Suns News: Week 9 (12/18 - 12/24)

[ShelC]

Last Week's Games
Tue, Dec 12th vs. Golden State 119-116 WIN!
Wed, Dec 13th vs. Brooklyn 116-112 LOSS
Fri, Dec 15th vs. NY Knicks 139-122 LOSS
Sun, Dec 17th vs Washington 112-108 WIN!

This Week's Games
Tue, Dec 19 @ Portland 10PM EST on SUNS LIVE, ARIZONA'S FAMILY 3TV / ARIZONA'S FAMILY SPORTS
Fri, Dec 22 @ Sacramento 10PM EST on SUNS LIVE, ARIZONA'S FAMILY 3TV / ARIZONA'S FAMILY SPORTS

Suns Stories
Phoenix Suns Weekly Reset (12/18/23): Tough week went by, will this week get any better?
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2023 ... any-better

Phoenix Suns face reality check after comeback win vs. Wizards
https://arizonasports.com/story/3539993 ... s-wizards/

Power Rankings
ClutchPoints
https://clutchpoints.com/nba-power-rank ... -spot-east

19. Phoenix Suns (-1)
2023-24 Record: 14-12, Upcoming schedule: at POR (12/19), at SAC (12/22)

The Phoenix Suns have lost six of their last nine games and they really don't have a staple win this season. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are two of the best offensive players in the league, but it is time to start pondering the question of whether the Suns made a mistake trading for Bradley Beal.

After dealing with a back issue throughout the first two months of the season, Beal returned last week only to suffer what looked to be a bad ankle injury. He is now going to be sidelined indefinitely, leaving the Suns without their third star whom they gave up a ton of assets to land. A 14-12 record is unacceptable at this point in the year for what Phoenix wants to achieve, which is why they are going to be aggressive over the next two months on the trade market.

TJ McConnell has long been a backcourt target for the Suns and there are quite a few veteran players who could provide depth for this team that will become available. Confidence is the only thing holding this team back, as two straight wins this upcoming week would go a long way in them getting back on track. Just two or three big wins can push the Suns back up the NBA Power Rankings.

NBA.com
https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2023-24-week-9

#17 PHOENIX SUNS
Last Week:14↓
Record: 14-12

OffRtg: 116.3 (12) DefRtg: 115.0 (18) NetRtg: +1.3 (16) Pace: 98.0 (26)

The Suns got 24 minutes of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on the floor together before Beal sprained his right ankle against New York on Friday. And they now have to wait a few more weeks before trying again.

Three takeaways

- In the one game all three guys were healthy (Wednesday), the Suns outscored the Nets by 12 points in 19.3 minutes with all three on the floor. But bench minutes were brutal, with Brooklyn going on a 19-0 run spanning the first and second quarters and an 18-6 run spanning the third and fourth. The Suns’ bench ranks 25th (and not close to 24th) in December.

- All three guys were healthy at the start of their game against the Knicks on Friday, and the Suns assigned Grayson Allen to defend Jalen Brunson, who eventually scored a career-high 50 points. Allen wasn’t the nearest defender for much of that and Josh Okogie wasn’t available, but there remains a question about who’s going to guard the opponents’ best perimeter scorer(s) come April and May.

- Without Beal on Sunday, the Suns came back from 16 points down to beat the Wizards. But they probably shouldn’t have been 16 points down against the Wizards and, with their losses to Brooklyn and New York, they’re now just 2-9 against (other) teams that currently have winning records. Those 11 total games against the top 19 teams in the league are two fewer than any other team has played.

That record includes a 1-6 mark against the other Western Conference teams with winning records, with the most recent of those losses having come against the Kings 10 days ago. They’ll be in Sacramento on Friday before facing the Mavs for the first time on Christmas.

Week 9 + Christmas: @ POR, @ SAC, vs. DAL

[Mori Chu]

Thanks for making the threads, Shel. I flaked.

Those power rankings are pretty brutal, but accurate. 17th / 19th best team in the league? Yeah, we feel that way right now.

[ShelC]

[Mori Chu]

Seems like Book and KD should be all-stars this year, mediocre W/L record aside.

[ShelC]

Hopefully simplifying some things works. Still too much miscommunication, confusion.

[Split T]

I’ve been preaching patience, but I’m out for a bit…got family coming into town for the holidays so I’m gonna take some games off. Be back in the new year…fingers crossed we went on a 20-0 run in the 20 minutes since I last checked the game, haha…see you later

[Wally_West]

I wish I could stop watching.

[Uncle_Gene]

Suns need a veteran PG. Booker is better at scoring in the second half instead of bringing the ball up the floor.

Vogel has to figure it out and James Jones needs to make a trade.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I've recently reached the point where I'm more interested in the NBA on nights when the Suns aren't playing just because I know I won't be pissed off for two hours in the middle of the day.

[In2ition]

I wish I could stop watching.

I stopped with about 7 minutes left in the game. The outcome seemed inevitable.

[Carno]

Suns need a veteran PG. Booker is better at scoring in the second half instead of bringing the ball up the floor.

Vogel has to figure it out and James Jones needs to make a trade.

Who is this veteran PG and how do the Suns get him?

[Kryptonic]

Suns need a veteran PG. Booker is better at scoring in the second half instead of bringing the ball up the floor.

Vogel has to figure it out and James Jones needs to make a trade.

Who is this veteran PG and how do the Suns get him?

Rubio is a possibility and available most likely... rumors have Cleveland buying him out which is perfect.

https://hoopshype.com/2023/12/20/clevel ... cky-rubio/

[Carno]

https://theathletic.com/5152263/2023/12 ... io-future/

Rubio, 33, has been on permitted leave in Spain from the team since the summer as he manages his mental health and there are serious doubts about whether he ever plays again, league sources said. At minimum, Rubio is not expected back this season.

Any other ideas?

[Mori Chu]

My Rubae can fix this team! Come home, mi amor!!!

[Mori Chu]

In all seriousness, I hadn't realized that mental health was a big reason for his absence from the Cavs.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/385 ... tal-health

According to bballref, he played 34 and 33 games the past 2 seasons in Cleveland. Last year he averaged 5.2 ppg (on pretty brutal .343 / .256 / .800 splits), 3.5 ast, 2.1 reb, 0.9 TO in 17 minutes. I know he was recovering from a torn ACL the past few years.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... ori01.html

[In2ition]

I would love to have Ricky back, but I doubt he ever plays in the NBA again.

[TOO]

Rubio isn't fixing anything for this team. The issues start at the top, HC, Booker, KD. Get an identity and then 48 minutes of effort and see what happens.

[In2ition]

I think that's right. They probably thought it was going to be EASY. They were going to roll out the ball and no one was going to be able to come up with a strategy to stop them, and now they've found out it's not that easy. They need to regroup, buckle down and quit feeling sorry for themselves.

[Split T]

[Superbone]

The Suns’ biggest red flag: They’re not doing what they said they’d do
https://arizonasports.com/story/3540100 ... -identity/

Phoenix is not doing the things that head coach Frank Vogel and his players talked about in the preseason.

The Suns are straying far away from forming the identity we all assumed would bubble to the surface from the moment Booker got into a low defensive stance and the Big Three helped the team shoot the lights out in the opening quarter of the preseason.

“Our guys are going to hear that our number one habit we develop all year is that we have to play harder and tougher and with more hustle than our opponents every night,” Vogel said at his introductory press conference. “Because if you develop that habit over 82 games, boy, come playoff time when every team is trying to ratchet it up, it’s already going to be there for us. It’s going to be a way of life of us, from the beginning of training camp into the playoffs.”

There have been frequent communication breakdowns down to the basics of switching rules...