Suns: Frank Vogel Sounds Off on Officiating vs Pelicans

Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel again believes Devin Booker didn't get calls his direction.

Jan 19, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel looks on as guard / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel - again - has had it with officiating towards his players.

Vogel has been quite vocal about referees not giving his stars calls, and that was once again the case after Phoenix's loss to the New Orleans Pelicans over the weekend.

When asked on New Orleans being extra physical with Booker - who torched the Pelicans for 50+ points in his prior three outings - Vogel responded:

"More physical or more fouling?" asked Vogel.

“It was playoff intensity. They fouled the hell out of him every time he tried to take a step and rerouted him, which led to some of the turnovers, but that is playoff intensity and we welcome that. Book (Devin Booker) still went off, he just didn’t make his threes tonight, that’s the only difference tonight, otherwise he would’ve had another 30-point night.”

Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado says containing - and pestering - Booker was part of the plan.

“I missed playing basketball at a high competitive level. It was fun. Obviously, we need every win we can under the circumstances of our situation. And then we want to play against really good teams. The Suns are one of the best teams. D-Book (Devin Booker) gave us 50 (points) every time, three in-a-row. So, we just wanted to maintain him. He’s obviously a great player so he is going to score and affect the game. But he ain’t have 50 (points) so I know that," he said.

“I ask him (Pelicans coach Willie Green) to let me guard him. Let me frustrate him. Let me take him off fouls, let me get him tired. He’s a good player, he’s going to score but I just tried to make everything difficult for him and we did a good job on him, I guess, for him to have 25 points. I mean if I had 25, I thought I would’ve had a good game, so we made sure it was a bad 25 (points). But he earned it. I wanted that assignment.”