The Phoenix Suns are currently 6-5 in the young NBA season, although they will have to try to get some more wins without Jalen Green. We only saw him for one match and some variety, but what a great experience it was. Green will be sidelined for at least four to six weeks with a new hamstring problem, but the Suns don’t feel sorry for themselves.
This at least gives head coach Jordan Ott – who has hit the ground running at The Valley – a chance to focus on an part of the game he clearly enjoys. It would be better if he also had Dillon Brooks available more often to help him build on his vision, but with Green gone, the Suns will focus on what can be their superpower.
Suns will once again be a defensive group.
We’ve already seen shades of this, most notably with the successful shutting down of Victor Wembanyama to the point where he hasn’t been the same player since they beat San Antonio Spurs, but the arrival of Green changed things. He’s such a good offensive player that next to Devin Booker you have to keep them both cooking.
Although it will now be back on the defensive end, coach Ott will look to win games, and there is reason to believe he will be successful in doing so. Surprisingly, this starts with both Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, who coach Ott has shown more on the defensive end, and have seen their trade value increase as a result.
It was surprising to see both spend some time guarding Wembanyama in that win over Spurs, but flooding him with smaller guys worked well. Then there’s Mark Williams, who has quietly been exactly what the franchise expected him to be when they parted with a pair of first-round picks to acquire him this offseason.
Right now, the team as a whole is just above league average in points allowed per night (14th, 114.1), and that number should decrease with Green sitting and role players getting more points. However, when Williams is present, the Suns have the second-best defensive rating in the entire league at 104.6.
Not only that, but Williams puts up a net rating when you factor in his offensive contributions of plus 14.2. To compare that to last season – and show how coach Ott has already gotten the best out of the big man – he had a net rating of minus 12.7, and a lot of that was due to the terrible defensive rating he put up with the Charlotte Hornets (118.9).
The roster also includes the likes of Collin Gillespie and even Isaiah Livers, guys who give coach Ott good minutes defensively when called upon, even if that doesn’t always show up in the box score. The team will have to change its approach with Green out as Booker becomes the focal point once again. Don’t be surprised if that leads to improved defensive play.
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