Phoenix Suns (1-3) v Utah Jazz (1-0)
Wednesday 10/25/2017 7pm
Talking Stick Resort Arena, AZ
Arizona Sports 98.7FM/Fox Sports Arizona
2017-18 – Series tied 0-0
All-Time Series – Suns lead 91-85
Last Matchup – Jazz won 106-101
Suns’ Last Game – Win over the Sacramento Kings 117-115
Jazz’ Last Game – Loss to the Los Angeles Clippers 102-84
2017-18 Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 102.8 (18th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 125.3 (30th of 30)
2017-18 Jazz’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 95.5 (29th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 96.3 (5th of 30)
Preview
My, what a difference one day can make.
From one of the (only) six 40+ point losses the Phoenix Suns had ever endured in their franchise’s history, to a two-point thrilling victory over the Sacramento Kings under the tutelage of interim Head Coach Jay Triano, and suddenly a team that didn’t seem have any life left in them after only three games of a long season, has a pulse.
Many Suns fans wanted Earl Watson gone like the flu, and when it finally happened – and the Suns jumped out to an impressive early 22 point lead over the Sacramento Kings only a day later – fans suddenly had hope.
Phoenix Suns
Not hope that this team would make the playoffs, or probably even still come close. But hope enough that the Phoenix Suns would compete hard every game, that the young players would receive the proper coaching they would need to avoid true ‘bust’ status, and that there would be light at the end of the tunnel come the 2018 offseason when the organization would not only look to improve through the draft, but via trade and free agency as well.
Granted, within moments that word had been leaked of Earl Watson’s likely removal, Eric Bledsoe, star point guard and frequent trade center-piece, tweeted that he didn’t want to be here any longer, and it seemingly has all gone to hell.
What really sucks about all this is that the Suns sincerely botched the Bledsoe situation. They could have traded him in the offseason completely staving of this disaster, and they could have brushed his tweet aside, accepted his lame salon tweet, and then moved on with their lives until they found a suitable trade partner.
But, No. That’s not at all what they did.
Oh well. More on that later.
In the meantime, the Suns host the Utah Jazz, a team that in the preseason handled the Suns fairly convincingly, taking both games and showing nothing but zeal in their efforts to destroy whatever heart the Purple Gang had left.
But the Jazz aren’t facing that Suns team. Without Eric Bledsoe, the Suns inherently have a much more fluid offensive system, something that Bledsoe generally prevented because of his score-first mentality. They also have a head coach that has experience coaching and has an offense in mind that is fitted to the players on the roster, and not one that was being forced upon the team.
I am not saying that Jay Triano is the Phoenix Suns’ savior. At the moment, I have no clue who can save this team other than time and luck. However, Traino has a much different approach than Watson had. Akin to how Alvin Gentry immediately retro-fitted the Suns with a Mike D’Antoni-style offense after the Terry Porter disaster, which kick-started the offense into hyper drive, Triano will most certainly look to open the offense up, and give the team freedom to pass and play – something that other teams around the league have been doing markedly well, while Suns fans looked upon Watson’s stagnant offense in utter disbelief that it’s architect was an NBA head coach.
How the team will respond in only their second game against the best defensive team they have faced so far this season, remains to be seen.
But as many of you tweeted during the victory of the Kings – even a competitive loss is a win, right now.
Interesting Stats
Phoenix Suns
1. In Jay Triano’s first game as head coach, the Suns shot 54.5% from the field. In 82 games last season under Earl Watson, plus three this season, the Suns shot 50.0% or above only 17 times. They shot better than 54.5% only three total times. Coincidence? Well, it was only one game. But I think not.
2. In that same Kings game the Suns attempted 30 three-point attempts. Granted, 30 is a somewhat arbitrary number, and Watson had made a point to ratchet up the team’s 3-point shooting attempts this season where they had been averaging 26.6 attempts in his three games, yet in 2016-17 the team attempted 30 or more three’s in a game 10 times – six of those strangely coming in the month of December. In those ten games, the Suns averaged only a 29.0% shooting percentage. On Monday they shot 33.3%.
3. In the first quarter versus Sacramento the Suns held a 22-point lead. This was their largest lead of the season, their previous high being nine against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Next: The most EPIC rant in Valley of the Suns Live! History!
Utah Jazz
1. No Gordon Hayward? No problem. Not only are the Jazz 2-2 – not bad through four games – but while still extremely early, at least good enough to be a top-8 team in the West. However, the Jazz held the league’s best opponent’s scoring average last season by allowing a stingy 96.8 points per game. This season, through four games, the Jazz are 5th in the league in that category, allowing only 96.3 points per game. The Phoenix Suns average 102.8 on offense.
2. Speaking of offense, the Jazz average a mild 95.5 points per game this season so far (maybe they do need Hayward after all)…However, the Suns allow 125.2. Not sure there will be a direct correlation now that Bledsoe and Watson are gone, but we’ll see.
3. Joe Ingles is averaging 54.2% from beyond the arc while Alec Burks is averaging 44.4%. The team as a whole average 33.0%, 20th in the league, which is .6 below the Suns, who are 18th overall.