Suns Schedule Released!

Suns Schedule Released!

[Music] Hey, hey. Thanks for pressing play. Welcome to the Sun’s Jam Session podcast on the Believe Podcast Network sponsored by FanDuel. My name is John Voit, managing editor of Bright Side of the Sun and I’m joined as always by my podcasting partner, Matthew, uh, senior developer, writer at Bright Side of the Sun. I always forget your official title. What’s your official title? I have no idea. Is that what it is? It’s senior staff senior staff writer. I just I can’t I just thought it was a staff writer. That was it. Oh, you’re a senior, bro. I’m a senor. Oh, wow. I didn’t know I was that old. Yeah, you cover games in person, man. You’re a senior staff writer. Uh, but welcome everybody. I don’t It’s been a while since both Matthew and I have been on the pod together. Uh, change that intro just a little bit. We’re going to do our normal intro, but do you recognize that music, Matthew? Yeah. Is that the first jam sessions pod? Is that Is that really it? That’s the OG music. I was only guessing that because it sounds very simple and I’m like maybe it was the first one you did. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I uh in the process of bright sideofthe.com which just got a a whole overhaul uh of the way that the layout exists on the site. Looks good. In in the process of doing that, I kind of was just looking at old articles and pieces that we used to do. And it had our first podcast that we did, which was like our 16th, I think, overall podcast, uh, where we’re literally like reviewing week 16 of the 2019 season. Um, which I thought was just funny. And I was like, you know what? I miss that that simple music that we had once upon a time. So like I’m going to bring that back a little bit and just kind of see how see how it does it get up all in our feels. Matthew, did it get up all in your fields? Did it take you back to a simpler time when you weren’t a senior staff writer? No, I just uh kind of guessed it. So I didn’t really have any attachment to it. Sorry, dude. Do you? I do, man. I made that [ __ ] you know. I was like, “Oh, there it is.” Well, you have the attachment. I I’m always like, “Oh, that sounds really nice, dude.” You know, I wasn’t in there in the studio, you know, breaking it down with the drums and all that [ __ ] dude. It It was like me. It was like Dave Gro making the first uh Foo Fighters album where he did every part. That was me in the basement. I’m like, “Okay, this is me on the beat machine. This is me on the drums. This is me uh with the synthesizer just trying to put all that stuff together back in the garage days.” But uh those days are long behind us. This is episode number 760ome. I don’t even know what it is anymore. It’s been quite some time. Uh, and we’re slowly but surely starting to open the door towards the next season, towards 2025, 26. Summer’s not over by any means. We still have two months until the Suns play meaningful basketball. Yeah. But the the schedule was released today and it’s something that we’re going to talk about here on the Suns Jam Session podcast. A reminder, if you haven’t already, please subscribe, please rate, please review, and if you get a chance, stop by FanDuel and throw a little money down on the Suns over under and it’s something we’re going to talk about at the back end. 31 and a half is their win total projected. We’re going to take a look at this schedule today and see if that is something that is plausible or if no, the Suns are going to go blow past that or they might not hit it. But make sure that again you do stop by FanDuel to do that. And just remember to bet responsibly and and most of all have fun with it. But, uh, pop them if you got them, sons fans. I already popped mine, so I have to, uh, it’s diet Dr. Pepper. Oh, I almost did that, but I had a Bud Light in there, so I got Oh, man. I just bought some doseekis. It’s been a long time since I’ve had doseekis, and I’m looking forward to popping one of those open, and I just forgot to bring one in here as I was because prior to this, I was building a bookshelf for my wife. So, really? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it’s it rotates and [ __ ] It’s like it’s one of those things. You open up the box, 85 pieces, and you’re like, great. And the one thing that I’ve noticed like how much stuff have you put together lately? Just stuff. Oh, dude. I don’t remember. I don’t even know what’s going on right now, honestly. Well, I’ll say they don’t come with screws anymore. They’re all hex screws, right? They all come with a little Allen wrench. It’s so annoying. Like, I have a I have a drill that has a Phillips head on it. So, you just make it nice and fast. They’re like, “No, we want you to slowly crank this.” So, I have to buy hex heads for my drill now. Just It’s annoying. Yeah. No, I I have that, too. of a set of it because that’s all you use now, right? Yeah. I kind of like it just because the screws do strip easily. So, the hex’s a little bit better, but like you said, you have to go buy the attachments for it. But once you have those, you’re good to go. Do you have a hex screw or do you have just like all the hex’s? I have a I have a drill with like all the hexes, all like the Yeah, I have every size, but sometimes I don’t have that size. So, I have to go to go get another whole set with that size in it. So, cuz it ends up under the couch somewhere somewhere lost, so I can’t find it. And then I have to I’m not well organized with the tools. I have a tool bag and that’s it. I don’t have a tool box. It’s like it’s like a bag for going to like sleepovers with your friends. It’s filled with tools. Where’s the damn hex? Yeah, I actually just bought these uh this is summertime talks fans. Yeah, we’ll get to the schedule. Uh Matthew and I don’t talk unless it’s on the podcast even though we’re Yeah. I just bought these non-strip magnetic drill bits or not drill bits, uh, like screwdriver bits and I’m I really want to find a screw around my house because they exist right all over the place. Strip screws, uh, because I buy the Ryobi [ __ ] and it just instantly frays anytime you try to use it. And I need to see if they actually work. But we’ll try that after the podcast. Uh, again, pop them if you got them, Suns fans. We’re going to talk about the Phoenix Suns schedule unless Allen wrenches. [Applause] [Music] Hey, you’re listening to the Sun’s Jam Session podcast. Shooting the [ __ ] about the sun since 2019. All right, Matthew, it’s your favorite podcast of the year. The one where we talk about the schedule. And I have a news flash for everybody out there. Yes, the Suns play every team in the Western Conference multiple times and they play them more than the Eastern Conference. I guess I’ll start by asking this question. What was your first reaction when you saw the Suns schedule drop? What goes through Matthew Lissy’s mind? Well, to be honest, I don’t care really. I I really don’t. I the one thing I care about is the opening day and that’s it. Who are they going to start against and also when are they going to start? So, that’s the one thing I look for. Otherwise, there’s a few games here or there, but overall, I’m not a big fan of it just because it is the same every year. And I kind of feel like the NBA is a little bit more predictable with teams in the NFL because the NFL is like, “Oh, this is going to be a tough schedule this year.” But then those teams that are tough last year sometimes suck. So, then it’s not as as hard as you think going in. I feel like the Suns always from now on in the West have a tough schedule moving forward no matter what. Yeah, I’m kind of there with you. When you talk about other sports, especially football, right? When the football release day comes, it there’s variance in it because you don’t play the same teams every year, right? The the the NBA schedule is very very structured. You’re going to play everybody in your division four times. You’re going to play uh some people five times, especially if the inseason tournament has anything to do with it or the NBA Cup. Uh in the Eastern Conference, you’re going to have a home and home. You’re going to play Chicago once in Chicago. You’re going to play Chicago once here. I think the thing that’s most exciting, and again, I don’t even like to use the word exciting. And and I’m pissed off because I continue to use that word as I talk about the next season. Uh for those who don’t know, I’m doing Mondays now on Locked on Suns. And I have said it like two or three times and I have to stop myself every time because I’m not excited about next season. I’m intrigued. But what’s intriguing about next about next season is is you take a look at it and you just try to identify patterns. You and I look at it through the lens of, okay, am I going to be spending New Year’s Eve with the Cavaliers? Oh, looks like I am this year. What am I doing on Christmas? Sweet. I don’t have to un unbox a a lump of Sun’s coal. So, I’m a fan of that. But you just like to see the trends and identify areas of opportunity or areas where your team you think that this team is completely [ __ ] And I think that especially with uh with the Suns this year, knowing what our expectations are going into this season, knowing that we’re not really excited, it’s one of those situations where it’s like, yeah, there’s not going to be a whole lot that is going to really uh get your blood pumping when you see that schedule drop. Now, I will I will ask you this question. Do you think that the schedule’s favorable for Phoenix or the league schedulers quietly trying to test them? Well, what’s weird is the backtobacks, just the 16 that we are facing again this year, just like last year. Um, it’s a thing that Adam Silver and I think this is going to be a podcast of more complaining on my end because I always complain about the schedule. I really do. 82 games is fine, but where it starts, where it ends, and then the um the NBA Cup and to start the season is just a tough watch sometimes. I I think that what the Suns are going to face with the 16 back to backs is obviously tied for the highest in the league. that’s gonna test them. But also, they are a younger team now. But also like it’s the same thing every year, right? Where it’s like the back-to-back suck. It’s gonna be a long ass season. And then you have the old heads like EJ. Not to call him old head. I don’t know if that’s a bad term or not. That old head. I don’t know if that’s offensive or not, but the old guys are going to talk about these guys don’t know what it was like back in the day. So, we keep doing the same thing where it’s like going be 82 game season. A lot of guys are going to sit out back to backs and then the old guys are going to say, “Hey, you know, back in my day, we we actually just rode the bus.” So, you know, I just don’t want to hear about it this year really. Back in my day, we played doubled headers. You know, it’s like two games in one night. And uh for those of you who are watching the pod, I’ll go ahead and I’ll pull the actual schedule up so you can look at it in its entire entirety. Again, it’s something that I do every season is I put together the schedule and throw it out there for you to uh enjoy and consume, if you will. But there are some notable things. You mentioned the backto-backs and and I like the backto-backs this year, Matthew, because of the reason that you stated that this is a young team and we want to test them in every way possible. I don’t know if the NBA went out purposefully trying to test the Suns and saying, “Yeah, we’re going to throw the most backto backs by uh for any team to you.” They didn’t actively do that, right? But at the same time, you know, and again, it’s most backto-backs. They’re tied with multiple teams that have 16. I think the least amount that any team has is 13 and I think that’s like the Timberwolves. Uh but the most is the Suns tied with multiple other teams. What is interesting is the fact that the Phoenix Suns are have the second worst game differential on backto-backs. And what that means is while they have 16 backtobacks, they’ll be playing teams that are coming off of backtobacks, right? Having the second night of a backtoback. And they’re going to be doing that uh a total of I’ll pull up the graphic and uh 13 times. So they’re they’re a negative three, right? So yeah, the only other team that has a worse uh team backto-backs versus opponent backto-backs ratio in the league is the Denver Nuggets. They they play 16 back to backs. They’re playing teams that only have 12 back to back. So again, it’s one of those situations where you look at it and you’re like, man, the Suns got screwed. But also in the same breath, you go, this is a younger team. This isn’t the old man Suns that we’ve been dealing with for the past really four or five years. Since Chris Paul, we’ve had an just an old team. You know, this is a team that was second oldest in the league last year and now is seventh youngest. So back tobacks aren’t something I necessarily worry about. In fact, I embrace them because it’s going to be an opportunity for the Phoenix Suns and their young players to continue rhythm night overnight and they have the athletic ability and capacity to do so. Yeah. And even after the season’s over, we’re not going to talk about those grueling backtobacks. I don’t think we ever really do, right? I feel like in the time being where like this kind of sucks. Uh sometimes, you know, watching the games or going to the games back toback maybe would be sucky maybe for some media guys out there maybe that would suck too just because it’s back toback and it’s late nights and all that stuff. But other than that, the players we kind of forget on their end that they played the back at the backs when the games were over or when the season’s over. And plus like when you the season’s over, you know those back tobacks when you look at it might have helped like you said the Suns because they are young but also because when you’re young you can maybe play better on the second game back to back like EJ always says too like he’s just like I always have my best games the second game on a backtoback and I kind of feel like that has to get out of the mindset of the Sun team moving forward because there can’t be a whole lot of complaining on this team just because there’s so much on their shoulders already and a lot to prove on a lot of these players. So, I don’t feel like we’re gonna be complaining too much about the backs because we don’t have the old guys on the team anymore like Kevin Durant or Bradley Beal. We have to worry about those guys, you know what I mean? So, that’s that’s kind of out the window now, which is kind of nice. I’m And again, I’m I’m intrigued and I’m I’m Damn it. I’m excited to see it. Like, I I’m all for it. There there are some other scheduling quirks within the Sun schedule that are of note going into 2025, 2026. Their longest home stand is five games that occur between January 25th to February 1st. Their longest road trip is right before that. It’s six games from the 13th of January to the 23rd of January. That we mentioned the 16 total backtobacks. They have seven backtobacks with different time zones. So that is that’s not like I play the Clippers, I play the Lakers on backtoback nights, or I play the Knicks and I play the Sixers. That’s I play the Knicks and then I play the Bulls or I’m I’m playing the the Dallas Mavericks and then I’m playing the Lakers, right? So, that’s just an interesting thing because there’s that that aspect of time. Longest stretch without two consecutive days off. They go 25 days from the day after Christmas, the 26th to January 20th, where they’ll just either have a game every night or every other night. Uh so, just circle that one on your calendar, Matthew, because we’ll be grinding right then. And then of course there’s the fact that they only have five I’m sorry was it eight eight total uh national games. Mhm. All right. So they’re going to end up playing five on NBC, three on Peacock, and then one on ESPN. And so that brings me to the question, does the light national TV presence say more about the Suns or about the NBA’s broadcast priorities as they move into this new non-T&T world with uh the NBC partnership? Yeah, it’s both. You know, they kind of want to put the teams on there that are championship hungry. Right now, the Suns are not that team. So you kind of take the top four, top five of each conference. And especially out in the west, you have like eight teams out there that you can play above the Suns every night on prime time if you want and have good competition. Uh great games out there with stars on the floor. Right now, the Suns just had the one star in Deon Booker. A lot of people that don’t consider a star, right, or a superstar. So that’s not appealing. That’s not sexy to these networks. And that’s fine because honestly, John, like that’s where I want to be. I don’t want to worry about these 8:30 games anymore or staying up late because true, you know, because there’s an overtime in the game before. Like, I’m just I’m done with that. I’m good with, hey, let’s start at seven o’clock or if we do play later like 8:00. It’s going to start at 8. It’s not going to start at 8:45 because of a double overtime. This is so true. It’s funny how circular it is, right? How when we you and I started this podcast in 2019, we felt disrespected. We felt the team should get more pub. Even though we knew they hadn’t earned it to that point, but it would just been nice to get a little bit. Now it’s like, you know what, earn it again. You have to earn it. And when you look at the fact like the San Antonio Spurs, for example, they have 22 nationally televised games. And again, the Suns have eight. Oh well, so be it. Like, I’m okay with that. I’m completely okay with that. Uh, I’m going to be watching every game. I don’t need to see them on a on NBC to be satisfied with the product. In fact, I actually prefer it because I don’t have to listen to certain uh commentators have halfass takes on a team and I’m like, “You don’t even know what you’re watching, man. Ryan Dun the [ __ ] you know.” Um, and so I’m not I’m not opposed to it. In fact, again, kind of like the backtobacks, it’s not something that really frustrates me. Whereas these are conversations when you and I would do these podcasts over past offseasons, if we felt in any capacity that the Suns were disrespected, like last summer. We’re, oh man, 16 back tobacks. Our team’s old, man. That [ __ ] sucks. We should have known right then. Like, they’re going to finish with 36 wins, man. Uh, you know, it’s like if if they didn’t get a Christmas game, we were upset. Now we’re like, dude, no Christmas game. Like, it’s funny how it how it goes. It is weird because you get what you want and it’s like, yeah, it’s not really what you need in your life. You’re like, it’s all right. I can do without all this extracurricular stuff. Yeah. I’d rather be just watching AAA team down in the baseball farm system. You know what I mean? Valley Suns, man. Yeah, exactly. But real quick, I want to get a shout out to Dave Yolovitz. Uh, always hanging out with us, always supporting the pod, even in these offseasons. $4.99 in the super chat. Thank you, sir. He says, “Dutch Bros caffeine hit for for uh this new season of Sun’s Jam Session. Much appreciated, my friend. Right across the street.” I not a big fan. Are you a fan? I don’t I don’t drink coffee. Yeah, that’s a tough one. Dutch Bros. If you do drink coffee, I I can’t get there. I’ve been to Dutch bros like twice and they like hang into in your car like, “Hey man, let me change that podcast for you.” I’m like, “Bro, I’m like, I’m listen to life advice about women’s razors.” Give you a back scratch. I But they do the uh more I think they do more of the energy drinks, though. So that’s more of your style. It is. I have like uh when Emily used to live with us, we used to get those like Red Bull on crack things, man. Like, oh, those were good. But I try to avoid those. I drink tea now. Oh, good luck with that. It’s something. I can’t drink the tea. I How come? It just dries me out, dude. I get really dehydrated from it. It dries you out. Yeah, it dehydrates me like crap. So, and I get headaches and all that [ __ ] So, I stay away. I just I just drink water really. Like, I’ve been drinking tea and I’m like, eh, I don’t unless it’s an energy drink, the caffeine too much. I just I get a feeling I don’t like it. Yeah. I’ll tell you another thing I don’t like is uh the fact that I messed up a graphic here. Um, that’s supposed to say toughest stretches and it doesn’t. Let’s see if I can add this real quick. I can’t, I don’t think. Well, the coffee talk comes into fatigue. Oh, yeah. There you go. Well, we’ll just continue using this one. Uh, so toughest stretches. So, taking a look at this this schedule. Yeah. What which do you feel is the bigger challenge? the sixgame road trip in January, the 25 day stretch without two consecutive days off or the fact that the Suns open the season playing six games in 10 nights. Yeah, that’s the one I noted, the six games in 10 nights. Uh that was a crucial start for the Suns, especially playing the Clippers, Denver, Utah’s not as good. kind of evens out a little bit because you had the Utah’s in there, but also you’re playing the Clippers three times in like what the first 13 games. I’m sorry I wrote that one down. Is it 13 games? Uh, it’s pretty close. It is. Yeah. So, that’s kind of crazy. Yeah. You kind of get them out of the way. Um, obviously the Bradley Bill return will be very soon. Yep. On the sixth. The sixth in November, Bradley Bill returns. Yeah. But you know what? I just I think in March too uh if you look down there they have the three backtobacks in the span of the first three weeks in March and then another back toback at the end of the month like that seems pretty crucial right there too. That’s going to be I know we have the the um the schedule in January looks pretty hectic. The one in March though that kind of stands out to me the most really. Yeah, for me I think it’s segmented. I honestly think I just want to see those first 10 games because I want to figure out who this Sun’s team is. And yes, the fact that there’s the six game road trip in January, there’s always a six-game road trip, right? Uh I’m actually okay with that. The the 25 games or the the the 20 to five day stretch where they don’t have consecutive games off. Again, it doesn’t really I don’t because we don’t know who that team this team’s going to be by that point. I just want to see those first 10 games. And and for those of you who are listening, we start off on the 22nd of October at home against the Kings. We go on the road for a three game stretch against the Clippers, Denver, and then Utah. We come home to play the Memphis Grizzlies. Then we go, I believe it’s on the road, but it’s a it’s an NBA Cup game. Like the sixth game of the season is an NBA Cup game against Utah. And then we’re at home for San Antonio, on the road for Golden State, at home for the Clippers. That’s Bradley Beal returning on the road against the Clippers. I mean, that stretch to kind of open is really going to show a lot about the Suns. It’s kind of like last year. Last year, we had a lot of of games in the first stretch of games that were against the Clippers and the Lakers. And so, it was one of those situations where we were playing a Pacific Division rival right off the bat. And it didn’t really bother me last year cuz I thought we would be dominant. And then those first nine games when we went 8-1, we were. But after that and we started to crumble and fall apart. Not only did we do so, we did so against inner division rivals and and it hurt our overall stand standing in the standings. And in this case, the Suns, that we’re not going to play the Lakers until the first of December, which is kind of nuts, man. I mean, we played the Lakers three times before December 1st last year. So that’s the the at least to me the toughest stretch, you know, but do you think that grind in in January is a blessing in disguise uh for playoff preparation potentially or burnout risk? Um you know, not the burnout risk, I don’t think. I think the playoff potential I think you know starting off the season too hot it’s kind of scary in a way just because they’re a young team they might get over overly excited and they might be kind of in over their head at first if they start out like not eight and one but something that’s above 500 in the first 10 games but then when you get towards January that’s where you kind of solid solidify yourself as a team that’s when other teams can kind of game plan more against you and that’s where a real team shows up so there’s going to be a lot of pressure there but that’s the most exciting part about this is I feel like these guys that need to step up and prove stuff they’re going to face a really tough schedule but tough competition too in January and it’s going to be a lot of team bonding especially with that road trip and that’s what we always talk about during the season on the postgame podcast like maybe this team just needs that sixgame road trip like I can see that happening if things are kind of going downhill so I’m kind of looking forward to that to see where they’re at in that point of the season I’ve talked about how the Suns I feel should strategically attack next year how should they should break it up in thirds Right. So the first third is literally just out there. You’re setting your identity, your culture. A lot of Dylan Brooks and Ryan Dunn and defensive lineups and seeing what you have with Deon Booker, Jaylen Green, Mark Williams. See what that lineup brings. And that takes you to right about January. And then in from January to Mar or it’s like mid December to to midFebruary, that stretch until the All-Star break, that’s when you start to integrate the rookies more. Right. The first couple months they’re sporadically as needed when injuries occur, but they’re being utilized in the G-League. G-League starts early November. Rashir Fleming, Kobe Brea should be down there getting reps. I don’t know if you put Kan Malawatch down there. I wouldn’t be opposed to it here and there just to get him reps uh to understand more of the NBA speed. And then that stretch between mid December and midFebruary is where they start to get sprinkled into the rotation. By midFebruary going into March, you know what your team is, you know what your team isn’t. And that last stretch of the season is when you really up the minutes on those young developmental guys. But to your point, last year’s January was an easy part of the schedule. That was the easiest part of the schedule. That’s where the Suns made up a little bit of ground. But even in that, it’s right when they also deteriorated from a relationship standpoint when Bradley Beal was put to the bench when Ysef Nerkage was benched out right completely and the team structurally and internally fell apart right when they could have come together and r the the momentum of playing poor teams into playing tough teams. to your point this January. Yeah, that stretch is it’s not so much a make or break the Suns. It’s the ideal opportunity for development because that’s when these players should start to see, especially the young rookies, an an uptick in minutes. And to your point, there’s going to be some tough competition that they’re going to be playing in once we hit the the new year, 2026. You got OKC on the 4th of January. The next night, you know, they’re they it’s a back-to-back. They’re playing the Rockets. Then they got the Grizzlies, the Knicks, Washington’s in there, and we’ll probably lose that one. Miami, Detroit, the Knicks. I mean, there’s just some a murderous row of some really good Eastern Conference teams as a part of that road trip. So, it’s going to be uh just a a a challenging time. And again, I wouldn’t say a make or break time. It’s a time to really allow iron to sharpen iron, to really see what you have in these rookies, because that’s what this season’s about, Suns fans. This isn’t about going to win a championship. This is about a bunch of young guys and you, as long as you strategically develop them. You don’t put Rasheed Fleming out there and play 15 minutes a night on night one cuz he if his confidence goes, he’s [ __ ] right? You strategically develop these guys and in January, that’s when they start to up their minutes and the iron starts to sharpen iron and you know what you have. Yeah. No, it’s a big part of the season. It really is. So, we’ll see what happens there. And then and then, you know, we did talk a little bit about the travel and the fatigue, you know, the seven back to backs with time zone changes. Does that worry you at all? It really doesn’t. Um, you know, even these stretches we’re talking about that look tough, they might not be because due to injury. So, it’s kind of like you got to take everything with a grain of salt really, especially with the Clippers early on. It might be like buy one get one free at the strip clubs late October, early November. So, who knows if any any of those guys are going to be playing or on their best note. So, I just, you know, I can’t look too seriously into this just for the fact that when the games come up and it’s back to back, it looks tough. We always on the Jones Suns chances podcast for the last four years, five years, we’ve always just are like, they’re going to win, they end up losing, they’re going to lose, they end up winning. Like, we can just never tell this team’s going to really produce in those situations. But what would be nice though because we do have the 16 back-to-back games is this team is excelling at the right time in January, but just early on in the season and just handling those in a professional manner to where they do take the game seriously to where they’re prepared for those games on the flight back if it’s to Brooklyn or or the flight back home for the next game at home. So, if they can kind of do that, man, like these games and these backtobacks won’t look as bad as they do right now. Yeah. And again, it’s right now. We don’t know how we’re going to feel when those backto-back’s occurring. If they’re on a sevename losing streak, it’s like, geez, just start to to play well. But again, I don’t know if it’s necessarily about the result this year. It’s more about how they play. And it’s one of the reasons why, you know, when we talk about one of our new partners in FanDuel, the new partnership with FanDuel, the overunder is 31 a half. Do you think that 31 a half is something? Would you bet the over or the under on that? Just straight up. I’m betting the over. I I definitely am. I think it’s going to be over. I think this team right now, especially as we get closer to the season, who knows if there’s going to be a trade for Trey Young. Who knows, maybe the that will go up a little bit on FanDuel, but there’s going to be some interesting uh changes if there is a trade. Um, but right now, I think a lot of people are betting the over just because it’s so low and they know that this team right now just has, you know, that kind of bite to them that they want to prove everyone wrong. So, I don’t think you can bet against that on FanDuel. You know, the team only won 36 games last year and they had Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker. So, it’s easy to understand why 31 and a half is kind of the number. I honestly don’t know what to do with I think it’s like the perfect line because if you had asked me before any line was released what you think the Suns line should be, I’d say probably like 32 33 games because we forget how hard it is to win in the NBA. My biggest fear with this team is not necessarily the can they score, but can they score with five minutes left in the game? When the game slows down and Deon Booker has the ball in his hands or it’s Jaylen Green, do are we confident? Are they confident that they can execute enough possessions in a row to put away teams if they’re up or to come back if they’re down? And it’s going to come down to defense in my opinion, their playmaking ability on offense and can they shut down opposing teams. If you were to ask me right now cold cold turkey, would I bet the over or the under? I would probably bet the under. I think that this team has from a roster construction standpoint, there’s just a lot of holes. And it’s just so funny to, you know, two seasons ago we were having the same debate on 52 wins and now it’s like 31. It just goes to show you the cyclical nature of the NBA. When you look at other aspects of the of the schedule, there are some short span opponent matchups that kind of stand out like you mentioned uh the Clippers twice in three days in three times in the first 13, Utah twice in four games, Golden States two and two stretch. Which one of these matchups is most intriguing to you? I really think the Clippers won. And it’s not just a Bradley Beal thing, but it’s kind of like where are the Clippers at heading into the season? Cuz there’s a lot of pressure on that team, too. So, if you’re starting out playing three games against them so early, it’s going to be one of those things where you’re watching the Suns on one side and the Clippers on the other side, which are going to totally different path right now in the NBA, right? Championship, Suns are rebuild, basically a mini rebuild, whatever you call this. So, I mean, there can be a few um, you know, storylines out there for both the teams. Um, I think right now with the Clippers, they’re going to be favorites to win the championship and the Sun’s going to come out and maybe take two out of the first three and they can stun a few people here or there. So, that’s one thing to look forward to. I think that’s the most intriguing part of this of this schedule because it’s early on and you get a good look at what the Suns are going to kind of look like. like you said, the the rookies probably not a whole lot of time, but they can they have that base there that they have those hungry guys where they play a team that’s a championship caliber early in the season and prove themselves like that’s going to be huge uh for the rest of the season. Yeah, I I completely agree. Completely agree. What uh because it’s those those Clipper games again, Pacific Division rivals, so much shared DNA, you know, they got Bradley Beal who now wears number zero because that’s the amount of [ __ ] bench, right? coming off the bench. Who knows? Who knows? In theory, yes. He wants a ring because they’re taking it seriously, I guess. Yeah. Over there. Yeah. CP3, you know, is back in LA. You know, I guess is that in your opinion like is is that a statement game of the regular season? What is the statement game of the regular season? Is it the Suns against the Clippers early? Is it something later or I pro I know personally I’d go early because we don’t know what they’re going to be later. Yeah. You know what? It’s a statement game for I think Devin Booker. Um, you know, I think he takes a lot of heat right now this season just because those guys left. Obviously, we had to trade KD for assets and Bradley Beiel, there was just no way of him coming back, but it’s just to show that he was the man the whole time. And if he can get victories against those guys, no matter how they win, if he’s just a true leader, he just has 12 assists and maybe 15 points or goes out and scores 30 plus in both games or three games and gets a victory three out of two out of three times. And I think he kind of solid solidifies himself as like, hey, I was the dude the whole time. We [ __ ] this up behind the scenes. No one would share the ball and I can just tell you like I can be the point book. Even though they’re tell talking about Jaylen Green being the guy, I think Booker has a chance really to just solidify himself as the guy in Phoenix and maybe back to a top 15 guy in the NBA early on in the season with those games. Yeah, it comes down to Devin Booker and I think that that is the right answer. Those I don’t know which Clippers game. I mean, I’m going to look at the schedule real quick. Uh I think only one of them is on national TV, right? There’s one on ESPN. Yeah. Right. And so that is kind of the signature opportunity for the Suns who at that point 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine that’s their 10th game of the season. So they play three out of the first 10 games. That’s nutty. And that’s an opportunity to have kind of an early statement win. And the way you have to look at the schedule in my opinion is the way you look at like a football schedule. Right now teams used to have 16 games. Now they have 17. But you would take it in quarters. You be like, “All right, first four games, next four games, I want to win the first quarter, the second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter.” Um, that’s how you have to look at the Sun’s schedule. And it’s one one way that I might break it down in at Bright Side, like I did years ago when I first started writing for Bright Side. That’s literally what I did is I broke the season down into like eight game segments and said, “Okay, the focus is these eight games. What can your record be? If you can come out five and three above 500, you do that enough times in a row, just like baseball series, if you go three out of or two out of three enough times in a row, you’re going to have a winning record. And that’s how we’re going to have to absorb this team is who are they for this 10 game stretch? Who are they for this 10 game stretch? Because they should be different teams. They should be a team that’s growing and developing throughout this season. And that’s what our our hope is for for the Phoenix Suns this year. It’s that’s what we have to focus in on. not not having an expectation of winning a championship, but just playing competitive basketball, man. Yeah. And plus the fans, too, they got to grow that confidence back to be a Suns fan, you know, and you know, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal coming back, I think they both get booed, right? That’s a good question. I I think they do. I think Kevin Durant gets booed the whole game because he doesn’t want to No, he won’t. He won’t. Phoenix fans don’t have him down. Phoenix fans aren’t that passionate, man. You might have one guy in your section who will boom the whole time, but the whole section won’t. Phoenix, I don’t know. Respectively, Phoenix as a fan base, man, we’re just we’re very lacadasical. We’re very lacadasical. You know, you think of baseball and like the St. Louis Cardinals, right? Their fan base is known for being being very astute and their observations and respect for opposing teams for things that are occurring. They’re very in tune with everything that’s going on in the game. Go to a Dimebacks game, man. Everyone’s on their [ __ ] phone the whole time, you know. Uh, yes, Gavin, take a wide receiver next. Um, I’d have to look at the list. Uh, I feel the same with Suns fans. I feel like Suns fans, and this where I want us to be a better fan base because we are a passionate, rabbid fan base when we’re winning, but when we’re not winning, we’re very lacadasical. And yes, there there might be some some booze when he is announced, right? And Beal, I think, will get some boost, too. But I don’t think people will boo him as much because I feel like there’s a big part of the fan base that like it’s like a family. It’s like a dad goes along. He’s passionate. He’s there with his like two kids or or his wife and two kids and like the wife doesn’t care if she’s on the phone. The kids kind of care, but they’re not loud. And I feel like that’s just kind of encapsulation of the entire fan base. I mean, you’ve been in there. There’s a reason why they pipe in defense as loud as they do. It’s because the crowd can’t consistently or chant that or know when they should be chanting it. Yeah, I think that was the players on the court’s fault though. Now that we are playing against Kevin Durant and we have a guy like Dylan Brooks and guys that are defensively minded, I think it’s be more intense. I don’t I’m not going to say they’re going to chant defense because honestly the defense chant just needs to go away. I [ __ ] hate it. I think it’s doesn’t do [ __ ] It doesn’t do anything to these players and just get rid of it because it is really loud. But I think when you’re watching these players now on the Sun’s side, they’re going to be a lot of rooting and they’re going to understand this team in a way where they’re going to kind of come back. They got to prove themselves and stuff like that. I already said that 10 times. But also on the other end, these guys that are coming back that were there last year that let us down completely, the worst season I’ve ever witnessed. I think they are going to remember that just for the first game or the first season. Um after that, I don’t think they’ll care, but I think just the first game with these guys back in the arena, they’re going to let them have it. So, well, the the fan base will take on the personality of the team. I think that’s a better way to put it because when you have a team that’s kind of mailing it in, so did the fan base because we’re like, “Oh, [ __ ] Here we go.” And they booted all the time, though. Remember last season, they booed in like the second quarter almost every game. See, I didn’t I didn’t experience it that much. Yeah. And I was there were games where I was up on press row talking with the guys and we were have jokingly having bets like, “Okay, how long until they go down by 20?” Yeah. Towards the end of the season though, they kind of gave up on the team. But, you know, when we kind of the season was slipping away, it was like, “All right, they’re they’re letting them have it.” But by the time it was gone and we knew it was over, no playoff. So, let me ask this. Should they boo Katie and and be? You know what? I say yes. Um, I know a lot of people don’t like that, including my girlfriend Nicole and her son do not like that booing the players, but I think it’s part of it. As long as we cheer them. Exactly. Because especially you’re not allowed to You’re not allowed to make them feel anything ever. Well, that’s they have to kind of deal with it. It’s going to happen one way or the other. And it’s nothing that’s really real hate, but it’s just like, hey, letting you know that you guys [ __ ] us over. So, I think it’s allowed. Yeah, I think it’s allowed. I I think that Booker would like it. Booker’s going to feed off of that. Yeah, Booker would feed off. Can we go up 14 with a breakaway dunk? Yes. Do it for that. That’s giving me chills right now. Do it for Book. Do it for Book. All right. Last thing I want to talk about before we get out of here. And and one thing I am going to do is my wife bought me this like NBA ballers uh series 2 surprise five. They’re like little figurines or something. Yeah. Um so we’ll pop this open at the end. Maybe we’ll get a booker in here. If I get like Kevin Durant two be booing them. Um one I want to talk holidays. Okay. So Thanksgiving we’re not playing. No one ever plays on Thanksgiving. Christmas we’re not playing. We’re playing on New Year’s Eve but not New Year. I feel like the past two or three seasons we not only have we played on New Year’s Eve, we played on New Year’s Day as well. Yeah, I remember New Year’s Day and I don’t like that. Like New Year’s Eve is fine because it’s early and you can still celebrate. You’re going to be up late anyways. Yes. Um we play the Cavs on New Year’s Eve. Um what day is Martin Luther King Day next year? The 19th is it? Yeah, looks like that Monday. Yeah, we play Brooklyn on that day. Uh at Brooklyn, we don’t play on St. Patty’s Day. We play the Celtics the day before St. Patty’s Day on NBC. So that’s kind of taty taty taty. Um what other holiday? Like we’re not playing on any major holiday. Oh, Valentine’s Day. Let’s see. No Valentine’s Day game. Oh, this is awesome. I feel like they’ve had one on Valentine’s Day, dude. Like the past like four years, you know? I feel so bad. My wife’s like, “Hey, it’s Valentine’s Day.” I’m like, “Hold on. I got to do a pod.” Yeah. Uh so thankfully we don’t have to deal with that cuz uh I love the sons, but I don’t love them that much. I love my wife much much more. Um, so I like all that. Is there anything else about the season when you just when you look at the schedule in totality that kind of pops out to you? You’re like, “Oh, hey, that’s sweet. We’re playing on my birthday.” Are they playing on your birthday this year? Um, no, not on my birthday. And then, um, the due date for my child is the 12th, January 12th. So, they’re not that day either. So, come on out podcast next day. Do you know my little brother who’s born the same year as you has a baby due on Valentine’s Day? Really? This Yeah. Charlie’s What’s that? This coming year. Like Yeah. Charlie Charlie just told us that he’s pregnant. Oh, very cool. Yeah. Everyone’s like all the 1989 kids are just are popping kids out. Do we? So, the only last thing is the Emirates Cup and how I just don’t give a [ __ ] Are we just still there? Uh, yeah. I’m 100% all the money they’re making. I just for those who don’t know the NBA Emirates Cup, whatever it’s called, we play the Jazz, we play the Timberwolves, and then we play the Kings and OKC. Cool. Whatever. Yeah, man. They should just donate that money to the uh the workers that at Nike, the factories, the ones that don’t want to live anymore. Give them that money. Well, they [ __ ] shoes they make. Yeah. No [ __ ] I just we’ll see how I feel as it as the season progresses because it could be one of those situations where the Suns might it might be the only thing they do this year that’s relevant. I know. But after it happens after it happens like no one like the day after that happens with the championship. That happens with the NBA championship. You win and no one gives a [ __ ] the next day or the next minute. Well, especially this past year cuz like literally the next day they’re like and it’s time for the draft. We’re like what the [ __ ] Exactly. Yep. They didn’t give you any time. And plus, you know, it was a Thunder and everyone wanted the Pacers to win so Yeah. Very true. All right. Anything else you want to talk about before I pop open these surprise thingies? I think I’m good, man. All right. Well, for those listening again, you can buy these at Costco. My wife picked this up. Um they’re these little I don’t even know what they are. Wait quick in the quick in the chat. Sam’s Club or Costco. You guys can just go ahead and Yeah, just talk amongst yourselves. Which you like better. All right. So, again, let’s let’s see what these things are. So, they come in these little balls, it appears, and they’re not really little, but it’s a surprise player. Collect 45 of them. It looks like they’re little basketballs. This is really great TV. Let’s see what happens when you open one of these things. This bad boy. It’s one of those things just impossible to open. That’s cool. Love that. You should just give up. Just end the box. Don’t even open it. Tune in next time. Next time we pod him behind me on the shelf. Yeah. All right. So, I’ve gotten to this point. Looks Is that a Pokeball? Like, can I guess who it’s going to be? Go for it. All right. It’s going to be Paul George. That would suck ass. I’m trying to open this [ __ ] Oh, they didn’t tell you that. Uh, takes forever to open them. All right, here we go. We’re popping the first one now. It’s in a bag. Oh, it smells something. Smells like farts. Okay. It is. Who did I get? It is Lakers Shack. Oh, that’s pretty cool. Is it It’s It’s No, you can kind of move it. It’s actually And it has It has a secondary thing which I assume is a stand. Okay. To go on. That’s cool. Oh, it’s part of a court and it comes with like a sticker, a Lakers sticker. So, I like that. How much was that? 20 bucks. I have no idea. I just My wife sent me a picture of it today and said, “Hey, I got this for you at Costco. Uh, check it out. All right, let’s All right. I should have bought like a That’s actually a cool first one, man. Yeah. Would you rather have a Kobe or a Shack? I would rather have a Shack. Uh, yeah, I’d probably have a Shack. I don’t know. All right, let’s see. No one has responded to Costco or Sam. No one everyone’s watching on Twitter, so everyone everyone’s no one’s watching. No one no one does what I asked. Yeah. No one will see responses in the comments. All right. I really should have brought a uh Xacto knife or something. How many you got? Four total. I think it’s Yeah, it’s four of them. Okay. So, here we go. Number two. Any guesses on number two? Uh I’m going to guess Debtless Shrimp or Gary Payton. It has modern players, too. It’s like there’s because on the cover is Shaq and Victor Wmanyama. All right. The second one, Shay Gilgus Alexander. Wow. MVP, huh? Yeah, I got the I got a I got a couple of MVPs here. Nice. Little Look at these little dudes. All right. All right. Where’s the Booker? We got to get this one right. I’m going to guess Carl Malone. Carl Malone. Carl Malone. Two of these. Oh, this thing is pretty sick. It comes with a like a little basket and everything. That is cool. So, it’s like a whole setup like they can be around a basket just looking. Yeah, I can have him like play. This would be cool for like Eric. Oh, man. You think it’s more valuable to leave in the eggs? Oh, without a doubt. Everything is 40 years from now. Yeah. 40 years from now. Although it’s Costco, so it’s like it’s oversaturated the market. That’s like my new favorite thing is to buy uh PSA cards. PSA. What’s that? PSA like uh graded cards. You know what those are? Mm- Here. Hold on one second. Oh, we graded three. Costco. All right, we got one. All right. I’m a Costco person. I’ve never stood stood inside of Sam’s Club in my life. Here we go. Next one. I’m creating a mess in here, bro. Give me Buzz. Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray. I better get Booker. I got a Jamal Murray. Dude, that’s so lame, man. I’m gonna put that Jamal Murray right back next to my toilet paper and maybe sometimes I’ll accidentally wipe my ass with him. You better not just mail it to me. I got a present. It’s Jamal Murray. It’s like, oh, you’re having a baby here. First toy. Yeah. Gender gender reveal party’s in next weekend, right? Yeah, next weekend. Yeah. Do you know yet? You’re not going to know until then? Not. No, I won’t know. We find out Monday, though. Or her daughter does. Oh, yeah. Cuz she’s the one who’s doing everything. Yeah. Oh, man. That’s going to be five. Five big booms. Is that the boom guy from Costco? Yeah. That’s so crazy. Oh, here we go. Last one. Last one. Tiger Woods, Victor Webinyama. Oh, okay. I was going to guess him, but I’m like, so I got Shaq Murray, SGA, Victor. I’m going to show you a PSA card real quick. Okay. I’m going to sit here just like this. All right. All right. So, my new favorite thing to do is like it’s a Ricky Henderson PSA graded card. That’s an eight. It’s a Connie Hawkins PSA 6. That’s a 1971 tops. Okay. Yeah, these are cool. They’re like Where do you Where do you get them from? Just eBay. Oh, eBay. So, you bid on them. You can do buy nows or bids, but I I buy nows on those, but I do bids, too. Oh, I’m back. Yeah, there you are. And there you go, Jamsters. What a great ending to the fire. There you go. Hope you enjoyed seeing us. It’s been a while. Send out a send out a pick on Twitter about how or how you set them up. And I want to see what they look like together. They’re all going to be in the trash. Are they going to be in a bath house? Oh, are you excited for the Cowboys, Doc? I I am. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like Last Dance but for the Cowboys, man. Yeah. But you know what? When I first when I first heard about it, I was like, I’ve seen so much 90s cowboy stuff. Like I used to watch that stuff all the time. I’m like, what else? But obviously they have this stuff with like the White House, whatever they’re talking about. We’ll see. I’m excited to watch it. We’re going to watch it. I think it starts Tuesday, so I’m gonna see what that’s I’ve been watching the WWE um that you ever seen the WWE like behind the scenes stuff they got going on? I saw the show. I didn’t watch it. Yeah, I watched I really liked it. I’m like, dang, am I getting sucked back in? Are those all of them right there? Yeah, they don’t even offer Deon Booker. He’s not. There’s no Suns. I’m not seeing one. Jimmy B. Sean Shawn Marion or Steve Nash. Jaylen Brunson. Alex Caruso has one. Damen Lillard. Benny the Bull. The Raptor. The [ __ ] Raptor. No. Deon Booker. That’s off. That’s a crime. That is a crime. All right, Jamsters. Thanks for hanging out with us. We truly appreciate it. We’ll go live again someday. But until then, Matthew, tell them what to do. Go family, everybody. [Applause] [Music] Hey, you’re listening to the Sun’s Jam Session podcast. Shooting the [ __ ] about the sun since 2019.

It’s Matthew’s favorite ‘sode of the year! The Suns’ schedule has been released. What does it mean?

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