Suns News: Weeks 12 & 13 (1/6-1/19)

[Superbone]

I don't think this team has the mental fortitude to handle the toughest remaining schedule when they usually need a full quarter of basketball before realizing the game's begun.

They have seemed to have improved on the first and third quarter woes lately. :fingers crossed:

[Superbone]

Ya think maybe Ryan Dunn is a difference maker?

[Superbone]

[ShelC]

I think we could see a similar boost regarding team defense with Richards taking over the 5 fulltime. How much that raises the overall ceiling of the team remains to be seen but these are the changes that were needed.

[ShelC]

[Split T]

Who was complaining about our KD iso offense?

[Cap]

So the moral of the numbers, come crunch time, is that we should run ISOs for KD and Book shouldn’t shoot at all. He can focus on setting screens and crashing the boards.

Wait, that isn’t really the moral, is it?

[ShelC]

I certainly was when it was becoming our offense. And I still don't love it when he overdribbles and turns the ball over.

[INFORMER]

Ya think maybe Ryan Dunn is a difference maker?

Two games against Charlotte, one against Washington (and they gave up 123 to them), one game against Utah, and one against Philly. Those are a lot of bad teams.

I like Dunn, and he should be starting, but the sample of games isn't a great body of work.

[INFORMER]

Who was complaining about our KD iso offense?

It's bad strategy to have that be THE offense. That is the complaint. No one says that KD isn't a productive iso threat. He is an all-time great scorer. But there is a big difference between individual and team success. KD is getting his numbers, no one disputes that.

[specialsauce]

Who was complaining about our KD iso offense?

Except KD's ISO ball ensures we're down 20 in the fourth, so we've had maybe 25% of our games actually register clutch minutes.

[Split T]

I was just having some fun…it is funny that he’s literally the best iso shooter in the league this year and so many people complain about it…

[Kryptonic]

I was just having some fun…it is funny that he’s literally the best iso shooter in the league this year and so many people complain about it…

Well if this was a one on one leage I’d be thrilled…. But the guy literally killed our team. The guy puts the M E in TEAM.

[SunsSince92]

Yeah, it's time to move on from KD as phenomenal as it is to see him score the ball effortlessly, the guy couldn't care less about winning basketball games. He simply goes out there and competes against himself to improve his scoring efficiency on a nightly basis. If that helps the team win the game, great, if it doesn't he's 'unbothered'.

A superstar who really cared would have done something by now to signal their discontent, whether that's calling out teammates, the coach, asking for a trade etc. He's done none of that because he's still putting up his numbers and, by his standards, has been relatively injury free in Phoenix. He also knows he'll get paid here.

[Mori Chu]

I was just having some fun…it is funny that he’s literally the best iso shooter in the league this year and so many people complain about it…

I'm fine with giving the ball to KD to finish and get buckets down the stretch in close games. I am not fine with having the entire rest of the game consist of KD (or Book) just dribble-dribbling and initiating the offense every play, ignoring our PG, hogging the ball, getting double-teamed and turning it over, or putting up a low-percentage shot with two defenders draped over him.

[Split T]

I guess I just don’t see what you guys see. They don’t ignore the pg. They don’t force it against double teams…ya KD turns it over too much, but Booker rarely does.

Here’s some interesting stats:

Total touches per game:

Booker - 69
Tyus - 69
Durant - 66
Beal - 60

Front court touches:

Booker - 47
Durant - 45
Beal - 33
Tyus - 26

Time of Possession:

Tyus - 4.8 minutes
Booker - 4.6 minutes
Durant - 3.7 minutes
Beal - 3.6 minutes

TOP per Touch:

Tyus - 4.23 seconds
Booker - 3.95 seconds
Beal - 3.53 seconds
Durant - 3.33 seconds.

Where do people want that Tyus number? I assume it’s the front court touches part people want to go up…who’s touches are you taking away?

[specialsauce]

I guess I just don’t see what you guys see. They don’t ignore the pg. They don’t force it against double teams…ya KD turns it over too much, but Booker rarely does.

Here’s some interesting stats:

Total touches per game:

Booker - 69
Tyus - 69
Durant - 66
Beal - 60

Front court touches:

Booker - 47
Durant - 45
Beal - 33
Tyus - 26

Time of Possession:

Tyus - 4.8 minutes
Booker - 4.6 minutes
Durant - 3.7 minutes
Beal - 3.6 minutes

TOP per Touch:

Tyus - 4.23 seconds
Booker - 3.95 seconds
Beal - 3.53 seconds
Durant - 3.33 seconds.

Where do people want that Tyus number? I assume it’s the front court touches part people want to go up…who’s touches are you taking away?

Do you watch the games? It is more than just that. The offense consists of finding KD, trying harder to find KD, and trying even harder to find KD- and then he rather takes a difficult shot, turns it over, or passes it off to someone who then just has to spontaneously come up with some kind of shot for themselves.

This is KD. He insists on the offense being run through him as the focal point whether he is initiating or posting up. He blew our system up. We briefly had a system to start the year before he fell back on old habits and started demanding this shit again. It's the same old story everywhere he goes except GS where the system was solid and he was expected to fall in line.

[Split T]

I mean the numbers don’t agree with you. Booker has the ball more than Durant…so does Tyus. Yes we try to find Durant…he’s our best player. I agree he has a turnover problem, but otherwise he’s a pretty elite scorer. I don’t think trying to put our issues onto one player is fair. There’s a lot of blame to go around.

[ShelC]

The numbers are deceiving tho. Time of possession and TOP per touch don't mean anything in terms of offense. I've seen Tyus take 6-8 seconds dribbling the ball up under pressure just to get it over halfcourt, only to throw it to KD and then cut away and become a standstill shooter while KD holds the ball for 6-8 seconds and dribbles into a jumper. They have the ball for the same amount of time but for different reasons. It's not Tyus dribbling around drawing the defense to open up a shot for KD or Book the way CP or Nash used to. It's not Tyus running PnR with Richards or KD. And I'm not saying Tyus should be doing all of that, just that what he's doing with the ball - bringing it upcourt after a make/miss- is the bare minimum of the PG's responsibility and isn't doing anything for the actual offense.

And just like last year, watch the first few possessions of a game. We run a halfcourt set with screens and off-ball movement, by the 4th or 5th play we're back to throwing it to KD or Book while everyone stands around. Book I think has gotten better working into the midrange and I think he's been better in the PnR the last few weeks which is why his numbers have jumped up. But KD is still KD.

[SunsSince92]

Completely agree on Tyus, he's underutilised as a PG and is often relegated to standing in the corner once he's handed the ball to Book or KD. If you are going to do that you might just as well start Allen in place of him as he's a more efficient 3pt shooter.

I don't understand if that's all he's capable of doing or whether he's being asked to do that but it's just not working.