There is little doubt that this December has not been one to remember for the Phoenix Suns, as the team is suffering and losing for several reasons.
The Phoenix Suns started the season well and were carried by outstanding individual contributions in November. However, Deandre Ayton’s player of the week award and Devin Booker’s player of the month award both seem like they occurred last year, as the Suns are struggling to play consistent basketball, with four significant problems hurting the team on a nightly basis.
The injuries are mounting for the Phoenix Suns
When the season started, we knew there would be at least a few games lost to injury. However, things are starting to get a tad ridiculous for Phoenix. First, Ayton was out a week, then Cameron Johnson suffered a long-term knee injury, and then Christ Paul was out almost a month. Devin Booker is nursing an ailment, and that is just what has happened with the starters.
The Phoenix reserves have not been immune to injury either, with both backup point guards – Cameron Payne and Duane Washington Jr. missing several games. Dario Saric has had limited availability as he recovers from a significant injury, and wings Josh Okogie and Torrey Craig have missed games with injuries.
Injuries happen; it is part of sports; however, all of these injuries, while Jae Crowder is still not with the team, have increased the workload on everyone else and left the team short. Fortunately, Cam Johnson is starting to exercise again and should be back in the new year, and Booker will hopefully only miss a few more games. If healthy, the Suns can compete; however, they haven’t been and, as a result, have struggled in several areas as a team.
Although Johnson should return and everyone cannot stay injured all season long, the Suns have shown they are a bit short in terms of personnel.
The Phoenix Suns lack the athletic bigs to bang with the best
Although Ayton has flashed at times this season and does look like he will be a lot for anyone to handle in the playoffs, the Suns’ big man needs some help. Ayton outrebounded MVP Nikola Jokic on Christmas 16 -15, but the Suns lost overall. While Phoenix rebounds okay as a team overall, if Ayton cannot control the glass, it makes things difficult for the team, as was the case with Aaron Gordon collecting 13 boards to compliment Jokic in the Suns’ loss in Denver.
The Suns have struggled against teams with multiple athletic bigs, as we saw against Memphis, New Orleans, and even lowly Houston. Ayton is playing hard, but he needs help, and Williams seems unwilling to play either Bismakc Biyombo or Jock Landale with the Jamaican, meaning that help will have to come from somewhere else.
The return of Johnson will not fully address this issue, although an intelligent trade for an athletic, playmaking big like Kyle Kuzma could fix the problem.
Williams has been shorthanded this season with his player availability. However, there are a couple of things that can be fixed with some coaching.
The first quarter is killing Phoenix
Anyone who has been watching Phoenix since the playoff ousting by Dallas last season knows that the Suns have not been good in the first quarter. In almost every December game, and definitely in the losses, Phoenix has fallen behind early, making the game more complicated than it needs to be.
Against both Washington and Denver, Phoenix fell behind early, by a lot, and was able to claw their way back into the game, but then ran out of steam and lost in the end. Against Boston, Memphis, and New Orleans on one occasion, those deficits have been too much, and Phoenix never returned.
Being behind at the end of the first quarter is one thing; behind double-digits is another, and the Suns have to fix whatever is wrong at the start of games, which Williams needs to work on.
Chicken or egg with Suns and three points
The final big problem for Phoenix in December is that the team is taking entirely too many three-pointers.
In October, when the Suns were 5-1, they took 32.2 threes per night. In November, as the Suns went a respectable 10-5, they took 33.2 threes per game. However, in December, the Suns fell in love with the three, taking 37.7 per night, which is too many for the team.
It is one thing when Landry Shamet takes a bunch when making them; however, players often try to shoot their way out of a funk rather than going to the bucket to score.
On the season, in their 19 wins, the Suns are taking 34.3 threes per game; in the losses, they are taking 35.3 and shooting a lower percentage. Interestingly, when the Suns’ three-point attempts go down, their free-throw attempts go up in those wins, showing that there is more than one way to score.
Right now, there is no one thing killing Phoenix; it is death by a thousand cuts, as the injuries, shot selection, and lack of size are catching up with a tired team and playing from behind far too often. Can James Jones and Williams do anything about it, or are the Suns going to bleed out?