Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today show, Becky Hammon believed that the Phoenix Suns need to be a bit more rough with their play. Currently, 14-13 in the season, LV Aces HC raised a valid argument behind the dismal start to the Suns’ season. While Bradley Beal is injured, they still have two of the best scorers in the form of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. But Hammon believes maybe their playing style has something to do with it.
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On the show, Hammon, Brian Windhorst, Chiney Ogwumike, and Kendrick Perkins discussed why the Suns are struggling this season. As per Perk, the Suns need to “buckle down” and become more intense. Host Chiney Ogwumike asked Hammon if the Suns have been “soft” this season. To this, Hammon replied,
“I guess. It’s not a skillset problem. All right Perk, get in there and dirty those sheets! you got to dirty those sheets! No fault of clean sheets, you gotta get in there and mix up. Maybe that’s the grittiness and the toughness I’m talking about.”
“Like freaking take a punch. Like get the freaking back up and go hit somebody,” added the Las Vegas head coach.
Both Perkins and Hammon believe that the Suns are lacking the fire to compete right now. Perk insisted that it is not Bradley Beal’s absence that is hurting the teams, but it is their subdued attitude.
Therefore, for both the former pro hoopers, Kevin Durant and Co. need to start putting their body on the line. Meanwhile, Brian Windhorst believes that the team’s situation is pretty much the same as the 2010-11 Heat.
Is the Phoenix Suns in a similar situation as the 2011 Miami Heat?
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were all in their prime and All-Star talents when the Heat squad began their 2010-11 campaign. However, they were struggling to mesh in their first season together. They started with a 9-8 record.
The KD, Beal, and Booker trio have been flailing similarly thus far. This is why analyst Brian Windhorst pointed out the resemblance. As per him, lack of production from role players is the real problem.
“This team reminds me so much of 2010-11 Heat. There the team was mostly made up of role players and they struggled. They really needed those three guys to come together. They were 500 17 games into the season,” pointed out Windhorst
However, he also highlighted a major contrast between the Heat and the Suns situation. Before the 2011-12 season, they were able to use their first-round draft pick and made some strong free-agency moves. But the Suns don’t have this luxury considering their exhausted cap space and lack of draft picks.
One huge reason for the Suns’ downturn is also that Beal, KD, and Book have played just 24 minutes together throughout the season. Therefore, the sample size is nowhere near the 2010-11 Heat Big Three’s start.
