Phoenix Suns: Ball Movement, Third Scorer Issues Linger
In Wednesday’s 103-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Phoenix Suns had a couple of glaring issues pop up that had been going under the radar. The stagnant offense that relies upon too much one-on-one action reared its ugly head, leading to poor ball movement and too many contested field goal attempts.
There’s no question about how the offense thrives — it’s when the Suns play good defense and can get out in transition, where Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight can pick apart defenses that are scrambling to get back. In the halfcourt, the team is at it’s best when players are cutting and moving, especially off of pick-and-rolls.
Nobody is going to confuse the Suns offense with a well-oiled machine like the ones run by the San Antonio Spurs or Atlanta Hawks, who have great ball movement and work hard to get open shots. It’s a big reason why the Suns aren’t looked at as serious contenders, because hot shooting regresses to the mean eventually and if a team isn’t getting quality looks, it’s going to result in a lot of losses when the percentages drop.
Last night’s tracking (courtesy of stats.nba.com) showed us exactly that — a team that didn’t pass the ball enough, took too many contested shots and couldn’t hit the open looks they did have. If that’s not a trifecta of basketball dreck, I don’t know what is.
The Suns passed the ball 243 times (to 350 for the Bulls) and took 50 contested shots, making 46 percent (Bulls took 39, making 51.3 percent). Chicago made 47.7 percent of their 44 uncontested looks, while the Suns clanked their way to making just 34.1 percent of their 41 attempts. In a six-point game, that’s an enormous problem to have.
LIVE AND DIE BY THE BACKCOURT
Bledsoe and Knight deserve all the kudos they’ve been given, as they have been the catalyst for a surprising 6-5 start that has seen them combine to average 43.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 10.9 assists and 3.5 steals per game. However, the team often relies so heavily on the duo, that when shots aren’t falling and the defense is suffocating them, they press more often than they try to defer to teammates.
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In the Chicago loss, the tandem was 9-for-25 (36 percent) on contested looks and 6-for-17 (35 percent) on uncontested attempts. You want your best players taking the lion’s share of the shots — especially the uncontested looks — but the amount of poor shots shed light on the fact that this team doesn’t have a go-to third guy on offense.
P.J. Tucker scored 20 points on 8-of-15 from the floor against the Bulls, but he’s best suited to spotting up in the corners and crashing the glass to get his offense.
Markieff Morris was the third option in 2014-15, as he became a very reliable threat late in games. Between the offseason circus and a knee injury that knocked him out for two games, he hasn’t been able to regain that confidence. He’s shooting just 36.6 percent on the year on 13.7 attempts per game.
MOVING FORWARD
Before the season began, most would have agreed that the Suns would have games where Knight and Bledsoe would both be on — and in those games, they’d be unbeatable. When the inverse would occur and the duo wouldn’t be able to hit water from the shore, they’d lose handily. The vast majority of games fall in the middle, where one guy has a rhythm and the other is so-so.
Without a herculean effort (see Knight’s triple-double vs. Lakers), the Suns would likely find themselves in a lot of close games, where the defining variable would lie among the non-stars. That third option on offense takes so much pressure off of the team, especially if they can reliably depend on production from the same guy.
https://twitter.com/Suns/status/667400907890409472
The most likely candidate is still Markieff. He gets a lot of opportunities, between plays running through him on the elbow, his ability to hit the trailing three from the top of the key and his re-dedication to taking the ball to the basket.
When Markieff gets back to form and gets comfortable in this offense, the Suns will find they have to lean on the backcourt a lot less. That will be a welcome change, as Bledsoe and Knight will be better served to save a little energy for the playoff run, instead of having to use it all up just to stay close.