Game 8: Miami Heat (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (6-1) | Nov 6 | 7:00PM

[Revived]

The biggest differences between this season and last season so far for me from an eye test standpoint has been 2 things…

1. 3pt attempts. I haven’t checked to verify it’s true but it seems like Suns are finally not passing up on wide open 3s and actually shooting it. Whatever weird reason, they were not doing this last season. Even Vogel said last year that he wanted them to shoot it but they just wouldn’t. Maybe getting swept in the 1st rd changed the players.

2. Players are defending much better. Especially KD is providing a ton of rim protection. And I think the rookie Dunn and Royce O'Neal (looking much better this year than last year) helps a lot. This is a bit strange too because Vogel is supposed to be the better defensive coach yet Bud's concepts seem to be working better. Or again, maybe the players are just playing harder after the humiliating sweep, idk.

The one issue still remains the iso ball mentality that the Suns go to throughout the stretches of games. It's okay to do it for short stretches but too many possessions where nobody else except just 2 Suns players touch the ball isn't very productive imo. Touching the ball gets other players to be more engaged defensively and such too. I'd like to see them continue to move the ball.

[lilfishi22]

Awesome game from Nurk! I was laughing when he kept hitting 3s...every time it was like 3 more feet back. His best game easily. If he can hit 3s like that, it's huge, and if he keeps rebounding the way he has the last few games, his lack of very good interior defense and some of the turnovers I can handle.

KD is playing awesome too. He really clutched up.

It's amazing that we go from the most clutch team for a few years, to the worst 4th quarter team, to the most clutch team again. While it would be nice to have some blowouts, it's great that we know we can close out close games.

I am curious how we will play against the good teams like Boston, Cleveland, OKC and GS, who is playing much better than I would have expected before the season.

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[lilfishi22]

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[Qwigglez]

2022-23 we also were 7-1. Lost to the Blazers in game 2 of that season, and then to the Blazers again in game 9. If Suns win the next game against the Mavs Suns will have tied the best record in Suns franchise history with the 2009-10 team.
If Suns also win against the Kings, it will be the Suns best start in franchise history dating back to at least the Barkley-era Suns (I didn't research further back then those days).

[lilfishi22]

After last night's game, we're in the top 10 in both Offensive and Defensive rating!

[lilfishi22]

The biggest differences between this season and last season so far for me from an eye test standpoint has been 2 things…

1. 3pt attempts. I haven’t checked to verify it’s true but it seems like Suns are finally not passing up on wide open 3s and actually shooting it. Whatever weird reason, they were not doing this last season. Even Vogel said last year that he wanted them to shoot it but they just wouldn’t. Maybe getting swept in the 1st rd changed the players.

2. Players are defending much better. Especially KD is providing a ton of rim protection. And I think the rookie Dunn and Royce O'Neal (looking much better this year than last year) helps a lot. This is a bit strange too because Vogel is supposed to be the better defensive coach yet Bud's concepts seem to be working better. Or again, maybe the players are just playing harder after the humiliating sweep, idk.

The one issue still remains the iso ball mentality that the Suns go to throughout the stretches of games. It's okay to do it for short stretches but too many possessions where nobody else except just 2 Suns players touch the ball isn't very productive imo. Touching the ball gets other players to be more engaged defensively and such too. I'd like to see them continue to move the ball.

It's really hard to decipher the 2023-2024 Suns. Like last season, our offense sucked, it looked ugly, it wasn't enjoyable to watch, those 4th quarter collapses were basically patented and we had a good amount of injuries yet we ended the season 9th in offensive rating, 13th in defensive rating and 9th in net rating. We also won 49 games with multiple, 5-game, 6-game and 7-game win streaks. So on paper, we weren't that bad at all last season, just optically it was ugly and not enjoyable and of course, those 4th quarter collapses and 1st round sweeping stands out

Comparing to last season
ORTG: 114.9 (117.6 last season) = -2.7
DRTG: 111.3 (114.6 last season) = -3.3
Net Rating: +3.6 (+3.1 last season) = +0.5

But as Book said post-game, it's impossible to compare to last year because we're organised this season. And at the same time, I think there's a lot to be optimistic about. For example, Grayson is still finding his shot from last season where he's currently shooting 36.4% from range but a major improvement is the 5.5 attempts a game in less than 20mpg. Last season he took 5.9 attempts in 33.5mpg so he's basically increased his 3PT shooting attempt by over 60%, he just need to cash those in at around 40%+ and we're money.

But the big one is Book, who's had a couple of good games but no one thinks he's playing at the level we're accustomed to seeing him play at. Outside of that 40pt game against the Clippers, his 33pt against Lakers and 28pts against Portland were both super inefficient (20/46 overall and 5/18 from three). He's averaging 24.4/4/6 on .586TS%. Those are basically the numbers he put up in his 3rd/4th season in the league so he still has plenty of room to improve.

When those 2 guys improve, that ORTG and net rating should also improve

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

The biggest differences between this season and last season so far for me from an eye test standpoint has been 2 things…

1. 3pt attempts. I haven’t checked to verify it’s true but it seems like Suns are finally not passing up on wide open 3s and actually shooting it. Whatever weird reason, they were not doing this last season. Even Vogel said last year that he wanted them to shoot it but they just wouldn’t. Maybe getting swept in the 1st rd changed the players.

2. Players are defending much better. Especially KD is providing a ton of rim protection. And I think the rookie Dunn and Royce O'Neal (looking much better this year than last year) helps a lot. This is a bit strange too because Vogel is supposed to be the better defensive coach yet Bud's concepts seem to be working better. Or again, maybe the players are just playing harder after the humiliating sweep, idk.

The one issue still remains the iso ball mentality that the Suns go to throughout the stretches of games. It's okay to do it for short stretches but too many possessions where nobody else except just 2 Suns players touch the ball isn't very productive imo. Touching the ball gets other players to be more engaged defensively and such too. I'd like to see them continue to move the ball.

Moving the ball means players move, so better transition D, offensive rebounding, spacing, field goal percentages, defensive fouls drawn, and finally, more energy spent by your opponent on defense, since defense is more physically exhausting (I think).

[sunsbg]

Moving the ball means players move, so better transition D, offensive rebounding, spacing, field goal percentages, defensive fouls drawn, and finally, more energy spent by your opponent on defense, since defense is more physically exhausting (I think).

All true. Also from fans perspective a lot more fun to watch.