Stagnant Suns

Fresh off their surprising playoff push last season, the Phoenix Suns made some interesting alterations to their roster. Channing Frye, an invaluable perimeter threat in the frontcourt, was allowed to leave to sign with the Orlando Magic and reserve guard Ish Smith, arguably the team’s most willing passer, was released. The Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus, are now splitting minutes that went to fry while Isaiah Thomas was signed this offseason to be the team’s sixth man. In effect, the Suns replaced floor spacing and passing with more scoring.

The result is a Phoenix team that started off the season with a noticeable lack of ball movement. According to SportVU data, the Suns rank 25th in the league in total passes per game, 27th in secondary assists -- a category designed to track the “extra pass” -- and 27th in assist opportunities (an open shot that doesn’t go in). To top it off, NBA.com has them ranked 27th in assist ratio.

Seven games is on the tiny end as far as small sample sizes and part of that is reflection of the Suns offensive philosophy. Head coach Jeff Hornacek wants his team to play fast and find 3’s or layups early in the possession. That type of mandate isn’t going to produce a lot of staggering passing totals that teams like the Spurs or Heat (with LeBron at least) based their lethal offenses on.

But those numbers do also reflect the subjective assessment of the team before the year began. Players like Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, the Morris twins, Thomas and reserve guard Gerald Green all possess a score-first mindset. In any system, it would take a heavy emphasis on ball movement in (limited) practice and walkthroughs, along with some continuity to curb those players natural tendencies. So far, Phoenix hasn’t been able to do that and in the opening games of the season, the offense has had a very “My turn, your turn” flow to it -- particularly in the second unit where Green and Thomas seem to alternate dominating possessions in search of a shot.

Scoring efficiently without the ball pinging around the perimeter like the Spurs is certainly possible, it’s just a lot harder to do and requires a lot individual brilliance. The Thunder teams in recent years have mastered the art of scoring with limited ball movement but have also been heavily criticized for their over reliance on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook creating offensive brilliance without much help -- an issue that becomes magnified against better competition. It’s been linked to the team’s downfall (though not even close to the sole cause) during some of their recent playoff exits.

According to our very own RealGM stats, Phoenix currently sits 15th in offensive efficiency. That ranking is hardly a worrisome number as the young Suns are integrating some players into new roles and (in theory) the offensive production and ball movement should only get better as the team gains experience together. But for a team with their eyes on a playoff spot, the question is how much?

Dragic, Bledsoe and company, while good, can’t manipulate defense like a healthy Durant and Westbrook. Add in the fact they play in an insanely deep and competitive conference, and the inability to max out the team’s offensive potential with consistent ball movement could mean the difference between a playoff berth and living in high-end of the lottery limbo for the next few seasons. It’s still early, so there’s plenty of time for the Hornacek and the Suns to figure things out, but it’s certainly an issue to keep an eye on.

Let ‘em Shoot

No matter how often we tend to think otherwise, every player in the NBA is really good at basketball. So when an opposing head coach brazenly ignores one of the five on the court in attempt to thwart another part of a team’s offense, it’s particularly noteworthy. One of the many reasons we admire Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is for his willingness to go to extremes like this an attempt to give his team an edge. Brad Stevens of the Celtics has shown a willingness to do the same.

Though they have sputtered of late, the Mavericks offense is going to be really difficult to deal with all season long. The Celtics found that out the hard way, giving up 118 points when they played early last week. But in that game Stevens employed a tactic that will be something to file away for not just if (when?) his team makes the playoffs, but when teams play Dallas in the postseason as well.

There’s a lot that happens in that short segment, so let’s unpack. In order to deal with Dirk Nowitzki in pick-and-pop, Stevens opts to switch it first -- having Avery Bradley and Jeff Green swap assignments. Since Nowitzki posting up Bradley isn’t a fair fight, Stevens has Kelly Olynyk, rotate off Brandon Wright will Bradley fronts the post. At the same time, Marcus Smart drops onto Wright, leaving Monta Ellis all by his lonesome in the far corner. It’s this end result -- leaving Ellis unattended -- that was a common theme when it came to stopping other parts of the Dallas offense as earlier in the game, Rajon Rondo rotated off Ellis while he was in the corner to stop Dirk from shooting in another pick-and-pop

Like Popovich, Stevens is just playing the odds and being rather bold about it. Though Ellis is an extremely threatening scorer, any Nowitzki shots is far more efficient than one from Ellis -- no matter where either is located on the floor. Ellis is both a middling 3-point shooter (33 percent last year) and catch-and-shoot player (ranking in the 66th percentile per Synergy data) while Nowitzki is, well, Nowitzki

Even when it comes to historically great shooters, it’s never easy to tell players to leave a player with Ellis’ reputation as a scorer, which is why it’s interesting (and ballsy) for a coach to do it. In the grand scheme of things, Stevens saw his defense get shredded, but that doesn’t mean this tactic didn’t have merit. It’s certainly something that may pop up again for either his teams or the ones facing off against Dallas in a playoff series.