Stephen A. on what went wrong for Suns: EVERYTHING! | First Take

very good chris paul at 10 devin booker 11

stephen

I'll start with you here

what

went

wrong

with the children all that is the

first

answers uh props to the dallas mavericks i sisley I have to apologize I didn't see it coming I knew Luca was going to do it

what

i had to do, i had no idea spencer dinwiddie would play like that, i thought jalen brunson would do his thing, but defeat to be up by 30 at the half or luca to have as many points as the phoenix

suns

in the

first

half, They defeated up to 46 in a seventh game.

It was the largest halftime deficit in game seven history. It was one of the biggest deficits. The 46-point deficit in NBA history. It was a complete catastrophe. The Phoenix Suns part isn't much worse than what we saw yesterday. Deandre Ayton. Good luck getting your maximum dollars. That will be a commitment. Devin Booker. You're still a star. Big respect for you and

everything

, but a game seven. defines legacy, we all know this when you don't show up in a seventh game in epic fashion like they did yesterday, that's the kind of thing that stays tied to you for your entire career unless you make up for it by coming back to win a championship that's how It's JJ and Bev everyone knows that's number two number three I'm sad for my man Chris Paul because from the moment he turned 37 he's been terrible averaging nine points three and a half turnovers.

I don't know what the hell happened to them in the last four or five games when they lost four of those last five games. I don't know what the hell happened in the last one since he dropped 28 points in the second game. Chris Paul has made 18 shots. and he's committed 18 turnovers the rest of this series, that's all he did, so when you look at it from that perspective, I know they think they'll be back next year, but I'm looking at all the teams in the Western Conference and I got serious concerns about the future it was a very very bad period no excuses they got their asses whipped no they're not coming back they're not coming back the NBA is going to be a lot healthier next year uh the competition is going to be Rigid people understand the way to win against Phoenix and that is to attack Chris Paul.

If you watch the game. Yes I am a coach and I play. If I play with the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs. I'm holding my hat. That's what it worked for, wear them down, make them play, make them score, make them facilitate and we'll have our hats at the end of who's going to win and, uh, that's what Dallas, you had to give Jason Jason Kidd a lot of credit? a lot of credit, he did a great job, you know, I've talked about phoenix

suns

in a bright light all season long. I've talked about the book and cp in a bright light all season. um and cp is a dear friend, but They deserve all the vilification that they're going to get in the coming weeks and months for that performance in game seven and they talk a lot and yeah, and you know, we talk.

I was here last night. I am back. I was here. last week and we said the same thing, I said the same thing as you, I think it was 2-2, I said ultimately, I think you know the sons win this series. I did game six on Thursday and I think Dallas had them figured out. and it was very difficult for me to believe that they were going to win yesterday that children those children could win yesterday Luca came out and took away their soul as if there was something that happened there in that first half, first quarter and a half where he simply took away their soul, took away their entire life. to that team, that's how good it is.

To your point, they attacked game six and seven. CP scored 23 points as a primary defender when he was defending, giving up 33 points, 118 points per possession. when I was the lead defender in games six and seven, that's the best offense in the league, what I'm looking at, uh, I'm looking at it well, you know, those numbers, I'm looking at, that's the best offense in the league , so the formula that bombs you don't play, you force him to his left hand and attack him because when you get to the playoffs, we've seen this this year, especially when you get to the playoffs, it's size that matters, right? , you need big wings, you need a player like giannis, that's why losing chris middleton was so important, you know, for the celtics to win that series you need size and I like, I love cp, he's a hall of famer first vote, he's one of the best point guards of all time, he's one of them, pat, he's absolutely one of them, this one is up there, but I wonder if he's your best player, right?

If he's your best player, he's your ceiling, a championship team, well, and so far, historically, the answer is no, the ceiling is not a championship. team, that's number one, let's get that out of the way, you get beat and you're down 46 in the seventh game on your home court,

everything

goes out the window, you've been significantly humiliated and exposed, those are the two words that come In my opinion, humiliated and exposed, yes, Luca did what he did, but it didn't surprise me. I was hoping luca would do his thing. What I didn't expect is that the reason I chose Phoenix Sense to win this game is because they were getting beat on the road and they were winning at home the role players seem to be different in Dallas than when they were on tour and that is what I was counting on I was thinking in the seventh game pressurized environment is going to have to We go down to luca and luca only beats you at home, but on the road not so much, so I figured Phoenix was going to do what they were supposed to do in the seventh game, but let's call it what it is, they got their asses kicked and I mean, it was a beating and if you're Devin Booker, you're also honored because again, Luca is a star, that was your chance to remind everyone that you were too you were, thanks for watching Espn on YouTube for the live broadcast. sports and premium content subscribe to espn plus