FIVE AND THREE

Suns Stuff

Well friends, I was right.

Two weeks ago I told you the Suns would be 3-2. Check. Last week I told you the Suns would be 5-3. Double check.

So besides Keith being terribly, terribly correct, what went right in the last week?

We’re winning the games we should win

I’m not impressed by beating Memphis and Golden State on the road. Oh no, I am not. No, eight games in and I am already brimming with obnoxiousness because of our red-hot Suns. Memphis is full of scrubs. Golden State is full of scrubs. Should have beaten both of them, did beat both of them. F*** you, Draymond Green. F*** you, Steve Kerr. I didn’t forget this.

Sadly, the powers that be at SB Nation have advised me that my contributions must consist of more than profanity-laced tirades towards vanquished foes swallowed up by the deadly haboob that is your Phoenix Suns.

Aron Baynes is the best player on the Suns not named Devin Booker. I determined this with the eyeball test, a term I hate yet continue to use. Something I hate even more is advanced statistics, in case I’ve never shared that with you before. In any event I’ve been told that Baynes’ PER of 25.07 leads the squad, and I’ve also been advised that stat supports my point.

That 24-12-7 he put up against the Warriors a couple Wednesdays ago was beautiful. And to follow up it up with 20 points and 4 of 7 shooting behind the arc against the Grizzlies? Man. It’s fun to watch. A tenth of the way through the season and Baynes is having a career year, the kind of year you only have when you get far, far away from Danny Ainge.

Kelly Oubre Jr. is next. He too, is having a career season, by every metric you should care about. Oubre was the guy I had the most concern about entering the season. The first week of November and I forgot what I was worried about.

We’re winning the games we shouldn’t win

Holy mackerel those are two terrible sub-headlines. Deadspin isn’t going to call, are they?

The Philly game was a delight. Booker for 40 on 15 of 19 shooting. My goodness gracious. Don’t tell me that Joel Embiid wasn’t playing. Don’t care. Would have beaten them anyway.

What pleased me the most about the Suns dusting the previously unbeaten Sixers, was watching Book take over a game. We knew he could do it, right? But in the past he did it and it was of absolutely no consequence. The Suns sucked. Now they don’t. Many hands make light work, but when called upon our superhero can absolutely cook Ben Simmons.

It’s so fun to watch.

As far as the Miami game, what can I say? Miami’s a good team. If Phoenix is going to win more often than not against teams like Memphis and Golden State and split against teams like Philly and Miami, then they are going to win more than they did last year. And the year before. Combined.

The Suns are playing in a marquee game on the basketball calendar. MARQUEE, damn it. Tuesday’s meeting with the Lakers is appointment television.

Your Suns will be 7-4 when we chat next.

NBA Stuff

Doc Rivers told reporters on Wednesday that Kawhi Leonard ‘feels great,’ and the NBA decided that was worth a $50k fine.

James Harden either slipped up and forgot Kevin Durant left Golden State, or was trashing the Warriors, either way it’s good stuff.

The hate is down for the Warriors and up for the Lakers, according to a study on sportsinsider.com

Your boy David Stern is 100% behind sports betting.

Doc Rivers does not like the new coach’s challenge rules. Doc Rivers is in the news too much.

Jalen Rose thinks you, the fan, are to blame for the NBA’s load management problem. Shut up, Jalen Rose.

Some guy named Adam Lefkoe is doing some NBA work with TNT.

There’s an app called ‘Signal’ which is evidently making it more difficult for the NBA to manage tampering. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of tampering, just know that it is a problem the league has that they can not solve and would be better off ignoring altogether.

My Stuff

What I’m reading: Ran through The Road by Cormac McCarthy again. Next up: Underworld by Don Delillo.

What I’m playing: Played a lot of Dragon Blaze on the Nintendo Switch last week. Have a close eye on Black Friday PS4 console deals, if only for the exclusives.

What I’m listening to: Like a lot of us I’m still at work when our teams start playing. Vegas Golden Knights hockey and Phoenix Suns basketball on the radio.

What I’m watching: Dancing with the Stars

What I’m thinking

Ok, so I don’t know if you watch this Dancing with the Stars show, but recently I’ve taken a little bit of an interest. If there is no Golden Knights hockey or Phoenix Suns basketball to consume I’ll watch with my wife, occasionally looking up from my Nintendo Switch.

Even if you don’t watch, you’re probably familiar with the show. It’s a dancing competition. Good dancers advance, bad dancers go home. It’s pretty simple.

But what is interesting about this season is that there is one dancer, Sean Spicer, who continues to advance on the show, despite being unquestionably the worst dancer in the field.

Looking into it more fully, the reason for this is that he does spectacularly well when it comes to the voters at home. That’s a component of advancing. And despite consistently garnering the worst ratings from the judges, so many people vote for him that he moves on.

From what I’ve read it’s people whose politics align with those of Spicer that are pushing him through. This has my wife irate. It has me interested.

It’s not all that different than the recent seasons of Phoenix Suns basketball. I’ve been quite public that when the Suns are bad, very bad, historically bad, I stop watching. Altogether. Check a few box scores here and there online, but I’m not going to burn my increasingly precious leisure time watching a team that’s winning 18 games a season.

Some years I’m done with the Suns by Christmas. This year I’m reading and consuming everything I can. I bought a couple new Suns shirts the other day. It’s been years since I bought a new Suns shirt. This season is the most fun I’ve had in years.

So I advised my wife to do the same thing. If the product is bad, stop consuming. If you’re watching Dancing with the Stars for dancing, and the dancing is bad, then turn it off. Go play some Kirby’s Adventure in the garage.

Leisure time is too valuable. I didn’t watch many of the young Suns for development and I’m glad I didn’t because in most cases that development didn’t happen. She should stop watching Sean Spicer for the same reasons.

Some Quote

“People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn’t believe in that. Tomorrow wasn’t getting ready for them. It didn’t even know they were there.”