Durant said goodbye to the Suns, a five-year contract, and management misjudged
It's a pity that in the first game of the three superstars, the Suns suffered a defeat on their own home court. Against a team without star players, the Suns have a lot of holes in their defense, which allows the Nets to do whatever they want. On top of that, the Suns aren't exactly the kind of offense that they're completely crushing, shooting 32 from three-point range1%, and there are 12 errors, except for Durant, Booker and Nurkic, plus Beal, the rest of the players are in average form, but they can't win a game for the Suns because their defense is not good enough. With a five-year contract and seeing Phoenix again, the team's top brass looked desperate, their championship ambitions were great, but their weaknesses were obvious.
Judging by their performances, most of the Suns are pretty good. Durant returned with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while Booker finished with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists on just 15 shots, which makes it impossible to expect anything more from him. Beal contributed 14 points, but he was very efficient on six of his nine attempts, two of his three and two of his three. Nurkic got 15, 22 rebounds, and 2 blocks this season, which means that the Suns have played everything they can, and the rest of them are not in good shape, after all, their salaries are low, so their state is not very good.
That's the biggest problem for the Suns, the three of them teamed up and everyone played well, but after all, they were on their home court, and if they couldn't win a playoff team, would they still be able to win the championship?And the biggest problem among them is defense. So far, the Suns' overall defensive efficiency is only 1138 (100 games conceded), such a statistic, that is, the bottom position. In other words, if you don't ensure the most intense offensive every night, the game will be very tough. With such a poor defense, the Suns don't have a chance to rest at all, which is not at the level of a Champions League at all. Vogel has an unshirkable responsibility in this matter.
As we always say, it's our defense that gets the championship. Especially in long-term games, a complete and effective defensive line can also play a higher defensive force in the case of injury or injury of the main force. That's why the Suns gave up Monty Williams in exchange for Vogel, the proven defensive head coach. And the top management of the Suns also believe in Vogel very much, they not only made Vogel the head coach of the team, but also offered a five-year contract of 31 million, which is enough to prove how much they believe in themselves.
But, now it seems, Vogel can't answer that question. It is difficult for a good woman to become a big man, as the saying goes, what you eat is what you make, this group of sun people is not what Vogel wants. Vogel's tactical system generally uses a power forward, who will defend half-court in three seconds, but this will be a great help for the perimeter to defend and defend. In the past, when he was on the Pacers, Vogel had Hibbert, George and Hill on the outside, and they were both agile and had long arms. When he was with the Lakers, he was the best defensive, McGee, Howard, Pope, Danny Green, Rondo, Caruso, all of them were extremely defensive guys.
But the current Suns do not have such good conditions, Nurkic can be said to be comfortable against central defenders, but when facing forwards and defenders, his defense looks very ordinary. From the outside, the Suns don't have any great coverage, no great awareness and tactical awareness, which is a big challenge for Vogel. And Vogel's attack is also weak, the last championship, James was his core, and Rondo was his deputy. If both of them are injured, then the Lakers' forward line will become very vulnerable. I didn't have to worry about the attack of the sun, but it was forcibly consumed by Vogel.
And most importantly, they don't have a decent organizational core. Although Booker has scored the highest points of his career, his performance on the offensive end is not outstanding, and the reason why the Suns handed over the offensive end to Booker is because he does not have enough space to organize the offense, and if he is targeted by the opposing forward, or is caught by someone, then Booker will be difficult to deal with. As things stand, Vogel's move is like a desperate gamble, and their coaches think it's a good thing, they don't lack attack, they also lack a defender who can train them, but their defense has not improved in the slightest, and even their attacking power has been greatly limited.