Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 11
- Matt Elvy
- Jan 2, 2023
- 5 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 11: 26 December 2022 - 1 January 2023
Week Record: 1-2
Overall Record: 20-17. 7th in the Western Conference.
Games Played and Results:
W - 125 - 108 Vs Memphis Grizzlies
L - 102 - 127 Vs Washington Wizards
L - 104 - 113 Vs Toronto Raptors
Happy New Year everyone, hope you all had a great time celebrating with your friends and family.
2022 didn't end the best way for the Suns. Ravaged by injuries, they limped in to the new year losing 2 in a row and 5 of their last 6.
The win was a nice blowout against the Grizzlies, who let's face it, have been rubbing other teams up the wrong way recently with their cockiness. It came back to bite them a bit here, as Mikal Bridges played a great defensive game to make things hard for Ja Morant. Washington Jr, getting minutes with Booker out, had a career game with 26 points and 8 assists. It was a promising game for the 2nd year, two-way player.
The rest of the week was downhill from there though. The team announced that Book would be out and re-evaluated in 4 weeks with a groin strain 😭
The Wizards were next and despite CP3 and DA combining for 51 points & Mikal adding 17, we got blown out by 25. No one else on the team stepped up and we forgot how to put the ball through the hoop in the 4th, shooting just 6 of 24. The defence was also terrible, with next to no effort being shown. On the positive side, if we are chasing Kuzma, as suggested in the media, he had another great game against us with 22 points, showing our front office what could be. The Wizards' top scorer was Rui Hachimura with 30 points off the bench, only missing 2 shots.
Finally to round out the year we faced Toronto. Chris Paul had his 2nd 20-point game in a row and added 12 assists. Mikal Had 21 points, but once again additional help was no where to be seen. It was a disappointing game for Ayton, who struggled from the field, going 2 for 10 for 4 points.
Toronto did a good job hassling the Suns all game, forcing a season high 27 turnovers - 6 from CP3 alone. Despite this, the Suns were still well in the game half-way through the 4th quarter, leading by 2. Some 3's and a few more turnovers secured the game for the Raptors though.
Superstar Watch (Season stats):
Booker (Out with Injury) - 27.1 Points, 4.6 Rebounds, 5.6 Assists, 0.9 Steal, 47.7 FG%, 37.0 3PT FG% & 2.4 Turnovers
Deandre Ayton - 17.7 Points, 9.6 Rebounds, 1.9 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.8 Blocks, 60.9 FG%, 38.9 3PT FG% & 2.1 Turnovers
Chris Paul - 13.0 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 9.0 Assists, 1.5 Steals, 41.8 FG%, 38.4 3PT FG% & 2.2 Turnovers
Scorching Suns:
Chris Paul
The Point God seemed to be back this week. He looked like his old self against the Wizards and Raptors, managing the offense like we all know and love. In the 3rd quarter of the Wizards game he scored or assisted on 20 of the Suns' 24 points!
His stats for the week:
18.0 Points, 2.7 Rebounds, 8.0 Assists 1.3 Steals, 52.8 FG% & 58.8 3PT FG%.
Struggling Suns:
Mikal Bridges
His stats for the week:
12.0 Points, 2.0 Rebounds, 2.8 Assists, 1.3 Blocks, 39.1 FG% & 29.4 3PT FG%.
Stat Line(s) of the Week:
Duane Washington Jr vs Memphis Grizzlies
Seemingly catching the Grizzlies by surprise, Washington Jr achieved highs in points and assists, helping the team score their lone victory of the week.
Game stat line:
26 Points, 4 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 10/21 FGs (47.6%) & 5/9 3PT FGs (55.6%).
Honourable mentions:
None this week
Upcoming Games:
We have 4 games this week, the first 2 on the road to complete our 6-game road trip and the second 2 at home.
A nice early game for us in the UK to start the year, but that could be the only positive this week, as the schedule is tough.
The Knicks are not the same team we faced back in November. They are much improved, behind Brunson and Randle, who's decided he wants to play basketball again. However they are missing Barrett and Brunson is questionable on the injury report. Cam Payne and Landry Shamet are also showing as probable on the Suns injury report.
The Cavs have been great this year and the trade for Mitchell looks to be the best move of the off-season so far. We play them twice, first in Cleveland, then at home. I don't think the venue will make the challenge any easier though.
We also have the Heat visiting us, who have had an underwhelming season so far. Tyler Herro has been a bright spot for them and tends to play well against the Suns. If we can slow him down and hope that Butler doesn't have a big game, this one could be fun.
Predictions:
I think it'll be an up and down week. A win against the Knicks, losses in both Cavs games and a win against the Heat.
Predictions League:
Any Other Business:
Injuries
Payne and Shamet are showing as 'Probable' on the injury report submitted for the Knicks game. They, especially Payne, could be the jolt we need.
We've also seen a lot of footage from Duane Rankin of Cam Johnson warming up before games. Monty Williams confirmed that he has only participated in drills and is not returning yet, although we are now at the 2 month recover time that was quoted when he first went out.
Booker is OUT - Pressure on James Jones?
On Wednesday the Suns announced that Book has a strained left groin and will be re-evaluated in 4 weeks time. This is obviously bad for a team that has struggled with injuries all season and doesn't have a true back-up scorer.
Fans have been clamouring for James Jones to pull the trigger on a Crowder deal - or something bigger - to improve this team, as it is almost identical, apart from the loss of McGee and the signing of Lee, to the team the lost to Dallas in the 2nd round last year. I've personally been vocal for a couple of seasons about us needing additional scorers to back-up Book.
With Book now out and the team struggling on offence (the D has been declining for a while), the time is now for Jones to push his chips in to the middle, but will he?
With a new owner on the way, Jones must know that his position will be looked at. Is he scared to make a move because of this or just too stubborn, because he's decided the team is set?
I saw this week that a source claimed that Jones is still preaching internal development, but I think what we're seeing from DA and Mikal at the moment, are the players they are and will be. OK, I think Mikal still has room for growth on offence, but DA is DA.
I'm not saying those guys need to be traded AT ALL, but we have all our 1st round picks and a lot of filler money. Here are some potential trade candidates and their salaries for this season (according to HoopsHype.com):
Crowder - $10,138,800
Shamet - $9,500,000
Saric - $9,240,000
Craig - $5,121,951
That's a good chunk of change to grab an All-Star level player or a couple of border-line players - you know the guys. The ones that are great in one or two areas, but not quite at the All-Star level.
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