Phoenix Suns

After a strong road-trip last week, the Suns are finishing the year up against some of the tougher teams in the Western Conference. The first two games of this seven game home-stand featured two of the top teams in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. The Suns battled in each game, but came up short in the fourth quarter in both contests.

Observation 1: Feed DeAndre Ayton

DeAndre Ayton had one point in the first quarter on Saturday against Denver. He finished with 25 points at the half. You can do the math. Ayton has the ability to dominate on the offensive end when he is locked in. For much of the first half against the Nuggets, Ayton was getting most of his points through sheer effort, running the floor hard and crashing the glass.

Per the BBall Index database, Ayton currently has an A- grade in both the Offensive Rebounding and Finishing category. Those skills showed on Saturday night, as he finished with a career-high 33 points and 14 rebounds on 80% shooting. The number one pick in the draft is starting to play like the number one pick in the draft.

However, many fans and media members have questioned the amount of touches Ayton is receiving, arguing that the Suns coaching staff needs to feed Ayton the ball more. As I wrote in this piece earlier this month, the Suns coaching staff does a good job running actions for the Ayton to get him to his spots.

One set I pointed out that Kokoskov has brought with him from the Slovenian nation team is “Elbow 5” – you can read more about the set in that piece – but essentially it leads to flex action that allows Ayton to get free off the cross-screen. This is an example of the Suns milking it late in the fourth quarter in a win, although it does get predictable with Marcus Smart calling out – which allows Williams to front Ayton in the post – but the Suns still get something positive from it.

Suns got the Celtics on the possession before with their "Elbow 5" set. Marcus Smart calls it out this time – and Williams does a better job on Ayton this time. Good entry pass from Oubre. pic.twitter.com/RLstp6YEWJ — Suns Film Room (@SunsFilm) December 20, 2018

I do agree that at times the Suns coaching staff should increase the frequency of Ayton’s post touches in certain situations; moreover, they need to give him more touches late in games rather than relying on Booker and Warren. But the idea that the Suns coaching staff is not creating enough opportunities for the rookie is not entirely accurate.

Observation 2: Late Game Set – “Stack”

Kokoskov has been running a variation of the same action late in games this season. The Suns run either what they call “Fist Shirt Pull” or “Stack.”

This is a clip from the Magic game where they run “Stack” – you can see Simmons signaling it out to his teammates – it’s a common action that is ran across the NBA. The set is screen the screener action but Warren slips it and then comes the Booker/Holmes Side PnR.

The Magic elect not to switch the action in the first clip, however, in this clip with a minute left in regulation they decide to switch but you can see how the Ayton screen doesn’t allow Gordon to properly defend Booker.

The Suns also had success running this action with Booker and Warren against the Thunder on Friday night. You can see Booker signal the stack here and leads to the Thunder switching it and trapping Booker, which leads to the Ayton dunk.

In the second quarter, the Suns go back to the same action. You can see one of the Thunder assistant coaches calling out the set, but Adams again comes out too far to contain Booker. Oubre steps out of bounds, but the Suns again should have got a good shot out of it.

I point out how far Adams comes out because the Suns were not able to have the same success late in the fourth quarter with the same action against the Nuggets. Jokic stays in the middle, he doesn’t hard hedge or trap Booker, I think in a way it kind of confused Booker and he forces the tough shot.

The very next possession, the Suns decide to run “Fist Shirt Pull” (you can see Kokoskov signaling it). I thought Kokoskov saw what I saw and decided to go away from “Stack.” On this play, there is confusion between Bridges and Warren on who is going to set the back-screen. Because of this, the Suns don’t run the set correctly. It’s supposed to be a back-screen on the opposing team’s big.

With the attention Booker draws, the Suns are still able to get a good shot out of it, but the execution should have been better. Moving forward, I think the Nuggets game was a good experience for this young group. They need to learn how to settle down at the end of games rather than panic, which you saw with the two sets I pointed out.

The Suns next two games don’t get any easier playing the Golden State Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers. The key for the Suns to stay with both of those teams is going to come down to execution and defensive effort. If the Suns can win the turnover battle, they should be able to stay in the game. But even with success in that area, winning either of the two games is going to be an uphill battle.