Why Loss to Boston Was A Reminder Of Just How Much Phoenix Suns Need Devin Booker

Why Loss to Boston Was A Reminder Of Just How Much Phoenix Suns Need Devin Booker

On today’s episode of Locked on suns a disappointing 10o loss at home on national TV to the Boston Celtics revealed one thing for sure this Sun’s team is incredibly reliant on Devin Booker is that good is it bad is it going to Doom them is there anything

They can do about it we’ll discuss on today’s show 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 writer ATS suns.com and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get

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To the good stuff here Brandon um well joining us as he does every week is Brandon Dwayne yes the writer at Bright Side of the Sun needs no introduction let’s just Dive Right In um 117 107 Bren was the final score of this this game against the Celtics and I did

A recap of the kind of nitty-gritty of the game on Saturday night so we’ll zoom out a little bit here and I came away from this one and you can correct me if if you had a different read on it or if you see it a little bit differently but

I just feel like this was a game that I chock up to Durant’s amazing Beal’s pretty good the defense wasn’t terrible and yet they lose by double digits pretty much rail to rail against a team that just outplayed them without a good player on that side as well this team

Just needs Devin Booker I mean we’re 60 games in I I don’t know if it’s exactly a hot take to say that three quarters of the way through a season but no matter what else is going on I think this game was a reminder that unless that guy’s in

The lineup and playing at his best they’re just not good enough yeah there’s there’s a few things for me a few takeaways uh number one Boston’s really good like that’s that’s the first thing that’s where I’m going to start that’s a good team and they’re they’re down porzingis as well so um they’re

They’re only going to be tougher come playoff time I think that’s that’s the team to beat right now just top to bottom just depth defense two-way players across the board um they’re they’re a good team and and we saw look I think the Suns can win games without

Booker like that Denver game was a good example but you’re going to need outlier shooting performances from a Grayson Allen or like a royce O’Neal or Eric Gordon some of these guys who combined two for 12 against Boston from three or yep might have been might have been

Worse than that actually I think it was one for 12 um so when when you combine that with book missing the game and your role players aren’t hitting threes the margin for error is just razor thin like Beal and Durant pretty much have to be putting up like 60 plus percent like

Field goal shooting from the floor combining for like 60 plus points as well like it’s it’s just like it just leaves them in a tough spot so yes obviously like this is not any like groundbreaking news the team needs Booker but I think uh when you combine

That with the fact they just kind of hit wide open shots it just makes it really impossible to win games against good teams like sure they could beat like some you know mediocre team on a Tuesday night in the regular season but this is all about the playoffs we’re talking

About this is about winning a championship and uh that’s that’s kind of the big picture thinking you got to you got to look at because they’re going to be playing the West is stacked it’s going to be a good team every night so that’s they need book plain and

Simple yeah and it’s good to point out the Denver game obviously right because they literally just did it funny that these two games were exactly the same score just flipped too um but I did a show after that game being examining the question of like did they

Turn a corner did did some of the things we saw in this game feel new feel replicable feel like a turning of a page whatever and I do kind of think I still feel that way I think the the pace that they played within that game I thought the defensive moments whether it

Was in the half court with nurkic or I thought they had a pretty good transition defensive game even though the stats would kind of tell you otherwise maybe I’m just reading that wrong so I do still think that’s true but I think your point at the end

There is exactly where I fall which is like they can do it like I’m not saying that they’re incapable of winning games without Devon Booker maybe in a first round series although they’re going to face a tough team right away maybe they even could win playoff games without

Devon Booker I mean they did it in 2022 against the Pelicans right like even that’s not the most far-fetched thing on teams are completely different now of course but it’s more so just if you’re asking me if there’s a way to replicate anything with any of these star players

Out I think Booker being out is maybe the worst one we haven’t really seen a lot of Booker and Beal and I I feel like that’s a little bit disrespectful to the season that Durant has had but it’s just funny to me I guess watching some of

These games and I know people felt yesterday anytime they have breakdowns in terms of the structure on offense and they had that in the second quarter and at times throughout this game had it against the Thunder we all do the point guard conversation all over again when

It’s just staring Us in the face that that Booker is going to help that more than any other scheme or player can and so I do think some of the other stuff is coming along but they’re not hitting their ceiling especially on the offensive end without book in the lineup

I mean that that’s I guess maybe that just sounds obvious as I talk through it but with how weird this season has been it’s it’s like maybe just a reality check at times to just kind of like repeat that to yourself yeah and I think the big three

Were just made to play with each other so when you take one of those three out it’s like defenses can scheme a lot easier against Durant and just send you know the the entire ship at him and just throw whatever they want but with book

In the in the picture it it changes the entire Dynamic so that goes both ways too like obviously uh when uh drant will get easier looks with book and and vice versa and then obviously Beal just playing in a more off ball role um but I think they just need to perfect and

They’ve had such a short amount of time to try to get this together when they’re all in the court but just perfecting playing how they did in that Denver game where the ball is just moving everywhere everyone’s involved they’re not pounding the ball they need that with a big three

And I think that’s when they’re at their Peak offensively when the ball’s just snapping around the court there it’s just like that you know 0 five system essentially but with with superstars that can hit tough shots and bail you out if the possession is just broken or

If you know the defense is is not breaking uh then you have those two outlets in in a Durant I should say three really in Durant Booker and be able to break that and hit tough shots okay so here’s my question the one of the reasons I wanted to bring this up

After a game like that because one of the things I’ve said all year is they’re running up against I think another reality during this stretch too which might not which might be flying under the radar a little bit although last night it was kind of punching them

In the face which is that they Josh aogi really badly as well I think there’s just no way around that you can look at the stats the onoff stuff the offense does fall off a cliff when he’s out there I kind of don’t care at this point

They need him because uh they have to have some perimeter defensive option that’s better than Grayson Allen and forward him and Roy yeah him and Royce together like there’s some little flashes that I liked when they’re on on the court together they need that toughness so I I agree there even if

It’s in small samples they need that yeah yeah and we know toi’s match up dependent if his offense is just really awful um it’s like last night with sain Lee which is what I was just alluding to you just have to bail on it but they they’re

Going to have to play a Ki in the playoffs but the point being I think that they’re also going to need and I’ve been saying this all season long that you have to hope that part of them hitting their defensive ceiling comes with book um being what he was last year in the

Playoffs on ball creating steals playing with energy turning defense into offense and I worry that he might not be able to get to that point considering how much they still rely upon him on offense is that fair I think so but also I need to see more with like the big three alog

Together because it’s like we might not be able to I don’t know exact it’s a trick question I feel like at this point I expect there to be just two of the three healthy at all times so uh but if we but I guess even when all three have been out there like

It’s not as if Booker is like relaxing they’re still needing like super Devon Booker and I think that’s what I’m saying I’m worried about is like if you’re telling me there’s a playoff series where all of a sudden it’s like ai’s unplayable Grayson’s getting cooked they need book to guard Jamal Murray

Just like three years ago in the finals we watched them need to have Booker guard Chris Middleton when he’s like 23 years old in the finals right it got to that point and he had to do it and he did pretty well I don’t know if that release valve is there when you’re

Asking book to have a 30 plus% usage rate and a 30 plus assist rate and be your clutch scorer and and everything it’s it’s hard to ask him to oh can you also guard a great player too that’s yeah I agree that’s where Beal comes in

Handy where I think they need to use a more on ball uh to to make books life easier and find that balance where yes he could still go out there and you know go go super book and just go ballistic but also he’s not working as

Hard to get to those spots so I think if you could UTI utilize Beal a little bit more in that primary role with them on the court because I feel like be’s done it in stretches but not as consistent as I’d like to see it with setting up

Actions and I I remember in the preseason vogle was saying if he had a pick between book and be whose point guard he’d said Beal at one point so I think you haven’t really seen that and uh I want to see a little bit more of

That and that’s that’s the way I think Booker can kind of go more in that like olym pick book role where he’s not a role player by any means but just kind of conforming to a different role than he’s used to which could benefit the team and like help him have more energy

On the defensive end so that’s that’s what I want to see out of out of this big three together but we we’re just never gonna get it so I I give up you know hopefully come play off time it all clicks yeah and I mean look I I do think

A lot of this stuff is going to be matchup dependent I’m not just closing the the book uh no pun intent ended on Durant being a guy in a lot of different matchups and a lot of different scenarios that can effectively be the point guard we have seen that at times

But I don’t think it’s smart to say that that’s the primary thing how many games have we watched where forcing that being plan a offensively has just resulted in in disaster it it’s not going to be it’s not going to be enough and I think Beal

Has taken some steps forward and I think his his downhill ability his speed his quickness can be a a thing that we that we see so we’ll we’ll come back to the upcoming games and maybe Circle back to this conversation in a moment as far as what we want to see in

This road trip book might be back as soon as Monday but let’s keep on the Celtics game first did Frank Vogal play things wrong with bub what is the ideal setup for bub to dominate it’s been a question we’ve been asking all season I don’t know if

We’re any closer to answering it but we’ll try our best first Today’s Show brought to you by Nissan are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little further have you ever wondered what Adventure could be around the next corner while our friends at Nissan have a lineup of

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Brandon I wanted to bring in the resident of all of Phoenix bullbull the the the chairman of the fan club the the driver of the bandwagon you have been uh it’s probably the thing I have to take the biggest L on of this entire season and you get to take the biggest W

I don’t think we’ve had like a detailed bull bow conversation on the Pod maybe he just hasn’t played awesome in some of the games we’ve talked about or just hasn’t been on our minds but I also missed a week when bullbull just uh really took things to the next level and

I wasn’t able to to uh cover it in real time but he only played 10 minutes last night or so 10 and he had 13 points and four rebounds vogle was asked about it postgame and called him a very unique player said that you know obviously they

When they’re going to Zone A lot of the time that’s because B is in the game and they’re trying to help him out let’s say and it’s a last resort to play him at Center vogo was pretty honest yesterday in the post game which which is rare he

Likes to talk around things and really give you nothing a lot of the time in this case he was being pretty pretty blunt and this was was one of the elements that he was really open about and I think it’s to the difficulty of of maximizing this guy even in a game when

He’s really having it going as a scorer and rebounder so did you have an issue with how vogle kind of played his cards when it came to bowl last night when he was being so effective well you’re you’re asking the right guy or the wrong guy I guess how

You depending on how you look at it but but yeah I thought bu definitely it’s biased analysis here folks just you know preface that but yeah no I think uh B definitely should have seen closer to 20 minutes uh in this game and obviously like there’s there’s matchup things that

That you could you could point to and on the defensive end where he could be exposed a little bit against a team as as quick as Boston especially when they go smaller but I think when you’re getting nothing out of some of these other role players like Eric Gordon was

Out there 20 plus minutes didn’t get you a single point you have uh just you know David Rody and Sabin Lee getting minutes like I to me it’s just like bu is like a confidence-based player and a rhythm based player and feel like anytime he gets comfortable

Like we’ve seen some very big games out of him so if you’re if you’re cutting that short especially when he’s about to get going to me it’s just like what do you have to lose at this point like we’re it’s not like we’re playing someone over him that’s killing it and

Like you just can’t keep him off the court like it’s to me it’s it’s a no-brainer like I think that’s that’s the one thing I look at yesterday and I’m not saying it’s guaranteed to work but like give it a shot I mean we’re we’re still experimenting here bu uh was

Efficient offense Ely even if he’s killing you on the other end which I don’t I think that could be a little grossly exaggerated sometimes like yes he can be exposed but it’s not like the guys that are filling in for him are defensive Stoppers either so that’s I

Mean that’s my thing too it’s like I I get it but it’s almost like overthinking yeah it’s it it feel I mean the main thing is what you just said which is what are the Alternatives like we’re not talking about I mean it it honestly like I would

Even be more okay with it if Thad young was getting minutes cuz at least they kind of play the same role and I’m interested to see what what Thad can do but he’s getting benched so it’s like that felt like a tad game too to me and

Nothing readed and like okay so the defensive thing I I obviously am not going to be naive and like pretend as if he’s some kind of stopper but the defense has been and this is you know onoff stuff with a guy who plays so little and has played in such varied

Role and with varied lineups and any onoff stuff for the Suns this whole season outside of the stars is really hard because of how many different versions of the team there have been same as last year but that said the defense with him on the court has had a 109 off defensive

Rating with him off it’s been a 116 that doesn’t tell you the whole story but it’s one of the things you would look at you look at his Rim protection numbers they’ve been excellent he fouls a lot but not cripplingly like where if you put him in a bad situation he’s just

Going to instantly be in foul trouble and we’re still only talking about a guy who plays a handful of minutes even if he played as much as you suggested 20 okay you know is he really going to get six fouls in 20 minutes no so let him

Use his fouls even if that’s what your your concern and I don’t really like I don’t think he’s so bad that it’s going to blow up the flow of a game like there are legitimately some players on the defensive end of the floor who are so

Bad that the offense is going to realize it right away shift everything toward attacking that player and kill you I just don’t really think that’s what bullbull is I think if he has to switch out onto the perimeter it can go fine maybe he gets blown by but you know who

Else does every other player on the sun’s roster so I am not really buying that and it’s like okay if you play him at Center or power forward and maybe like Tatum or even Horford posts him up all right you live with that I mean not

Every player is perfect so I just really find it we haven’t seen a game where it just the defense just collaps because B just embarrassed himself getting you know tied up and falling down and fouling guys and just I mean we did early in the season and he didn’t play

Much but recently not so much so I just really don’t get it and I think the obvious solution even if you have those problems and Frank vogle studies this stuff closer than me knows what’s working and what doesn’t knows obviously the confidence aspect you talked about maybe he knows if B’s getting attacked

It’s just going to demoralize him and the offense is going to whatever I don’t see why not play him in some jumbo lineups more often which is what we were seeing early in the season and that’s one of the things I’ve harped on all year it’s not always possible

Nurkic was a bad matchup last night but that’s where I think somebody like Thad could come in or hitch him hitch his minutes more to Durant whereas he was playing it felt like more with Beal last night where he can kind of just be a RoR on defense and

Not have to be guarding in the post but also not having to be guarding uh you know Tatum necessarily have him guard Sam Hower or have him guard cornette even I I’m not super worried about U maybe the rebounding but not you know he’s cornet’s not going to post him up

And cornette’s not going to be jumping over JW Eubank so I’m going on a long rant but I I guess shortly to say it I agree with you completely and um I’ve come around on bowl and I just think when the talent is there even if there’s

Limitations with how thin this team can feel at times it feels very goofy to say let’s not play a guy who’s producing yeah free bow bowl and and look I think outside of Kevin Durant he’s the best shot contester on the team defensively like that’s that’s a skill like you

Could say what you want about him on an island getting blown by sure but when it comes to contesting shots I think like he’s probably the the second best outside of Durant when it comes to impacting and just timing and how obviously how tall he is helps uh but

Just impacting the game on defense like you you at least have that calling guard card so even if everything else isn’t working out like you said on in the help side he can he can block shots and contest and come if he’s playing off nurkic or another big that’s kind of the

Perfect world for him I feel like so yeah I I think defensively like he he’s probably better than a lot of these other Alternatives and anyways so just yeah free free bull Bowl we we need we need more bulll um let him get his confidence going

And and yeah I mean I’m I mean it’s a credit to him like confidence-wise too he had a shooting slump and he weathered it yeah he’s I mean he’s not not taking as many maybe as you would have liked earlier in the season and maybe that speaks to some of the confidence stuff

But past two games shots are going in he’s taking the three when it’s open you know that was bad for him early in the year he would pass up open shots cuz you could just tell he was in his head about it and I think that that harmed his his

Playing time but that hasn’t been the an issue the past couple so yeah he’s not turning it over like that’s the other thing he’s not turning he’s not turning it over and that’s in his when he was younger he that was kind of his his fault offensively like he he would do

Make some incredible plays and highlights that would stand out but then when it came to just playing smart and within the flow of the offense there was just things he would mess up on which he’s not doing anymore so I think to me if he’s not doing that he’s not hurting

On offense even if he’s not hitting his shots like that’s to me you just got to get him more minutes it feels like a classic like coach’s worst enemy kind of player and I think Frank just needs to accept it at this point you know like if if fans can

Accept that Joshua ki’s going to be playing and we have to deal with the offensive ramifications of that uh watching this team I think vogle can accept that Bub’s going to need to play and deal with the you know sometimes fluctuations bu’s defense is better than Aki’s offense I’ll say that exactly

That’s a perfect way to put it and it’s like if Fogle has come to terms with the fact that aogi is gonna have to play and obviously we can understand why Vogal is a defensive guy aogi you know probably is everything he wants in a player but

Uh you know this this is not picking among a bunch of great options and at a certain point it’s like if perfect example too from last night Missoula just understood that cornette was going to be a good matchup and rolled with it do you think Missoula

Is like loving every minute of the Luke cornette experience no that guy has a bunch of limitations but he kind of helped them win a damn game out of nowhere uh with 14 and six in 20 minutes in a big in a big game to get their

Season kind of back on track so you just have to accept stuff sometimes and figure out how to make it work rather than kind of always looking at why it’s not and I think that’s where we are right now with the bull minutes is just picking nits or finding holes in in the

Argument and it’s like yeah it’s just one of the better players on this bench and at at a certain point that’s all that matters let’s get to this road trip what to expect what we’re watching for coming up next first Today’s Show brought to you by LinkedIn when you’re hiring for your

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Linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply all right let’s close this out Brandon let’s spend a few minutes on this road trip we we got hot about Booker and bowl so we’ll we’ll uh you know preview stuff is sometimes make

Makes us look dumb so maybe it’s better that we uh emphasize this part of it a little less but it feels like book could come back I mean that’s bullet point number one as we talk about this road trip but it’s not going to be easy Cleveland Boston and Milwaukee are

Talking about the top three seeds in the East all in a 4game road trip all far away on the East Coast although it kind of circles back to the Midwest on on both ends and then uh a nice break afterward two days off following an early game on Sunday March 17th against

The bucks but what are you watching for are you looking at the standings and if the Suns can make a push are you looking at some of the structural stuff we talked about at the top this isn’t they actually have an even longer road trip against a bunch of West teams coming up

Not too long but this is the last Big East Road Trip they have and those tend to test teams what are you looking what are you looking at yeah no that’s you said it best it’s going to be a great test to kind of wrap

Things up and I I think uh my prediction is book will be back Monday against Cleveland it’s it’s a good time for him to come back because they’ll have a couple days off before that Boston game um and then it goes straight to a back toback so that could be one of those

Situations where he plays those first two and then sits out against the Hornets and uh you know I’ll just go on a limb here and say I think they’re gonna go in Cleveland take down the short-handed Cavs and then two days later or three days later whatever it is

Go to go to Boston give a the Celtics a very rare homecourt loss with with book showing up and get their Revenge and then have a let down the very next day and lose to Charlotte and then then go out and take down Milwaukee in that fourth game that’s that’s my official

Prediction I’m just throwing out three and one yeah the Cavs part of this definitely they’re catching them at a good time Moy and Mitchell I believe uh will’ll miss that game and Garland has not been the same guy this year you know they’ve been susceptible although Dean

Wade might be the MVP of the league now after you know single-handedly coming back against the Celtics on Tuesday last week but that one I feel decently about I actually would be okay if maybe book did not come back for that game because I think they could win anyway but you all

When you start thinking about it that way I know that can run into some issues that Hornets team not that it’s it’s the one that probably nobody cares about I will just tell you right now um I have I was out of town as people will know from

The fact that I did not post episodes for a week when Dune 2 came out I have still not seen it CU my wife and I schedules have been screwed up I think that Friday is when I’m going to be able to see that movie I’m not going to be

Watching the the Hornets game live but uh what I will say is that team just look at the box scores of who’s been playing it’s like all the guys they got at the trade deadline and then miles Bridges and Brandon Miller it is a rough

Group of guys uh to say the least so hopefully even with book out if he were to rest or whatever they could figure it out but yeah I guess the one I’m maybe looking at the most is well how does book affect the Celtics matchup I think

Is obviously important I think you know with that one it’s like even just allowing Boston or or I guess forcing Boston to have to account for one more guy makes them a little less comfortable with the primary matchups I think and obviously I honestly think the the Suns might match

Up better with the Celtics when porzingis is in there I maybe that’s a stupid thing to say but I think that they can kind of manipulate him in a way that they weren’t able to with Horford bu so that’ll be on my mind um and then the Bucks we haven’t seen

The Suns play a healthy Bucks team cuz that last one I believe was just kind of just Giannis Brook and Dame and mid and then Middleton went out with the ankle early so that’ll be big too it’s just sort of like the finals preview road trip I guess the potential finals preview road

Trip and those games it’s like you’re not going to see them until then so it’s not always one that holds the most weight but yeah maybe the best way to put it is what we both said which is just kind of like a measuring stick kind of tuneup more than anything and you

Want to win those games cuz you want to prove to yourself that you’re coming together we all saw how fired up Frank vogle was after that Tuesday game let’s see another one of those yeah I think three in one should be the goal and also getting at least three of those four

Games with the big three all playing together to me that’s even two and two with like all three of them playing together is a pretty successful road trip like just it’s it’s more about building chemistry than it is wins at this point because I think obviously the the west standings are important but

It’s going to be pretty tough no matter what you do so you can’t really get too caught up in that to me it’s just like get get the big three healthy get them more time to play with each other enter the playoffs with those three healthy that matters more than who they’re

Playing in the first round so it’s that’s that’s what I’m looking for just stay healthy get reps yeah I I I I don’t hate that at all the as a standings watch though the wolves and Nuggets are now tied for the two seed basically the Clippers are at

Four game behind those two and the Suns have now technically Fallen to seven although you know um the Kings have played two fewer games than them so it’s kind of hard to measure right now but if you’re keeping track of things maybe we do see the Suns Target that

Wolves matchup but I think there would have to be a lot more separation before you could even feel like you’re really going to be able to have any control over that so I would not expect that to start in the next four games but just

Something to keep an eye on the Suns do I believe they play the Wolves one final time uh on April 5th at home so that’ll be a big game but a lot a lot of time between now and then so I’ll have a recap of that Cavs game Monday night

Obviously the same for the Celtics game Thursday couple of guests lined up in between hit follow or subscribe so you do not miss any of that I will catch you throughout the week read Brandon at Bright Side of the Sun in the meantime and have a great Monday

The Phoenix Suns played well against Boston but didn’t have enough because of how much they still rely on Devin Booker.

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans is joined by Brandon Dueñas of Bright Side of the Sun to discuss the burden Booker has and what it will look like in the postseason. Then, is Frank Vogel playing Bol Bol enough? And a preview of the Suns’ final East coast road trip this week.

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