Media Day is often filled with empty or generic quotes, buzzwords, and clichés. It’s inevitable every year.
But sometimes, if you read between the lines after getting to know players over the years, you pick up on things. Oddities. New perspectives. Previews of what could be to come through words converted straight into action. These things can be hard to spot to the naked eye, but if you pay close enough attention, you can see them.
Devin Booker had several quotes that stood out to me in a way that I
haven’t really heard before. Book is usually more reserved and doesn’t really throw out quotes like this one too often. In the most nonchalant tone of voice possible, Book sounds as excited as we’ve heard him sound since… the CP3 days? It would be remiss to not mention the early days of KD as well, because there was some buzz then too. But it’s been a minute.
Booker said: “I love the game more than ever. Honestly, my body feels better than it’s ever felt going into a training camp. So, I think, you know, as you get older you know, you learn new ways to train, new ways to take care of your body… I’ve been a sponge to, you know, a lot of guys that have had success and played a lot of years in their career.”
Booker’s body feeling the best it ever has means something. He played in 64 games a season ago, and over the course of his 11-year career, he averages 67 games played per season. He typically hovers in the mid-60s, so if we can get that number closer to the mid-70s, that would be great. Those extra 10 games could be the difference between fighting in the play-in and securing a spot outright.
This next quote also spoke to me. Devin said he wants to “fall into shooting too much,” which is quite an unusual comment from him. When Booker is in “killer” mode, that’s when the Suns are at their best. It doesn’t mean forcing bad shots, dribbling into traps, or over-dribbling. Quite the opposite.
Every time he touches the ball, he is making quick, decisive moves to either attack downhill in a straight line or use one or two dribbles to get into his spot and put defenders on his hip in the midrange.
Another gripe that I mentioned in the comments of a recent article was that whenever he gets cold, he can oftentimes settle for jumpers. We’ve seen those dry spells; they can be rough.
What I’d like to see more of in those early-game situations, especially, is for him to go straight into attack mode if his first two jumpers don’t fall. Get to the line and make a pair of free throws, or make an easy shot at the rim to build confidence. That’s how you get a rhythm going.
Because once he hits his stride and he sees it go in, it can snowball in a positive way.
“To start the season, we’re gonna be definitely ahead of where we were to start the season last year,” said Booker.
This team sounds fired up. The energy is right. The talent is there. Who else is ready for some Phoenix Suns basketball?
