Three Questions Suns Need to Answer
The Phoenix Suns have entered a new era of title pursuit under head coach Frank Vogel, paired with superstar talent and alongside key role players acquired this offseason.
But, questions still remain for a franchise that has never won the Larry O'Brien Trophy. While the Suns roster, coaches, owner and uniforms may be new, some questions that have hurt the franchise in the past still remain.
Below are three questions the Suns will need to answer in order to capture Phoenix's first basketball title:
Who Will Play Defense?
The 2023-24 Suns team will not be shy when it comes to putting the ball through the hoop. However, the defensive side of the ball will be perhaps the biggest question mark the Suns will need to address.
Suns defensive efforts on a nightly basis will determine how far the team will go, especially in the playoffs.
Should the Suns get the effort on a consistent basis on the defensive side of the ball, the team should have no problem outscoring opponents with three team-leading scorers of the past on the floor at once in G Bradley Beal, G Devin Booker and F Kevin Durant.
Vogel, a coach infamous for his defensive mindset, should spark a different demeanor in the desert. His relationship with big men in the past such as C Roy Hibbert and F Anthony Davis have been successful ventures in the past, utilizing the size and presence down low to get the some of the best rim protecting players during those times.
The Suns will need to develop a new relationship with the other side of the ball, and a defensive mentality is exactly what the Valley needed. This question will play itself out when during the season, but when NBA teams need their defense the most is in the playoffs.
Who Will Close Games?
Having Beal, Booker and Durant is truly a good problem to have. But the Suns will need one scorer to emerge throughout the season that will control the offense down the stretch.
A dependable scorer in the crunch time of games was Booker's role for the longest in Phoenix. But, the emergence of other worldly talents alongside the Suns franchise man leaves the Suns with options.
All three stars have experience leading teams down the stretch in games. Beal did it with Washington, Durant with Oklahoma City and Brooklyn and Booker with Phoenix.
But the age-old question of 'who will take the final shot?' will be something the Suns need to figure out., and perhaps early on into the season. An isolation play for any three players early on in the year in a close game might be the determining factor in a closer role that any great team seeks.
How Will Vogel Utilize Big Men?
Three centers, Deandre Ayton, Bismack Biyombo and Bol Bol, will be key factors for a successful Vogel led defense. Other forwards on the team will play their roles as well to anchor down the paint and contribute to blocks and deflections such as Keita Bates-Diop, Kevin Durant, Drew Eubanks, Josh Okogie, Yuta Watanabe and Toumani Camara.
These rotations of big men might be the secret to some of the Suns success this year. Outstanding defenders in Okogie could lead a wave of young forwards that get it done on the defensive end for the Suns this year and years to follow. Watanabe, Bates-Diop and Camara will be three players to look out for on the defensive end of the ball as all are rumored to have high motors and are willing to exert energy according to scouts.
Offensively, Eubanks, Bol and Camara will be interesting to see how effective they will play when the bench players need to step up throughout the year.
F Keita Bates-Diop, among other younger forwards, will be major keys to a successful big men crew the Suns fielded in the offseason.
Defensive rotational forwards, like ones mentioned previously, will be the foundation in which Vogel builds his defensive empire, still searching for a championship in which defensive, of course, always wins.
