RealGM

Might as well start a topic to drum up some discussion on player improvement and expectations. Can't expect Josh Jackson to shoot .400 on 5+ attempts from the 3 so realistically what is one single (and realistic) improvement each of our players can make in order to really help their game go in the right direction and also help the team?

Going in order of NBA tenure:
Élie Okobo - Simple, he shot near .400 on 6.5 attempts per36 in the French league and I just want him to be able to hit the 3. So I just want him to continue to keep shooting and ideally hit around .380 from the 3.

DeA'nthony Melton - His shooting is much less developed than his defensive game (.284 from the 3) but if he's able to improve his shooting, I think naturally his playmaking will improve. He was already a a near 2:1 A:T playmaker in college so if he's able to shoot the ball too, he's probably close than Okobo and Harrison to becoming a complete PG.

George King  (TW) - I don't know enough about the guy nor do I expect any contribution from him so just be a junior PJ in practice

Mikal Bridges - I'm fairly confident about his shooting so I would love to see him bring some good perimeter defense to our team.

Deandre Ayton - I think if there's one thing I want from him that will open up his game is for him to be consistent with his shooting both from the mid range and from the 3. He didn't shoot the 3 at all during SL but he shot close to 35% in college so if he can just shoot in the low 30's even, that's enough. Being competent from that range should open up the floor for guys like Book and Warren to get to the rim.

Shaquille Harrison - He has shown some basic playmaking chops and I'm confident about his defense so I just want him to keep attacking the basket to find the open man for the hand off. I think improving his shooting too much is probably unrealistic so I didn't go down this route.

Davon Reed - Didn't get much games in during his rookie season but he showed up for the SL shooting near 42% from the 3 on 2 attempts a game. I don't think he'll get much minutes this season unless it's early onward should Booker be out for a bit longer but I'd love to see him bring some energy, rebounding and just be efficient.

Josh Jackson - I want JJ to improve his decision making. If he improves his decision making, he'll be tuning the ball over less, he'll be shooting less bad shots and with better shot selection, hopefully he'll improve his shooting clip.

Dragan Bender - He's on his way to becoming an excellent stretch 5 and the only thing holding him back is those percentages which I expect to increase. What I want to see him improve on is attacking the close out. We've seen him do it a few times last season and it's definitely not outside of his skill set to implement.

Richaun Holmes - Honestly haven't watched much of him but based on what I know, I'd love to see him improve his defense. We lost some (inconsistent) weak side shot blocking when Chriss was moved so I want to see some of that back with Holmes.

Devin Booker - I want to see the Suns MVP improve his playmaking abilities. Not because I want him to be the next Harden, which would be nice, but because improving that aspect of the offensive game will benefit him and the team greatly. Last season he improved his assist numbers to close to 5 APG but that also came with 3.6 TO's a game which made him an inefficient playmaker. Getting to that 2:1 A:T ratio floor is what I want to see from him.

T.J. Warren - It's pretty clear for me that I just want to see him ramp up the 3PT shooting. He doesn't need to be a great shooter but he does need to shoot it, ideally in the low 30's if possible. Teams aren't going to close out on him if he doesn't shoot it and if teams aren't closing out on him, he's not going to be able to attack the close out which would open up so many offensive options to him.

Isaiah Canaan - Not sure if he's going to be on the roster when we begin the season but he played well in the minutes he got last season with his playmaking and getting to the line. He was pretty average from an efficiency standpoint so I'd love to see him attack the basket more which should open up passing opportunities for him and if not, get to the line where he's an excellent 90%+ FT shooter.

Troy Daniels - Again another guy who I'm not sure if he'll be on the roster for long but he kind of is who he is at this point, so he should just keep doing what he's paid to do, shoot

Darrell Arthur - He probably won't play a game in the Suns uniform so just be a good trade chip

Ryan Anderson - Just hit the 3 and occasionally attack the close out. Nothing more, nothing less.

Trevor Ariza - I want him to bring some defensive intensity and leadership. He's the most proven wing defender and I want to see him bring the same level of intensity.

Tyson Chandler - Just be a good mentor to our young guys and give us the occasional double digit rebounding game in 15min of play

Daniels and Arthur ... Traded to another team or waived

Holmes ... take on Williams role and be a good bench team mate. Be ready when your name is called

Bender and Bridges and Reed ... Focus on defense and three point shooting. Absorb anything and everything they can learn from Ariza. Make Jackson earn every minute of his playing time.

Shaq and Canaan ... stifling defense to cover for Booker. Excellent shot selection ... don't try to do to much. Competent play making.

Okobo and Melton ... push hard to make either Shaq or Canaan expendable. One of them needs to step up to show they are the Suns PG of the future.

Ariza and Anderson and Chandler ... Provide solid veteran leadership and quality court time in starter and/or backup roles. I do expect that all three will get decent minutes this season.

Warren ... a three point shot. Continue his off the ball play/cutting and moving which should be a critical component of Kokoshkov's offensive system. Take on ownership of being the sixth man behind Ariza.

Jackson ...Slow the hell down and play under control on offense and defense. Become a better team defender (okay in 1-1 defense but is a poor team defender). Improve shooting efficiency. Work on three point shooting. Earn your minutes

Booker ... Commit to above average defense

Ayton ... Walk the talk ... 14 points / 12 rebounds / 2 blks per game and become a legitimate paint protector. Worry about becoming a defensive giant. Don't worry about the three point shooting right now. On offense set good screens and roll hard.

I will just name things from players I have watched a lot and need to improve.

Booker - Serious defensive intensity and to improve the ast/to ratio...I think the latter should happen in some respect with better players, but not too much...he still needs improvement there.

Ayton - I think his defensive awareness will take time, but I hope to see strides here, but I think one thing that would make me feel better about him is if he set good hard screens. You can see how soft he is with his screens. That will be the first thing I see that will give me hope he can be more dominant...a guy built like him can't be soft.

Warren - 3 pt shooting...he needs it..and to improve defensively

JJ - he needs to improve everything basically

Bender - he needs to become more aggresive, also set hard screens...when I saw Ayton's in college, they made me think of Bender

Those are the main things. I expect to see decent things from Okobo and Bridges as rookies, Anderson to hit 3s, Ariza to do his thing, Harrison to defend well, get steals, and hopefully he improves shooting, but that's unlikely given how long he has been at it. Anything from Melton would be nice.

Mine is very simple:

Élie Okobo - Defense

DeA'nthony Melton - Defense

George King (TW) - We all know he won´t be around

Mikal Bridges - Defense

Deandre Ayton - Defense, 20 PPG on better-than-avg efficiency

Shaquille Harrison - Defense

Davon Reed - Defense

Josh Jackson - Defense

Dragan Bender - Defense

Richaun Holmes - Defense

Devin Booker - Defense and 25 PPG on higher-than-avg efficiency

T.J. Warren - Defense and 20 PPG on higher-than-avg efficiency

Isaiah Canaan - Defense

Troy Daniels - Cut

Darrell Arthur - Cut

Ryan Anderson - Def....oh wait...

Trevor Ariza - Defense

Tyson Chandler - Defense

I voted Okobo bc our PG rotation is pretty scary in the worst way rn. Elie has potential to be a fantastic legit starting PG once he polishes his game up. Its a matter of time, but if Igor and a lack of guard depth at the moment can speed that cycle up a bit, he can be a gigantic difference maker and cover a massive playmaking hole we have.

I voted Jackson because I think he's the player most likely to get undeserved minutes. If Bender plays poorly, he'll be benched. Same for Okobo/Melton, Bridges and even Warren if Bridges or JJ regularly outpay him. But if Jackson plays poorly, will Koko really sit him? He certainly has enough depth to do so, but I'm not sure.

Two 2nd rounders and Shaq Harrison. Chances more likely than not that we still won’t have a high quality NBA PG in 3 years. We’re putting a lot of promise into Coach Kokoskov.

Just Warren, Jackson and harrison becoming league average shooters would be awesome already. And the whole team needs to improve their defense.

oddity wrote:I voted Okobo bc our PG rotation is pretty scary in the worst way rn. Elie has potential to be a fantastic legit starting PG once he polishes his game up. Its a matter of time, but if Igor and a lack of guard depth at the moment can speed that cycle up a bit, he can be a gigantic difference maker and cover a massive playmaking hole we have.

I voted him too. He can really be the wildcard if he surprises...and can make things easier for everyone. I think TJ is important because he was our 2nd go to scorer and although Ayton may become that, his role is still important. However, I don't feel that will be an issue. If he adds 3 pt shooting and/or defense, that will be gravy.

I think we kind of know what to expect from Ariza, Bridges and Anderson.

But the wings overall are not as crucial individually given that we have a lot of options and if they don't play well, someone else will take over. With our PG options including Shaq, who I like, but lets face it, he's not the best passer or shooter and was a G leaguer, and Melton, who didn't even play last year after only one year in college, don't leave us great options there, even though I think they can have solid limited roles.

Melton: Shooting. If he becomes a good shooter there is no reason he can’t be our future starting PG.

Okobo: Playmaking/passing. He’s known for his pull up game, if he can be a high level playmaker then his offensive ceiling is very high.

Harrison: Shooting

Reed: Catch & shoot 3

Booker: Defense. Plain and simple

Jackson: Overall efficiency. FG% and FT% need to trend up, and less bad FG attempts. I’m worried less about 3pt shooting than I am about overall efficiency. Close second is off ball/team defense. With additional good on ball defenders Josh could be a monster off the ball getting in passing lanes/protecting the rim/helping etc. Last year he was not very good in this area, but I think that’s where most of his future value will come from.

Bridges: Corner 3. Can he be a longer Raja Bell for us? Can we run him off screens and use him like Klay Thompson on offense and guard the best wing on the opposing team? I hope so.

Warren: Health. Underratedly injury prone. We are a much better team when he plays, so hopefully he can actually play a whole season.

Bender: Impact. Too many times was he on the court and completely irrelevant. Find a way to make an impact without making 3s. I don’t care what it is just find that other skill and do it consistently or there’s no future for him in the nba.

Ayton: Own the paint on defense. He can’t be looking like KAT out there... Hopefully Kokoskov saw something in him that makes him think he can be a defensive monster like Gobert. We have the coach that can bring it out of him. But instincts are hard to teach and Ayton’s are poor... he lets people drive to the rim far too often.

I'd wanna see Josh Jackson improve as well. Overall a smoother jumper would be great to see. I'd also really hope to see him develop kill spots and go-to scoring moves as he gains experience and gets more comfortable. He could be as high as a second option for us depending on a TJ trade and Ayton's development. He has to start molding that raw potential into a tight game now.

As a team overall I want to see chemistry. Even when Book is on fire and Tj is playing well, they dont seem to compliment each other. There dose not seem to be togetherness or love among the leading players on the team, you dont see synergy between Book and Tj ever. No all playing as one off of one another at the same time, just one on one. I want team synergy, entire team excitement AT THE SAME TIME, crisp passing, cutting, open shots and for them all to seem like they like each other and enjoy each others company on the court, happiness can lead to togetherness.

And no I'm not Earl Watson I swear!

ImNotMcDiSwear wrote:I voted Jackson because I think he's the player most likely to get undeserved minutes. If Bender plays poorly, he'll be benched. Same for Okobo/Melton, Bridges and even Warren if Bridges or JJ regularly outpay him. But if Jackson plays poorly, will Koko really sit him? He certainly has enough depth to do so, but I'm not sure.

I'm gonna cheer for JJ to be a major component to the Suns future. However, I have no reservations with Koko sitting him and playing Ariza, Warren, Bridges, Reed, Anderson, Bender, or Daniels if Jackson can't get things figured out. Right now its more important to win than treat Jackson with kid gloves.

No messing around this year. Time to grow up and be men. Every single one of these guys have to be good teammates. You're only as good as your ability to make a teammate better. I want them to be excited about the game of basketball but more businesslike, like Villanova.