Game Day: Suns (15-18) @ 76ers (14-19), Mon 1/6/24

[specialsauce]

I'm not, like, "out" on Booker or whatever. I love the guy and want him to stay here and retire a Sun, maybe the greatest Sun of all time by the time it's done. But I also just want to have an honest conversation about how he's currently playing, especially in the broader context of assigning blame for our disappointing season. Frankly I think Booker's poor play is one of the biggest reasons we have had a bad season. His shooting

Here are his stats:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... ede01.html

Comparison to last season:

- scoring: 27.1 -> 24.1 (-3 ppg)
- shooting: .552/.364/.886 -> .482/.339/.888 (-7% 2pt, -3% 3pt)

The numbers are down modestly, but by the eye test he's really taken a step back. He's more tentative, he misses important shots, he gets double-teamed and loses the ball. His turnovers aren't up statistically but it's really striking if you watch him closely. Something is off.

None of this means I dislike Booker or think we should trade him or whatever. I just think we don't mention him enough when we are talking about this failure of a season and who shares the blame for it.

Also just watch his drives to the basket, or lack thereof. He rarely takes it to the hoop and when he does there's no explosion. He always had sneaky athleticism. That's gone. He moves like Turkoglu.

[ShelC]

[TOO]

I'm not, like, "out" on Booker or whatever. I love the guy and want him to stay here and retire a Sun, maybe the greatest Sun of all time by the time it's done. But I also just want to have an honest conversation about how he's currently playing, especially in the broader context of assigning blame for our disappointing season. Frankly I think Booker's poor play is one of the biggest reasons we have had a bad season. His shooting

Here are his stats:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... ede01.html

Comparison to last season:

- scoring: 27.1 -> 24.1 (-3 ppg)
- shooting: .552/.364/.886 -> .482/.339/.888 (-7% 2pt, -3% 3pt)

The numbers are down modestly, but by the eye test he's really taken a step back. He's more tentative, he misses important shots, he gets double-teamed and loses the ball. His turnovers aren't up statistically but it's really striking if you watch him closely. Something is off.

None of this means I dislike Booker or think we should trade him or whatever. I just think we don't mention him enough when we are talking about this failure of a season and who shares the blame for it.

Also just watch his drives to the basket, or lack thereof. He rarely takes it to the hoop and when he does there's no explosion. He always had sneaky athleticism. That's gone. He moves like Turkoglu.

This is a problem with the entire team sans Beal tbh.

[JJ Slim]

Maybe Booker is the one who should have been benched.

I was thinking the same thing. Or maybe rotate Booker and Beal to the bench depending on how they are playing. Hell send KD to the bench too if it gets him fired up.

Also someone mentioned about Dunn reminding him of Marion. I've been thinking about that for a while and was considering trying to get a "Matrix 2.0" jersey made for myself.

[Superbone]

[Drewsprocket]

Maybe Booker is the one who should have been benched.

I was thinking the same thing. Or maybe rotate Booker and Beal to the bench depending on how they are playing. Hell send KD to the bench too if it gets him fired up.

Also someone mentioned about Dunn reminding him of Marion. I've been thinking about that for a while and was considering trying to get a "Matrix 2.0" jersey made for myself.

Book would request a trade if he were benched

[Carno]

Loved Oso and Dunn last night. I will also add that I'm loving Okogie lately. He's providing great energy, hustle, defense, and offensive rebounding while shooting a career high 38.1% from 3. Exactly what we've been asking from him.

Book looks wrong for sure. I agree that he has lacked explosiveness all season. I suspect he was sick last night, or his groin is still bothering him.

[JJ Slim]

Loved Oso and Dunn last night. I will also add that I'm loving Okogie lately. He's providing great energy, hustle, defense, and offensive rebounding while shooting a career high 38.1% from 3. Exactly what we've been asking from him.

Book looks wrong for sure. I agree that he has lacked explosiveness all season. I suspect he was sick last night, or his groin is still bothering him.

Oso, Dunn and JO have been great. I made a comment in another thread a week or two ago about keeping them and trading everybody else.

Not sure I agree on the reason for Booker not being himself. I don't think he has been up to the standards we expect of him all year. Maybe there was a game or two where he was but if so I don't remember it.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Dunn has been great for a rookie.

Oso has been promising for a 2nd round rookie. I don't love him nearly as much as most others here it seems. I'm happy to see him stick around, but wouldn't miss him if he was a part of a significant upgrade at Center.

Okogie is what he is. Love his effort, but we should all know what to expect in the Spring when rotation minutes are hard to come by.

[O_Gardino]

What I expect come spring is that we've already traded Okogie.

[specialsauce]

Okogie was signed at that contract to be traded. Otherwise he's a minimum dude.

[ShelC]

I like Okogie but he's the kind of player who looks good on a bad team because he plays super hard. That's why he's stood out these past 2 seasons. Again, I like him but he's probably not playing on a deep contending team.

With Oso, even with a limited upside he's still the kind of young, athletic high IQ player you want in helping build the foundation back up. I think at the very least he's a rotational big but it's also about those missing vibes he and Dunn can help bring back.

[Mori Chu]

I like Okogie for the same reason I like Dunn and Oso. When we rebuild this team I want 100% of the roster to be strong defenders who bust their ass. I want guys like Okogie, (young) veterans, who will be there to set the tone for everybody else who comes in. Rebuild the culture. Also I'm assuming Okogie wouldn't fetch much in trade. If somebody crazily offered a future 1st for him, bye bye Okogie, but I don't think ditching Okogie for, say, a future 2nd is a good value.

[Superbone]

Okogie has really improved his three too. I know he's showed flashes in the past and then regressed but until he shows me otherwise, he's been pretty consistent with it.

[virtual9mm]

Loved Oso and Dunn last night. I will also add that I'm loving Okogie lately. He's providing great energy, hustle, defense, and offensive rebounding while shooting a career high 38.1% from 3. Exactly what we've been asking from him.

Book looks wrong for sure. I agree that he has lacked explosiveness all season. I suspect he was sick last night, or his groin is still bothering him.

Oso, Dunn and JO have been great. I made a comment in another thread a week or two ago about keeping them and trading everybody else.

Not sure I agree on the reason for Booker not being himself. I don't think he has been up to the standards we expect of him all year. Maybe there was a game or two where he was but if so I don't remember it.

The reason is clear. Like many other players who played in the Olympics, he's looking old and slow the next season.

[specialsauce]

Loved Oso and Dunn last night. I will also add that I'm loving Okogie lately. He's providing great energy, hustle, defense, and offensive rebounding while shooting a career high 38.1% from 3. Exactly what we've been asking from him.

Book looks wrong for sure. I agree that he has lacked explosiveness all season. I suspect he was sick last night, or his groin is still bothering him.

Oso, Dunn and JO have been great. I made a comment in another thread a week or two ago about keeping them and trading everybody else.

Not sure I agree on the reason for Booker not being himself. I don't think he has been up to the standards we expect of him all year. Maybe there was a game or two where he was but if so I don't remember it.

The reason is clear. Like many other players who played in the Olympics, he's looking old and slow the next season.

Yeah Ant Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic, Steph Curry, and co don't look bad.