Why A Phoenix Suns Championship Would Now Be A Historical Anomaly

Why A Phoenix Suns Championship Would Now Be A Historical Anomaly

On today’s episode of Locked on suns the Lost of the thunder on Sunday night may have just been one out of 82 but time is not on the sun’s side Devon Booker is now hurt and history would tell us that the Phoenix Suns may just be running out of time let’s break

It down 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 locked on Phoenix Suns we are part of the locked on podcast Network and I’m your host Brendan clean a credential media member

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Started all right so I’m coming to you not long after I recorded Monday’s episode recapping the sun’s Thunder game could have done it late last night that that OKC recap episode but uh I think you probably got a better show the way that I did it so if you’re seeing me

On YouTube and I’m wearing the same exact things and the daylight looks roughly the same you’re not wrong your eyes are not lying to you but I have three things coming off of that loss starting with history starting with a look into the history books but the

Reason I bring that game up the reason I bring the timing up is to say that I’m not as surprised or shocked by that Thunder game as other people and I guess as a result of not being as shocked I’m not looking at it as a big change of direction for the season

Or or some sort of inflection point personally I think that game just reminded us of the Suns week weaknesses and it might be frustrating that those weaknesses still exist but the reality is what we saw 30 games into the season told us something and while we maybe could have hoped that getting 60

Games into the season would have changed it that might have been far-fetched and what I mean by all of this is to say that we know by now right with a lot of teams this is not me saying the Suns have no chance this is not me saying the

Suns are cooked or that there’s no possibility that they make a deep run here but the reality is I think the expectations for the season given how the past two years three years have ended for the suns in the playoffs the big moves that they made in February and

June and all throughout the past calendar year basically in order to get the roster into the shape that it’s in now and and the win now position that it that it is in that creates it’s it’s it’s Championship or bust and I think we all know that and so with that being the

Context I think we know I I think we’ve known that this team is is unlikely to get to the upper tier of contention but now that we’re this far into the into the season history is just not on the sun’s side it’s not just how much evidence

There is right that the Suns now you know they are I think roughly 10th I think they’re 10th in offense and 13th in defense they are obviously seventh in the standings 35 and 26 overall plus 2.7 Point differential per game which would be sixth in the conference and

Like you know almost middle of the pack in the league just straight up how many points are they getting are they outscoring their opponent by per night would put them in pretty average territory and yeah they’re 11th in offense and 13th in defense so 10th in net rating all those indicators are fine

Right they all tell you a a pretty similar story and a not so great story and obviously the way this team has come out of the All-Star break has been incredibly disappointing lose to Dallas struggle way more than you should have against the Rockets survive against the Lakers lose against the

Thunder we’ll see what happens against Denver but it’s not just that type of History where okay you know teams tend to be top 10 in offense and defense in order to win titles and teams that low in the standings don’t typically do it you could look at

The 4020 thing that people have been talking about with the Celtics and the other some of the other teams in the west if you win 40 games before you lose 20 that’s a good sign the suns are are not even there yet for the wind side of

That and already blown own by the 20 losses but no the other thing is the excuse or the reservation you might hold of well they just need time to Jael and I might even agree with you on that right that their the injuries have just broken apart whatever chance they

Had to develop chemistry and kind of get this unorthodox roster to click it hasn’t been able to happen for long enough stretches to feel good but okay that that’s just the reality of the situation big threes or you know star heavy topheavy rosters almost universally have performed better than this one

Okay no matter what the context is no matter who your talking about every single one that I could find has been better than this Suns team so far obviously you have the Warriors of the 161 17 season when Durant gets there they’re 50 and 11 after 61 games the

Worst I could find was Cleveland in 20145 and that might be the best comparison from a talent standpoint right I mean Kevin Love is not not as good as Chris Bosch not as good as I guess you know probably you would say not as good as Ray Allen although

They’re very very different guys so it’s kind of apples to oranges there but that Cleveland team was even 37 and 24 so still two games better than this Suns team the Heat in 2010 43 and 18 after 61 games those Celtics teams that I just referenced with Ray Allen and obviously

Pearson net 49- 12 at the 61 game Mark and the Lakers might even be the best comparison with pal gasou because he actually came in the previous deadline similar to how Durant did they were 43 and 18 at the uh 61 game Mark of the’ 0809 season

The First full year with pal and of course even the Durant Kyrie Harden Nets they didn’t get 61 games with those guys but obviously 13 and3 in the games that they did play together and had that incredible first round Series against Boston maybe we’re in a different era

Right Maybe parody is taking over the NBA and we’re just in the early stages of that and a title run like Denver’s where the the regular season is even less significant than we thought and their defense finished 17th in the regular season but built into the playoffs and allowed them to lock down

When it mattered maybe that’s going to be the norm I guess that would say that that’s pretty comparable to what the sun’s situation is shaping up to be you know Denver slow played the regular season but that team had years of chemistry together even if injuries stole some of those Seasons from them

Maybe 2019 Raptors just in terms of the upheaval of the roster with the preseason trade for um Kawai and then the midseason trade for Mar gou but that team was like top five in offense and defense the statistical indicators said they were dominant they just kind of

Needed to click and they did this Suns team winning a title would really not have a parallel in in recent NBA history even teams who are hastily assembled and topheavy and and not very deep win at a better Pace than this team has even recent title teams that had some awkwardness about

Them they won and dominated at a higher level than this team has and the unfortunate part is even coming off of that Thunder game depending regardless of how much you panic they’re right back into the injury side of things again with this Booker ankle sprain and that’s where we will go

Next how can the sun survive without Booker forget winning a title just in the regular season as he is set to miss the next week plus with that right ankle sprain we’ll dive into how they survive next first Today’s Show brought to you by better help better help is bringing the Practical easy

Simple Essentials of therapy straight to you sometimes we all need the opportunity to get something off our chest big or small certain things can really start to get to you it’s important to let that out so today I want to tell you how I really feel about something you might even be thinking

About the same thing this week this is not what is sending me to therapy this is about what authenticity can mean and I’m I’m going to tell you about how I feel about the Bradley Beal trade right let me say this it’s not so much if you think the be trade

Was good or bad it’s not about if he was the best player available or not it’s about the opportunity cost what else could you have done last summer with the Chris Paul trade and I have a feeling as we look back we may feel like there were

Smaller moves that would have created a little more of a like of a sensical roster that’s how I feel therapy can be different for everyone most of us have bigger problems than our favorite sports team or the Bradley Beal trade and it’s important to get those

Things off your chest every once in a while so again low stakes simply communication opening up thinking being introspective better help is there for you it’s entirely online designed to be flexible and suited to your schedule to try it out visit betterhelp.com lockon NBA to get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp

Hp.com lockon NBA for 10% off your first month keeping it rolling let’s talk about surviving without Devon Booker for updates on Devon Booker game day observations like tonight as the Suns take on the Nuggets pregame Keys halim takeaways postgame takeaways and more sign up for the lock on suns Insider

Community you can also respond directly to me participate in mailbags exclusive for locked on suns insiders get all the content that doesn’t make the podcast that doesn’t make my Twitter that is just straight to the most DieHard fans the locked on suns insiders visit the link in the show description

Down below or go to join sub text.com lockon Sons to sign up sham shiria reported Monday that the suns are likely to be without Booker for the next 7 to 10 days but that didn’t sound exact right I mean obviously that’s a pretty big window in the first place 7 to 10 days

But on top of that it sounded like it could stretch be on that um you know it’s odd a little bit and I did I sent this out when the news came down to the Insiders that I was just talking to you about I I texted out

That it’s odd to hear Frank vogle kind of Express optimism that it wasn’t too severe and then still have it end up being you know maybe two weeks that he’s missing if it were to be 10 days from today and he’s already missed two days you know um little strange and they are

Going on the road around that time so you’re facing down the always difficult idea of okay when do you bring him back in a road trip and everything else but here we are those are the facts of the situation the other facts of the situation are that the suns are have

Been outscored by two points per 100 possessions basically two points per 100 possessions basically with Booker off the court over the course of this season so that includes minutes with Durant and Beal together or whatever combination you want when Booker has not been on the court the Suns have been

Outscored that’s the bottom line at the same time the sun’s remaining schedule has a 58% win percentage meaning that they are really facing a tough stretch in the season of course that’s pretty obvious so okay when you look at what the Suns have struggled with what has doomed them when

Booker has been off the court it has been the turnovers on the offensive end as we saw last night against the Oklahoma City Thunder right 20 plus turnover game unacceptable uh just embarrassing and that’s been a running theme all year the Suns just cannot take care of the ball they cannot

Execute and run a real offense whenever Booker is not out there to do that for them so Beal is not a natural playmaker I think we’ve learned that right even when he’s playing with Booker when he’s playing with bench units no matter what the context is it’s not that Beal can’t

Make a simple pass or that he doesn’t read the floor well I think he does all those things he obviously can kind of create you know people like to say create an advantage right like he can beat his man downhill and kind of in ignite some ball movement kick it to the

Corner and now the defense is rotating and the ball movement creates a good shot for a shooter or a cutter or a driver whatever the case may be he can do that but I think he’s very one trck minded he can be a little bit lazy

So he can’t be the only solution you cannot say Okay Booker is out for 10 days Beal is going to just do what book does no I don’t think that’s I don’t think that’s really going to work so instead I think you should really lean into Roy O’Neal I mean just say you

Know in these situations Royce is going to be our point guard he’s going to be our primary initiator maybe you say when Beal is off the court anytime Beal is off the court and Roy is on Roy has the ball whatever the case is you know certain types of lineups certain moments

Of the game you know inbounds versus uh off of a rebound whatever the case is take advantage of how solid O’Neal has clicked into place as a passer as an initiator and I think that and start to solve the problems you know I think they’ve done a better job of playing

Through nurkic lately so I wouldn’t say to overdo it with that you know there’s limitations there but definitely more O’Neal would go a long way the other thing I would say here from a lineup standpoint and a role and responsibility standpoint is that I might start I no I would I’m not

What am I saying might I it’s one of my it’s one of the things that they need to do so I want them to do it I think they should do it I’m being decisive here don’t worry start Eric Gordon over Grayson Allen so to me that starting lineup becomes Beal Gordon

O’Neal Durant nurkic and that might sound crazy right Grayson Allen has been one of the best shooters in the NBA he has had some huge nights as a shooter as an assist guy he helps with the pace at times he’s been the guy that gets matchups defensively against some of the

Best players on the opposing team but if you look at the statistics just from a straightup onoff standpoint when Grayson Allen has been out there this season the Suns have gotten outscored I’m sorry the Suns have have been much worse defensively so they’ have gotten outscored by more when Grayson is out

There than when he is on the bench their defense has been worse when he plays and that that does track I I mean Grayson he fights he executes but at the end of the day he’s small in terms of height he’s small in terms of you know

Size bulk bulk and and strength and things like that and Eric Gordon is far from perfect but he is at least a little bit he has length he’s about the same height and he has the heft so yes that leaves Beal needing to guard kind of the pick and roll

Initiator fight through screens types for right now but I think it balances things out a little bit better because the one thing you can lean into just like we saw early in the season when Booker had to miss an extended stretch is that it gives you the opportunity to

Put defensive lineups out there more often and try to win the minutes when maybe only one of Durant or Beal is out there win those minutes with your defense rather than your offense and so I think that having a little bit more balance in the starting lineup allows

You to get there a little bit more easily so you have a little bit of a higher defensive floor with those starters you then have Allen can come in to supplement the offense at other stretches of the game but you still have to me really put more defensive lineups

Out there for the Suns that means just play Josh a kogi more has really been you know any of the lineups you try to look at from an onoff standpoint the best defensive lineups no matter the context have been lineups where aogi is in there uh this

Season and so that’s what it’s really going to mean for the Sun so maybe that allows you to have Grayson and you know you know let’s say one of Gordon or O’Neal stays on the court with the bench and then aogi and you at least again get more

Balance it’s kind of something we saw early in the season when Beal was out too right where Crea keeping enough of both things on the court at all times was a balancing act that was difficult and I think that lineup change playing a kogi more the identity shifts for the team

The way they might need to win shifts but it helps you make up for Booker without just replacing Booker because you can’t as I said as a playmaker even as a scorer Beal is not as good as Booker so you cannot just have it be one for one and obviously

Allen and Gordon none of those guys are you’re not getting to Devin Booker an all-nba caliber Allstar caliber player but this is the pathway is there a pathway for bullbull is it time to trust bubo really coming off of a game where he has a great week out of the break and then

Only plays seven minutes what’s the deal is it reliable heading into the playoffs Vibe check on Mr Bull coming up next first Today’s Show brought to you by the FanDuel sports book the official sports book of the lockon podcast Network and America’s number one sports book right now new customers get $150 in

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NBA season long FanDuel official Sportsbook partner of the NBA keeping it rolling for one last segment don’t forget the Suns play the nuggets tonight at what time are we playing at 6:30 is that when tip off is going to be that is correct no 8 o’cl Pacific 8 o’clock Mountain catch every

Pitch every wow every pitch every basket of the hometown broadcast with SiriusXM on the sxm app search Suns and here John Bloom Tim Kempton and the local radio broadcast over on SiriusXM the Suns play the Nuggets catch it on the sxm app by searching Suns all right

Bullbull where are we what’s the deal I have an insane stat actually just to start with bullbull right it feels like whether it was the 25 plus point game the other night in the loss to the Rockets or any number of other I mean the crow erupts and it’s

All we can talk about when it goes well the stat though to set the tone for this segment is 23 that is how many games bullbull has played this season is that feel possible it feels like he’s played 50 games to me but it’s only 23 and it’s only 252

Minutes a few other things that might be reality checks with B despite his progress as a player overall I mean I think you would have to say I I didn’t watch the magic on a night to night basis last year but considering the fact that they dwindled his minutes as the

Season went along rather than this year where his minutes have gone up as the season went along and then they cut him when they did not need to tells me this is certainly his most impactful promising stretch of his NBA career in spite of that the reality

Check is is the sun’s offense has been 4.2 points worse per 100 possessions with bull on the court despite those promising flashes despite the fact that he is playing with his head screwed on straight for the first time as a pro and making a real impact in a variety of

Areas on the offensive end the Suns have not been able to score well at all when he is on the court now of course there’s reasons for that right he is coming off the bench so his minutes with all three of the big three have been very very few

And far between meaning he’s playing with Josh aogi and Drew Eubanks and some of the limited offensive players the Suns have on the roster but the other reality check is he’s only shooting 30% from deep did you realize that I don’t think I necessarily did and he’s been hesitant lately you

Know um in in a few different situations that that have been frustrating to see and I think those obviously go hand inand right you know again in that 25-point game he’s two of three from deep but since then one of four 0 of two one of five 0 of

One and just some games where he overpasses overthinks it gets in his head and he has to be aggressive when the flow of the offense arrives at him if that makes sense right if if it’s good ball movement good ball movement and all of a sudden it’s bullbull catching it in the

Corner open that’s that’s his shot now and it has to go up you know or he catches it around the basket that has to be a dunk right like you have to do what you’re good at in order to be effective in any sport but in the NBA specifically

When it’s Five Guys kind of combining their powers to be greater than than the some of their parts so that’s the continued work that is in front of him I think you would have to say though the main improvements for him have been pretty clear and substantial as

Well processing I mean right like the first few times we saw him take the court he looked lost he Lo it looked hopeless frankly like did the sun I mean I was completely wrong completely wrong on this guy I I’ll own that but early on I looked

Right because it just felt like the Suns wasted their roster spot on him it felt like just a lost cause right but he’s making the right pass he’s making the right decision the pass versus shoot stuff you know and as much as it’s fluctuated a little lately that’s just really a couple of

Games and on the whole it’s been better his offensive rebounding has improved by Leaps and Bounds he’s doubled his offensive rebounding rate which is just the percentage of shots that the Suns miss that he’s gobbling up it’s doubled from his Magic season last year and then obviously just consistency right and

Especially I think around the rim scoring consistency in that capacity has been really big that’s driven his overall efficiency being high he’s one of these guys that because he didn’t play with a lot of physicality or any of that stuff he would often have a pretty low two-point percentage and

Or when he attempted shots right around the basket he would make them but he would avoid them or hesitate on those and just not use that to his Advantage not really make it a strength but still okay so offense has been a little worse when he’s out there three-point shooting hasn’t really been

Consistent on the other side he’s made improvements in those categories the other part is defensively you look at some of the deeper stats and I I do share some of these with the locked on suns insiders so I will be sharing that screenshot from the bball index which is a subscription service

That I have access to that has some grades for more specific kind of skill sets and in terms of they have a stat that’s Rim points saved per 75 possessions basically just add up all the blocks and contests and opponent field goal percentage all based on bow being around

Those plays and he’s in the 95th percentile in terms of Rim points saved per 75 possessions he’s positive in a lot of the advanced stats just in terms of impact and so I think it’s been positive more than negative and again only 23 games in so assuming he gets consistent

Minutes even though maybe sometimes s it’ll only be eight or 10 like it was against the Thunder I would expect it to continue to get better you know maybe the three-point percentage ticks up even more and the consistency develops and they’re able to string some lineups together to

Put him in a better position to succeed I think that’ll all be true I think he will get minutes in the playoffs but I think because of his frame because of his unique skill set he’s going to be one of those players who is probably always somewhat matchup

Dependent right Gary pton with the Warriors Mitchell Robinson with the Knicks those guys are more proven probably better than b you would say but there are guys like this on good teams who in certain games in certain Series in the playoffs may only get 10 to 20

Minutes but in others get 20 to 30 maybe for bull that’s some series he’s getting zero or or six minutes in other series maybe he’s getting 20 you know like if they play the Wolves I could see bull playing a lot you know but obviously the Thunder playing as small and

Athletically as they do it can exploit him the end of the day I think still the sun’s rotation locks are the big three nurkic Grayson Gordon Roy and that’s it I think that’s the only seven guys who I expect will get minutes no matter what the matchup no

Matter what the context every night in the postseason that won’t happen for bowl or aogi or Fus young or whatever but he’s certainly on the list of candidates he’s going to be part of game plans and there’s a lot of ways where he can make an impact be effective and he’s

Played up to a level to at least prove to Frank vogle and the coaching staff I am here I am capable and I’m much better than I ever used to be that’ll wrap us up for the today coming back at you th Tuesday night with Brandon dwas recapping the Suns Nuggets game Late

Night 800m Tip be back right here as soon as that buzzer sounds for all of your postgame reactions I will talk to you then

Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns may still have a title run in them, but an NBA championship would be a historical anomaly given their performance this season.

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans zooms out to look at historical parallels to this Suns team. Then, a look at how the Suns can survive the next week without Booker and whether it’s OK to trust Bol Bol now.

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