The Phoenix Suns’ third week of the season built off their strong momentum they ended the second week. The team’s won four of five, and while it is likely to be without Jalen Green for the foreseeable
future after he re-aggravated his hamstring, Dillon Brooks is back from his groin injury. Through 10 games, the Suns are an even 5-5.
Here are the main questions for Week 3 we want your thoughts on:
Do we need to reassess how we look at Devin Booker’s play style?
This year, Booker has played more like a traditional point guard than he ever has before. He’s looking for his teammates, running pick and rolls, and penetrating often. He’s on pace to average a career-high in assists this year and already has multiple assists and points double-doubles.
With Green likely out some time, Booker’s ball handling will continue to be high, as he’ll be running the offense without his secondary scorer. Do we need to start to look at the Devin Booker that we knew for the first 10 years of his career, the one that played more off-ball and took a more aggressive scoring approach, different than we look at the year 11 version of him?
How has the defense improved?
A simple one, but the Valley’s defense has continued to improve. While they’re not defensive world beaters like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix has started to get stops when it matters most. In their wins this week, the team did a good job against the Los Angeles Clippers in both fourth quarters of not letting them get back into the game when their offense went flat.
Phoenix did an especially good job limiting the Clippers’ and Golden State Warriors’ star guards to poor shooting performances. Against the Suns this week, James Harden and Stephen Curry shot a combined 13-38 from the field. Phoenix had Ryan Dunn and Brooks pestering Harden all night on Saturday, getting in his face and picking him up early in possessions. What are the main reasons for the defensive improvement from the Valley?
Royce O’Neale’s uptick in role is more about him or Ryan Dunn?
To start the season, Ryan Dunn started for the Valley at the four, and Royce O’Neale came off the bench. They both were starters when Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks went down, but when Green returned, O’Neale stayed in the starting lineup and Dunn didn’t, and then when Green was out for the second half against the Clippers, O’Neale started in his place, not Dunn.
O’Neale is having a career year, especially from three, helping space the floor for Booker and Grayson Allen; he and Allen are one of the top teammate duos in threes made this season. Dunn has built on his inconsistent rookie campaign. He’s averaging nearly six rebounds a game and almost three points per game more than he did last year, but his three-point shooting is actually down from what it was a season ago, and he shot just 31% from behind the arc last year.
Is Royce taking Dunn’s starting role saying more about his strong play to start the year or Dunn’s performance?
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