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The Phoenix Sons are back in the Valley after going two and four on a six game road trip,
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but not all is lost.
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Gilmur Gregor here to talk with Stephen, because I'm going to about what awaits this
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sun's team for the remainder of the season before we get into the final 12 games.
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The Sons are 39 and 31, pretty firmly placed in that seven seed and all hopes to move up
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into top six are probably lost, but it's not all done until it's not all done.
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First of all, Stephen, how do you feel after this two and four road trip in the four game
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losing streak that the Sons are currently on at the time recording?
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Yeah, so we all agreed on our last 3 p.m. show that looking forward to this road trip
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for the challenges and tests that it would present and that they needed to go at absolute
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doomsday worst three and three.
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Most of us said four and two.
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I said I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to manipulate it and get to five and
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Now, the level of play that they showed for a majority of that stretch directly aligns
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with them, potentially having been able to go on four and one or five and one, excuse
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Problem is those four quarters, man, those four quarters.
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I feel like one of the games that wasn't the fourth quarter itself.
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I think it was the game against Minnesota.
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It wasn't the fourth quarter itself for me though they did have some woes in there, but
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it was more so just kind of closing those middle quarters, but putting together a comprehensive
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game is the overarching point that I'm getting to.
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There's no margin for error, no matter how well you play through those first three quarters,
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even the first three and a half quarters, you have to play a comprehensive game against
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this top level competition.
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Otherwise, if you leave that back door open, you could potentially see what should have
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been a five and one road trip, turn into something that's two and four, which is the other
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side of the spectrum from it.
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And I think we're seeing from this team and neither of us and nobody here on this panel
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really is in the business of making excuses, but you're seeing the wear down effect of
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a team that does not have everybody available to them.
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And you think about that Spurs game where you had an opportunity to win this game.
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There's really no excuses for why you lost a game, double digit lead in the fourth quarter
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in a game in which you were without five players and a sixth one got hurt during the game.
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And I think that speaks to this team, but it also shows the wear down in those fourth
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quarters when you don't have as many reinforcements as you've had earlier in the season.
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When that next man mentality worked to your benefit, that being said, there are 12 games
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remaining in this season.
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The sons are 39 and 31 as we record this.
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And just to give a idea of what the remainder of the schedule looks like for what this means
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for the sons, they come back home for a four game home stand after this long trip.
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Milwaukee, Toronto, Denver, Utah, they head on the road for the final long road trip
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of the season, four games, Memphis, Orlando, Charlotte, Chicago, back home for two more
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home games the last two of the season, Houston and Dallas, and they close the season with
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trips to Los Angeles and Oklahoma City, which is actually pretty wild, two trips, two games
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to have on the road to go to LA, then go to Oklahoma City to close the season.
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Lot of tests still waiting for you.
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A lot of teams who are above you in the standings, even though you cannot catch them without
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some help at this point, I say I'll have to say not all is lost.
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And there are a good chunk of those games that you have to have against teams who are
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out of the playoff picture at this point.
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I look at them Milwaukee that's shutting down it's down for the season potentially.
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I look at Memphis who shut everybody down for the season seemingly.
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I look at Chicago who you owe one, Dallas who's looking forward to the future.
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And even at the end of the season, Oklahoma City is probably not playing for anything by
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So when you see and listen to what's the way they haven't even mentioned Utah as well,
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they're shutting everybody down as well.
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So that's five games right there that you should get.
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You can talk about the Doomsday scenario or whatever.
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You probably need to at least win six of these games and finish the season 45 and 37.
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But how do you see this unfolding and what do the sons need to do to get back on track
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and make the most of what's remaining this season?
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Yeah, I think step number one.
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You get to that magic number seven.
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I think you're in a good spot.
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That seven number is probably not going to give you into the six eat.
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But again, the overarching goal is just be healthy and figure out what you need to then
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translate to success in some capacity on that postseason stage.
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And that seven wins gets you to 46 wins on the season.
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We're coming into the year.
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I don't think anybody would have believed that suggested that thought that even as a ceiling
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for what this team could be.
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And I think to break down a little bit more, we talk about a lot of the woes and the things
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that trouble this team, it does all stem from them not having their full complement of
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And we've talked about the run away.
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And I'll be the last thing I ask you.
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But as I look through this one more time, and it's kind of perfectly clustered, you've
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got four games at home, four on the road, two at home, two on the road.
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And I look at the absolute non-negotiable games that you have to go out and win.
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First, the Milwaukee game, I mentioned who they won't have available to them.
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They're coming here after being blown out by the jazz on the road.
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And you've lost four straight when you play this game.
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Then you have the jazz at home.
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Then you go to play the Grizzlies.
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You go to play the Bulls.
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You play the Mavericks at home.
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So that's five right there that you absolutely non-negotiable have to have.
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And then between that, you play the Raptors, the Nuggets at home, you play the Magic and
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the Hornets on the road, you play the Rockets at home, you play the Lakers and Thunder
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You've got to find a way to get two of those.
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Of course, again, that's based on the premise that you take care of business in the way
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that you need to take care of business.
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But when I say these teams, and I talk about these teams, if the suns can get to back
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to playing suns basketball that we've seen for 30, 35, 38 minutes, but not the full 48,
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they have a chance against any of these teams.
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I'm not here saying they're going to win their last 12 to finish the season, but getting
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the seven should not be that big of an issue, especially given the context of where we
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are in the season who's resting people who's prioritizing seating, all of that being
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One, I asked you how you see those games playing out, which stand out to you as the biggest
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test and ones you want to get, but also thinking about the runway of getting everybody back
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Do you think they need five games, seven games, like how much time do you need to have
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if Mark Williams is back in line up, Dylan Brooks back in a line up, getting Haywood
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Highsmith and Grayson Allen, Roy Sonil, some guys who missed time in San Antonio, a
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mere coffee who also heard his ankle in San Antonio.
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So how do you see that playing out and how important is it to get some type of runway
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before maybe the play in tournament?
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Yeah, it's very, very, very important for a team that just quite literally hasn't had
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You bring in new guys to hopefully supplement the guys you already have.
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And then the new guys end up having to play a role that's maybe a punch up from where
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you wanted to, which speeds up their learning process, speeds up their chemistry building
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It's like, we wanted to ease y'all into it.
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We just got a throw y'all into five, man.
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Hey, I see what time it is y'all been around the block a few times as well as being
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vets and having been in winning situations.
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So we trust that we're able to do that comfortably and get a return on investment from
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Look at Haywood Highsmith's game in Boston, obviously look at a mere coffee's multiple moments
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since he's come around where he's just been a positive for them.
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But you want to be able to have those guys being the role that you brought them in to play.
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And then see if they can punch out of that, then that's really something that's found
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But you can't accurately assess those things to the extent that you want to until you're
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able to put guys in those positions around the guys that you're planning to have come
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So some of the things like an example of things I'm looking forward to is, Hey, what
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Highsmith with the starting unit, even if he's not literally the fifth starter, if he's
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subbing in and he's playing with a Devon Booker, Jaylen Green, the Dylan Brooks and Mark
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What is the defensive chemistry between Hey, what Highsmith and Mark Williams look like?
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What is the defensive chemistry between him and Dylan Brooks look like?
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What does all of that look like without a Colin Gillespie type of quinger on the floor?
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Like those are things that you just don't have the answers to at the moment because guys
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haven't been healthy.
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So I'm looking forward to them being able to get that in some capacity.
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We still don't have a guarantee on when Dylan Brooks will be back from his hand injury.
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And similarly with the foot injury with Mark Williams, we still just don't know as well.
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So it's still a little bit of gray area as far as when those guys return 13 games left
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But I imagine they're able to come back at least for even maybe five or six and those
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five or six games are going to be the most important five or six regardless of opponent
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the rest of the way because that's going to be what leads them to what else really is
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their destiny this season.
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I'm worried a little bit about Mark's return.
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Talked a little bit about big men and big men with foot issues and the process and I don't
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want anything to be rushed in the process and the thing for him was personally with his
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career, whether it's here or elsewhere, he can't jeopardize his long term future for
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something that they need or want to do in the short term as great as it is to continue
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to compete in the post season.
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That's definitely something contextually that needs to be kept in mind.
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So as we kind of turn the corner and wrap up here, we'll look at this sector by sector.
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So next four games, Milwaukee Toronto, I want to back to back and then Denver, Utah.
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I think you got to get at least two of those, but it would be good to either take one.
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I think you owe Toronto one as well.
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And I think playing in the home will be a little different.
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I don't think it's that ambitious to try to go three and one in that span and then you
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go on the road and I think toward the end of the homestand or when you go on the road
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is when you want to hope to get everybody back because at that point, your eight games left
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That's a tough part because I think the sons are five and eight and the back end of
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So you come back home.
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You come back home.
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You're sleeping a bit.
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It's an instant back to back.
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So it's right back to the grind.
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So you got the bugs game.
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That's like must win.
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Whatever phrasing you want to use for that.
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That's one that you have to exit the game.
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Hopefully with a comfortable win where you can rest some guys potentially in the fourth
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That's the absolute pie in the sky.
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Golden gates best gate scenario, best case scenario because you have that team that was able
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to kind of come back and beat you on their home floor and Toronto on the back end of that
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on this upcoming Sunday.
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So that game is going to be hard.
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Naturally, you have a team that's in desperation mode.
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No different than you are at this moment, but it's one step ahead of you in the standings
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and Denver come Tuesday.
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That's a game that's going to be on peacock.
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So it's going to be a little bit of a national TV stage for you with that as well.
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You want to perform well for that, but you also want to just continue to take steps in
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your process against the team that you haven't even been close to beating yet this season.
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It's had their way with the sons on this far scoreboard separation goal.
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So you want to be able to have a much more complete game played compete with them and potentially
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even beat them while they're as vulnerable as they'll ever be.
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And then you have a handful of days off, they got for those days off because that's four
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days between Tuesday and Saturday.
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I imagine they're going to probably take one of those days and just outright rest to have
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a blackout day because they probably haven't had a blackout day in two months at this point
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of the way that the schedule has been kind of evident flowing.
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So once you get back from that, hopefully you get a Dylan Brooks back or at least some
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clarity on when he'll be back.
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And then you're able to obviously rest and recuperate for that ladder stretch of games.
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Like you said, the magic number is seven, but you want to get as close to 10 in that 13
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as you possibly can.
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And you mentioned that.
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So the jazz take care of want to get that when you go on the road for another back to
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And the front end is a little bit kinder.
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Who knows what the grizzlies are going to look like at that point.
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Then you go to Orlando, play the magic.
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You got a damn between games, go to Charlotte, play the Hornets, and then close a trip in
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Chicago against the Bulls again.
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I mentioned a team that you owe was two on either side of that trip where I think there's
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no disagreement between both of us.
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You got to go get those.
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But then the middle it gets tricky because this is a magic team, the Hornets team that
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are vying for position in the Eastern Conference standings.
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You've beaten both of them already under terms they probably would like to get back.
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They feel like they owe you one.
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So I think it's not too ambitious to say you try to get one on either end of that and
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then get one of the magic of the Hornets and magic have been up and down a little bit
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and the Hornets are a better or they've started to get their stuff together at home as
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So that's the way I see that trip playing out.
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I agree with you on that.
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And I will say just as looking forward to point looking at these last handful of games
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you look at the teams that gave the sun some struggles in terms of their offense over
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this recent road stretch what teams can replicate that right some of those teams are just literally
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You look at Toronto they're still in the back end of a home back to back and then you
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go fast forward a little bit further we can have later you had a plan Orlando in Orlando
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that's one of the most physical defensive in the lead they still get the job done there.
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They have some switchability to everything that they do you have the Hornets yet again
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that's the team that you didn't have the most fun going up against offensively but your
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defense allow for you to play in transition a little bit more and I broke up the kind of
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ebb and flow of that game and then you look a little bit further you got Toronto again
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they're going to be at home or you got Houston at home rather excuse me that's the team
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that's going to still be tough they're going to be vying for play our positioning seating
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wise and then after that you have on the back to back you have the the mavericks that's
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the team that's been good defensively despite of everything else has been inconsistent they
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have a DNA defensively that's been top ten of majority of the year and then obviously
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the latter end you got the two heavy weights in the Lakers and the Thunder hopefully one
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of those two teams is cemented into a spot if not both.
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But the way is looking right now San Antonio's on the heels of Toronto so they might not
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be able to breathe comfortably until that final buzzer of the regular season and the Lakers
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right now who knows what's happening between three and seven right now so every game might
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have some meaningful implications from both sides outside of a couple of the teams that
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Absolutely I think the big thing about the Rockets game is you know I don't think I think
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the hopes of passing them have gone out of the window but also the hopes of probably
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playing them in the postseason aren't at least in the first round aren't going to happen
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but you still need to prove yourself that you can beat this team.
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And there's the team that were gossip who's available that game it's a later game
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I believe it's a national television game as well so go out there in front of that audience
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and this team who you've gotten close you know that the the game in Houston most recently
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we all the clock mill functioned everything like that feels very similar to the way this
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bird's game went where a guy makes a play they have a guy they have a superstar and he
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made a play go out there and make something happen make something work this is when you're
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around the corner so again I think just to wrap it up you would hope to maybe get everybody
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back by that bulls games that point you got five games left or that Rockets game even
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also front end of a back to back there's four games left in the season and you're probably
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preparing for the play in tournament where either the Warriors or the Clippers probably
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await you as the eight seed but one try to get to that seven win mark and also try to
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take round in the form and get to playing sun's basketball once again when the postseason
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rolls around so you're ready that means there's another audio only edition of the pH and
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X sun's podcast please make sure to follow us at pH and X underscore suns follow Stephen
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as Stephen PG three that's Stephen with a pH and follow me at Gil McGregor with an underscore
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at the end let us know what you think in the comments leave us a review how many wins
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of these final 12 games do the sun's need we're saying at least seven but hey if they
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go 11 and what's 51 season.