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By RYAN DORFMAN
Cronkite News
PHOENIX — It can’t be easy to coach a team with a cloud of uncertainty over your head.
That’s the challenge facing Sun interim coach Jay Triano, who inherited a team that’s a mixed bag of talent and experience. They have lost six of their last seven as they head into Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets.
Many of their struggles are on offense. They rank last in the NBA in assist ratio, which is the percentage of a team’s possessions that end in an assist. They also rank near the bottom of the league in effective field goal percentage (which places a greater emphasis on 3-point shots) and true shooting percentage (which takes into account free throw shooting).
In Monday’s game against the Lakers, Triano said he witnessed the team passing up great shot opportunities to take poor ones. That’s opposite the philosophy of the most successful teams in the past 20 years, including the San Antonio Spurs. This season, for example, the Golden State Warriors rank first in the NBA in assist ratio..
The Suns also are ranked 27th out of 30 teams in 3-point field goal percentage (33.16). Triano said they simply haven’t shot the ball enough in practice.
“Practices are dominated by what we’re trying to do to establish a system,” Triano said. “We’re a young team, so I don’t know if guys just aren’t completely used to it or that they just don’t get enough reps at shooting the ball.
“We showed 10 clips today where we turned down 10 open shots that we thought were open threes. The results were three turnovers and three tough mid-range shots. That’s six possessions where we went from a good shot to a not so good shot or no shot at all.”
The NBA is turning into a 3-point shooting league. Dragan Bender was expected to be a lethal shooter but has been inconsistent. Devin Booker is going to do what Booker does and knock down shots. Josh Jackson is working on his confidence. If he can start to develop his shot, many believe he could transform from a project to a rising star.
There have been accomplished shooters in NBA history who have been good shooters with unusual shot forms. One of which, Shawn Marion, played for the Suns.
“Josh is going to be a great player,” Triano said. “He’s trying to go fast. He’s trying to be that NOW.”
Triano spoke about Bender’s development, saying that he is steadily improving. The Suns drafted Bender fourth overall in 2016, one year after another European player, Kristaps Porzingis, made waves in New York. Porzingis was also drafted fourth overall. The Suns would love Porzingis-like production out of Bender, which hasn’t happened.
Bender is playing approximately 21 minutes per game. His per-36 minutes numbers are around 10 point per game and 7 rebounds, which isn’t bad, especially for a raw, young player like Bender, who turns 20 on November 17.
The NBA has seen superstars who had slow starts to their careers and mediocre Year Two numbers including Tracy McGrady (9 points, 6 rebounds), John Stockton (7 points and 7 assists), Gary Payton (9 points, 6 assists), and Kobe Bryant (15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists).
The Suns hope to develop a culture in Phoenix that will convince their younger players to remain with the team during the tough times with an end goal in sight.
