The Phoenix Suns take on the San Antonio Spurs in, of all places, Mexico City, Saturday afternoon. What will be on fans minds during this one?
Can the Suns bounce back?
The Suns lost a game they most certainly should have won Wednesday night against an inferior Memphis Grizzlies team.
It was frustrating, to say the least.
The Valley Boyz had a chance to start a winning streak, but let crappy shooting and a mixed bag of other forgettables get in their way.
They can right the ship against a team that isn’t exactly your uncle’s Spurs. Despite having the greatest coach in the game (don’t @ me), the Spurs has struggled as of late and enter Saturday with a 9-15 record.
The Suns are a two-point favorite after opening as a one-point underdog, meaning bettors think the Suns will win this one. Considering they were favored by eight against the Grizzlies of Memphis, anything is possible.
Who will be the backup point guard?
There is no reason to think anyone but Ty Jerome will be the backup point guard considering he has had a firm grasp on that role since his return/debut from injury. In reality, Monty Williams could probably pick one of the four back up point guard’s name out of a hat and have an equal chance at success.
Having said that, the Suns should strongly consider picking someone else other than Ty Jerome. To be fair, he has been put in a tough position, with everyone from Robert Sarver to Twitter Suns fan with a handle like @truSunsfan6969 expecting him to be a mini version of Ricky Rubio. But the rookie who led Virginiambien to a National Title has played a little too sleepily in his first handful of games.
Considering Tyler Johnson may be on trade-bait lockdown, and Elie Okobo is…well…he’s fine, it could be time for Jevon Carter to get another shot at backing up Rubio.
That is, of course, until 4 games from now when he is averaging two points, two assists, and two rebounds and the Suns either turn to just-fine Okobo, or revert back to Ty Jerome.
The backup point guard merry-go-round is real.
The audition of LaMarcus Aldridge
Could this game be an audition for LaMarcus Aldridge to join the Phoenix Suns?
Believe it or not, the Suns were actually at the top of his list back in 2015, before he ultimately signed with the Spurs, citing their consistent success.
A couple of weeks ago, we postulated on the idea of trading for Aldridge with the idea of giving the Suns a score-first power forward. While there are still a lot of question marks about that likelihood (or even desire), one can’t help but to put on their scout hat when watching the Suns battle the Spurs to see what kind of game Aldridge still has in him.
The Suns need this one to snatch back some momentum. There are only 3 mores games until Deandre Ayton makes his Ali-like return to the ring, and hopefully the Valley Boyz can enter into that game at 0.500. At that point, it’s a new season.