Archie Goodwin Points Out Suns’ Problems

The Phoenix Suns have been quite the Chatty Cathy’s over the last few months.

First we had Goran Dragic telling the world he was unhappy with his role in the crowded backcourt, essentially demanding a trade by letting everyone know he wouldn’t re-sign with Phoenix as a free agent this summer. Then Markieff Morris called out the fans for their lack of energy.

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Gerald Green recently broke the silence on his inconsistent playing time with the Suns over the last two and a half months, expressing his desire to re-sign in Phoenix but uncertain if the team even wants him anymore. Now 20-year-old Archie Goodwin is ready to chime in on the state of the team.

After Saturday’s victory over the Utah Jazz, Goodwin joined the Suns Interactive Postgame Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM and spoke with hosts Jon Bloom and Greg Esposito about a big problem with the Suns — their lack of veteran leadership:

“‘Just having a vocal leader — Channing Frye was great at that for us last year — I think that’s another thing that we’re missing because we don’t really have a solid vet that’s been through the trenches and knows exactly what’s going on, besides Danny Granger, but he’s not playing. He’s hurt,’ Goodwin said. ‘I think that’s what we’re really missing.'”

Goodwin isn’t wrong. P.J. Tucker is a great locker room leader, but he’s also only been in the league for four seasons total. And, no offense to the do-it-all hustle play of Tucker, but if he’s the team’s most veteran presence in the locker room, it’s no wonder the Suns have lost 17 games by five points or less this season.

A veteran presence has been on this team’s to-do list for awhile now, and the Suns are more than aware that they’re still one star piece away from taking the next step forward. Goodwin is simply stating facts, and these comments certainly weren’t meant as a slight to Granger or Tucker.

But the timing of these comments isn’t great either. This team has had a bad vibe going for it since before the NBA trade deadline, when the front office shipped away one-third of the roster. The Suns still have youth, and guys like Eric Bledsoe, Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris, Alex Len, T.J. Warren and Goodwin are only going to get better.

The only thing this Suns season was missing was a 20 year old attacking veteran leadership and role definition. Thanks Archie Goodwin!
— Scott Howard (@ScottHoward42) April 7, 2015

But after watching the Suns go from one of the most promising teams in the league in 2013-14 to a colossal disappointment in 2014-15, do you really think free agents are going to be lining up to play in Phoenix? Does anyone believe the Suns can land the star they desperately need when the closest thing the Suns had to a star told the world he didn’t trust management anymore?

Every headline that’s been published about the Suns over the last few months has been negative. This Phoenix team doesn’t connect with its fans, and calling them out certainly didn’t help matters. Think about it: one of Suns fans’ favorite players is Gerald Green, a walking heat check who has hardly played over the last two months.

That’s not a good sign, and although Goodwin is 100 percent correct in his assertion that the Suns need a veteran leader, comments to Arizona Sports about this team’s lack of defined roles aren’t going to help anything:

“‘I also think we don’t do a good job of letting guys know what exactly their role is,’ he said. ‘I feel like this year a lot of guys felt like their only role is just to come in and score.’

“‘Winning teams, you have guys that do that, you have guys that defend, you have guys that know they’re rebounders, you have guys who facilitate and make others better. I don’t think we really have that. We pass the ball, but I think that more so a lot of guys think that the only thing they’re out there to do is score, and that’s been a big problem with us.'”

Again, Goodwin’s not wrong. The Suns are among the worst in the league when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio and assist percentage on made baskets. A big problem with the offense is it relies far too heavily on guys making individual plays.

But like all of the comments mentioned here, Archie’s diagnosis on the Suns is ill-timed and does nothing to help the perception that Phoenix is not a fun place to play basketball. That matters to free agents, and it’s the reason fans’ expectations shouldn’t be too high heading into the offseason.

Next: Gerald Green Speaks On Future With The Suns

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