The Phoenix Suns are fouling a lot, but that won’t continue
The Phoenix Suns are averaging a league worst 31.3 personal fouls per game this season, a ridiculous 7.7 more than they averaged all of last season (23.6) which was tied with the Atlanta Hawks for worst in the league.
The season prior, they were third in the league in fouls per game at 22.0.
At first blush, it would seem that this season the Suns are out of control; that their fouling is going to kill them.
In truth, if for some reason they kept up a rate of 31.3 fouls per game, it will.
Phoenix Suns
However, they won’t.
Monty Williams spoke too following the loss to the Jazz that his team will have to learn how to play without fouling, something that one can be certain will come over time.
Referees, on the other hand, need to stop calling so many fouls.
If the league-wide fouling rate that has been implemented through the first three or four games this season continued for the duration of the year, a mind-boggling 15 teams would average more fouls this year than were averaged by the Suns last season.
That will not hold.
For whatever reason, league officials are making a point to call a bazillion personal fouls at the start of the year, a trend that is most certainly not going to continue.
As this period of overabundant whistles fades into the background, the Suns will have a more balanced game called based on league-wide averages, therefore if their own early trends continue, they will be able to pull away from more teams than they have been through four games without their opponents constantly at the free throw line quite so often.
It should be noted though that the team is third in the league in both free throws made and attempted (22.3-26.8), so while they are getting too many fouls called on them, they too are a beneficiary to some degree.