The second week of the regular season felt particularly long, primarily because over a seven-day stretch, the Phoenix Suns played only two games. When you have that much time between games, you tend to get restless, overanalyze every issue, and search for ways to fill the hours. I did exactly that last week, opting to revisit 2013’s The History of the Eagles documentary on Netflix. It wasn’t my first time watching it, but when you’ve got that much time on your hands, a three-hour documentary is a pretty
good way to spend an evening.
The Eagles are easily one of my favorite bands of all time. The versatility they possessed, their ability to bring so many different emotions and feelings to life through the voices of Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, and Randy Meisner (who eventually became Timothy Schmit), is something few bands have ever replicated. The way they instinctively knew how to play off one another as musicians, combined with the harmonies they created, was legendary.
I think you know where I’m going with this.
After spending three hours absorbing such glorious musical harmony and connectivity, it served as a reminder that Week 2 for the Phoenix Suns was anything but. This is a team that feels like a band in its infancy, still trying to understand the chords assigned to each member, still learning when to rip into a power chord like the ending of “Hotel California” or softly tap the drums like in “I Can’t Tell You Why.” There’s talent on the stage, but the musicians haven’t quite figured out how to play together. We are far away from a “Lyin’ Eyes” experience (quite possibly my favorite Eagles’ tune).
Continuity from last year’s roster means little when the band’s primary members have changed. 40% of the starting lineup is new, and that is where we are experiencing the most pain relative to rhythm. Some of that is due to circumstance, as is the case with Mark Williams, while some of it comes from changes to the lineup, as we’ve seen with the addition of Miles Bridges.
The advantage we expected Phoenix to have early in the season because of its roster continuity has ultimately led to a few missed chords, some off-key notes, and a song that simply hasn’t come together.
In the long run, there’s no room for this team to take it easy. Because if they spend too much time one of these nights trying to find their rhythm, there will be no peaceful, easy feeling. A bunch of non-connected desperados will give us a heartache tonight, and they’ll find themselves at the bottom of the standings, looking up at everybody else for the majority, if not the entirety, of the season. Hopefully hope is not already gone.
As fans, however, we know one thing: we can check out any time we like. But we can never leave.
Week 2 Record: 0-2
@ Oklahoma City Thunder, L, 125-114
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key.
vs. Denver Nuggets, L, 127-120
Lighten up while you still can. Don’t even try to understand.
Malu-Watch
Khaman Maluach continued to receive starts this week, which bodes well for his overall development as the opportunities to gain experience continue to present themselves. Granted, he’s not playing a ton of minutes (he averaged 21.4 this week), which does leave you with some concerns. Is it because of the matchups? Is conditioning playing a factor? Or does Jordan Ott believe the team’s best opportunity to win comes with Maluach on the bench? I think, quite frankly, it’s a combination of all three.
For Maluach to continue increasing his minutes, he needs to earn the trust of the coaching staff by being productive while he’s on the floor, demonstrating that he can handle his assignments, and ensuring that fatigue doesn’t become a limiting factor. From a restocks perspective, this was a down week for Maluach, as he averaged 12.6 per 36 minutes.
What did I see from him this week? What I believe will ultimately become the norm for quite some time throughout the season for the young center. There are moments when his positioning is simply off, and his hands don’t look particularly strong, whether he’s trying to secure a rebound or receive an entry pass. That’s always a concern because strong hands are one of those things you can’t necessarily teach a big man to have.
You can, however, teach him to become more comfortable receiving passes through repetition. If the Suns do a better job setting him up and allowing him to become familiar with what those opportunities look and feel like, he’ll improve in that capacity. Of course, that’s easier said than done when you’re playing on a team that doesn’t exactly possess a wealth of quality facilitators.
What I continue to see and appreciate is the attitude with which Maluach plays, and I think that might be his biggest X factor, particularly early in his career. He possesses a genuine desire to hustle rather than allowing mistakes to demoralize him, and that’s important. If he misses an opportunity for an offensive putback, he puts his head down and hustles back down the court, ready for the next possession.
While I frequently find myself being critical of his play while watching these games, I have to remind myself of one simple fact. If you had two Khaman Maluachs standing next to each other, their combined age would still be younger than mine.
Stat Me, Dave
When Collin Gillespie is on the floor, the Suns have an assist percentage of 76.9%. When he’s off the floor? That number drops to 55.4%. The differential of +21.5% is the highest in the entire league.
Now, that’s not to say Gillespie is solely responsible for every assist that occurs while he’s on the court, but it does serve as a barometer for how much more fluidly the ball moves when he’s out there. Obviously, assists are also dependent on teammates knocking down shots, so that’s always a factor worth considering.
It’s also worth noting that the sixth-highest assist percentage differential in the league belongs to Luke Kennard, who sits at +14.6%.
Next Week
After an unusually long week in which we found ourselves sitting around waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more, so much so that I actually found time to watch that three-hour Eagles documentary, things are finally starting to kick into high gear.
Following two games in seven days during Week 2, Week 3 brings us four games in seven days. And it all begins tonight against the Golden State Warriors at 8:00pm. Yes, it’s a reminder that if you live outside the great state of Arizona, you’ve experienced daylight saving time, which means Suns games will start at a normal hour for you. But here in Phoenix, seeing as this game is on the West Coast, we’re getting an unusually late tipoff. We’ll see you in the game thread extra late tonight here in the AZ.
Following that matchup in Golden State, the Suns return home for a seven-game homestand. That’s right, they won’t play another road game until November 16.
They’ll open that homestand against the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that kicked their asses to begin the season. It’s also the same team that knocked Phoenix around in the Play-In Tournament, so while you might think revenge could serve as motivation and inspire a performance fueled by vengeance, there’s also the possibility that Portland is simply one of those bad matchups for the Suns. We’ll find out Wednesday.
It’s worth noting that Ja Morant and his annual injury have made their appearance, as he’ll be sidelined with hamstring issues.
The following night, Phoenix will play its first game on the second night of a back-to-back, this time against the Orlando Magic. They’re dealing with injury issues of their own, as Paolo Banchero is currently sidelined with a high ankle sprain. That seems to be the common theme around the NBA right now. Everybody’s injured.
The week concludes Saturday night at home against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets, who have looked like absolute world beaters to begin the season. And that might break the hearts of some Suns fans because it always seems that whenever Phoenix makes a trade, we end up watching the team that acquired our former players thrive. The same could very well be said about Houston.
Sure, the Suns received Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, and the draft rights that ultimately brought Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming to Phoenix. Time will tell who ultimately won that trade. But the Rockets look fantastic, and considering they finished as the fifth seed in the Western Conference a season ago, the early returns suggest Houston came out ahead. We can have all the conversations we want about whether Kevin Durant makes you a winning team in the postseason, but when it comes to the regular season, the only time he seemed to be part of a fluke was here in Phoenix. I don’t know if that says more about Durant, although it probably says considerably more about the organization surrounding him.
Anyway, we’ll get our first look at the Rockets and their new-look uniforms this upcoming Saturday. I love that Houston and Minny have that late 80’s/early-90s look once again.
With all that being said, what’s your prediction for Week 3? How many wins will the Suns come away with during this four-game stretch? Let us know in the poll below.
That’s it for this week, Bright Siders. Stay frosty.
