Archie Goodwin: Crunch-Time Archie Impresses
All season long, the complaint has been that 20-year-old Archie Goodwin hasn’t gotten his opportunity to shine. It’s easier to ignore the typical mistakes that young players make with a counterargument of: “He’s only 20 years old! How else is he going to develop?”
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That counterargument grew stronger over the last few weeks with the Phoenix Suns sliding down the standings and nearly out of the playoff picture. But Brandon Knight‘s absence over the last six games has given us a better look at what Goodwin can do when he’s given extended minutes, and the most impressive part is, he’s playing well for a team that’s still in the playoff hunt.
In the last six games without Knight, Goodwin is averaging 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 17.5 minutes per game. He’s only shot 38 percent from the field during that span, but in each of his last three games he’s converted at least 50 percent of his shots.
His development is coming at two positions for the Suns, but last night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks — even if he only played 11 minutes — felt like something of a breakthrough for a young player who’s been biding his time on the bench and in the D-League.
Goodwin finished with five points on 2-of-2 shooting. That’s an efficient stat line if you’re Brian Cardinal, but probably not one that will blow you away. However, the manner of those five points changed the course of the game.
With 3:31 left in the game and the Suns trailing by one, Goodwin caught a pass from Markieff Morris near the top of the key. As Rajon Rondo struggled to close out on him, Goodwin opted to take him off the dribble, spinning past a good defender and lofting on a perfect tear drop over Tyson Chandler, a former Defensive Player of the Year.
Aside from being a beautiful play that required a delicate touch and just the right amount of spin on the ball, Goodwin’s bucket came at an opportune moment in a big game with playoff implications. That bucket alone would’ve been impressive enough, especially since Goodwin hadn’t played much to that point in the game, but he wasn’t done there.
With two minutes remaining and the score tied at 88, Eric Bledsoe found Goodwin open on the wing for a three-point look with the shot clock winding down. Goodwin is only a career 23.8 percent shooter from downtown, but he drilled it anyway. The emotion on display was in celebration of more than just a big-time shot late in the game against a good team.
It was the payoff for spending so much time waiting for an opportunity of the sidelines. It was the culmination of all that hard work, the triumph of finally cashing in on his chance. Goodwin only played 11 minutes in the game last night, but he made them count…when his team needed him most…in a game with playoff implications. Not bad for a 20-year-old.
The best part about this was how fired up his teammates were. They know how hard he’s had to work just to earn some playing time off the bench. The way Eric Bledsoe gave him a chest bump and Gerald Green ran off the bench to give Goodwin a hug suggest that everyone was fully aware how big a moment it was.
Goodwin is shooting 37 percent from downtown this season, so perhaps we shouldn’t make him out to be too much of a hero just yet. He’s no Markieff Morris yet (“Klutch Keef” also struck again last night!), and there’s also a valid concern that the return of Brandon Knight could put a limit on Goodwin’s recent uptick in minutes.
But if you were watching the Suns battle their way past the Mavericks last night, you saw one of the more important moments of Goodwin’s developing career thus far, on pace with his monstrous slam over Jonas Valanciunas or the 29 points he notched against the Sacramento Kings as a rookie.
Perhaps “breakthrough” is probably too strong a word for it, but games like last night are positive stepping stones for young players. Everyone in the building knew how important that confidence and subsequent emotion were for Archie Goodwin, and the fact that he was able to step up in crunch-time for an important game is a very promising sign.
Next: Phoenix Suns: 5 Must-Win Games To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive