You wouldn’t think the sky would be falling in most fanbases four games into the season where the team has picked up a win, but here we are with the Phoenix Suns and their 1-3 start. The frustration from the fanbase has gotten so loud that we’ve got the team’s TV play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Ray comparing how to manage the freezing nature of a cold plunge to coping with the early season struggles.
With an 0-2 week in the books, reports that there’s growing “frustration” in the locker room over a lack
of a true point guard, and with many key players going down with injuries around the NBA, here are some questions we want your answers on:
Starting guards trade struggling games
In last week’s loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Devin Booker had one of the worst games of his career, scoring just three points on seven shots. In the following game, Jalen Green scored just two points on 1/6 shooting from the field, his lowest scoring output as a member of the Suns in a game where he didn’t leave early because of injury. Both games the Suns lost.
Coming into the season, the Suns’ lack of point guard in the starting lineup caused some controversy around the team, and with NBA Insider Chris Haynes’ latest report about the backcourt not working well together, many are calling for the team to trade for a point guard or replace Green with Collin Gillespie in the starting lineup, who’s had success playing alongside Devin Booker in the past.
If you’re Jordan Ott and the coaching staff, how would you handle the guard controversy?
A massive break between games?
Phoenix has played the fewest games in the NBA so far, with a lot of that attributed to the 96-hour break they had between their two games this week. The Suns have played just two games since October 25th. In turn, this week will be more intense. They’ll play four games in a six-day span, including their first back-to-back of the year.
As a fan, how did you enjoy the massive break between games so early into the season, and how do you think it will impact them as their schedule ramps up?
Injuries around the West
The Western Conference suffered a bevy of significant injuries in the past week. The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost three starters: Anthony Edwards is expected out for about two months, Jaren Jackson Jr. will be sidelined for the next 5-7 weeks, and Ja Morant is expected to miss nearly all of November.
While the Suns remain without Mark Williams, the rest of the roster is healthy, and they’ve known they’d be without Williams more than a month before the season started.
How do the injuries impact where you think the Suns stand in the West?
Weird, but True
The Suns have played four of their last five postseason opponents to start their season. Their only win came against the only team they beat in postseason play, the Golden State Warriors, whom they beat in last year’s 8/9 Play-In game.
On the Suns’ Plate This Week
Phoenix will play the same amount of games this week as they’ve played in the entirety of the first two weeks of the season this week, along with their first back-to-back of the year. After they face the Golden State Warriors tonight, they’ll host the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday and then the Orlando Magic on Thursday, capping the week off with Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. The home games this week are the first three of the franchise’s longest homestand since 2021 during Covid.
