Around the Suns - A Go On My Suns! blog - Week 17

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

Week 17: 9 - 15 February

Week Record: 1-1

Overall Record: 32-23. 7th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 120 - 111 Vs Dallas Mavericks

L - 109 - 136 Vs OKC Thunder

Centre of The Sun

Has the All-Star game been saved?!

Do we thank the new format or the players wanting to actually compete? I think it's both. Having multiple, smaller teams gives it that playground vibe, then having a team - USA Stars particularly - full of competitive, young guys, plus Wemby setting the tone from the off all contributed.

I personally prefer the East vs West format, but overall I'm happy that the game(s) were fun with the players trying to out-do each other.

Mat Ishbia was the first Sun to take part in the festivities, participating in the Celebrity game on Friday. His highlights went viral owing to his hustle on D, offensive rebounding and hitting a rainbow over Tacko Fall.

He really was like a Temu Collin Gillespie out there and did the team proud.

On Saturday, Book took part in the 3-point contest. I jokingly suggested on X:

And this nearly came true, as Book got 30 points in the 1st round, the highest of the whole contest and got him into the final.

In the final, he needed another 30 to get past Lillard's 29. Going into his final rack - his money ball rack, he only needed to hit 2 to tie Lillard. He would hit 1, then inexplicably miss his last 3 handing the title to Lillard.

He admitted after that he was disappointed, as he wanted to be the defending champion going into next year's contest where All-Star weekend will be in Phoenix.

Book was on the USA Stars team for the main event, starting the games alongside Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Maxey, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. Book got back into his "USA Book Mode" doing everything on the court to help the team take the All-Star Championship.

Across the 3 mini games he had 12 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

Other Suns Stuff

Amir Coffey hits the Court

Amir played in both games and contributed very nicely, scoring 6 and 9 points, respectively. Although some people have said he covers positions we already have, I think he will take Livers spot as he approaches his two-way game limit. If Amir can continue the play he showed this week or get back to how he played with the Clippers, I see him taking Livers' spot sooner rather than later.

Suns Sign Highsmith

Speaking of new players, out of nowhere on Saturday Shams reported that we've signed Hayward Highsmith. Known for his high energy plays with the Miami Heat,

he's struggled with injuries throughout this season, but he's a great pick up if he isn't impacted by said injuries.

He's list at 6' 5" on Basketball Reference, but he definitely plays bigger than his size suggests.

He will wear number 19 with the Suns.

Dillon Suspended

Dillon picked up his 16 technical foul against OKC (it's actually been more, but he's had quite a few rescinded) and will be suspended for 1 game, which he will serve in our 1st game back after the All-Star break.

Funny fact: he is the 1st player since Demarcus Cousins in 2017 to reach 16 techs and get suspended for it before All-Star break. What an achievement! 🤣

CP3 Retirement

As I'm sure you saw, CP had quite the falling out with the Clippers and was "sent home" in December. At the trade deadline he was shipped to Toronto, who subsequently bought him out.

Straight after the buyout news it was announced that he is retiring.

Chris played for the Suns for 3 seasons between 2020-23 helping turn our promising young team into an instant title contender, and lead us to the 2021 NBA Finals, where we were just 2 wins away from the Championship.

As a Sun he was a 2-time All-Star, 3-time All-NBA (2nd team twice, 3rd team once) and came 5th in MVP voting in 2021. That trip to the Finals was also his 1st (and only) of his career.

He posted averages of 15.1 Points, 9.5 Assists & 4.4 Rebounds while in Phoenix.

Hall of Fame

The Basketball Hall of Fame have announced their finalists for this year and it's littered with a few former Suns: Amar'e Stoudemire, Kevin Johnson and Coach Mike D'Antoni.

All-Star Officially coming to Phoenix

During a break at All-Star Sunday, the LA Clippers officially handed the All-Star duties over to the Suns and Mat Ishbia.

If you weren't aware Phoenix will host NBA All-Star weekend in 2027, after hosting the WNBA event in 2025.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 25.2 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 6.3 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 45.5 FG%, 31.1 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Oso Ighodaro

Oso has been playing great for a number of weeks, but took it up another level by only missing 1 shot across 2 games last week and snagged a double-double against Dallas.

His stats for the week:

9.0 Points, 7.0 Rebounds, 3.0 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 1.5 Blocks & 90.0 FG%

Struggling Suns:

Collin Gillespie

We have to remember that this is only Collin's second "full" season, so it's understandable that he will kinda hit that "rookie wall" or "sophomore slump". The games this week can be put into one of those categories.

As always though, he did play hard and contributed in other ways with tough D, grabbing rebounds and setting up his teammates.

His stats for the week:

5.5 Points, 6.5 Rebounds, 5.5 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 28.6 FG% & 33.3 3PT FG%

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Oso Ighodaro Vs Dallas Mavericks

A lovely well rounded game from Oso. He showed off his rebounding, passing, shot blocking and his newly evolving drives to the rim.

Game stat line:

10 Points, 10 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Blocks & 5/6 FGs (83.3%)

Ryan Dunn Vs Dallas Mavericks

This is the Ryan we all want to see every game. He was active on both ends and took his 3-point shots with confidence.

Game stat line:

12 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 4/5 FGs (80.0%) & 2/3 3PT FGs (66.7%)

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

With the Suns being blown out by OKC, Coach Ott allowed the rookies to get a decent run. Rasheer played a career high 19 minutes, Koby a high of 7 minutes and Khaman, the whole of the 4th quarter.

Khaman, had his best game in a Suns uniform matching his career high of 6 points and grabbing a new high 6 rebounds.

Koby also had his best game as a pro, hitting both shots he took, both 3's for a career high in attempts, makes and points - 6 and bot did that 3-point form of his look smooth!

Khaman Maluach - 23 games, 0 starts

1.3 Points, 1.1 Rebounds, 0.1 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.4 Blocks, 45.8 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.4 Turnovers

Rasheer Fleming - 30 games, 0 starts

2.6 Points, 1.3 Rebounds, 0.2 Assists, 0.2 Steals, 0.2 Blocks, 35.4 FG%, 23.9 3PT FG% & 0.3 Turnovers

Koby Brea - 3 games

3.3 Points, 0.7 Rebounds, 0.7 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 60.0 FG%, 50.0 3PT FG% & 0.0 Turnovers

Upcoming Games:

The Spurs are rolling this season and Wemby didn't even take his foot off the gas during the All-Star games.

We are on the road for the match-up and Dillon Brooks will serve his 1-game suspension here.

Back home to face the Magic, who have been one of the more disappointing team this season, after showing so much promise the last couple of years. They're currently 7th in the East and are 3 games over .500.

Even though they've underachieved, they are still a very dangerous team with Banchero and Wagner as their offensive engines.

Our last match-up with Portland is also at home. We played them a couple of weeks ago and won, but neither team was at full strength with Portland missing Deni Advija and us missing Book & Green.

Portland commit the most turnovers in the league and we thrive on forcing turnovers, so this could be another high scoring up and down game, but this time with All-Stars.

Prediction:

I think we'll lose to the Spurs, then hold it down at home, beating the Magic and Blazers.

Predictions League:

Here are the league standings after week 17 and our All-Star Weekend bonus round.

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