The Phoenix Suns Stretch Run Pressure Power Rankings

The Phoenix Suns Stretch Run Pressure Power Rankings

On today’s episode of Locked on suns the stretch run starts tonight in Dallas we rank each Key Sons figure in terms of pressure down the stretch of the Season let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day

We are back this is lockon Phoenix Suns we are part of the locked on 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 your

Podcast thank you for making locked on sun your first listen to kick off your Thursday to kick off the stretch run of the NBA season a week it felt like a lot more between games but we are here now if you are finding us for the first time join

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Right ranking the Key Sons figures from top to bottom in terms of pressure we’re not going to get to everybody I’m not going to tell you how much pressure Teo madon has on him but we’re going to get to all of the biggest presences for this Sun’s

Squad starting with the person who I think has the most pressure riding on him and it might surprise you I have Frank vogle I have Frank vogle and it’s for a few reasons one this roster looks a lot different than it did at the beginning of the

Season he has had to adjust a lot game number two of the season right Devin Booker gets hurt against against the Warriors the Suns go to La they play the Lakers they lose by five they fall apart in the fourth quarter l lose that quarter by 17

Points you had Josh aogi and Eric Gordon starting that game because obviously beill was out as well Jordan Goodwin got the most minutes off the bench he’s not on the team anymore second most minutes off the bench Drew Eubanks third most udawat na not on the team anymore fourth

Most and seir little not going to be in the rotation anymore so that is three players who were not are not going to be in rotation anymore two players who should not be in the starting lineup if if the team is healthy and a whole lot of adjustments ever since

Then it’s not to say I don’t think Frank vogle can do it this is not about who I think is going to fail or succeed it is just about who has the biggest burden to get things figured out and vogle has a heck of a task in

Front of him with the trade for Royce O’Neal do you start him do you not start him we will get to him later the addition of thus young is he in the rotation for sure how much does he play the Perpetual question of what do

You do with Josh aogi what do you do at backup center Can bull bull play even what we think the rotation is right now maybe isn’t what it’s going to be in game one of the playoffs and there’s not a lot of time to get that figured out less than two

Months that being said I wanted to look back at the season when vogle helped lead the Lakers to a championship and at that Year’s deadline they didn’t do much okay so again this is not a a they signed Marie Morris on a buyout and then during the shutdown they

Signed Deon waiters and J.R Smith and Avery Bradley stayed home my dog is uh making a guest appearance off camera as he uh makes a very loud appearance on microphone but that’s that’s different right so vogle that team did Crescendo over the course of the Season you would have to say right they

You know they do win a bunch early they start out very hot but then around January I think they Lo the Lakers I’m talking about the 2019 2020 Lakers they lost four games the whole month of January after a four-game losing streak around Christmas then they go on a huge winning

Streak in the beginning of February they’re a little inconsistent in the bubble like the regular season they only they they rested players they used it as a tuneup they went three and five and then none of their playoff series went longer than five games and the finals only went six

So I think that was vogle pulling the strings successfully of a veteran Championship caliber Squad but this is a different task and I think there’s a ton of pressure on him to figure that out number two is Deon Booker the reason being that his night toight playmaking

Is what this team is going to live and die by and you maybe could have put him first I mean maybe it’s a 1 a 1B situation whatever the case may be Booker needs to be an elite efficient playmaker on a night toight basis balancing looking for his

Own shot which is important for this group especially driving to the basket getting to the line taking pull-up threes with setting his teammates up playing fast versus settling into maybe his preferred Rhythm which is a little more of a halfcourt game a little bit more you know ISO dribble dribble dribble

Stuff I think he’s improved over the course of the season at that balance getting Beal in there getting Grayson Allen up to speed some of the other adjustments this team has been able to make I think have made Booker more comfortable in that role his numbers are as good as ever his

Efficiency has not suffered here he’s getting to the line more than he did last year he’s getting to the line in line with you know the years where they were a worse team and he had you know more defensive attention on him and everything else so that’s good

Obviously the assists are up but it is just a different animal to successfully engineer a an execute a game plan to win over and over in the playoffs and we talked about this a little bit with Stephen pjon on on Wednesday’s show right the sun’s going from a an

Impressive offense to a brilliant offense can they pick at an opponent’s weak spots right can they and these are all things that I think that they’re going to need to figure out not just when the playoffs hit but right now Dallas on Thursday perfect example can they again attack Luca the

Way that they did right when if if they face the nuggets in the first round which feels like how it’s trending can they manipulate joic the way that Chris Paul did so expertly in 2021 it doesn’t have to be as surgical as the team used to be when Monty and Chris

Were really dictating what the offense was we know this team’s going to play looser we know Booker’s not the only playmaker on the team he’s not the point guard in the way we think of it when it is a Chris Paul type in there but the ball’s going to be in his

Hands at the end of the day more than anyone else and that Comfort has to be there because again it could be the nuggets in the first round and I do think there’s a little bit of growth still left to see from this overall offense and book book’s

Approach is going to be a big part of what dictates how good it gets there is also a question and this is not really going to necessarily crop up in the the stretch run but a couple of other things that I’m looking at with Booker can he take his usual leap in

Terms of post season defense I would say he did it last year he did it in 2021 2022 postseason was a weird one for Booker he obviously had the injury in the first round by the end of the second round it clearly looked like he was hurt

I wouldn’t say offensively he was at his best certainly didn’t look like it defensively you know they didn’t even really go to him as an option against Luca so I feel good about it but it’s a question and then of course can you do all of that and not get hurt and that’s

A you know a very knock on wood type of statement to make but at the same time it’s a lot of responsibility and a lot of physical exertion and so balancing your your your physical health when you’re playing uh repeatedly in these high level games in the postseason is

Easier said than done as well next up which part of the big three comes next does Durant or Bradley Beal have more pressure heading into the final Sprint of the Season I’ll give you my answer coming up next next first Today’s Show brought to you by LinkedIn

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Here James Jones his job’s done so it’s vocal and then it’s players I want to remind everybody to sign up for the lock on suns Insider community be in the know about the Suns all the time via text messages straight from me my analysis and observations on every single

Game my thoughts and take on any news or rumors around the team injury updates maybe another buyout player although I doubt it at this point and all of the quotes and interviews that are going around I keep track of all of it and give you my

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Thankful for that’s going to be your way but let’s get to the next one Bradley Beal Bradley Beal is third on the Phoenix Suns pressure power rankings for the stretch run of the Season why we just haven’t seen a lot of him right I mean doesn’t really have to go much

Deeper than that at the at the base level how does he fit I think we know I think you know my my biggest hope is can he have a few more of the offensive explosions that he was able to put together in the Lakers game for

Instance or at a couple of other moments throughout the season can we see that more consistently can that feel less like a rarity and more like a an actual part of this team’s arsal to do that he has to be aggressive I think he has to continue to to to feel

Comfortable and bomb away from three I think he has to cut back on the turnovers right and defensively what’s his role there have been a couple moments you know I think the Pelicans game when he guarded Zion there have been a few others where you know his on ball defense has been really

Solid I think he’s best as a Team Defender I think he’s best guarding up a position and maybe the reality is just going to be that if Booker can step it up if we maybe do see a starting lineup change to increase the defensive floor

Of the team that they can get away with Beal just guarding the least threatening player on the opposing team right maybe if it’s Denver he can just guard cavius Caldwell Pope at least with the starters right or or even Aaron Gordon frankly although I don’t know how that would go you know

Maybe that’s what it is but if if they play small and he’s out there everybody has to defend and be physical and give effort and not get and contain the ball in in that type of a lineup can you do that at the end of the today these runs

Are what he wanted this type of stretch run to the season chasing homec court advantage proving that you’re a championship Contender this is what Beal wanted he had a no trade clause he could have stayed with the Wizards and dealt with the mediocrity of their situation for longer

Right seemed like he had some interest in Miami well they’re in the playin they’re not as good as the Suns so this is this is a big moment for Bradley Beal this is right in the thick of exactly the type of high stakes basketball he wanted to be playing in the winter in

The spring and it’s all there for him to seize next up Kevin Durant Kevin Durant’s going to do whatever the Suns need him to do at a very high level it might be too high to put him here there’s not a lot left for him to prove right but I do think

There’s something to be said for peing in time for the playoffs I think uh making a huge impact and hopefully playing fewer minutes maybe would be nice that’s not really on him that’s not really something he needs to prove or any sort of pressure but that would be

Good as a team can he you know help be a big driving force in them getting some dominating wins you know and and maybe being able to sit more often and not having these fourth quarter collapses I think I give him a little bit of ownership of the team side just like I

Did with Booker and vogle for that reason because he’s a great great player probably the most talented two-way guy on this roster but there’s two things I’m looking at with Durant right can he maintain the level of defensive impact every single night down the stretch and into the postseason that he has during

This turn around right since December 26th the suns are eighth in offense eighth in defense they’re second in offense they’re eighth seventh or eighth they might even be seventh in defense in terms of defensive rating and a big part of that has been Durant committing to taking on highlevel

Matchups every single night whether that is Luca donic whether that is Daren Fox whether that is Kawhi Leonard whatever the case may be can they rely on that Swiss army knife ability on the defensive end every night down the stretch where they have one of the most difficult schedules in the

League and punch above their weight Chase 50 wins chase that top four seed they’re going to need it and then as we’re looking toward the playoffs I think Durant last season in the postseason by the time it was all said and done he addressed just about every one of my

Concerns I don’t really care that he did that his threes didn’t go in I don’t I don’t really care that he looked uncomfortable yet of course he was he was uncomfortable because he had like eight he had eight games with the team and had never been traded before in

His life yeah he was uncomfortable and so of course he’s going to look like that but the one thing I do have my eye on is can he maintain the level of driving aggressiveness getting downhill working for better shots and doing that all while keeping his turnovers low because

The one thing that I do still have a little bit of nervousness about with him heading into the playoffs because it was a trend in 20202 with the Nets when they got swept and it was a trend last year even though the Suns performed well as a

Team his turnovers have been very high teams know that they can overload help when he puts the ball on the ground and poke it away or make him force him into a bad shot and whatever and you know I I for a lot of of you who have made fun of

Me about this I know I had a a panic attack an overreaction about it after the first game of the season that I felt like this was a trend but he is proven proven me wrong he is getting to the basket more than he did since the Achilles he

Is attempting more of his shots around the basket he continues to get to the line a ton all good indicators can that continue I see no reason to think it won’t but I have my eye on it let’s move over to the bench the role players at the very least as we close

Out the show I’ll give you which role player has the most pressure on them coming up next first this show is brought to you by the FanDuel sports book America’s number one sports book and the official sports book of the locked on podcast Network we are big fans of FanDuel and

I’m sure you are as well but if for some reason you have not taken advantage of their wonderful offers yet you’re in luck new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks if your bet wins I am looking right now actively at the Suns line and

It has moved in the sun’s favor it was I believe three points when it opened that the Dallas Mavericks were favored by at home it is now two and a half which I believe is the uh add-on for being the home team meaning that it is basically a pick

Them both outcomes are negative 11 10ish maybe that’s what you stay away from what I like is the total over under over 244 feels nice I know that’s a very high-scoring game but look it’s the NBA in 2024 and these teams tend to do that to one another either way maybe you put

The money on a little something easier big money line or something like that the Pacers are hosting the Pistons minus 650 that’s good beyond the those game bets you also have live same game parlays exclusive props and more over at FanDuel just visit fanduel.com lockon and shoot your shot FanDuel official

Sportsbook partner of the NBA closing out the show the Suns play the Mavericks tonight at 7 o’clock Pacific Catch every basket on the hometown broadcast with John Bloom and Tim Kempton on Sirius XM with the SX M app just search Suns to check it out the first role

Player on our Suns pressure power rankings for the stretch run of the season is Yousef nurkic it’s two things how much can he play against every team and especially teams that he doesn’t match up well with and I guess a subset of that question a a a next layer of that question

Is can the sons find ways to take advantage of him proactively as a tool as a weapon rather than for waiting rather than waiting for the opponent to dictate how nkic has to be used okay what I mean by that is Stephen pjon brought this up a little

Bit on Wednesday’s show as far as using nurkic as a passer and I made the joke when we were talking when I was talking to Stephen that the version of the team that was not very good that was like a very mediocre 500 sub 500 type of team when Booker and Beal were

Out was maybe the version of this team that is sort of looked the most structurally sound right like it just sort of it it it fits what we know basketball looks like right that version because it was like okay Durant’s going to post up or he’s going

To isolate nurkic is going to play from the top of the key as a point Center and everybody else is just going to shoot and cut and hustle and crash the boards and play defense Ready set go and it made sense since then I think you would have to say that

Nurkic’s uh usage as a as a playmaker as a real offensive Hub has gone down can they find ways to leverage that again and Stephen had a great idea of entering the ball into the post to nurkic to start certain possessions rather than just when he has a mismatch or when he’s

Really Cooking against like joic back in December or something like that can you really just get the ball down the court quickly enter it to him make the help come and have him operate as a passer where now all of the big three are there to space

The floor or attack a close out or do whatever they need to do and then on the defensive end how do you maximize him while he’s out there right the the it’s not always going to be an option to say okay we’re playing Sacramento nerkach just like you

Know Billy Donan said once upon a time can’t play caner right it can’t be that they have to they have to figure it out against n or with nurkic he’s going to have to play pretty regular minutes no matter what the opponent is because the Suns just don’t have enough other options

So can they play zone can they continue to execute him blitzing and hedging out onto the perimeter so that even if if um an opposing big might be an offensive threat the team defense protects him right that’s how yic plays that’s how sabonis plays can and the Suns do that

With nkuch a lot can they can they achieve it at an even higher level those are the things I’m watching that’s why I think there’s a lot writing on his ability to do all of that and be a an impactful positive piece even though we know he’s not going to be playing 40

Minutes a night like the other stars he does need to play and he needs to play well next Royce O’Neal first off can Royce O’Neil earn a starting spot on this team I’m not worried about his offense at all but because I think he can he can

Move the ball I think he’ll make some hustle plays like offensive rebounds and timely Cuts timely rotations to move into space to set himself up for an open three off of you know a broken play or a collapsed defense things like that I I think he’s

Been in the league long enough he’s been on High level offensive teams in Utah and in Brooklyn that I think it’ll just click we’ve already seen it but he has to guard at a certain level to make himself worth that spot because even the peak of what Royce O’Neal is

Offensively is nowhere near the peak of what Grayson Allen is offensively the difference is their defense and that difference is only there if Royce’s defense is really running high right so like for me it’s it’s almost just a schedule thing right first game Thursday night

Mavs I don’t know if Royce is going to start this quickly off the bat but can he guard Luca on Sunday can he guard LeBron the next Sunday can he guard sheay gilis Alexander what does he do against the Nuggets probably more of you’re looking

For him to use his length and his IQ to to make some team defensive plays deflection steals Saturday March 9th against the Celtics can he defend Jason Tatum right like these are the things that I’m looking at and if he can then that gives you a lot of optimism that in a playoff

Environment guys like kawhai or sha or Anthony Edwards Brandon Ingram or again Luca that you have a good option against those guys because he will have proven it and he needs to to earn vogel’s trust to balance this team out a little bit and and give them a higher defensive

Floor and do what he was brought in to do when they made a a pretty significant trade to get him right lastly so I’m not including Grayson Allen in here I don’t really think there’s a lot of pressure I’m not including Fus young my expectations are tempered I think he can

Play a role in certain matchups if things come come together but I’m not saying he has to Josh aogi we kind of know what that is so closing us out here is Eric Gordon to me a healthy aggressive Eric Gordon puts the Suns over the top flat

Out I would love to see some sort of ESPN stats and info type of thing I can probably do a version of it right here of what the suns are record-wise when Gordon scores 20 or more yeah and that’s I’m already there nine and one they’re nine and one when

He scores 20 or more points like you know even if you look at it as 10 or more shot attempts they have only lost eight games out of 24 that he has attempted 10 or more field goals in so what is that uh 16 and8 that’s just exactly what I’m talking

About there may not always be enough to go around if Durant has 40 or 50 in a playoff game Booker has 40 or 50 if Beal does have one of those games where he scores 30 and we’re talking about you know 90 combined or something from The

Big Three well they don’t need Gordon to do that anymore but it’s all about the mindset go into games expecting I’m taking 10 shots I’m taking every open three that comes my way and I’m trying to score 20 points if he has that mindset to enter games when he checks in

In that first quarter for Beal for now we’ll see what the rotation looks like if O’Neal does eventually start then that that just honestly makes the Suns feel really really unguardable Gordon is an aggressive transition three-point shooter which I think will help the pace of this

Team and he knows how to make the right play when he’s in that mindset and trying to be aggressive he can make the right pass he can get downhill sometimes he does draw fouls because he’s so big it would go a long way to me his defense is is underrated I

Think by Suns fan still but it’s it’s really an off ball defensive role right if he can switch on to somebody bigger if he can you know contain a a a cut or a drive but if he’s guarding the point of attack if he’s having to navigate

Screens it’s not going to go well so there is a little bit of scheming you have to do and he might be exploitable in the playoffs he might be exploitable in some of these big games that will decide seating but because of O’Neal being here now and Grayson Allen’s

Breakout and even aogi being an option and staying on the team past the deadline and Thaddius young if you think about a huge lineup maybe that and Durant nkit all play I don’t know they have options is the point which means Gordon doesn’t always have to be out

There to close games the way that we maybe thought all the way back in October before Allen got here before any of this other stuff that he might and lastly I think you know something to watch down the stretch with him is could a smaller role help right could a

Smaller role in terms of minutes in terms of minutes and that might mean that the 10 shots a game and the 20 points is harder to come by right like I’m looking at the those same games I was just measuring the wins and the losses in and

It’s like yeah he’s playing 30 plus minutes in a lot of those 20 plus minutes in a lot of those that might not always be possible but again that should be the mindset and if he has that mindset and is put in a position to succeed from a lineup and

A scheme standpoint and he only has has to play 15 to 20 minutes to me I would expect a more aggressive scoring a better uh more engaged more physically overwhelming defensive version of Gordon so I hope we see that when these new guys get acclimated and his spot in the

Pecking order ticks down but offensively he has a higher ability than O’Neal or Thad young or any of these other guys they need that they got it they signed him for a reason right they’ empowered him as one of sort of the leaders of this team for a reason and

So I want to see it that’ll wrap us up one more show to close out the week will not be after the Mavs game because I’m am boarding a flight mid game to fly overseas to the UK I’m feeling guilty I will be connected via subtext again so

Sign up there if you haven’t the last show of the week will be a preview of the Suns of the Mavs rockets and potentially the Lakers games as well well that will be coming Thursday afternoon or so so keep an eye out for that one and then I will be

Back the following I will miss all of next week and I will be back the week after that so Suns Thunder March 3rd is going to be an awesome game I will be covering that one for you immediately after the buzzer like always so you’re missing a little bit from me it’s not

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Will talk to you guys tomorrow and then after that following that Thunder game

From Devin Booker to Frank Vogel to Bradley Beal and beyond, who has the most pressure on the Phoenix Suns?

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans goes one by one down the list looking at how key Suns figures can strengthen their resume headed into the playoffs.

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