Jevon Carter Promoted to Backup Point Guard for Phoenix
Jevon Carter is now Ricky Rubios' backup point guard, according to Adam Stratton of Valley of the Suns. The Suns travel to Portland to take on the Trailblazers later this evening. Carter is expected to be seeing a significant increase in his minutes.
Carter, couldn't have asked for a much better October campaign. However, he could have asked for more minutes through the months of November-January. In the month of October, Carter was averaging 22 minutes per game. Through the latter, Carter had his minutes sliced in half, at a measly 11 per game.
The main culprit, several Suns guards had just returned from injury and jumped Carter in the rotation. In fact, during the November-January months, Carter was listed as the fourth, and even sometimes, fifth guard on the roster.
During February, Carter earned the bulk of his minutes back, jumping up to a respectable, 17 minutes. In the three games of March, Carter is averaging his most minutes per game, at 22.7.
Now, his season average is roughly 15 minutes per game, but that number is expected to rise. Head coach, Monty Williams, has been very open about his quest to find the right backup to Rubio. It appears as if he has found the answer to a question that many Mountaineer faithful could have provided him with.
In the two games that Carter has started:
| +/- | MP | PPG | APG |
|---|---|---|---|
21.3 | 28.6 | 5.5 | 4 |
In the 47 games that Carter came off the bench:
| +/- | MP | PPG | APG |
|---|---|---|---|
-7.3 | 14.3 | 1.8 | 1.2 |
Before all of the, "Dude he played half the minutes in the latter, of course he would perform better" people arrive. Check the efficiency numbers. In those two games, Carter was able to get into more of a rhythm and contribute in every facet of the game. While +/- can be a little misconstrued at times, this isn't. Those numbers are telling of Carter's impact when trusted and played through nascent mistakes.
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