Phoenix Suns: 4 goals for the organization in 2017-18
By Drew Zlogar
3. Improved road record
The Phoenix Suns were miserable on the road last season. They were only one of three teams (joining the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets) to have fewer than 10 wins on the road (9-32).
To sit here and say that they should be a 25+ win team on the road is farfetched, but increasing their win total by six games to reach 15 wins away from home shouldn’t be out of the question.
The Suns were dead last in the West when competing against the other teams in the conference (11-41). They were a miserable (3-13) in the Pacific Division, finishing with a 24-58 record overall.
Having productive road trips leads to confidence in the locker room, which leads to playing better at home as well. If the Suns add a few more wins onto each extended road trip, they will cut into the terrible records against the others in the West.
For the Suns, this season should be about building their reputation more around the league. With the youth that they have, they need to start demanding respect from the other 29 teams. One of the ways to do that is to win more consistently on the road. There can’t be many more 10-game stretches where they go (2-8), like they did to finish this season. With the pieces that they have coming back, and the addition of Jackson, seeing 15, 16, or even 17 wins on the road shouldn’t be too much of a reach.