Takeaways From Suns Preseason Opener
The Phoenix Suns were able to secure a win in their first taste of preseason action, though it took overtime to defeat the Detroit Pistons.
With one game already in the books, here's our takeaways from Phoenix's preseason first game:
Going to Take Time for Nurkic to Get Comfortable
Jusuf Nurkic had a fair amount of highs-and-lows today in his first start on his new team. The Bosnian beast drew some fouls at the rim, grabbed five boards, and showed off his well documented passing ability with three dimes.
The lows were interesting, as Nurkic accrued four fouls and three turnovers in only 15 minutes of action.
Suns head coach Frank Vogel didn't seem concerned, however. When asked about Nurkic postgame, the former NBA champion responded with, “He’s going to be a big body for us, help with defensive rebounding. Obviously, the skill he has offensively – that back-cut to KD [Kevin Durant] was really good – he's going to help us on both ends."
Although Nurkic struggled, the passing ability, skill in the low post, and willingness to play physical defense will hopefully end up working out in the Suns favor. The adjustment period may just take longer than anticipated .
Big Three Seems to Be Great Fit
The Suns' new big three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal took little time to begin gelling. The trio combined for 35 points in only a little over a quarter of action for all of them. None of the franchise's core players forced shots, instead playing a beautiful brand of basketball with lots of movement off-the-ball and making the extra pass to get a better shot.
Newcomer Eric Gordon mentioned how seamless it's been for the team to operate with three selfless superstars postgame:
“The willingness and attitude to continue to play at a high level together and play off one another. Just the willingness to push the egos aside to have a winning mentality. You can see that and it’s very helpful," Gordon said.
Suns fans have seen the team-first approach for years with Booker, the last few months with Durant, and Beal has shown no reason to believe his brand of play will be anything less than a great fit with a team that has high aspirations.
Increase in Rim Pressure is Promising
One of the weaknesses that has been a downfall for the Suns the last two seasons was the lack of drives to the rim, and in turn the lack of trips to the free throw line. This game hopefully signified a change in strategy this coming season.
Since the NBA has shifted to largely analytic-based scouting and decision making, the best shots are near unanimously seen as at the rim or the three point line. The thinking behind the idea is the more a team goes to the rim, the more free throws said team attempts.
NBA analytics gurus are smiling today as Phoenix attempted 38 free throws this afternoon along with 37 three-pointers. Drew Eubanks and Eric Gordon were clear standouts in that department, and Chemeize Metu attempted several later on in the game.
That's a scary proposition for the rest of the league if Phoenix can truly become a team that's threatening from all three levels.
Suns Might Be Best Three-Point Shooting Team
The Suns exited the offseason looking like one of the most dangerous teams from behind the arc, and today was evidence of how many floor-spacers this team possesses now.
Phoenix shot 14-37 from behind the arc (37.8%) with two of their strongest shooters (Watanabe & Gordon) combining to go 2-10. Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, and even Chemeize Metu dropped in multiple three bombs in their time on the court.
This team will be much more free offensively this season just due to the sheer volume of floor spacers on the court at once.
Vogel Will Truly Be Open-Minded
Suns first-year man Frank Vogel alluded to the fact that there would be playing time for every member of the team in his pregame presser, saying, “It is a challenge to work in that many guys – but nobody is playing the whole game – so it’s not really that challenging. It's youth sports, everyone plays tonight.”
He truly meant it.
Every healthy player played at least seven minutes for Phoenix. This preseason isn't only important for the stars to get tuned up, it's also important to see the best lineup fits, solidify roles for the supporting cast, and deciding what the final roster cuts will be.
Gordon responded to a question surrounding the rotation logjam the Suns currently are dealing with postgame, saying “We’re all going to figure it out. We know we have a good team so things will happen easily and quickly. We know we have a good team, so we’ll easily figure things out along the way.”
Damion Lee (meniscus,) Jordan Goodwin (hamstring,) and Ish Wainwright (calf,) were the only three players who didn't see any action today.
