Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 11

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

Week 11: 1-7 January 2024

Week Record: 2-2

Overall Record: 19-17. 9th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 109 - 88 Vs Portland Trail Blazers

L - 122 - 131 Vs LA Clippers

W - 113 - 97 Vs Miami Heat

L - 115 - 121 Vs Memphis Grizzlies

Centre of The Sun

Hi everyone, thank you for your patience as I took a break for the festive period.

It's been an up and down period, with players missing and some underwhelming performances, but the great thing about last week was the emergence of Bol Bol.

Vogel gave Bol some time against Portland and he rewarded him with plenty of activity and smart buckets within the offense. Of course, Bol was already a fan favourite, so seeing him play well this week has been awesome.

It was also a week where Grayson Allen truly showed how important he is to this team, as he brought his usual effort and good 3-point shooting, however this week his shooting was off the scale, as he shot it at a 54% clip.

Another positive this week is Beal has been able to stay on the court and begin to find a rhythm in the offense. He's even been fairly ok on D. He does need to hit some 3's though, hitting only 3 on 16 attempts, including some completely wide open ones.

Results wise this week was a mixed bag. We beat the Blazers & Heat easily, but couldn't match the Clippers fire power. We then completely fell apart in the 4th quarter against a Grizzlies team playing without Ja Morant.

I said it last week after the Clippers loss, but we aren't attempting enough 3's and Sam Cooper from The Timeline Podcast demonstrated this point with this spot-on post on X earlier Monday:

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 26.4 Points, 5.0 Rebounds, 7.9 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 47.6 FG%, 38.1 3PT FG% & 2.9 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 29.6 Points, 6.4 Rebounds, 6.0 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 1.1 Blocks, 52.3 FG%, 47.3 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 16.5 Points, 3.9 Rebounds, 3.9 Assists, 0.6 Steals, 48.1 FG%, 31.7 3PT FG% & 2.3 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Grayson Allen

Is Grayson currently the most underrated player in the NBA. Thanks to some previous bad decisions on the court, I think he could be.

He currently leads the NBA in 3-point percentage and against the Heat, hit a career high 9 3-pointers (on just 14 attempts). The 9 makes also match the Suns' franchise record. Do you know the other players to hold the record? Answers on a postcard, well actually, let me know on X or Threads.

His stats for the week:

17.3 Points, 3.0 Rebounds, 3.5 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 1.3 Blocks, 50.0 FG% & 54.8 3PT FG%.

Bol Bol

As mentioned above, Bol had a break out week and looks to be a genuine contributor off the bench. May it continue, because he brings some truly unique skills that not many teams can match up with.

His stats for the week:

9.7 Points, 5.7 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists, 80.0 FG% & 75.0 3PT FG% in 16 mins per game.

Struggling Suns:

Keita Bates-Diop

Keita has put in the effort on D, although still isn't great, but his shot making (or lack of) has been bad. He did hit one timely 3 against the Heat, but he's missed a lot of open shots, including lay-ups with no one around him.

His stats for the week:

2.8 Point, 2.5 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists, 1.5 Steals, 23.1 FG% & 33.3 3PT FG%.

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Grayson Allen vs Miami Heat

Game stat line:

31 Points, 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Blocks, 11/19 FGs (57.9%) & 9/14 3PT FGs (64.3%).

Devin Booker vs LA Clippers

Game stat line:

35 Points, 2 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 11/15 FGs (73.3%) & 5/8 3PT FGs (62.5%).

Upcoming Games:

There are 3 games this week, with all 3 being on the road.

The Clippers beat us at home only last week. We do now have Durant back in the line-up, but we are on a back-to-back after the Memphis loss and LA are still playing excellent basketball.

The Lakers are struggling. The had an excellent run winning the In Season Tournament, but since then they've fallen off. LeBron is even showing his frustrations, talking about not executing properly and saying they're bad right now. However, they're still a dangerous team and they do seem to step up when they face a rival team, as evidenced by their victory over the Clippers on Sunday.

The Blazers obviously handed us a loss in mid-December, but we got pay back last week, with a 21 point win. I'd like to think we see a similar result this week.

Prediction:

I think we lose to the Clippers again, then take the wins against the Lakers and Trail Blazers.

Predictions League:

Any Other Business:

Nine 3-Pointers

Did you know or guess the other Suns players to hit nine 3's in one game? Hopefully you answered me on X or Threads before reading this bit 😅

Answers in chronological order:

Rex Chapman

Quentin Richardson

Channing Frye

Aron Baynes

Cam Johnson

Landry Shamet

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