Phoenix Suns | Pace and Space

Trevor Ariza Breaks NBA Advanced Stats

December 6, 2018December 6, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

As a general rule, advanced stats tend to move in, if not lockstep, at least some reasonable degree of correlation with each other. Higher PER, higher win shares. Higher Win Shares/48, higher Box Plus/Minus. Better BPM, better VORP. And in any combination thereof, when one stat moves, so do the others. But there’s one very notable exception; PER tends to undervalue catch-and-shoot wings. Need examples? Well, earlier this week I pointed out that Bojan Bogdanovic has a PER better than league average (15, by definition and baked in the stat) in just one season in his career, namely this one, …

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Breakfast Special: Devin Booker’s Fragile Body

December 3, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

Devin Booker continues to suffer the slings and arrows of one minor injury after another. He left the Suns’ 120-96 loss to the Lakers Sunday with Los Angeles up 49-43 in what would prove to be a 40-15 outburst in the second quarter. Booker was plus-6 for the game. No good can come of this for an already gods-awful Phoenix team that now stands 4-19 in the standings, a 14-68 pace by record and 12-70 by point differential. On the Lakers’ side of things, Kyle Kuzma led the scoring with 23, LeBron James had 22, six Lakers scored in double …

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Are the 2018-19 Phoenix Suns Good?

October 10, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

The Phoenix Suns finally hit rock bottom just in time for the DeAndre Ayton Sweepstakes in 2017-18. They should, if the NBA’s insistence—as in other sports—that parity is powered by the draft is true, be a much better team before too long. But “before too long” and “one year after going 21-61” aren’t quite the same thing. Is there anything on this roster than can actually contribute right away to getting off the floor? Or are we about to settle in for a Philadelphia Process in the Pacific Division? 2017-18 record: 21-61 2018-19 over/under: 28.5 Ayton All The Donuts Ayton …

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NBA Breakfast Special: The Pistons’ Letdown Game

November 1, 2017 - by Fox Doucette

When the Detroit Pistons had a big win over the Golden State Warriors on the road, it was only a matter of time before they suffered one hell of a letdown game. Sure enough, that deal with the devil came due on Halloween night, as Staples Center became a house of horrors against the Los Angeles Lakers. LA shredded the Pistons for a .495/.462/.786 slash line, shot 14 free throws to the Pistons’ 3, won the rebound battle 53-44 and the assist battle 30-21, and watched HERO OF SERBIA get a DNP-CD in a 20-point game (free the Boban!) Avery …

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Is This 2018 NBA Team Any Good?: Phoenix Suns

September 21, 2017October 17, 2017 - by Fox Doucette - 1 Comment

by Fox Doucette For every yin, there is a yang, and for every Golden State Warriors squad tearing up the top of the league and redefining the word dynasty for a modern age, there is a sad-sack franchise with a cheapskate owner and no discernible leadership doomed perpetually to suck. Say hello to your 2017-18 Phoenix Suns, folks, as easy a case of Busted as the Dubs were Confirmed. Let’s unpack the sad tale of a pathetic franchise, which spends every waking moment of its life in the futile pursuit of a sadistic playoff berth, which mocks them and laughs …