If you haven't been paying close attention to NBA basketball the last 2 years, the Phoenix Suns must be mystifying for you. Teams don't usually have a turnaround from basement level to top floor in that short amount of time. How do you go from 19 wins - 63 losses in 2019, to bubble legends in 2020, and level up once more to championship contender in 2021?
Much like Devin Booker, I'm thinking Hooters with the fellas.
You can't go to Hooters with just anyone, you really have to piece together a specific group of fellas. You have to patiently wait for the right people, no matter how miserable your life is without this polarizing restaurant.
So, we can parlay this into:
Hooters = NBA finals
Fellas = His Teammates
You can't make the NBA finals with just anyone, much like you probably can't go to Hooters with just anyone either.
(I've never been to Hooters.)
Booker finally has a roster, and a head coach that clearly sees the best way for Phoenix to succeed. This success revolves around some masterpiece ball movement, which is in part engineered by Chris Paul, but every single man who gets to see the floor has bought into that.
The Suns are a team of unlikely heroes, we can attribute some of that to Phoenix's history of losing, but think about how many times we've counted out certain members of this team?
Can we all admit that if Houston beat Golden State in the 2018 conference finals, this clip would be the single best fucking thing we've ever seen?
We forget about Chris Paul so easily because he has never been able to stay healthy when his team has needed him the most.
However, we also completely forgot about the Suns other pieces and their talents due to a handful of reasons.
Deandre Ayton - Was drafted ahead of Luka Doncic and Trae Young, which is Twitter ammunition for people who like pointing out the obvious.
Mikal Bridges - The first thing I thought of was when he was drafted by Philadelphia initially, and his mother actually worked within the organization for that team. They interview her and Mikal together basically, super wholesome moment. Seconds later he's traded to the Suns and that whole interview is now just fucking tragic.
Cameron Payne - Literally was out of the league until Phoenix grabbed him midway through this season, you may remember him dancing pre-game with Russell Westbrook when he played for OKC. I don't know how you could forget that actually, them boys always murdered that shit. Also, Charlie Villaneuva once tried to stand in between them to break up the pre-game ritual for what I just saw as jealousy. Maybe Russ is the one who stole Charlie's toilet from his house.
How do you rip a toilet out the ground and that's the ONLY thing you steal from the house?
Cameron Johnson - Drafted too high according to folks who clearly pretended they watch college basketball.
Jae Crowder - I mean Jae Crowder doesn't really let you forget about him, but it's sorta funny that Devin Booker dropped 70 on his head and now they're teammates. Jae plays on good teams and Phoenix would be classified as one of those.
Dario Saric and Torrey Craig are also in the rotation, and I know 90% of you have no idea where Torrey Craig even came from when he entered the NBA. There have to be Suns fans that think Dario Saric is just Dragan Bender still.
Everyone wants to say the the 2020 NBA bubble version of the Suns was the team's turning point. I whole-heartedly believe that the change started with Ricky Rubio and Aron Baynes. That's not a joke, Rubio sparked some more ball movement into Monty Williams' ideal offensive system, and Aron Baynes shot the absolute shit out of it. How can you possibly be mad about that? Ricky Rubio gets passed around the league more than a blunt gets passed around at Woodstock, and Aron Baynes could make getting dunked on an official stat. You need to be happy for these dudes.
In reality, having Rubio must have made the Suns management realize that a pass-first point guard was perfect for their offense. It allowed Devin Booker to search for his buckets a little more, instead of worrying about facilitating an entire offense.
Enter Chris Paul.
Obviously Chris Paul is an ideal option in terms of running an offense and providing great on-ball defense. There isn't much else to say about it really, if you didn't recognize Chris Paul's greatness before this season then that's on you pal.
The Suns had their formula for winning laid out in front of them after acquiring a perfect point guard.
Here's how every other piece of this team fits a championship puzzle:
Ball-Screen Wizards
Devin Booker and Chris Paul are both out here murdering fools on ball-screens. Both players are so good at manipulating the defenders involved in the screen. The first threat is the mid-range jumpshot, an area that both men specialize in.
Chris Paul on 2's outside of the paint this season - 51.8%.
Devin Booker between 10-16 feet from the hoop this season - 54.2%
You thought the mid-range shot was dead? Yes and no.
Defenses have been willing to give up a mid-range shot to these two killers on a regular basis, and it's due to our next point.
3 Point Shooting
Chris Paul has made a career out of finding the open man on the court, even when you think he can't see it. The man makes some ultra-instinct level passes out of the ball-screen, We've all seen him hit these exact passes for corner 3's:
You also need players who can actually hit those outside shots, that's where several Suns players really shine.
Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder are both legitimate catch-and-shoot threats, but so are Cameron Payne and Cameron Johnson. Devin Booker doesn't see as many catch-and-shoot opportunities because the ball is consistently in his hands, and we seem to forget he's an excellent playmaker. He may have reminded you with that 40 pts/13 rbs/11 Asts line he had against the Clippers most recently, he's hitting those outside shooters just as effectively as Chris Paul does. Torrey Craig and Dario Saric are also reliable shooters, there's really no weakness in terms of shooting presence.
The amount of shooting strength creates a ton of closeout situations for the opposing defense, which has encouraged the Suns to swing the ball swiftly and find the open shooter.
A true shooter will always tell you that just the threat of being able to shoot 3's efficiently is your most dangerous weapon. A pump fake can open up a casual stroll to the rim on occasion because the defender commits too hard. This threat level allows Phoenix to thrive as soon as the ball-handler kicks it out of the paint, a super efficient way to run your offense.
So why do teams even collapse on the pick & roll if Phoenix can shoot the lights out?
Deandre Ayton
Ayton has been quietly getting a lot better, and he's a perfect "roll man" for Chris Paul. The threat of him coming down the lane is a big reason defenses have to collapse. If you give Ayton the ball in the paint, he converts pretty easily. His shootings numbers back that up.
Shooting between 0-3 feet from the hoop - 76.6%
Shooting bewteen 3-10 feet from the hoop - 51.7%
So what the fuck are you supposed to do guarding a Phoenix Suns ball-screen action? You're living and dying with Chris Paul or Devin Booker converting a mid-range jumpshot, so you're basically just dying then I guess.
Defensive Prowess
Considering Chris Paul and Mikal Bridges are notable snubs from the NBA All-Defensive teams, that already goes a long way.
Deandre Ayton holding NBA MVP Nikola Jokic to below-average shooting numbers when being directly guarded by him goes even further. Ayton mitigated a lot of the damage Jokic could have created in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. He's developed into an ideal rim and paint protector, which allows the defense to feel confident in forcing offensive players to battle with him in the lane. No one really has a good advantage posting him up. He's mobile, strong, long, and has a child's face with a man's beard pasted onto it.
We stan.
Jae Crowder is always nice to have on your playoff team because of his defensive abilities, but also he just plays mean as fuck. Playoff basketball isn't about making friends, it's about talking mad shit for no reason other than competitive nature. That notion encapsulates Jae Crowder and his consistently pissed-off demeanor.
Every other player on the Suns roster understands what the defensive goals are, and have all the confidence in Deandre Ayton to bail them out in the paint. This isn't saying that the Suns have incapable defenders. Torrey Craig and Cam Johnson are quietly very good defenders, Devin Booker and Cam Payne always match the intensity on that end as well.
Alright Marcus so what is the Phoenix Suns biggest weakness?
At this moment I'm saying it would be just going ice cold from 3, I don't see it happening.
So besides stating the obvious, what was the purpose of writing this Marcus?
I'm not on trial, mind your own business.
In reality, I think there are a ton of lessons here.
How to construct a team around your young draft picks correctly, playing to their strengths, and finding players that make them better.
Your favorite team could be a couple of key players away from going on a run like Phoenix has.
Key players don't always equate to all-stars.
3 and D players will continue to peak in value.
Just because someone was out of the league at one point, doesn't mean they can't hoop (Cam Payne ousted Lebron from the playoffs and I refuse to see it any other way).
Ben Simmons should learn how to shoot a basketball
Monty Williams is an extremely talented head coach
The mid-range shot isn't dead, but when teams are as offensively talented as the Suns, it's likely the least efficient shot that you could give up.
You should always cheer for a team that Frank Kaminsky plays for.
The Suns have constructed a nearly perfect rotation of players.
I think the biggest point I could make is that this isn't just a Chris Paul revival project. The Suns had flashes of absolute brilliance in the 2019-2020 NBA season with a different set of players, arguably a playoff team without the injuries and suspensions that occurred. Finding your team's identity naturally creates a great culture, and it's hard to build something without the blueprints.
Imagine building Ikea furniture without an instruction manual, is that what hell is?
It's either that or a montage of Ben Simmons shooting free throws.
I'm sorry Ben, but shoot it with your right hand. Why not? There's literally nothing to lose. If you don't like it at least you tried.
In conclusion, Phoenix doesn't have visible holes in their style of play. The Bucks, Clippers, and Hawks all have something holding them back.
Bucks - Giannis can't shoot it, they can overcome it, but will they?
Clippers - No Kawhi likely for the rest of the playoffs.
Hawks - I love how the Hawks made the Conference Finals but they're definitely one of the weaker defensive squads to do so.
The Suns success has not snuck up on us, we just weren't observant to what they already had. Be patient waiting for your rebuilding team.
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