We can't shoot.

[rsavaj]

We're 2nd in pace, but our FG% is the lowest it's been since the beginning of the SSOL era. That's absolutely killing us, since the fast pace allows the other(more efficient) team more opportunities to score.

Why is our offense so sluggish?

1)Anomalous early returns that will soon adjust to a higher true value for the season. This would propitiate well, since it implies the team has some improved shooting performances on the horizon.

2)The constitution of the team coupled with a paucity of talent and elite shooters. This team likes to take long twos. Two of the players who comprise a bulk of the three point attempts are reputed "chuckers" who aren't deterred from taking a long shot just because they're well defended (although one of these two has carried the team with his shooting at times this season). I'm not the least bit surprised that a team composed of Nash, Richardson, Dudley and Frye would shoot better from three than the current assortment of Dragic, Beasley, Brown and Dudley. It's also not surprising that teams with the likes of Stoudemire and Marion/Shaq were more efficient than the current Gortat/Scola duo.

3)Steve Nash. Dude was kind of good at getting people the ball in a position for them to be successful. Even the point of entry for a pass is important for a three point shooter so he doesn't disrupt the rhythm of his shot.

4)Gentry's "shoot the shot that's available to you" philosophy. That works great when you have good shooters with high basketball IQ, but with these Suns maybe that's not the best idea. It's absolutely eerie how many open shots opposing teams allow in the 19-23' range...

Add your own more astute and discerning observation in the comments below.

The first step in fixing a problem is admitting you have one, and Phoenix, we have a problem.

Will it auto-correct? Doubtful. What the Suns were able to accomplish over the better part of the last decade was truly special. It is unlikely this team will be able to match the pace or efficiency of those previous incarnations. They will hopefully at least come close and not become a pitiful travesty.

The Seven Seconds or Less era is gone. The "New Era" is Eight Seconds or Beasley.

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2012/ ... basketball

[RunDogGun]

I'm not sure what the real problem with our shooting. With lower IQ players, DRK's idea of running with the second unit sounds the best. Have two inside guys rebound like crazy, quick outlets, and off to the races. You could run a zone, and have whoever is at the top of the key, leak out after the shot. Brown could do this, and get easy layups or dunks.

We have been terrible in the half court sets, except maybe Scola. We also need guys attacking the rim on every shot. Scola seems to do this, and has decent results. But he seems to be the only one.

Poor shooting has always killed us. We have open shots. I also don't like our guys standing around the three point line. Last year it was the worst when Gentry had Chilldress standing out there, who was clearly not a threat from out there. That or when Lopez was out there, with his back turned to the hoop (even less of a threat than Chilldress)

My suggestion is get a coach that knows what he is doing.

[schnakenpopanz]

I think it is about the quality of shots and when/how they were created.
nash always got the player in rhythm. especially some of our recent plays are forced ones and from iso.

[Calvin Klein]

Not having very good players makes you take bad shots.

[SunsRback4Good]

Not having very good players makes you take bad shots.

Bingo.

[MathiasPW]

Small note: SSOL era is gone, so we can't compare using "since the beginning of the SSOL era". This team plays differently (and for the worse, so far).

Also small note, but important distinction on Calvin Klein's point: we have good/decent shooters (I am guessing NBA average is around 45%/33% FG%/3P%): Dudley 47%/40%, Dragic 45%/36%, Beasley 45%/35%), but we have very poor play construction, which leads to bad shots.

[RunDogGun]

Not having very good players makes you take bad shots.

So will poor ball movement and a lack of offensive sets that are in line with the players we have on the roster. Motivation also plays a part as well as strong discipline from the coaching staff. If there is no consequence for taking those bad shots, it's tough to keep those chuckers from going hog wild. We have a few players that can easily be seen as chuckers, as well as this "I can do it all by myself" mentality. Way too many one on one plays.

For example, Johnson should be a catch and shoot player. He should not be putting the ball on the floor. There needs to be better sets run for our most efficient guys, Dragic, Scola, and Gortat. Brown should be told to go to the basket before taking any outside shots. And his first outside shot should be a curl around the screen, catch and shoot from the elbow. It's his best shot, and one he makes rather consistently.

Also, we need to start Tucker against good to great SGs. That will either mean putting Dudley or Beas on the bench for that game only. Our guys aren't consistent enough to use D'Antoni's idea of making the other team adjust to us. I think changing things up will bring a wake up call to our up and down players. No one is getting huge money, so there aren't any fixed positions (starting or bench).

I haven't been too impressed with Goran, but he hasn't been hurting us either. I don't like guys skipping over a wide open player to take a deep contested shot. That should be common sense, and I wish we had a coach with balls enough to nip that fast.

[RunDogGun]

but we have very poor play construction, which leads to bad shots.

This

[BurningHeart]

I hope the people who bitched and bitched and bitched about our team during SSOL are **** happy now.

[WTFsunsFTW]

I admit how incredibly spoiled I have been watching an entire team pretty much shoot 50%+ in SSOL era. Seeing anyone shoot under 45% is disgusting and unacceptable to me. I just cant get behind a team that has a low FG%.

If I see another one of our players shoot a 20 foot jumpshot (beasleybrownmorrisscola) I am going to blow a fuse.

[denial]

Coach Gentry over encourages shooting. He wants to give guys confidence but he doesn't remember reality in the process. Everyone has the green light

[denial]

Not having very good players makes you take bad shots.

Getting good shots is very much a team process.
ANY guard and most forwards in the NBA are, by any normal human standards, great jump-shooters. Watch a shoot-around. No-namers will bury 30 in a row. Why? Because they're clean looks

[nevetsov]

Someone give Gilbert Arenas a call