3. Archie Goodwin Will Need To Work For Everything He Gets
If you thought bigger minutes were heading Archie Goodwin’s way after Knight went down, you joined me in trying to find the silver lining of his injury. Against the Warriors in the second half, Goodwin even played some minutes as backup point guard, finding a cutting T.J. Warren for one memorably promising assist.
Unfortunately, Goodwin is still going to have to work his ass off to crack this rotation, because he only got 13 minutes against a Western Conference bottom feeder in Phoenix’s first game sans Knight. He finished with one point (0-for-4 shooting), two rebounds and three assists.
Goodwin has made two nice passes since coming in.
— Kevin Zimmerman (@KZimmermanAZ) March 10, 2015
Goodwin’s lack of minutes is starting to get maddening for fans, and those feelings will only grow stronger if he continues to receive scarce minutes with Knight sidelined. But as long as the Suns are in the hunt for the postseason, his lack of NBA-readiness will hinder his playing time.
Consistency and team defense are tough concepts for young players to grasp, and more minutes would certainly help with his development in those areas. But Hornacek isn’t going to just hand Goodwin minutes, so if Archie wants to stay on the floor, he’s going to have to earn what he gets.
Next: No. 2