Suns Fans UK 2021-22 Predictions Review
- Matt Elvy
- Jun 21, 2022
- 5 min read
Time to look back and see how well we did with our pre-season predictions.
We are reviewing our own predictions here, but please let us know how you think we did in the comments.
The Predictions
Matt Elvy:
Suns will win 57 games and finish 3rd in the West.
We will reach at least the Western Conference Finals.
Booker will finally be chosen by the coaches to be in the All-Star game. His last 2 appearances have been as an injury replacement.
Mikal Bridges will make an All-Defensive team (I'm going to continue to speak that one in to existence).
Mikal will increase his scoring to over 16.5 points per game.
Booker will finish top 5 in MVP voting (once again, going to speak that one in to existence).
The following players will all shoot over 37% from 3: Jae Crowder, Cam Payne, Cam Johnson, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges.
Ayton will average 16.2 points, 11.5 rebounds & 1.7 blocks.
Chris Paul will lead the league in assists.
Booker will improve his turnover rate to below 3 per game.
Matt Alcock:
The Suns will finish 3rd in the West
Devin Booker will lead the league in scoring
Mikal Bridges will be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation
Cameron Johnson will win Most Improved Player
CP3 will average double digit assists this year
DA will win the Rebounding title for the first time
Cam Payne will win 6th Man of the Year award
Our Reviews
Suns will win 57 games and finish 3rd in the West.
Well, I underestimated this one. I knew the Suns would have a strong season following their run to the 2021 NBA Finals, but I did not see them winning a franchise record 64 games.
I put the team as 3rd in the West, as I thought Utah would have another strong showing and Denver would get Murray and MPJ back, to partner up with MVP Nikola Jokic.
I'm very happy to have got this one wrong.
We will reach at least the Western Conference Finals.
The less said on this one the better, but come on, no one saw us dropping out in the 2nd round. Most had us representing the West in the Finals again.
Booker will finally be chosen by the coaches to be in the All-Star game.
Can't boast too much about this one. Barring injury this was a foregone conclusion even during last year's Playoffs.
Mikal Bridges will make an All-Defensive team.
Yay! my first solid W. Mikal finally got the recognition he deserved as a defensive beast. He was rightly selected for the All-Defensive 1st team.
Mikal will increase his scoring to over 16.5 points per game.
I really wanted Mikal to take a bigger leap on the offensive end, solidifying himself as our 3rd creator. Bridges did take 1.2 more shots per game vs 20-21, but his 3-point percentage dropped from 42% to 36%. He ended up averaging just 0.7more points at 14.2 PPG.
Booker will finish top 5 in MVP voting.
Another W.
The best player on the best team rightly got the correct recognition. The MVP race truly and rightfully came down to Embiid and Jokic. As great as Booker is, the Suns' overall depth and well built team meant the big lads had to do more heavy lifting.
This should be the 1st of many seasons that Book is in this conversation.
The following players will all shoot over 37% from 3: Jae Crowder, Cam Payne, Cam Johnson, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges.
Only Cam Johnson came through for me here, shooting 42.5% from 3. Mikal and Shamet just missed the mark at 36.9 & 36.8 respectively. Jae and Payne had bad shooting seasons in general, but I feel let down lads.
Ayton will average 16.2 points, 11.5 rebounds & 1.7 blocks.
Completely missed the mark here. DA ended up with averages of 17.2 points, 10.2 rebounds (which is disappointing) & only 0.7 blocks.
Chris Paul will lead the league in assists.
The Point God continued to dazzle the league with his passing prowess. He led the league in assists with 10.8 per game, at the age of 36. Last time he averaged double digit assists? 2015-16 with 10.0.
Booker will improve his turnover rate to below 3 per game.
I think this is the one I'm most happy with. Booker ended up averaging 2.4 turnovers this season. Though not fantastic, this is the first time the he's averaged under 3 turnovers since his ROOKIE season. That was the 2015-16 season.
Overall I didn't do great. Some areas I was over-optimistic (as per the yearly title I give the predictions), but I also underestimated the team in some areas.
Grade you say? I think I can get away with a C? Let me know what you think.
Now for Matt A's review of his predictions.
The Suns will finish 3rd in the West.
The Suns absolutely bossed the regular season winning a franchise record 64 games. They were the best team by a country mile but ‘it don’t mean a thing without a ring.
Devin Booker will lead the league in scoring.
DBook finished the season with an average of 26.8 points per game which was good enough for 12th on the top scorers list. The scoring title went to Joel Embiid so have to take an L on this one but Booker was the best player on the best regular season team.
Mikal Bridges will be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation.
Happy with this one to be honest. Any Suns fan knew how good of a defender Bridges was, it just took the rest of the NBA world a while to catch on. In his 3rd season, Bridges finished 2nd in the Defensive Player of the Year voting and was named on the All-Defensive 1st Team.
Cameron Johnson will win Most Improved Player.
I feel that Cam was in the running for this award in the early months but he got hurt in March. He finished the season with 12.5 points per game and shooting 42% from 3. The future is bright for Johnson.
CP3 will average double digit assists this year.
The Point God averaged 10.8 assists per game this past season in 65 games. Obviously the season ended in disappointment but CP had some great moments throughout the season.
DA will win the Rebounding title for the first time.
This one has not aged well. Ayton had numbers of 17.2 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game. This was way off Rudy Gobert’s 14.7 rebounds per game. Will Ayton be able to better his stats next season with the Suns? I hope so.
Cam Payne will win 6th Man of the Year award.
The worst prediction of the bunch. The firecracker from off the bench Point Guard, Payne showed signs that he could run the offence in the games that CP missed. Unfortunately he faded during the playoffs to the point he was benched in the Dallas series.
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