Advanced stats say the Phoenix Suns lack the hustle
Defensive Loose Balls Recovered
The last hustle advanced stat is the most obvious. Are you ever watching the game and feel like the ball never bounces the Phoenix Suns’ way? Does is it appear that every loose ball or deflection ends up in the hand of the opposition? Well, you’re not wrong.
The Suns are 22nd in the league on defensive loose balls recovered, that is, if the opposition loses the ball, they generally get it back. What is interesting here is they are putting forth the effort to cause a loose ball. It’s the secondary effort and/or team hustle that is lacking.
Yes, drilling down in to advanced metrics creates plenty of room for debate. Do they really matter? Are they really why the Suns are losing? Maybe. Maybe not.
Related Story. The Phoenix Suns need to get with the times. light
One stat that is not advanced is the fact that the Phoenix Suns are 2-6 in games decided by three points or less. A possession here, a hustle play there, and the Suns could have won those games. If they had, if they were 6-2 in those close affairs, the Suns would be sitting at 18-19.
I don’t need an advanced metrics to tell me how much better I would feel with that record.