Suns Analysis: What Each Player Needs To Focus On Down The Stretch

Eric Bledsoe

As was mentioned in last week’s column, Bledsoe’s turnover percentage is a ridiculously high 18 percent. On the year, he is averaging 3.5 turnovers per game, higher than his career average of 2.5 (mostly due to his low usage rate and minutes played early in his career).

It is really important for Bled to bring that down to… maybe… two turnovers per game, just to build on it through the offseason. Cutting down on turnovers is not really something you can work on, outside of competitive NBA games. He can work on ball-handling this summer, but mostly it’s his decision-making in the paint, sometimes trying to force a layup among the trees, when he should kick it out or pull-up from 12 feet for a jumper or a floater.

Brandon Knight

For Knight, it’s really all about health. It would really help Suns’ management if Brandon could get through the final stretch of games unscathed, and have some consistent production, showing that McDonough and company made the right decision trading for him. They’ll have to make another decision as he is a restricted free agent this summer, but Knight just has to show the Suns something.

On the court, it would calm everyone’s minds if Knight could hit a barrage of threes, showing how could spread the floor in the future.

Alex Len

With his recent surgery for his broken nose, Len is reportedly going to miss the next week. Barring Phoenix shutting him down (which I say they shouldn’t do) he has a list of aspects of his game to work on before the offseason.

Len has got to remember to put a bit more arc on his jumper and not fade away on it. He already goes hard to the rim, rebounds well and guards the paint. The Suns would sure be smart to get him a bunch of post touches as well. He’ll be significantly better in the post next season after he puts on more weight and can hold his ground down on the block. But he needs to work on his array of moves, as well as his footwork.

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