Game 15: Orlando Magic (8-6) @ Phoenix Suns (9-5) | Nov 18 | 7:00PM

[lilfishi22]

Okay I take back some of my criticism of Book for this game.

It was clear his legs weren't in it and he did take the open 3's that were given him but he just didn't have it in him and quite frankly we should have sat him out this game.

Ryan Dunn after a hot start is now coming back down to earth and shooting the percentages that I expected him to shoot now that he isn't getting the wide open 3's that KD gave him and his impact on defense isn't enough to make up for his lack of offense.

Our only way to win with the current roster is to play KD major minutes because our offense just turns to mush without him in the game but this is playing with fire with KD's age and injury history.

If we look at the two games where Book struggled the most, like struggled to even get a shot off, it was against Orlando and OKC. Which is understandable considering this team didn't have anyone else who can reliably create and the #1 and #2 best defensive teams in the league had put together successful game plans to not allow our one scorer to get off shots.

Aside from that, I do think Book is going through a slump. He hasn't shot the 3 ball this poorly since 2021, he hasn't been below 50% from 2P since 2018 and he's also taken the fewest FGA per100 since his rookie season. It's also the most he's played the SF position, where he's at 59%. I don't really know what's going on with him but the 44 against the Wolves and 40 against the Clippers earlier in the season doesn't really wash away the bad taste that's been his season so far.

[garrick]

Just finished watching the 1st half.

Oso played really good and was happy with his cutting and finishing inside.

Royce and Dunn if they are not hitting their 3's are a complete liability on offense which is pretty bad because we don't really have anyone behind them unless you're willing to play Bol Bol major minutes and he's not really a good team defender.

As with last season we are really small and lack size and when we can't hit our 3's we are really going to struggle to get anything on offense.

We kind of knew this last season. Isn't too much of a surprise. The real surprise was with Royce being so hot to start the season and Dunn actually hitting 3's. Perhaps there's normalisation at play but ultimately, it shouldn't be a huge surprise.

That being said, these are all good reps for Dunn and Oso. Maybe they are playing losing games now but the experience should lend itself to being productive to winning games later on.

Dunn needs to drive more aggressively to the rim but I suspect since his free throw percentages are rough he may be like Ben Simmons in not wanting to actually go to the line.

The game I saw Dunn shoot FT's he was so off he was banking his shot off the backboard with one actually going in and I don't think he was intentionally trying to shoot off the backboard since no one ever does that in the NBA.

[lilfishi22]

Just finished watching the 1st half.

Oso played really good and was happy with his cutting and finishing inside.

Royce and Dunn if they are not hitting their 3's are a complete liability on offense which is pretty bad because we don't really have anyone behind them unless you're willing to play Bol Bol major minutes and he's not really a good team defender.

As with last season we are really small and lack size and when we can't hit our 3's we are really going to struggle to get anything on offense.

We kind of knew this last season. Isn't too much of a surprise. The real surprise was with Royce being so hot to start the season and Dunn actually hitting 3's. Perhaps there's normalisation at play but ultimately, it shouldn't be a huge surprise.

That being said, these are all good reps for Dunn and Oso. Maybe they are playing losing games now but the experience should lend itself to being productive to winning games later on.

Dunn needs to drive more aggressively to the rim but I suspect since his free throw percentages are rough he may be like Ben Simmons in not wanting to actually go to the line.

The game I saw Dunn shoot FT's he was so off he was banking his shot off the backboard with one actually going in and I don't think he was intentionally trying to shoot off the backboard since no one ever does that in the NBA.

Driving 10 times and getting 20FTA's out of it and hitting at a 50% clip would be more or less equivalent to taking 10 shots from 3 and hitting 30% of them. Problem is right now he's shooting 1 for 6 (17%) and realistically, he's probably not gonna get the call on 98% of drives. So mathematically, he probably has more value chucking up 10 threes rather than driving to the basket 10 times.

[grumpysaddle]

Okay I take back some of my criticism of Book for this game.

It was clear his legs weren't in it and he did take the open 3's that were given him but he just didn't have it in him and quite frankly we should have sat him out this game.

Ryan Dunn after a hot start is now coming back down to earth and shooting the percentages that I expected him to shoot now that he isn't getting the wide open 3's that KD gave him and his impact on defense isn't enough to make up for his lack of offense.

Our only way to win with the current roster is to play KD major minutes because our offense just turns to mush without him in the game but this is playing with fire with KD's age and injury history.

If we look at the two games where Book struggled the most, like struggled to even get a shot off, it was against Orlando and OKC. Which is understandable considering this team didn't have anyone else who can reliably create and the #1 and #2 best defensive teams in the league had put together successful game plans to not allow our one scorer to get off shots.

Aside from that, I do think Book is going through a slump. He hasn't shot the 3 ball this poorly since 2021, he hasn't been below 50% from 2P since 2018 and he's also taken the fewest FGA per100 since his rookie season. It's also the most he's played the SF position, where he's at 59%. I don't really know what's going on with him but the 44 against the Wolves and 40 against the Clippers earlier in the season doesn't really wash away the bad taste that's been his season so far.

I maintain my criticism of the headband. He plays better without it, yet always seems to go back to it.