Three Suns Who Impressed vs Nuggets
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns weren't quite able to grab a win in their preseason home opener against the Denver Nuggets, losing in 115-107 fashion to the defending champs.
Denver touted some of their strongest options in the lineup with names such as Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all starting.
The Suns opted to not play either of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant or Bradley Beal after the team made their debut on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons.
12 different players saw the floor for Phoenix in front of a sold out Footprint Center - here's three who impressed:
Josh Okogie
Phoenix Suns forward Josh Okogie could very well end up as the team's fifth starter.
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Josh Okogie is the favorite to land as the team's fifth and final starter - and for good reason. With so much scoring talent on the floor, the Suns would benefit from a defensive-minded player who can guard multiple positions.
Yet with Phoenix's Big 3 out, it was the defensive talents of Okogie that led the Suns in scoring 17 points on 7-13 shooting from the field, which included 3-6 from three-point land.
Suns coach Frank Vogel says Okogie will have the green light shooting with so much space on the floor:
“I think he’s got a good feel of when to do it and when not to do it. We want to get as many shots for (Bradley) Beal, (Devin) Booker, and (Kevin) Durant as we can, but when those guys are out or the defense is hung up on those guys, he’s going to have the green light to be in attack mode and utilize that space to attack the basket and obviously with those three guys out, everyone had to be a little more aggressive.”
Okogie added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks on the night. The high scoring probably shouldn't be expected moving forward, but Okogie certainly displayed the ability to contribute on both ends of the floor and further pushed himself ahead in the race for the final starting spot.
Jusuf Nurkic
Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic proved himself defensively against the Denver Nuggets.
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
When looking at the box score, Nurkic doesn't move the needle. Eight of his ten points came from free-throws and he was just 1-4 from the field.
However, the Suns don't need Nurkic to be an offensive juggernaut - they need him to facilitate and play solid defense, something previous Suns center Deandre Ayton proved incapable of doing.
Nikola Jokic went just 4-11 shooting and grabbed three rebounds in 18 minutes, a testament to Nurkic's defense on one of the best players in basketball.
Vogel was asked about Nurkic's performance and he praised the new big man:
“Pretty good. We got crossed up on some of the (Nikola) Jokic and (Jamal) Murray switches that we wanted to do and where we want to switch. We have precise rules on that type of stuff and we got crossed up on some of that, but I thought on the ball, he really competed against Jokic and what I really liked is that we were able to go back at him on the other end. I think he drew two fouls on him, on post-ups, and played the power post-game, which is not a ‘Jokic thing’, it’s an ‘opponent’s best player’ thing. We always want to make the opponents best player defend on the other end, however that looks, and I thought Jusuf (Nurkic) did a great job of that.”
There's really no completely stopping a player such as Jokic, but it's encouraging to see the effort and performance from Nurkic down low.
Grayson Allen
Grayson Allen saw the floor exceptionally well and was able to knock down some shots against the Denver Nuggets.
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
It took a little for Allen to find his footing in terms of shooting, though he displayed the ability to not only knock down shots but also facilitate with a strong seven assists on the night.
Vogel said he trusts Allen with the ball in his hands:
“Those guys are capable ball handlers, Grayson (Allen) in particular, showing me something offensively, especially when those guys are out, he can really carry the load for us. When he is on the backside, with those guys scoring, he can really give us a different dynamic"
There's a variety of players who could have slid into this final spot, though Allen's double-digit scoring - his plus-minus of +5 saw him as the only starter with a positive in that category - and ability to distribute saw a strong all around performance, though the five turnovers (which led both squads) still needs to be cleaned up.
