Around the Suns - A Go On My Suns! blog - Week 1

Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.

Week 1: 20-26 October

Week Record: 1-2

Overall Record: 1-2. 10th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 120 - 116 Vs Sacramento Kings

L - 102 - 129 Vs LA Clippers

L - 111 - 133 Vs Denver Nuggets

Centre of The Sun

The 2025-26 NBA season has begun and the Suns have completed their first 3 games, finishing with 1 win and 2 losses.

It's all new for the Suns this season, as only Book, Allen, Dunn, Ighodaro, Gillespie and O'Neale return from last season's team. In comes a new GM, a new coach, new players and a new attitude. All Summer the management team spoke about bringing in a never-die, hard-nosed attitude, so as part of the KD trade they brought in Dillon 'The Villain' Brooks and so far the team are playing with that mantra.

They are not the most talented team, but even in the 2 losses they've played hard in ever minute and that is something you definitely couldn't say about last season's team. It's been so refreshing to see players crashing the offensive boards, playing scrappy defence and (in Brooks' case) getting under the skin of opposing players.

What hasn't been quite so good is the missed open shots, the sloppy turnovers and the sometimes bad defence. I can forgive this though, as I am enjoying seeing Dunn swooping in for 4 offensive boards per night, I'm enjoying having those, "No, no, no, YES!" moments when Brooks starts taking his guy one on one, then hits a step-back middy and jaws at the other team's guy. To note, there have also been plenty of, "No, no, no, noooo" moments as well, which I am not enjoying.

We've also started the season without Jalen Green as he recovers from an injured hamstring. Those Brooks shots I've just mentioned should become less once Jalen's on the floor. The team and Book needs Jalen asap. Book has seen teams focus their defence on him so far and that has caused him to be less aggressive to start games as he works out what the other team is doing. It's also led to turnovers, lots of them. Having another above average shot creator on the floor will help open all of that up for Book.

So, week 1, has it been pretty? No, but has it been fun? Sometimes. Am I optimistic things will improve? Yes.

Other Suns Stuff

In case you missed some of the happenings in the offseason, here's some Suns news across the period.

KD traded to the Rockets - Suns receive Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks

Bradley Beal bought out - No trade could be arranged, so now we'll be paying off his contract over 5 years, just to get him off the team. This money goes against our cap space!

New General Manager - James Jones was released and replaced with Brian Gregory. Gregory proceeded to complete the above transactions, as well as the draft and recruited our new coach.

New Coach - Jordan Ott was named the Suns new head coach. Ott was with Nash in Brooklyn, then last season was hailed as the master-mind behind the Cavaliers' offense.

New Statement kit revealed - The new kit is a black alternate kit. The jersey is a bit underwhelming, but the shorts are fire. You can see more here

New Area Name - After having no sponsor last season, the arena now has a sponsor and a name; the Mortgage Matchup Center.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 26.7 Points, 3.7 Rebounds, 5.7 Assists, 0.3 Steals, 55.6 FG%, 33.3 3PT FG% & 6.0 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Devin Booker

Book is the unquestioned leader of this team now and without Jalen Green, most of the offensive load has been on him. The scoring has been there, getting to the free throw line 10 times per game so far. The turnovers - 6 per game - will come down as the players get used to each other and the system

His stats for the week:

26.7 Points, 3.7 Rebounds, 5.7 Assists, 0.3 Steals, 55.6 FG% & 33.3 3PT FG%

Ryan Dunn

His scoring numbers aren't anything crazy, but Dunn gets a spot here thanks to his amazing hustle. Over the first 3 games he's averaging an incredible 4 rebounds per game, gaining us extra possessions. He's had some awesome highlight blocks as well 🤩

His stats for the week:

8.0 Points, 7.3 Rebounds (4.0 Offensive), 1.7 Assists, 0.3 Steals, 1.7 Blocks, 50.0 FG% & 25.0 3PT FG%

Struggling Suns:

I'm going to take a pass on this section this week. I personally think everyone has, overall done well this past week.

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Devin Booker Vs Denver Nuggets

We're going to ignore the turnovers, because in my opinion on a lot of the occasion he threw the balls away, he was fouled.

Book turned up the aggression in the 3rd and it was great to see.

Game stat line:

31 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assist, 10/16 FGs (62.5%) & 2/5 3PT FGs (40.0%)

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

Khaman Maluach - 2 games, 0 starts

3.5 Points, 1.0 Rebounds, 0.5 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.5 Blocks, 33.3 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.5 Turnovers

Rasheer Fleming - 1 game, 0 starts

1.5 Points, 1.0 Rebounds, 1.0 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 20.0 FG%, 33.3 3PT FG% & 0.0 Turnovers

Koby Brea - 0 games

0.0 Points, 0.0 Rebounds, 0.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 0.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.0 Turnovers

CJ Huntley - 0 games

0.0 Points, 0.0 Rebounds, 0.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 0.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.0 Turnovers

Upcoming Games:

The Jazz twice this week give us a good opportunity to make our record look better. Like the Suns, they're projected to be one of the worse teams in the league this season, as they try to tank their way to better draft picks. Although they did blow-out the Clippers in their opening game of the season.

The 2nd match-up with them is our 1st NBA Cup game, so a win there will be great for the morale.

The Grizzlies look to have a healthy season. Their defence hasn't looked great so far, as they gave up 122 points against the Pelicans and 146 against the Heat!

The Spurs have got off to a brilliant start, winning all 3 of their opening games. Wemby is looking amazing and is by far the Week 1 MVP, averaging 33 points, 13 rebounds and 6 blocks!

Prediction:

I'm not going to go out on any limbs at this point and with Green still out and Brooks maybe missing Monday's game none of these games are going to be easy. I'm going to predict a predictable 2 wins against the Jazz, but losses to the Grizzlies and Spurs.

Predictions League:

Week 1 is in the books for this years participants. Here's how the league standings look.

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