The equipment life cycles It is the most difficult to guess nba. How long will a team last without making major changes? When a crisis hits, is it the end or just a bump in the road? These and other questions haunt his mind General Managers and coaches around the league, who are looking for an answer they sometimes don’t want to know. At that point are the Phoenix Sanswho left in just one month lead the Western Conference to fall into the Play-In zone. A collapse that resulted in there being a balance in the 50% win threshold, with a poor game and without the sparkle that made them one of the best teams.
Last year the Suns looked unbeatable. A team that was cruising along with a 78% winning streak, which included 18 in a row, but was curiously short-circuited in Playoffs. This unexpected failure changed everything. The first signs began to appear that all that glitters was not gold with what happened Deandre Ayton. Then the problems with Jae Crowder. Months later, the decline in sporting terms of the group.
Teams go through different phases throughout the season, highs and not so highs. Skillfully navigating all these stretches is what separates a good set from a mediocre one. During the period of two campaigns before this, Phoenix It’s not that it didn’t have setbacks, but they were barely noticeable in intensity. In 2021 They were a group on the rise who were 2 wins away from a ring and the following year they raised the bar to near perfection.
But after the Playoffs something broke and now the reasons are starting to show.
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Defense in low hours
One of the keys to the Phoenix Suns’ success over the past two Regular Seasons has been their balance between offense and defense. They were a good team because they worked well on both ends, didn’t get carried away by bad serves and followed the system to the letter. In this context, items such as Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder gave meaning to an approach where Mikal Bridges was the star
The collapse of that balance makes those of Monty Williams fall like a house of cards.
In those last 10 games the Suns have been the 9th worst defense, recording a defensive ratio of 116. Which puts them in the same range as the Hawks, Timberwolves or Kings.
Although they were among the teams that allowed their opponents the fewest 3-pointers, the big problem was from below the arc. something that translates to 55% success rate on shots from two, including 67.4% in paint (rim and limited area).
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The loss of Booker has energized the offense
Without a Devin Booker to rely on for most of the offensive volume, Phoenix lost another reference figure on offense. The winger was injured on December 25 with a groin problem, although he had already missed the previous three games with the same ailment.
Without him in the lineup the Suns have lost 8 of their 10 games throughout the season, which means that the offensive percentage of the team pass from 121.1 to 109.5. That difference of 11.6 points is common when it comes to stars of their caliber, but what is worrying is the lack of an alternative to a team whose system seemed capable of supporting everything.
And not only that, but the lack of initiative from the group when changing light bulbs goes a long way in explaining this situation. Despite Booker’s absence, Ayton has scored just 0.9 more goals than Landry Shamet over the last 10 games. Between the two, an abysmal difference in success: 38.5% against 56.9% of the domestic.
The burden of time on Chris Paul
At 37, anyone else would sign to be at his level Chris Paul reached this point in his career. The veteran base puts up good numbers, extending a shadow that will cast him when he retires as one of the all-time greats. But no one can break Cronos and the Suns are suffering.
His game speed is slightly slower. His offensive speed has dropped, which has carried over to the defense as well. His splits have gone from 11.9 to 9.3 and his accuracy has dropped from 58% to 46.9%. All this while his main creation weapon, the direct block, has seen it turn to stone, going from occupying the 83rd to the 59th percentile.
If we add to this that CP3 has recently been forced to assume a higher load absent Devin Booker and Cameron Johnson, on top of missing 14 straight games with a thumb injury on his right hand, things aren’t getting any better.
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