The Phoenix Suns are playing exciting basketball right now, but it is not because they throw up 50 3-pointers per game. They don’t. It is because of their enthusiasm, energy, and efficiency.
While it might not be the basketball equivalent to Game of Thrones (Seasons 1-6 anyway) that the Golden State Warriors put on display during their magical regular season run in 2015-2016, this Phoenix Suns team attracts eyeballs.
Normally, you associate exciting basketball with a high-octane offense. 3s, speed, and more 3s. The Houston Rockets fit this mold perfectly, ranking 2nd in the league in pace of play and launching nearly 50 3s per game.
This Suns team, however, has found a way to be thrilling to watch without a run-and-gun offense.
In fact, the Phoenix Suns currently rank 14th in the league in pace of play, and 13th in 3-point attempts per game with only 34 (albeit this number is up from last year’s 29 per game average).
While the Houston Rockets got to where they are by not playing any defense (they rank 2nd to last in Defensive Rating), the Phoenix Suns’ defense often times propels their offense.
The Suns rank 7th in the league with 8.8 steals per game. Their ball-hawking ability makes you think no dribble from the opposing team is safe. While they rank near the bottom of the league in blocks per game (likely due to no Deandre Ayton) they rank 8th overall in Defensive rating.
The Suns are actually the only team in the league to rank in the top-10 in both Offensive and Defensive Rating. That means they are getting stops and turning those stops into solid offense.
About that solid offense.
The Suns are second in the league with 28.8 assists per game. That means the ball is moving and when that happens, it makes for much more exciting basketball than the isolation play Suns fans have seen in recent years.
Monty Williams’ 0.5 system seems to be working as intended.
On top of actual gameplay, the Suns have been in either a close game or a blowout win all five games. I don’t care what your basketball-hating grandmother says, blowout wins are fun to watch when it is your team doing the dominating.
Talking Stick Arena has noticed as well. Despite not selling out, there is a palpable buzz present throughout all games, something that has been seriously lacking in recent seasons.
All of this stems from three primary foundations embedded into this team. Call them the 3 Es: enthusiasm, energy, and efficiency.
Led by Kelly Oubre Jr., the enthusiasm this team brings to the court outdoes that of its opponent every night. While other teams might do a little dance pregame, the Phoenix Suns are out here moshing.
That kind of pregame hype leads to on-the-court energy on both sides of the court best exemplified through their tenacious defense, led by the Bulldog, Jevon Carter.
And now that Ricky Rubio is in charge of the offense, the efficiency is unlike anything the Suns have had since Steve Nash.
The Suns are 2nd in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio. It is simply tough to beat that kind of efficiency.
Devin Booker helps too.
Add in lovable characters like Aron Baynes and it all adds up to must-see-TV, something that will have TV executives kicking themselves over for not putting the Suns on more nationally televised games.
The Suns’ success is their loss. The Valley Boys will keep moshing without them.