2023 Suns General Offseason/PostSeason News Thread

[Split T]

He was 37.4% from January 13th to the end of the season. He doesn’t need to be a knockdown guy. He just needs to be decent. To me 35% is what I need. He just needs to hit enough that defenses guard him. If they ignore him, it’s a problem.

I do think it’s less of a problem this year though with Beal replacing Paul. We had to bench Okogie in the playoffs because they stopped guarding him, but now we have 3 shooters, so we could also just use Okogie as a screener. They probably will have their worst defender on Okogie, so have him set a screen and now their worst defender has to defend a Booker or Beal or KD pnr with 2 of those guys spacing and I assume Ayton in the dunker spot. What do you do there?

Picture this:

Beal, Booker, Okogie, Durant, and Ayton with
Murray, KCP, MPJ, Gordon, and Jokic defending them(respectively). Okogie sets a screen for Book and now Denver has to decide if they want MPJ to switch onto Booker. Or he can drop and let Booker have an open mid-range pull up. He could trap and leave Okogie open on the roll. Probably the best option, but now Okogie has an open lane to the rim and someone has to help. Okogie just needs to make the simple pass to whoever is helped off of and now we’ve got either an open KD/Beal 3 or a dunk for DA.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Okogie will be fine during the regular season, above 35% like you said.

I have a hard time believing he will be enough of a threat to keep defenses honest in the playoffs. Even if he's a little more consistent, he's still going to be the guy left open. The difference is playoff defenses are more active in rotations and disciplined in close-outs. The reduction of milliseconds to get the shot off makes a big difference in those pressure moments especially for non-shooters like Okogie, so I expect he'll see less playing time as the games become more critical.

[Split T]

Ya I agree. I also think giving him a whole year to be in those spots could help though. At least so he doesn’t shoot 2/14 in the playoffs again. Hit 5/14 and he’s playable.

It’s nice that we will have options though. We can turn to Gordon now.

[ShelC]

Nice to see Okogie make the list here

[Superbone]

Nice to see Okogie make the list here

Plus get the one name treatment.

[BKinSJC]

Nice to see Okogie make the list here

The list is almost all centers with a couple of bigger forwards. Okogie being on there is a tribute to his athleticism and his willingness to outwork bigger players, and is kind of remarkable especially considering how often his role on offense kept him on the perimeter.

[ShelC]

Another interesting list...KD ranked 6th on average, Book 14th, Beal 40th, DA 65th

[Kryptonic]

Meh…

[JeremyG]

I don't like it when you almost can't tell whether it's purple or blue.

[The Bobster]

It would look a lot better with this purple and orange.....

[TOO]

Yeah I'd like a more red leaning purple than the more blue leaning purple, if that makes sense.

Blurple gotta go.

(In b4 Jeremy blaming fans for blurple)

[Drewsprocket]

No way Okogie is the starting 3 KD and Ayton are gonna need some help from either Diop or Yuta. Okogie will get some good run this year but he will never be a playoff guy unless there is a major shift in his 3pt shooting. You can eek out 35% in regular season but he will still be left open in the postseason.

[Split T]

We were even smaller last year and we started Okogie. I think we need a POA defender more than anything. We don’t want Booker or Beal having to chase around the Curry and Foxes of the world.

[Superbone]

We were even smaller last year and we started Okogie. I think we need a POA defender more than anything. We don’t want Booker or Beal having to chase around the Curry and Foxes of the world.

I don't know that a Piece of Ass defender is going to help us at all.

[Split T]

We were even smaller last year and we started Okogie. I think we need a POA defender more than anything. We don’t want Booker or Beal having to chase around the Curry and Foxes of the world.

I don't know that a Piece of Ass defender is going to help us at all.

On the contrary, I think it’s exactly what we need. Okogie taking a piece of ass from every ball handler will do wonders.

[Charlie Smithy!]

We were even smaller last year and we started Okogie. I think we need a POA defender more than anything. We don’t want Booker or Beal having to chase around the Curry and Foxes of the world.

I don't know that a Piece of Ass defender is going to help us at all.

On the contrary, I think it’s exactly what we need. Okogie taking a piece of ass from every ball handler will do wonders.

Here comes my basketball naivete but what is a point of attack defender?

And for this sport, why do I keep hearing Buzz words like narrative, slander, and flowers?

[Split T]

Point of attack means defending the main initiator of the offense. Generally means defending the pg and being the guy getting over ball screens. This would be what Mikal was for us.

Of course multiple ball handlers will run ball screens, but you generally want your best POA defender on the best pnr ball handler.

[Mori Chu]

Monty wants the Pistons' rookies to be POA defenders on his daughter.

[Charlie Smithy!]

Point of attack means defending the main initiator of the offense. Generally means defending the pg and being the guy getting over ball screens. This would be what Mikal was for us.

Of course multiple ball handlers will run ball screens, but you generally want your best POA defender on the best pnr ball handler.

Split, please also answer my second paragraph so I can sleep tonight

[Split T]

I’m not sure about your 2nd paragraph Smithy….in what context are you hearing them?