Post#34 » by RedIndian » Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:38 am
The Suns have done themselves a massive favour by getting rid / refusing to play the washed-up vets - Chandler, Ariza and Anderson. Players who didn't want to be there, and had basically checked out / stopped playing with any fire or enthusiasm. Crawford of course has been a massive surprise - mostly thanks to his infectious enthusiasm for the game.
The Suns are now slowly starting to build an identity as a young, athletic team with a lot of hustle and energy. Melton, Holmes, Bridges and Jackson have really transformed the Suns' defense over the last 5-10 games. Now they get to add Oubre to that mix as well.
Add Booker and Warren finally getting healthy, and Ayton showing steady improvement in all facets of his game (especially defense), and you get a team that'll compete most nights.
After the terrible start to the season, that's pretty much what the Suns fans want. In the larger scheme of things this season, they're still going to be capped out at about 30 wins, but if they get there building a culture of high-energy, competitive basketball, there's going to be a lot to come from them in the next couple of years.
Shout out to Kokoskov as well, who's shown tremendous patience through a really rough opening phase by sticking to his offensive principles. The defense is starting to show. Next up hopefully is an increase in offensive efficiency.