to a team like the Clippers like that is something that talent and like sheer wheel will is g to have to overcome but like they’re not even they’re not even 40% to what we wanted them to be to feel okay about them in a playoff series and

That’s that’s the hard part for me is that like I don’t know if they’re going to get to that point

After another disappointing 4th quarter and a loss to the inferior Atlanta Hawks, the PHNX Suns podcast tries to break down what goes wrong when the Sun led by Devin Booker, Kevin Durant & Bradley Beal try to close game.

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