Empire of the Suns: Frank Vogel fired; what would the Suns get if they hire Mike Budenholzer?

[@SunnyslopeVikingPride]

I’ve noticed backcourt ball pressure lately too. That used to be only in college games.

[@jsap13]

Suns is doomed the moment they traded KD. They now have 3 super stars that don't seems like they care if they win or lose.

[@cruisernatn3]

Ok so when yall gone blame players for missing shots turning ball over and missing assignments

[@QueenShantel22]

It was the right move. It was obvious around Christmas that something was terribly wrong with the team and the fourth quarter issues never really got fixed. I wish they would hire a good assistant head coach who is a good connector

[@w.l.graves7228]

his name is MARK JACKSON !

[@samsonite.hang2low]

Frank Vogel's firing wasn't due to poor performance, but rather a desire for excellence. The real culprit was owner Matt Ishbia's meddling, disrupting the team's momentum. The Suns were on the cusp of a championship before his takeover, and it's unfortunate that Vogel was made the scapegoat. While I sympathize with Vogel, he'll still receive a hefty $10 million annual salary, softening the blow. The players, who seemingly wanted a change, now need a new coach to lead them to success. It's a crucial hire, as the team's chemistry and morale hang in the balance. Let's hope the next coach can reignite the spark that was lost with Vogel's departure.

[@cruisernatn3]

You literally just said there wasn’t personal problem is so untrue they need better wing Defense and back up center

[@stampthelamp]

It was so weird to fire Monty and get rid of Ayton. I always figured it would be one or the other...

[@QueenShantel22]

I believe they intended on keeping DA which is one of the reasons why they hired Vogel. That all changed when DA decided he wanted out

[@stampthelamp]

@@QueenShantel22 I'm so sick of these players being divas. Easy times create soft men...

[@stampthelamp]

@@QueenShantel22 I did have an issue with Monty though. When things would go south and the team, especially Booker, would let the refs get in their heads, he was terrible at reining that in. He actually stoked that fire a lot. Would have been nice to see them stay focused and push forward

[@Sluggwurth]

Great podcast as always boys!

[@Sluggwurth]

Sign Russel Westbrook to the vet min (copium) and run it back with Bud at coach fuck it man *takes shot*

[@Hones1Truth]

A team with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker is good enough to a guaranteed top 8 seed at the end of the season. Just the amount of attention they attract from defense opens enough opportunities for role players to be maximized enough to win a handful of games themselves. Both are good enough to win you plenty of games individually no matter what kind of defense is played on them. In regular season playing against 29 other teams is easier due to not every team having the personal to be able to outperform them or out match their scoring output. No matter what kind of coach you have Devin and Kevin will be able to do enough to get you into the postseason alone just from their gravity. As Devin and Kevin are who you are leaning on to get you over, it is easier to dismiss issues you continually observe from role players throughout the season. As the role players I have said will be able to shine enough to put up numbers which looks great contributing to winning enough games all coming from the attention of Devin and Kevin. Certain role player put up numbers which those who look at stats instead of watching the games praise more than their actual in game impact. The biggest issue why Suns will fail again will go back to Yusuf Nurkic, whose numbers look good but if you watched all 86 games you know why. I won’t go into his major glaring issue which everyone can observe which is not converting layups. Not getting into him flopping about 3 to 5 times a game and laying on the ground while his team is playing 4v5 with a man down. Not getting into how many dare shots he gives up which opponents always convert majority of it or get motivated enough to get their points by any means because they felt disrespected. Won’t make a big deal of how guards or forwards or athletic Bigs blow by him and get easy points. Those mentioned about Nurkic are to me the least which I have issues with. Especially his layups sometimes I blame Kevin on why he passes to him instead of going up to shoot it himself. If we win those games where he missed several layups, we ignore it but the once we lose, I always see the Suns media and fans go after Kevin because he passed him the ball. Eventually towards the end of the season I even smashed my screen almost when Kevin passed to him and kept asking myself doesn’t Durant know how many times NURKIC has blown those. I calm down because I look back and know anytime a teammate is open or with a mismatch Durant has always passed to them in his entire career. Let me get back on track on what is the major problem I find with Nurkic. That problem to me is one fans and media praise Nurkic for which is his playmaking. For me going back to the first few games of the season it is one of the most disappointing observations. It just comes down to simple as Nurkic when he has the ball Kevin and Devin are working extra hard to get open to receive it. They are burning more energy on getting open when Nurkic play makes more than anything. It is why by the time we get into the middle of the 3rd quarter they began to wear down leading to stagnant offense in the 4th quarter. It is why you often see the stars go post up in the corners more than game plan as reported. Especially Kevin he is burning so much energy on defense all night, creating his own shot on offense with multiple defenders running to him any time he has the ball throughout the game. What is even more draining is running into walls to get open when Nurkic is play making with an extra defender in his space and same with Booker too. What does Nurkic do when he has the ball. It is usually standing in one place looking for someone to get open. Why is it hard to get open when he has the ball for others. Because defense is all focused on them not Nurkic. He is not a threat to take an outside shot or even get a midrange shot off and not even a floater. Even if he goes inside which is not many times, he is more intent on drawing fouls than converting layups. When he is fouled, he is not a good free throw shooter so even if they foul him inside, they will take the risk. Known he is flopping a lot; the refs even ignore most of the contact. When he is inside or outside, he is not a threat. So, all defense or opponents must just focus on staying connected to the 4 teammates he is looking for often with an extra defender helping while backed away from Nurkic. Often after working so hard, you can see Kevin or someone slipping, and Nurkic throws it. It is converted but majority of the time when they catch it the defender is on their space, and they can’t get a clean look to shoot. All those taking place after time has run out while Yusuf was looking for them to get open. Just working too hard to get open in the season is breaking them down as the game goes on and that strategy does not work a lot as they have no juice in the closing minutes. We often hear Nurkic play makes like Jokic and are so ignorant to only pay attention to the pass without looking at the totality. When Jokic has the ball anywhere on the floor he can get a shot off which forces all 5 defenders to stare at him or run up to stop him leaving someone open for him to play make too. With Nurkic all the defenders must do is when he has the ball have a smile on your face and just stay attached to your man and wait until he gets the pass and make it impossible to get a clean shot or easily strip them leading into a turnover. Suns can get away with Nurkic play making against teams in regular season but once the top 8 teams who remain face them, they will get exposed again. If your Suns offense is focused on more Nurkic play making it won’t get you anywhere far. Even this year if they just let Booker, Beal, Allen and KD play more of the ball handling instead of letting Nurkic dominate the ball they could have found better chemistry as season went by. Hopefully the next coach is not an idiot who uses someone who doesn’t garner defensive attention as play maker. The point of someone playmaking means them being a threat themselves and pulling defense into their space allowing others to get opportunities to get open easily. When you are putting the ball in the hands of someone who cannot shoot or dribble into paint defenders just back off him and pay attention to the others and prevent them from getting open to get the ball. How hard is it to understand we will not get anywhere when playoff come again with that strategy.

[@LolTroll217]

all the losses to tanking teams has is in the 2-3rd seed fight minimum

[@alansnow1129]

We need Tyler Kolek point guard in the 2024 nba draft! We need to keep our dam picks

[@DNGR369]

Vogel came off the Couch and coached like he was on a Couch

[@coreysanders6908]

I 100% agree with you guys. Vogel should’ve been fired

[@cameron818]

You guys wanna know the Big Secret to Success?? Win enough regular Season games that you get a top 2 Seed. That way your matchup chances improve. Tadah

[@cosmolean]

Jones, Booker, Durant, and Beal all owe and apology to Frank Vogel. Jones should have been fired.

[@coreysanders6908]

Vogel was ass. Players played bad also but he was ass

[@Sluggwurth]

James Jones is a main reason this team isn’t still winning 20-30 games a year chill on bro

[@jeffchronister4092]

Agree, james jones pushed these trades, assembled the roster with the bench we traded away mid season. Vogel came here to coach ayton and after he got here we traded him. Vogel didn't get the job done but really didn't have a roster with any defensive players. He's a defensive coach that was given an offensive roster. James jones had one good season and a couple good selections in the draft. But that's the past. This team is a disaster and this was his vision. He said that he was going to be the guy to unlock hidden potential in durant because nobody else has. He's delusional and shouldn't be the GM.

[@Acoolyoutubename]

@@Sluggwurth bruh there were 7 playable guys and 4 of them were 2 guards

[@Sluggwurth]

@@Acoolyoutubename team would have won a chip if Ishbia had waited 6 more months and we didn’t have to add Mikal in the KD trade 😶‍🌫️

[@cruisernatn3]

So basically yall don’t know nothing. So let’s fire a new coach every year. I can’t care what round you lose in if it’s not a championship then we gone be firing a coach every year by yall logic. You can’t build team chemistry by firing coaches every year

[@samsakharia3382]

The NBA went to hell when they started having all the coaches wearing the same outfits that look like crap and can’t tell who is the real coach… remember when they all had suits on and looked like a coach… now we have 20 coaches for 20 players… there only was 5 before and the doctor.

[@maridambrosio523]

No. It was Him!! Or one of his 10 assistants. It was Him!

[@Acoolyoutubename]

these guys dont know ball. they had 7 playable players and 4 of them were 2 guards. it was defintely roster construction lmfao

[@sunsfever83]

This time in the NBA, there really is little choice than to have the stars choosing the coach. Which all but hand cuffs coaches. Bring D'Antoni back.

[@Narshe311]

Yuck

[@Seddysaid]

Only option is trading Beal. He has been underwhelming and not pulling his weight. We can get 3 legit pieces for 51 million. For instance- Anunoby is making 18 mil, Hart and Divencenzo are making 10-12 mil. Even with all 3, they would still be making 12 million less than Beal. "Beal has a no trade clause" how did we get him? We traded for him..

[@Gojifan01]

We traded for him, but he wanted to come here. Who is willing to pick up his contact? That is a team he wants to be on

[@jerichofawkes1911]

Nobody wants that albatross of a contract.

[@Seddysaid]

@Gojifan01 We obviously did so maybe another dumb owner might

[@Seddysaid]

@@jerichofawkes1911 maybe a team that's trying to get rid of 2 or 3 players or maybe a 3 team trade

[@stephenrose4558]

He has a no trade clause. He would have to waive that, like he did to come to Phoenix, to trade him. And that’s not gonna happen unless it’s a championship contender

[@apexroots]

Phoenix clown shoes rolls on 🤡🤡🤡

[@michaelevans-im5fv]

divas running the show lmao

[@w.l.graves7228]

we need MARK JACKSON please !

[@CheefChaos]

NO.