Suns HC has plans for Devin Booker’s game on offense this year
By Justin Lee
The Phoenix Suns are a team that can score however they want in the 2023-24 NBA season. That’s what happens when you have three guys who can score it from anywhere and get 30 whenever they want. In other words, this offense will truly be something amazing to witness.
But some things from last season have to change first. The Suns must ensure these three guys can play within an offense together. So, new head coach Frank Vogel is pushing for one of his best players to change his game a bit – not in a bad way; if anything, it’s great.
In Monday night’s win, the Phoenix Suns played all three superstars against the Portland Trailblazers, while Deandre Ayton was seen smirking and smiling on the opposing team’s bench. While he was doing that, Devin Booker was going nuclear in the first quarter. He finished the first 12 minutes of the game with 17 points and was 4/5 from three-point range.
He got those buckets a bit differently, though. He was seen pulling up for three in transition after he made a great defensive play on the other end. It seemed like if he pulled up to shoot the jumper, it was money, no matter what. And that’s exactly what he was doing differently, hitting ull up threes more than he did in the past.
This is not me saying that Booker has never done, never been able to do that or anything like that – this is me saying that he did it a lot against the Blazers. And new head coach Frank Vogel is trying to get him to do it more.
Suns’ Frank Vogel has plans to make Booker even better
“I personally am winding him up to shoot that shot,” Vogel started after the game to reporters. “First of all, he is beyond capable; as we saw tonight, he is lethal at that. He’s been a little hesitant to take that shot at a high volume. That’s a shot that I really want to encourage, an extra green light for him. When he’s knocking down that shot, the bigs have to come up.”
“I personally am winding him up to shoot that shot.”
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) October 17, 2023
Frank Vogel said Devin Booker has been hesitant in recent seasons to take pull-up 3s at a high volume, but he thinks it’s “a hell of a weapon” and wants Book to shoot more of them: pic.twitter.com/GFh1X4pLlg
So when we saw Booker doing it on Monday night, he did it in transition and off of a lot of pick-and-roll sets. So when Vogel says the big has to come up, he means on the pick and roll; if Booker is just going to pull up after the high screen and role, then the bigs have to play the shot. That then will open up more roll opportunities and unlock Booker’s playmaking as well.
It’s genius, really, and we know Booker can do it. Vogel has plans for Booker, and it seems those plans involve making him the best player he can be.