Why Isn’t Phoenix Suns PG Eric Bledsoe Considered Elite?
Phoenix Suns star point guard Eric Bledsoe is putting up some tremendous numbers — as he always does — yet he doesn’t get the recognition as an elite player in the NBA. What does he have to do to get some national attention?
The Suns aren’t garnering as much love as they did last season, because the expectations have changed. At 21-16, the Suns are the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference — but the “Slash Brothers” mystique has worn off and while the “Point Guardians of the Galaxy” is a cool name, the national novelty of the three point guard system is gone.
BLED’S NUMBERS STAND UP WELL
First, let’s take a look at what he’s doing this season. Bledsoe is averaging 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.5 steals. His shooting line of .441/.303/.838 certainly doesn’t scream elite, but here’s the list of players who can match his other production:
| Totals | Per Game | Shooting | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Season | Tm | G | MP | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
| 1 | James Harden | 2014-15 | HOU | 34 | 36.8 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 27.0 | .438 | .360 | .891 |
| 2 | Stephen Curry | 2014-15 | GSW | 32 | 33.3 | 5.2 | 7.8 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 23.0 | .492 | .388 | .922 |
| 3 | Eric Bledsoe | 2014-15 | PHO | 37 | 33.2 | 5.2 | 6.1 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 16.5 | .441 | .303 | .838 |
| 4 | Russell Westbrook | 2014-15 | OKC | 21 | 30.9 | 5.6 | 7.0 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 27.0 | .438 | .273 | .822 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/7/2015.
Does anyone in the world of basketball consider Westbrook, Curry or Harden to be anything less than elite? Absolutely not. There’s no question that Bledsoe is the least impressive offensive player of the bunch — but he also gets the least chances.
- Westbrook Usage Rate: 41.2%
- Harden: 31.7%
- Curry: 28.3%
- Bledsoe: 23.9%
On the defensive side of things, Bledsoe more than holds his own. The numbers won’t tell you this, but Harden (Dwight Howard), Curry (Andrew Bogut) and Westbrook (Serge Ibaka) all play with dominant big men who control the paint.
Bledsoe doesn’t have that luxury, but the emergence of Alex Len as a legitimate force (when he stays out of foul trouble) has helped things. Having that kind of anchor means Bledsoe can do more to pressure the ball handler and the idea is that he’d start racking up more steals. Since Len’s play has greatly improved (roughly the last 10 games), it’s no shock to see what’s happened to Bledsoe.
BLED’S LAST 10 GAMES
You can tell me that Bledsoe’s game isn’t strong enough offensively to carry a team. You can tell me that he doesn’t do enough to set up his teammates and because of that, he’ll never be considered an elite point guard. What you can’t tell me is that Bledsoe doesn’t affect games on both ends of the court as much as the others.
Since Len’s breakout (2.7 blocks in 21.8 MPG last 10), Bledsoe has seen his numbers steadily rise as well.
Leading the Suns to an 8-2 record during that time, Bledsoe is averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Nobody is averaging that for the season and since the steal stat was tracked, only Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Walt Frazier, Fat Lever and Magic Johnson have averaged 19 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.0 steals.
Still not convinced? Let’s dig a little deeper after this video that shows his entire game.
ADVANCED NUMBERS (courtesy of NBA.com/stats)
At just 6-foot-1, we can’t really expect Bledsoe to defend at the rim with much ferocity. It’s his worst spot, as he allows 60.5 percent to his defenders (2.8 percent better than their season’s average). Still, better than Westbrook’s 71.9 percent (yuck).
However, as we go further out, a trend develops and shows us what we already know — Bledsoe’s greater strength lies on the perimeter.
Bledsoe allows his opponent to shoot 43.3 percent from the floor and 36.2 percent from greater than 15 feet, which is .5 and .2 percent lower than the shooter’s season averages. Again, over the last 10 games, those numbers have gotten much better, as Bled allows 39.6 percent from the field and 28.8 percent from outside 15 feet, 4.4 and 7.3 percent lower.
It stands to reason that Bledsoe would continue to improve with a legitimate defensive anchor behind him. Instead of having to protect against penetration so much, he could play a much more aggressive, tighter defense that would hassle and rattle all but the league’s best guards.
THE OVERALL PICTURE
I’ll admit it — I don’t like being the guy who says, “if he played on a better team,” because superstars ARE what make the team around him better. But if I’m a general manager and Bledsoe’s name comes up, I’m thinking of him in the same upper echelon of point guards that we unanimously denote to be elite.
His offensive game isn’t as refined, but he knows how to get production (10th in NBA in free-throws). His defensive game doesn’t show up in the box score, but his constant nagging and harassment of the opponent has much further reaching effects than steals, blocks or defensive rating.
Is Bledsoe elite? His contract says he is. His numbers say he is. The company he keeps say he is. What’s the old saying? If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck…