Chaos Around Devin Booker & Drew Eubanks Ends In Big Phoenix Suns Win in Monty Williams’ Return

Chaos Around Devin Booker & Drew Eubanks Ends In Big Phoenix Suns Win in Monty Williams’ Return

The Phoenix Suns closed out the first half of the season with a W moving to 33 and 22 and Monty Williams return to the valley on today’s episode of lockon suns why the pre and early game Shenanigans cast a shadow over this blowout win and what we learned from that

Blowout let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every Day and we’re back this is lockon Phoenix Suns we are part of the lockon podcast Network I’m your host Brendan clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons a riter at suns.com and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get

Your podcasts a big thank you for making locked on suns your first listen to close out your Wednesday maybe start out your Thursday wherever you are whenever you are thank you for finding us here today we are free and available everywhere including YouTube If you have not done so already please hit that

Follow or subscribe button on your podcast platform of choice get a new show in your feed every sing single day stay locked on to the Phoenix Suns all season long by becoming an every dayer with this show a lot to get to despite a weird game not a weird game a dominant game

And a weird start to the night we will go to a moment of the game although it happened very early on and frankly did not end up ultimately impacting the outcome all that much I think you know where I’m going that would be Devin Booker’s ejection this came at

The 6 minute and 36 second Mark Booker I thought it was the same official twice but it apparently was a different official each time incredibly harmless disagreement no dramatic gestures mark mclone from Arizona’s family posted a clip of the first one a bunch of people online including

Uh ridiculous cage on Twitter Suns fan who is great at clipping that type of thing tweeted the second one there’s a little bit bit of gesturing with the hands we obviously never know what these guys say in these situations and of course the Suns guys are going to be coming to Booker’s

Defense in a situation like this but vogle said he every night he sees and hears situations worse than what happened between Booker and the official that was the way that he put it Durant had a more um insightful answer I guess at least for us to understand what exactly

Happened given that none of us were on the court which is that because of the incident pregame which included an inactive injured Pistons player Isaiah Stewart punching Drew Eubanks in the hallway headed toward the locker rooms which I will get to in just one moment that Durant said

He could feel that the refs were trying to keep tensions at a minimum and might have overdone that which led to Booker’s frustration about how the game was being officiated and from that point that the the the the energy that the officials were trying to set is what made Booker mad and it’s

Also what ended up making the officials then send him on his merry way it changed the energy of the game obviously it’s a frustrating one I’m not positive about the ramifications when it comes to awards given that the NBA now has the 65 game threshold in order to

Qualify for all NBA I don’t know I don’t know if playing 5 minutes and getting ejected counts as a game or not there’s certain things about minutes requirements but to me that’s more of a you don’t want guys doing what Mel Bridges did a couple a few weeks back of

Checking in just to get the streak for his in his case or in in somebody like books case maybe just to say I appeared in the game to qualify me for this award I don’t know if ejection matters obviously the Suns ended up winning this one in blowout fashion anyway but this

Was the moment of the game because it’s what everybody is going to be talking about it was the most shocking thing that happened in this game and uh it it had the potential to derail things I mean the suns were only up 14 to 10 when this all happened Kade

Cunningham makes both technical free throws which makes makes it uh sorry all three technical free throws which he actually took four in a row uh because nurkic had a 3se second call he missed that one book has the two and then vogle has one and he makes those

Three which quickly made the game 13 to 14 and then Cade made a jumper right after that when they got the ball back to put the Pistons up so the game was very much Within Reach still for Detroit and the suns were able to rally and

Vogle said it sort of lit a fire under them certainly seemed that way they win the first quarter 37 to 25 they wi the second quarter 33-6 they’re up 70 to4 one at the half but let’s rewind a bit because obviously um Drew Eubanks is not a Difference Maker on an everynight

Basis or any sort of star for this Sun’s team but is a rotation Guy Somebody that I think you know clearly has a little bit of uh attitude and everything on the court but none of that accounts for What on earth happened pregame whereas all of

Us are getting ready to to to tune in or you know in my case I’m running a little late with some um different things going on in my afternoon and it’s as I’m pulling up to the game the news comes down from sham chirania Isaiah Stewart has punched Drew eubank’s pregame at at

Footprint Center and you just it’s not even the names you would have expected not anything about that situation was predictable and yet it happened and not only did it happen but Eubanks was so confident that Stewart was the one out of line that he spoke pregame during the open locker room

Portion of of the evening he played because he wasn’t that hurt and everybody involved on both sides of the beat reporting in Detroit and and Phoenix was able to write up articles and do everything else so a very bizarre set set of circumstances we know Stuart is the guy who had uh he

Was he he had some smoke that he was ready to bring to LeBron James as we all remember like that that sort of puts everything into perspective that you need to put into perspective but given the sun’s statement on the matter which I was giving updates all evening on my

Lockon sons Insider Community which you can sign up for at the link in the show description below or by visiting join sub.com lockon Sons I compiled everything into one place the Pistons were did later release the statement but it was pretty pretty similar to what the sun said and I think

Again Durant summed it up pretty well even better than the Suns did or vogle did or or Eubanks did frankly Eubanks called it a sucker punch he very much gave the indication that it came out of nowhere and Durant said hey this is theoretically we’re all supposed

To be part of the same thing you know we compete against one another but to strike stke each other be violent do any sort of stuff like that especially off the court which almost makes it worse cuz there’s no competitive juices flowing it’s just out of line so I don’t

Know what was up with Stewart I don’t know why Sun Centers keep getting punched by dudes very weird thing but it didn’t affect the game because Stewart didn’t even play he’s been injured Eubanks was able to put it behind him he didn’t play a ton either and this game

Just wasn’t close because the Pistons are pretty bad but that was a heck of a way to go from about 6:00 p.m. Arizona time to about 7:30 between a a punch and then an a Very sudden ejection led to a very strange night here in Phoenix but a win

Is a win and it was Monty Williams return to the valley not going to dwell on that side of things too much but what I do want to do as my main takeaway from this game is to emphasize the number one thing that I said the Suns needed to get in a head

Coach when they moved on from for Monty and how vogle can continue to accomplish that down the stretch of the season next first Today’s Show brought to you by Robin Hood that’s right did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement you can still also have an

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30th so get started now at at robinhood.com Boost Bo St subscription fees apply and now for some legal info claim as of q1 2024 validated by radius Global Market Research let’s keep the show rolling here what finally got me to accept and I was one of the last

Holdouts here as as longtime listeners and viewers and every dayers no I was one of the last hold outs on Monty Williams I just was looking at the talent I was looking at the depth I was looking at the Durant injury that derailed the season last year both

Durant injuries I think you would say and even even down to Midway through the Denver series I was like this is just I wouldn’t say he’s maximizing this but I’m not going to blame the situation on him and then just watching how things unfolded and and collapsed down the

Stretch of that Series against the Nuggets it it just became abundantly clear that Monty’s stubbornness stylistically and unwillingness to get uncomfortable was never going to change right and so as the sons made their coaching search conducted their coaching search that was the number one quality that I wanted and whoever was going to

Coach the Suns next somebody who is going going to utilize the regular season take a long look at all 15 guys I’m not saying every team’s 15th guy is worthy of of a real rotation look but adjust be flexible be versatile throw different things at the wall see what

Sticks and by the time the postseason comes around be ready to use Josh aogi as a screener be ready to play Durant at Center be ready with different coverages against Nicole yic right and that’s not always possible if there’s injuries or everything else but that was my

Hope and frankly pun intended here with Frank vogle it wasn’t fully possible with the Suns early on this season because even though a lot of the bet the the bench guys did get run that was mostly to fill out a very incomplete team because Beal missed a lot of time

And Booker missed a decent chunk of time in November but we still got to see everybody I think we became pretty certain that everybody who got trapped who got traded to who got traded out for Royce O’Neal was was not going to be a Difference

Maker and now you look up and the reason I bring this up tonight is because yes Monty did come back but also because this was a game where you really got to see those depth pieces it was a blowout Beal’s out with the hamstring injury Booker out with the ejection and

So Sabin Lee plays 24 minutes tail madone who we haven’t even really seen much at all gets 10 minutes B B has a really really nice 14 minutes nir Little David Rody a bunch of more of reyce O’Neal Who was a plus 37 in the Box Score somehow we got to see it

All and when you couple that all with Thaddius young joining this group and the potential with Dwayne Rankin of the Arizona Republic reporting today that the suns are interested in danelo galinari reminder join sub.com loock ons Sons click the link in the show description below join the locked on suns Insider

Community until the buyout deadline I will have everything you need to know about who the suns are pursuing I give you exclusive game day content and observations and more like with the Eubank stuff so sign up there become part of that Community get my thoughts on everything about the Suns I don’t go

On Twitter a ton anymore during games really much at all to share my thoughts I’m putting it all there so that’s where you’re going to want to go but as all that unfolds Frank vocal is going to be tested it it it made his job simultaneously easier and and harder

What the suns were able to do at the deadline and what they’ve already done with the buyout Market with young and potentially could continue to do because e e right he has veterans now in place of some of these young role players he has just flat out more options but harder

Because what this is setting the stage for is and you’re already seeing it is for every series but potentially at times even every game in the postseason calling for a different mix right like call it the bull bow test call it the Yousef nerkish test when you’re watching when you’re looking at a

Matchup when you’re staring down a game can either of those guys play right Roy seil can play against any team the Suns big three can play against any team Gordon and Allen they’re going to be out there every night but beyond that I am only to six guys take nerkach out of it

Because he can’t play against everybody I don’t think that young is going to be able to play against everybody if he has to do a lot defensively if it’s playing a big team I don’t think he’ll be able to get the job done there will be games where Josh aogi

Is too limited offensively and can’t be out there Eubanks another size question right so big versus small are you facing an offensively dominant opponent or one whose defense might be their strength we might see a an eight-man rotation in one series from the Suns and those seventh and eighth guys might

Be completely different in the next series we might see some Series where aogi just has to start even offensive issues be damned all the stats that show you that that he’s been a suck a drain on the big three’s efficiency screw that maybe he just has to start maybe there will be

Series where Grayson Allen is a flamethrower and he’s in the the starting lineup playing 35 Plus minutes because he’s just on a roll I could see Series where Grayson Allen might really struggle defensively I know I just included him in the six locks he’s going to play but but pushing the right

Buttons and turning the right lever or pulling the right levers is going to be vital and it’s why they brought Frank vogle in it’s a big part of I think you know we’ve never gotten this level of honesty from James Jones or Mt HP or anybody but I would

Assume it is a big part of why they moved on from Monty Williams it’s honestly a big part of why they made the eighton trade because it’s one thing to say nurkic might not be a fit in every series it’s a lot easier to accept that and and minimize him when

One his his attitude is a lot different but two because he’s only making 18 million 16 whatever it is right so this roster I think you would have to feel better about and I’m going to talk about this a little bit on Friday’s episode with Gabe Guerrero of the Suns

Valley podcast who has a great YouTube channel breaking uh Sun stuff down all the time about how much better we feel about this roster Now versus the beginning of the season season now versus this time last year Etc I think you have to feel more positive it’s just a matter of how much

And and specifically what’s good and bad here and you I think have to feel optimistic that vogle can be the coach to be more experimental because he was in in LA and has been throughout his career at least willing to attempt things and adjust on the Fly

But you’re looking and it’s 27 regular season games left to do that and then it’s off to the races in the playoffs where it’s it’s minutes a minute and it’s not an easy task let’s close things out with a new postgame recap segment as well as a couple of stats and rotation

Observations to look at as always first Today’s Show brought to you by hungry root you know that I love saying hungry root you know that I love telling you about hungry root for a few reasons it’s all about savings at hungry roote right they’re healthy they’re customizable

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Off your first delivery and get your free veggies that’s hungry roote h u n g r y r o t.com SL locked on don’t forget to use our link so they know we sent you let’s close out the show just a few things to get to starting with the new

Segment that I’m going to be that I’m going to be going to frequently down the stretch of the season and that is called NBA Scoreboard watch no let’s call it West Western Conference scoreboard watch most importantly tonight the Denver Nuggets play the Sacramento Kings and and both teams are relevant to the

Suns right now but the Kings won that’s actually what you want I don’t fully believe the Suns can catch up and get a top four seed and get home court in the first round as I broke down on yesterday’s show in a lot of detail apologies if that was difficult

To listen I think I said it clearly point is a lot of the tiebreakers aren’t going to favor the Suns a lot of the tie Breakers are going to mean that the Suns just have a ceiling on how high they can get if they were to tie and they’re

Unlikely to really blow past any of those teams so the it will be a steep climb but Denver losing is a great first step so as of right now the suns are now three games back in the Lost column heading into the final stretch of the Season both teams have played 55 games

So the Suns have 27 games to move up to gain three on Denver they also play Denver I believe one more time yes twice sorry Tuesday March 5th and Wednesday March 27th both on the road in Denver both nationally televised games if they were to win both of those you really

Start to cook so that is doable and this game was a big one because Denver had the rest Advantage Sacramento is inconsistent and had been in a little bit of a Downs spell and yet the kings were able to win the other one tonight was Clippers Warriors which I literally

Drove all the way home post game changed my clothes did whatever and was still able to catch the end of right before I hit record here the Clippers storm back 44 points in the fourth quarter to win that game that is not what you want if you’re the Suns

Because division doesn’t do you a ton of good obviously to guarantee you a seed but again even just to tie the Clippers the Suns aren’t going to have a head-to-head advantage and everything else so they’re in the Suns Division I just I can’t talk myself into the Suns probably catching them

Nevertheless that was one they could have coughed up and they did not so the Clippers are five games four well they haven’t played the same amount of games they’ve played two fewer games than the Suns so that could be a good or a bad I tend to just think

That that is a juggernaut and I’m not expecting the Suns to pass them nevertheless still sucks to see them get a comeback win when they could have dropped one so that’s Western Conference scoreboard watch maybe we’ll get a sponsor there no we will We w not

Um box uh box score Oddity and I could not remember that phrase yesterday I really do get Delirious on those late night shows when there’s an 8:00 tip you should just expect that you are going to get me brain fried I drink as much caffeine

As I possibly can I try to you know space out how I’m doing my day it doesn’t matter um but box score audity is what it is called and we will do it here tonight tonight here’s how I’m going to look at the sun’s shot diet going forward they are a more versatile

Scoring team than they have been in the past so on Tuesday night I asked Devin Booker is there a little bit more of a of a security that you feel or a confidence boost you can get knowing that this roster is able to get to the free throw line much more more than

Previous iterations of this Sun’s team were and obviously I wasn’t trying to like throw shade they were a very good team even despite taking a lot of mid-range jumpers and not getting to the line not getting to the rim whatever he said the roster is just different there’s different positives and

Negatives on both sides okay I asked Frank vogle today about the threes is there a number that they try to shoot for that signifies like we our offense was flowing the way we want it to or does he kind of take it big picture and evaluate it more Case by

Case than that you know like the Celtics want to take a million threes otherwise they feel like they’ve failed they’ll pass up other types of shots to get threes because that’s what they want to do right I was basically getting at that type of a thing do the

Suns look at it that way and he said tonight you know and last night they took the same amount which I believe I believe they took the same amount which was 31 he basically said as long as you’re getting other good types of shots it doesn’t always

Need to be threes and that’s that’s another difference between this year’s team and and past ones for this Suns organization is it’s not just about any one spot on the court anymore in the past the Suns didn’t take a lot of Threes rim rim shots or free throws

And that just stacked up against them at the end of the day it’s a big part of why they had to make a big deal and make a move and and change what the roster was but because of that now they can get to the rim they don’t always they’re not

A high frequency Rim team but they can do that they don’t take a ton of Threes but they make them at a high clip and they can get to the free throw line so they still take more mid-rangers than probably most teams but they have that

Diversity so again I’m going to look at it differently now I am going to look at the cumulative of points in the paint free throws and threes if that total number is high and I’ll measure this right like if be coming every day or along with me guys

Subscribe follow do whatever and we can do this together and and develop what that Baseline is going to be did I nerd out is that nerdy offer good enough for you guys let’s add up these stats every night come back please look it’s what it is um but

Tonight 44 46 points in the paint 36 points at the line and 30 points at the free throw line so that is 82 112 is that possible 66 plus 46 man so only four Suns points came from mid-range today that doesn’t even seem possible well this is a great day to

Bring it up then because yeah that’s that’s really true Durant made a free throw line jumper and an 18 foot jumper on the left the left Baseline those two mides by KD were the only mid-range points of sun Scott tonight that’s crazy okay well it’s not

Going to be 112 every night but that’s going to be the recipe going forward that is going to be what we calculate to determine did the Suns have an effective offensive night a lot of assists will tend to flow into that transition points often are paint points all that stuff

Matters but that’s going to be the addition free throws points in the paint and threes can that number be it’s not going to be 112 but can it be high can it be 75 plus per of what the suns are doing and I think that will be a good

Indicator so that’ll wrap us up as we uh calculate that out and I just gasp into the microphone a bunch of times at that number enjoy the All-Star break but I have one more show for you this week before we get there Gabe Guerrero of Valley uh the Suns Valley

Pod and that YouTube channel which is great will be joining me to talk Royce O’Neal fad young Better or Worse Vibes this time this year than this time last year and more so hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re finding the show to get that one

To close out the week and much more as we go don’t forget to follow out follow the locked on suns Insider alerts join the locked on suns Insider Community by visiting the link in the show description or typing into your browser join sub.com lockon Suns support the

Show be in the know about the Suns all the time with that Community as we grow it we’ll do giveaways and q&as and bonus shows and bonus content and more as we get that count up for all of you news all of it straight to your phone another show to

Come in the feed before the end of the week great stuff I’ll talk to you then

Devin Booker was ejected but the Phoenix Suns rallied to dominate the Detroit Pistons as Monty Williams returned to the Valley.

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans takes Suns fans inside Booker’s ejection and Isaiah Stewart punching Drew Eubanks before explaining how the Suns’ new depth can be a positive and negative for Frank Vogel.

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