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Phoenix Suns: Eric Bledsoe Taking Steps Toward Being Elite

By Gerald Bourguet

Oct 31, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) celebrates after scoring in the first half of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Suns won 101-90. Mandatory Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) celebrates after scoring in the first half of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Suns won 101-90. Mandatory Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 12, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe (2) dribbles the basketball up the court during the first half of the NBA game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /

Conditioning

In his time as a starter, the biggest gripe about Eric Bledsoe was always that he wasn’t consistent enough. When he was locked in and playing someone elite (like Westbrook, for example), Bledsoe looked like a top-five point guard with a stellar two-way game.

But then on the next night, he’d disappear and wait too long to let the game come to him. Sometimes he’d look downright disinterested for whole games and his energy level would wane from night to night or even quarter to quarter.

“I think I go back to last year was his first year of starting,” Hornacek explained after Phoenix’s home win over the Clippers. “He started the year before, but it was half a season because he was hurt. It’s a different ball game when you’re a starter and every night you’ve got to bring it. I think he learned last year that some games he tried to ease into the games and if he wants to go to the next level, he’s got to do it every night. And so far, he’s done that.”

Bledsoe was always in great physical shape, but providing that kind of two-way energy in his first full season as a starter was an adjustment, even for one of the NBA’s best athletes. Over the summer, one of the other major improvements that Bledsoe made to his game was his conditioning.

On Media Day when Bledsoe showed up looking even bigger and stronger somehow, Tyson Chandler explained just how hard Bledsoe had been working to improve his conditioning for another long 82-game season.

“Eric has been here before I came and when I got here competing everyday, he’s been playing until after pickup games where he’s just had to lay out on the ground because he’s exhausted himself, and that’s a good sign,” he said.

Thanks to a few blowouts and some early foul trouble in a couple of games, Bledsoe is only averaging 34.0 minutes per game. That number will probably rise as the season progresses, but so far, he’s been playing full speed every second he’s been on the floor, and his superior conditioning has also helped his perimeter shots go down a little easier.

“That’s the type of player I know I’ve got to be,” Bledsoe said after the Nuggets game. “I’ve gotta push the ball the whole 48 minutes while I’m on the court.”

Next: Playmaking

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