Suns Analysis: Breaking Down Phoenix’s Recent Problems On Offense
Too Many Turnovers
The Suns are giving up 17.6 points off turnovers per game this season, and their defense has enough problems as it is. Each possession is crucial for a team that depends on individual play-making, so coughing up the ball not only hurts the offense, but it also kills the defense as well.
Phoenix is committing 15.1 turnovers per game on the season, but since the All-Star break that number has jumped to 16.3 per game.
Since his arrival in Phoenix, Brandon Knight is committing 3.2 turnovers per 100 possessions. A lot of these mistakes have come from that typical chemistry-building stage that comes with a young player adjusting to his new teammates. We’ve already seen Knight throw the ball out of bounds a few times, expecting Bledsoe or another teammate to be somewhere he’s not.
But the majority of Phoenix’s turnover problem stems from Bledsoe himself, the new head architect of the offense. Ever since I jinxed him by declaring him the new leader of the Suns, Bledsoe has been passive in the scoring column and far too aggressive in the turnover column.
My problem isn't that Eric Bledsoe turns the ball over - it's that so many of his turnovers are unforced errors.
— Scott Howard (@ScottHoward42) February 27, 2015
Since the All-Star break, Bledsoe’s turnovers per game have jumped from 3.3 to 4.6. He’s committing an absurd 6.1 turnovers per 100 possessions in that span and has recorded at least five turnovers in six of his last 10 games.
If the Suns are going to jumpstart their offense, and if Bledsoe is going to be the leader of this team — which he needs to be, as the roster is currently constructed — he needs to take much better care of the ball.
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