Phx-Suns.Net

Superbone wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:59 am

Better win one of the next two in Cleveland and Atlanta or this losing streak is going to be epic.

No doubt.

Any news or update on TJ or Melton's injuries? Any timetable for their return?

In2ition wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:48 am

Booker is a better player than anyone on the Kings, but his impact isn't as great as Fox right now. Give him a competent to above average pg and he improves that much more and proves he's better than anyone on the Kings.

Booker is carrying the fouth largest offensive load in all NBA. He is responsible for 38.4% of his team's points going by own points+assists (actually too much and it is starting to take a toll on his body).

The only players that top that ratio this season are Harden (crazy 48'62%), Westbrook (41'59%) and LeBron (39'75%).

Durant and Curry get in each other's way for these purposes, but all the other offensive studs like Giannis, Lillard, Irving, etc, are under 37%.

Fox is at 30%. Doncic is 31'6%.

Steve Nash in 06-07 (18'6ppg, 11'6apg) carried a 37'9%. Curry's '15-16 was 37'8%. Jordan's monster 88-89 season put him at 45'5%.

I know there are other ways to measure impact, and that new stats track stuff like secondary assists (Booker appears in the top25) and potential assists (Booker is #13 overall).

Booker is unreal and I laugh my ass off at the recent criticism.

Just saying.

Ring_Wanted wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:44 am

In2ition wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:48 am

Booker is a better player than anyone on the Kings, but his impact isn't as great as Fox right now. Give him a competent to above average pg and he improves that much more and proves he's better than anyone on the Kings.

Booker is carrying the fouth largest offensive load in all NBA. He is responsible for 38.4% of his team's points going by own points+assists (actually too much and it is starting to take a toll on his body).

The only players that top that ratio this season are Harden (crazy 48'62%), Westbrook (41'59%) and LeBron (39'75%).

Durant and Curry get in each other's way for these purposes, but all the other offensive studs like Giannis, Lillard, Irving, etc, are under 37%.

Fox is at 30%. Doncic is 31'6%.

Steve Nash in 06-07 (18'6ppg, 11'6apg) carried a 37'9%. Curry's '15-16 was 37'8%. Jordan's monster 88-89 season put him at 45'5%.

I know there are other ways to measure impact, and that new stats track stuff like secondary assists (Booker appears in the top25) and potential assists (Booker is #13 overall).

Booker is unreal and I laugh my ass off at the recent criticism.

Just saying.

I agree with you. I meant more on turning that impact into wins. It's awfully hard to put so much pressure on Booker when the roster is so poorly constructed and not conducive to winning.

Thanks for posting those stats. I think as much as anything, those stats prove that we shouldn't be running "point Booker" any more. He has the ball way too much and is responsible for shoulding way too much of the load for our team on offense. We need to get a real PG and have Booker go back to more of a pure SG role, taking jumpers off screens, catch-and-shoot, dribble drives, etc. I don't want him initiating our offense like that. He's not terrible at it, but he is no James Harden in this regard. It is not good for him or for our team. It's leading to bad offense for us and also probably contributing to Booker breaking down and getting these nagging injuries all through the season.

Yeah, blaming Booker for our sorrows is the last thing anybody should be doing. It's a team sport and it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't have the right supporting players.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 2:17 pm

Yeah, blaming Booker for our sorrows is the last thing anybody should be doing. It's a team sport and it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't have the right supporting players.

Booker is one of the problems. It doesn’t matter how good your supporting players are if your supposed leader only plays one side of the court, gives an inconsistent effort on the other end and often dominates the ball to the detriment of the team.

specialsauce wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:32 pm

Superbone wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 2:17 pm

Yeah, blaming Booker for our sorrows is the last thing anybody should be doing. It's a team sport and it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't have the right supporting players.

Booker is one of the problems. It doesn’t matter how good your supporting players are if your supposed leader only plays one side of the court, gives an inconsistent effort on the other end and often dominates the ball to the detriment of the team.

Carmelo Booker.

Unfortunately, Devin is developing a rep towards Carmelo, but it's not true imo. He's really picked up his defense, but unfortunately he's had a tough year when he has looked good physically it was immediately followed by another hamstring setback. It also didn't help having the hand injury. Not having a pg to relieve some pressure on him along with a pf to shore up the defensive end as another rebounder, rim protector and backline defender with Ayton just killed any momentum he would have created in turning that rep around. I've seen some really positive changes in his defensive development and effort, and then I see him reverting to old habits due to being tired or hurt.

Also, I heard on the Timeline podcast that the Suns have moved from 30th in team assists to 17th and 30th in steals to #2. I may have these wrong though, but these are positive trends for a team that is pretty horrid in the W/L category and badly constructed, which I can't help but think will be addressed this off-season.

the Suns are 20th in assists per 100 possessions (23.5), they were 29th last year (21.2)

2018-19 rankings per 100 possessions - Suns/Opponents -

Field Goals Made - 22nd/5th
FG Pct. - 17th/2nd
3-point FG Made - 29th/22nd
3-Pt FG % - 30th/5th
Free Throws Made - 22nd/1st
FT% - 14th/27th
Offensive Rebounds - 26th/2nd
Total Rebounds - 30th/7th
Assists - 20th/4th
Steals - 4th/2nd
Blocks - 19th/14th
Turnovers - 29th/25th
Personal Fouls - 30th/5th
Points Scored - 28th/2nd

Fouls and the frequency of free throws (and their defense in general) and bad rebounding has killed them this year. Free throw percentage has been the only area they've had an advantage this year, but their huge free throw attempt deficit cancels that out.

ShelC wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:57 pm

specialsauce wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:32 pm

Superbone wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 2:17 pm

Yeah, blaming Booker for our sorrows is the last thing anybody should be doing. It's a team sport and it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't have the right supporting players.

Booker is one of the problems. It doesn’t matter how good your supporting players are if your supposed leader only plays one side of the court, gives an inconsistent effort on the other end and often dominates the ball to the detriment of the team.

Carmelo Booker.

Yep.

In2ition wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 4:31 pm

Unfortunately, Devin is developing a rep towards Carmelo, but it's not true imo. He's really picked up his defense, but unfortunately he's had a tough year when he has looked good physically it was immediately followed by another hamstring setback. It also didn't help having the hand injury. Not having a pg to relieve some pressure on him along with a pf to shore up the defensive end as another rebounder, rim protector and backline defender with Ayton just killed any momentum he would have created in turning that rep around. I've seen some really positive changes in his defensive development and effort, and then I see him reverting to old habits due to being tired or hurt.

I don’t know who you’re watching, but I don’t think it’s the same Booker

I am not really buying this anti-Booker talk that has popped up here lately. I will begin by conceding the following:

- He's a bad defender.
- He isn't good at running the offense, i.e., being "Point Book."
- He's been injured frequently lately, which is concerning.
- He has thus far been unable to carry our bad team to be a mediocre/good team.

Having said all of that, I don't think he is the reason for our problems, and I don't think he has an overall bad attitude that should be a cause for concern. I think a lot of the problems are rooted in the facts that our team is really bad, and that we are using him incorrectly by trying to make him pretend to be a point guard and run an offense. This is causing his play to slip somewhat, and it's probably contributing to wear and tear on his body that is making him more injury-prone. And as the losses pile up, he's becoming understandably frustrated. This is all quite understandable to me and is a reasonable reaction from him as far as I am concerned.

Booker is not the problem. Book is one of 3-4 players on this roster who we need to keep as we try to build a contender. We're lucky to have Booker locked up for several more years, and we are lucky that he likes Phoenix and wants to be here. We can build a team with him that will be good in a few years.

specialsauce wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:03 pm

In2ition wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 4:31 pm

Unfortunately, Devin is developing a rep towards Carmelo, but it's not true imo. He's really picked up his defense, but unfortunately he's had a tough year when he has looked good physically it was immediately followed by another hamstring setback. It also didn't help having the hand injury. Not having a pg to relieve some pressure on him along with a pf to shore up the defensive end as another rebounder, rim protector and backline defender with Ayton just killed any momentum he would have created in turning that rep around. I've seen some really positive changes in his defensive development and effort, and then I see him reverting to old habits due to being tired or hurt.

I don’t know who you’re watching, but I don’t think it’s the same Booker

I think it is very situational. He has, at times, put in a lot more effort on defense. I assume that is what In2 meant--not that he was a plus defender.

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 20, 2019 6:05 am

specialsauce wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:03 pm

In2ition wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 4:31 pm

Unfortunately, Devin is developing a rep towards Carmelo, but it's not true imo. He's really picked up his defense, but unfortunately he's had a tough year when he has looked good physically it was immediately followed by another hamstring setback. It also didn't help having the hand injury. Not having a pg to relieve some pressure on him along with a pf to shore up the defensive end as another rebounder, rim protector and backline defender with Ayton just killed any momentum he would have created in turning that rep around. I've seen some really positive changes in his defensive development and effort, and then I see him reverting to old habits due to being tired or hurt.

I don’t know who you’re watching, but I don’t think it’s the same Booker

I think it is very situational. He has, at times, put in a lot more effort on defense. I assume that is what In2 meant--not that he was a plus defender.

Yes, this is exactly what I meant.

Booker has increasingly taken more and more unassisted 3’s each season. As a rookie he was assisted on 79% of his 3 pt attempts. He’s down to 58% this year. His number of corner 3’s has also dropped to almost 0. Only 3% of his 3 pt attempts have come from the corner this year.

And he is doubled pretty much 100% of the time.

Haven't you heard, Nodack? He sucks now.