Well, did you get what you wanted? The good old NBA Cup…are you happy with the result? That is what we were fighting to play in? A 49-point loss?
I keep asking myself why we want to be part of this thing
again? Oh yeah. I did not. I am not someone who circles the wagons and shouts I told you so. But tonight I embrace the inner villain and say just that. I told you the NBA Cup was dumb. You can’t see it, but I’m sticking my tongue out as I write these words in a sarcastic, older-brother manner.
Sure, I want the Suns to compete, and I want them to win every game. That is the goal. But they ended up in a spot where they were the doormat in the quarterfinals, lined up against a team that looks historically good.
You can frame it as an opportunity to be on a national stage and sharpen iron with iron. That sounds good in theory. That is not what played out on Wednesday night. Their success in group play put them right in the Thunder’s path, and it cost them a win. They now have the honor of being the only team that gets to play Oklahoma City five times this season. The Thunder look like a group that could threaten the all-time wins record. Cool.
So the question becomes philosophical. Do you tank to avoid the Cup? The simple answer is no. The breaks did not land in the Suns’ favor. Because of it, they can lose two extra games on the schedule. If they had not made the Cup, they would have been lined up with a softer draw. But our reality is they face the Thunder once and then the loser of Lakers and Spurs, which ended up being the Lakers.
You do not want to build a loser’s mentality. You do not want a culture that welcomes losing or tries to steer around specific matchups. That is not how you grow. That said, the NBA Cup keeps turning into an internal enemy for me because I have never liked the circus around it, and my distaste grows with each forced matchup. I do not see its purpose, and I am probably biased because the Suns are now 0-of-2 all-time in Cup play, and if they lose to the Spurs on Friday, the games they were pushed into because of Cup success will put them at 0-of-4.
Maybe it is an odd way to look at it. Maybe I am in my own head when it comes to the Cup. I respect that the Suns went out and tried to compete. The deck was stacked against them. I wish they had been given a path that helped them steal a couple more wins because for a team like this, a couple games can decide a playoff spot or a Play-In spot. At the end of the year, that will matter. And even though I do not like saying I told you so, it is something I will say if we get there.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
Someone has caught up to Devin Booker. That someone? Mark Williams!
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 25 against the Thunder. Here are your nominees:
Dillon Brooks
16 points (4-of-16, 2-of-5 3PT, 6-of-7 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 turnovers, -47 +/-
Jordan Goodwin
15 points (6-of-12, 3-of-5 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, -14 +/-
Jamaree Bouyea
14 points (6-of-9, 2-of-3 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 1 block, -8 +/-
Rasheer Fleming
7 points (3-of-5, 1-of-2 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, -3 +/-
Oso Ighodaro
6 points (3-of-7, 0-of-0 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, -3 +/-
Grayson Allen 1
0 points (3-of-9, 2-of-7 3PT, 2-of-2 FT), 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, -41 +/-
The polls are open!
