Devin Booker

[lilfishi22]

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I'm surprised Melo didn't get the call there. I think 9 times out of 10, that would've been called a foul. Booker's hands were up but he wasn't going straight up.

[Krush32]

Im pretty sure hes playing thru an injury which is effecting his shot. Watson mentioned on a radio show that he hasnt been healthy all season. I think he will fight thru it and figure it out.

[Damkac]

Is there anywhere a list of the youngest players who had 20 points in single quarter?

[DaleyBlind]

Im pretty sure hes playing thru an injury which is effecting his shot. Watson mentioned on a radio show that he hasnt been healthy all season. I think he will fight thru it and figure it out.

Id thats true, i wish they would rest him untill he is healthy....

[bwgood77]

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[alldayeveryday]

Is that Eddie House?

[Ettorefm]

I love the kid, but shouldn't we stop making up excuses to why 'the best 3 point shooter in the draft ', 'the next klay thompson' can't shoot over 33% in two seasons now?

When does it stop being a fluke and it just means he isn't that good?

[suns91fan]

I love the kid, but shouldn't we stop making up excuses to why 'the best 3 point shooter in the draft ', 'the next klay thompson' can't shoot over 33% in two seasons now?

When does it stop being a fluke and it just means he isn't that good?

He's still one of the best 3-pt shooters in the draft. His technique is flawless. It's just decision making. Knowing when to shoot, when to pass, when to drive to the basket, it's all things he has to figure out. And when he does, those 34% will skyrocket. For the most guys, it takes more than 1.5 years in the league to figure that out. The system (or the lack of one) doesn't help either. Hell, even if he doesn't ever figure it out, he's still a better career 3-pt shooter than Kobe, MJ, McGrady etc.

[Ettorefm]

I love the kid, but shouldn't we stop making up excuses to why 'the best 3 point shooter in the draft ', 'the next klay thompson' can't shoot over 33% in two seasons now?

When does it stop being a fluke and it just means he isn't that good?

He's still one of the best 3-pt shooters in the draft. His technique is flawless. It's just decision making. Knowing when to shoot, when to pass, when to drive to the basket, it's all things he has to figure out. And when he does, those 34% will skyrocket. For the most guys, it takes more than 1.5 years in the league to figure that out. The system (or the lack of one) doesn't help either. Hell, even if he doesn't ever figure it out, he's still a better career 3-pt shooter than Kobe, MJ, McGrady etc.

3pt shooting is one of the most translatable skills from college to the NBA. I don't buy it, honestly. He's missing tons and tons of wide open 3's, Kobe took much more difficult 3 pointers and they have the same percentage (34% on about 4.2 attempts per game).

And Kobe is considerer a mediocre/kinda unreliable 3pt shooter. Every other 3pt shooting specialist in the league doesn't need 2 or 3 years to hit easy shots, those are usually their only hits - it's the rest that hurts their stock.

I don't doubt that he can improve his 3pt%, but it's time we stop with the excuses. Great mechanics are worthless if you can't hit your shots.

Also, if booker is such a great 3pt shooter but has poor decision making and shot selection, that's not an excuse or a reason to have some patience - that's a red flag. Shooters need do know when to shoot and when not to.

[GMATCallahan]

3pt shooting is one of the most translatable skills from college to the NBA. I don't buy it, honestly. He's missing tons and tons of wide open 3's, Kobe took much more difficult 3 pointers and they have the same percentage (34% on about 4.2 attempts per game).

And Kobe is considerer a mediocre/kinda unreliable 3pt shooter. Every other 3pt shooting specialist in the league doesn't need 2 or 3 years to hit easy shots, those are usually their only hits - it's the rest that hurts their stock.

I don't doubt that he can improve his 3pt%, but it's time we stop with the excuses. Great mechanics are worthless if you can't hit your shots.

Also, if booker is such a great 3pt shooter but has poor decision making and shot selection, that's not an excuse or a reason to have some patience - that's a red flag. Shooters need do know when to shoot and when not to.

As I have written before, Booker does not attempt many obviously bad three-pointers the way that Bryant did, but he attempts too many questionable shots (threes and otherwise)—too many mediocre shots—a subtler qualitative difference that nonetheless makes a big difference quantitatively. (Plus, Booker is not as athletic as a younger Bryant, so he does not possess the same capacity to hit spectacular shots, anyway. Of course, Bryant did not often hits those shots—most people just remember the occasional highlights and rare exceptions as opposed to the general rule.)

But of course the Suns need to be patient with Booker; he just turned twenty years old and only played one year of college. And he is not just a shooting specialist—the whole Klay Thompson analogy was superficial (even influenced by looks and skin color, perhaps) and misleading. Of course, Thompson is not just a shooting specialist, either, but Booker is a guard who can do more off the dribble (and from a much younger age), so his thought process may be a little different in terms of what constitutes a good shot versus a bad shot and in terms of the types of shots that he repeats. Of course, that thought process must improve substantially, and he is missing some open threes, but Booker's shot selection is definitely an issue. I have been saying so since the end of last season.

[GMATCallahan]

He's still one of the best 3-pt shooters in the draft. His technique is flawless. It's just decision making. Knowing when to shoot, when to pass, when to drive to the basket, it's all things he has to figure out. And when he does, those 34% will skyrocket. For the most guys, it takes more than 1.5 years in the league to figure that out. The system (or the lack of one) doesn't help either. Hell, even if he doesn't ever figure it out, he's still a better career 3-pt shooter than Kobe, MJ, McGrady etc.

Of course, those guys were much more explosive in terms of attacking the hoop and finishing with power or verve, so three-point shooting proved less important to them—at least it should have been, and indeed, Jordan did not shoot many threes overall. Generally speaking, he either shot them at a good-to-great percentage or he did not shoot them. Bryant and McGrady, conversely, attempted a lot of bad shots (threes and twos), which helps explain why they never reached the same level.

That said, as I noted in my previous post, I agree with your overall assessment of Booker.

[GMATCallahan]

I love the kid, but shouldn't we stop making up excuses to why 'the best 3 point shooter in the draft ', 'the next klay thompson' can't shoot over 33% in two seasons now?

When does it stop being a fluke and it just means he isn't that good?

As I indicated in my first response, the Thompson analogy was lazy and oversold, a typical example of how the NBA media functions. Since the second half of last season, I have thought that the analogy was of spurious value for multiple reasons.

Booker may never be Thompson as a three-point shooter, but he could be very good in that regard and much more dangerous off the dribble.

We will see; averaging 19.3 points per game at the age of twenty is still highly impressive, even with his soggy shooting numbers and the bottom-of-the-barrel team context. What happened, I feel, is that many fans and posters became a bit carried away last year, assuming that Booker was going to quickly become a "superstar" who could carry the franchise. I still believe that he could be an All-Star, but doing so will take some time, and even then, he will need a lot of help in order to lead the Suns to success. I have been making that point (all these points, really) since last season.

[GMATCallahan]

Is that Eddie House?

I cannot believe that Eddie House has put on that much weight.

Looks more like Suge Knight ...

[LacosteM]

I always disliked "Klay comparison" for Booker. I see him more as someone like Rip Hamilton. Even the numbers throughout their first 2 seasons are very similar.


http://bkref.com/tiny/scf3W

[nevetsov]

I think he's starting to pick up some bad habits from the vets, who are clearly starting to phone it in a little bit. Which is funny, because that's the exact opposite to what they are supposed to be providing.

Examples - jawing to the ref's and stupid, lazy fouls. Lazy iso plays.

Honestly think at this points some of the vets are starting to do more harm than good, and it's now starting to impact both the culture of the team, and the attitudes of the young guys.

[Ettorefm]

I love the kid, but shouldn't we stop making up excuses to why 'the best 3 point shooter in the draft ', 'the next klay thompson' can't shoot over 33% in two seasons now?

When does it stop being a fluke and it just means he isn't that good?

As I indicated in my first response, the Thompson analogy was lazy and oversold, a typical example of how the NBA media functions. Since the second half of last season, I have thought that the analogy was of spurious value for multiple reasons.

Booker may never be Thompson as a three-point shooter, but he could be very good in that regard and much more dangerous off the dribble.

We will see; averaging 19.3 points per game at the age of twenty is still highly impressive, even with his soggy shooting numbers and the bottom-of-the-barrel team context. What happened, I feel, is that many fans and posters became a bit carried away last year, assuming that Booker was going to quickly become a "superstar" who could carry the franchise. I still believe that he could be an All-Star, but doing so will take some time, and even then, he will need a lot of help in order to lead the Suns to success. I have been making that point (all these points, really) since last season.

Don't get me wrong, that's not my problem with Booker. I can wait 6 years for Booker to be a star (if he ever becomes one), that's not the issue.

The thing is, people keep excusing him for his poor shooting. I don't care about the 19ppg, he could be scoring 10, but in this time and age, 3pt shooting is essential, and with his mechanics, he should be making a lot more - and not taking such stupid shots.

I'd much rather my 20yo prospect having a fantastic efficiency year with lower volume than chucking ill-advised shots and scoring almost 20ppg. Those habits never change once they're established.

Booker should pick his spots more and hit the open 3. That's all I ask of him. The rest will come naturally.

Just wanted to dispute the 'best shooter in the draft' that in his 2nd season can't even shoot mediocre percentages while not having any pressure.

The 2 most important things in 2016 for a 2 guard are defense, getting to the line and 3 pt shooting, and he's bad at all of them right now. I couldn't care less if he can take pull up mid-range shots and cut to the basket, his lazy defense and poor shooting will determine how good a prospect he will be.

[kennydorglas]

You can clearly see what's going on with Booker here:





He's settling mainly for mid-range shots that are heavily contested.
And of course, he isnt nailing his open 3pters (which is funny because it was all he did in Kentucky).

I think I'll ask for Coach Nick @bballbreakdown to take a lot at his open looks to see what's going on there.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Chewbacca defense?

[Djedefre]

The 2 most important things in 2016 for a 2 guard are defense, getting to the line and 3 pt shooting, and he's bad at all of them right now. I couldn't care less if he can take pull up mid-range shots and cut to the basket, his lazy defense and poor shooting will determine how good a prospect he will be.

If we use those 3 categories as filters, also adding usage% (>=20%) in order to make players relatively comparable we end up with the following (per basketball-reference.com): only SG's cumulatively better than Booker at those specific metrics are Harden, Beal, Fournier and Barton. Among them, only Harden has bigger usg% than Booker. In the end, we shouldn't forget to add that Devin as a sophomore doesn't nearly have that much credit with refs as the stars like Harden, Butler... Also, if there's a position in this league that's pretty scarce of defensive quality/potential, it's SG.

It's not my intention to defend Armani at all costs or diminish/mask his obvious flaws, it just appears to me that maybe you're too demanding.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I think he's starting to pick up some bad habits from the vets, who are clearly starting to phone it in a little bit. Which is funny, because that's the exact opposite to what they are supposed to be providing.

Examples - jawing to the ref's and stupid, lazy fouls. Lazy iso plays.

Honestly think at this points some of the vets are starting to do more harm than good, and it's now starting to impact both the culture of the team, and the attitudes of the young guys.

This is an interesting point that ive often thought. Ive never totally bought the vet leadership narrative for bad teams because as you mention i think vets get more down with losing than young guys. On losing teams young guys often have more to play for because they are trying to establish themselves where as old guys will check out.

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