Five signs this season has been a failure
By Adam Maynes
They’re not just losing, they’re not playing any defense
Not only are the Suns losing at a much greater clip than at any other point in their past 48 years, but they’re almost literally playing zero defense along the way.
Obviously the silver lining to losing is that they will have a very high draft pick, with potentially the best odd at the number one overall selection which could all but guarantee the star big the franchise has long coveted in DeAndre Ayton.
But will one 20-year-old player really turn things around right away?
What’s worse is that their biggest problem isn’t just that they are already ultra young, it’s that they aren’t playing any defense In fact are worse under Jay Triano than they were under Earl Watson (and I harped on Watson constantly for his poor defensive coaching). Plus in some metrics they are worse than at any point in their history!
The first and most obvious defensive metric to look at is points per game allowed. The 2016-17 Suns allowed 113.3ppg, which was the worst allowed in 30 years when the 1986-87 Suns allowed 113.5.
However this season Phoenix is allowing a staggering 113.7, the most the franchise has allowed since 1969-70, their second season in the Association! The Suns have not held an opponent below 100 points in a game since January 31, and have allowed 120 or more points 25 times this season.
Another defensive metric that illustrates how terrible their defense is, is their Defensive Rating (DRtg), which calculates an opponents points allowed and opponents possessions multiplied by 100. The resulting number is the expected amount of points that a team will allow on defense over 100 possessions.
After allowing 112.2 last season – their worst in franchise history, this season’s Suns have topped that and currently own a 113.1 DRtg which is, once again, their worst in franchise history.
Needless to say, while they are supposed to be losing, the fact that they are not playing any defense should absolutely be a factor in one’s fear about how this team can find a way to improve itself heading into next season.
Unfortunately too, some of the Young Suns are getting used to the losing. For instance, Devin Booker has not been on a team that has lost fewer than 58 games in his career. Fan support is depressed because of the continued losing and no playoff runs (eight years now without a playoff game – a franchise record) and there is absolutely zero guarantee that next season will be that much better.