After two months of the NBA season, each team played a third of the games, ESPN's latest season**, the Suns won 40-42, with a winning rate of nearly 50%, 11th in the West, and missed the playoff play-offs. The Suns formed a super offensive triumvirate of Durant + Booker + Beal before the season, and the championship situation is generally favored, Durant and Booker averaged more than 26 points per game last season, and Beal was also a scorer who averaged more than 23 points per game last season. But two months later, the Suns have gone from a championship contender to a fringe team in the playoffs.
Durant and Booker are as tough as ever!
The Suns won 14 and lost 14 before the Christmas game this year, with a winning rate of just 50%, 11th in the West, just missing the play-offs, ranking behind the 9th Lakers and 10th Warriors in the West. One-third of the season's record and ranking, which is very close to the ESPN season** results.
The 35-year-old Durant is still playing at the peak of his career this year, averaging 30 per game9 points, shooting 2 to 5 from the field and 7 to 4 from three-point range, which is simply impeccable. Booker is also the league's top scorer, averaging 27 per game7 points, shooting 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range. There are two giants to support, but the Suns can only play 3-7 in the last 10 games, one of the main reasons is that Beal has been battling injuries since the start of this season, Beal has only played 6 games for the Suns this season, and is still injured indefinitely. Beal averaged 14 per game7 points, shooting rate of 4 into 5, three-point shooting rate of 4 into 3, except for a little less score, but the offensive efficiency and personal condition are very good.
Except for Beal's long-term injury, the Big Three are actually quite normal, with offense, scoring, and efficiency output all above the level, but the Suns' record just can't pull up, and the ups and downs of combat power are unpredictable, which has to be seen from the composition and structure of the Suns' lineup this year.
The Suns have six low-salary or base-salary players in the main rotation of the 10-man this year, they are shooter Eric Gordon, small forward Okogie, center Jukes, guard Goodwin, forward Yuta Watanabe, and small forward Diop. These base- and low-paid players are almost all role players abandoned by the teams, and they are functional, but they are hardly the pieces of the main lineup puzzle unless there is a lot of luck and miracle.
The biggest risk of rotating a large number of low-paid role players is that if a major injury occurs on the team, the team's strength and combination will be out of order. The Suns have played 28 games, Beal has missed 22 games since the start of the season, Booker has missed 9 games, Durant has missed 4 games, and the three core main players have been injured on a wide scale, making it more difficult for the Suns to run in and build a team.
The Suns lack a proper point guard!
The second is that the Suns don't have a single qualified possession, not a single one. The Suns either let Booker control the ball or gave it to Beal as the main control, and more often let Durant directly as the offensive initiation point, and veteran shooter Eric Gordon occasionally made cameo appearances in ball control. A team like the Suns, with a completely unorganized, point-guard roster, has a very strange composition.
The star-level main scorer plays the ball on behalf of the ball, and the scoring guard plays a cameo in possession, this is the real situation of the Suns, relying on the role players at the beginning of the season to play a lot of shining play, the Suns can still maintain a winning rate of more than 50%, but in the past three weeks, the performance of role players has gradually subsided, and all opponents have gradually figured out the Suns' playing style and alignment.
The Suns are 18th in defensive efficiency, close to the back, 14th in offensive efficiency in the middle, neither offense and defense are at the elite level, assists, rebounds, and three-point shooting percentages are all in the middle of the range, and there are too many turnovers to rank sixth in the NBA, which is the flaw that can be seen in the six low-paid role players and the lack of genuine ball control.
Before the player trade deadline in mid-February next year, the Suns need to add a regular ball handler as soon as possible to share the pressure for Durant and Booker, effectively organize and connect the team, and the second step is the offense and defense of the restricted area, the Suns need to improve the intensity of the front line and the firepower of attacking the restricted area, and control the pace of the game with rebounding and offense close to the basket.
The Suns, who have the Big Three, of course, have a chance to turn over, return to the ranks of the Western Conference playoff competition, adjust the lineup, employ people, and make up for a genuine ball control, the Suns can still subvert the Western ecology and make ESPN** become air.