Rotations, chemistry, and matchups are still not quite set, are they?
The Phoenix Suns are still attempting to figure things out. Rotations, chemistry, and matchups. No, this is not a line from the second month of the season. This is with two games left to go before the postseason begins.
Some realizations appear to finally be entering head coach Frank Vogel’s peripherals. After an embarrassing loss at home to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, Vogel acknowledged that some changes needed to occur. We witnessed some of those adjustments heading into their second matchup in as many nights against the Clippers.
Grayson Allen, who has been slumping, came off the bench for the first time this season. Drew Eubanks looked horrible against the Clippers on Tuesday and received no playing time as Thaddeus Young took his minutes.
On one hand, you can say you are pleased that Vogel made those adjustments. Adjustments are needed to be successful, especially in the postseason. It’s what separates good coaches from great coaches.
On the other hand, as you watched the Suns struggle against second and third-team Clipper players on Wednesday night, it was clear that these new rotations lacked the cohesiveness and chemistry that is needed for success. Stubbornness to adjust earlier in the season by Vogel may be their undoing in the playoffs.
Drew Eubanks has had his ups and downs this season. If he’s playing against Andre Drummond, he’s great. Outside of that, however, his sub-par footwork and positioning have cost him numerous rebounds, which in turn has hurt the Suns’ possession ratio. His spacing on defense has allowed opposing players free feign at the cylinder.
If you look at some metrics, it comes to light how bad Eubanks has been. Let’s simply go with defensive rebounds per 75 possessions and defensive rebound positioning. When charted, you see how vast the chasm is between Nukric and everyone else on the team.
While Eubanks possesses better positioning, his ability to convert those into rebounds is 3 rebounds less than Nukric. When you look at the rest of the options available, you notice that Vogel doesn’t have much else to work with in this department. Outside of going small-ball five with KD, you can understand why he has rolled with Eubanks as long as he has.
In the same breath, you wonder why Frank hasn’t explored more matchup-based lineups throughout the season. After acquiring Thaddeus Young, why has he only played in 9 games? Is it to build Eubanks’ confidence? Or stubbornness to adjust?
Offensively, Eubanks is practically useless. Get him away from the basket in any capacity, and he can’t hit a thing. So why has it taken so long to try something else, especially when something else is available to try? Vogel must be still trying to figure it out.
Bol Bol is another player who has provided some memorable moments for Phoenix this season, as well as sustained offense from the second-team unit. It appeared that he had played his way into the rotation. But he is practically nowhere to be seen now as he sits alongside Josh Okogie, Thaddeus Young, and Isaiah Thomas for the majority of games.
I’ve never been one to beat the drum for everyone on the team to play. It doesn’t make sense. What should make sense, especially at this point of the season (and given how healthy Phoenix has been as of late), is the rotation and the chemistry that comes with it. The plug here, subtract there, try this, and pray approach of the Suns right now isn’t what should be occurring.
Why do the Suns appear to be this discombobulated this late in the season? The theories are as endless as that story with a flying dog-dragon. It doesn’t bode well for the fate of Phoenix as the postseason approaches.