5-On-5: What Has Keyed Phoenix Suns’ Turnaround?

3. How big of a leap did Archie Goodwin make on Sunday night?

Bourguet: He didn’t even play 20 minutes in that game against the Mavericks, but they might have been more important for his development and confidence than his infamous poster over Jonas Valanciunas ever was. Goodwin has had to fight for minutes and the fact that Jeff Hornacek was comfortable with playing him in crunch-time of a game with playoff implications…that’s big. Archie only scored five points in that game, but they were five of the biggest seven points the Suns scored down the stretch.

Chasen: He made a pretty decent leap, but the real leap was made by Hornacek in leaving him in the game late. And how awesome was it to see him and Bledsoe chest bump at center court with like a minute left?

Hann: His stat line (five points, three rebounds, three assists) may not show a huge leap, but make no mistake, Goodwin grew more than he ever has as a player. Hitting a go-ahead three in crunch-time in a playoff-like atmosphere will absolutely do wonders for Goodwin’s confidence. No matter who the Suns bring in during the offseason, Goodwin is cementing his spot in the Suns rotation for the foreseeable future. He was a +12 in just 11 minutes of play, second on the team to Alex Len’s +15.

Saar: The three-pointer that Goodwin hit was perfect. It was the culmination of all the hours Goodwin has put in over the last couple years and hard work in the D-league, working on his craft after practice.

It took confidence to shoot that three in crunch-time and confidence and trust to pass it to him. Even better, it instills confidence going forward. With the Suns’ guard logjam fixed, Goodwin has been in the rotation, even earning fourth quarter minutes in close games. That’s great for his development and the Suns as well.

Harris: Well I mean he made a clutch shot, but he only had five points for the entire game, so I would not say it was a huge leap in his performance.

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