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When we see Booker get on other players, he may be trying to teach.
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How good is Booker?
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Suns_fan69
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I'm ok with this as long as he holds himself accountable, and lets the team know when he messed up too. You know the others see his mistakes, and if he never brings those up then his message is going to get old REAL quick.
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Sometimes its how you talk to people and not really about the what you're talking to people about. Early this season he was snapping and had a negative reaction. Lately it seems he's taking a more positive approach to confrontation.
CardsSunsDbacks
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overseascardfan
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I heard this on Burns & Gambo yesterday. Booker's going to have to be one hell of a salesman to lure stars to PHX with this management. But if he is serious about wanting to win he needs to start building relationships with star players and the only way to do that is to become a great player they want to play with. He and Ayton need to become that Shaq & Kobe tandem Ayton was hyping them up to become and that will lure guys in.
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James Jones is VERY well liked by players around the league. McD, not so much. I think the change that Sarver made in the GM position was not so much about the past (although there is that too) but about future free agency. McD did not have a good track record in free agency and that is our primary method of improvement for the next step. All that to say that while Devin's job in drawing free agents is daunting, it is probably going to be easier now with James Jones as the GM.
overseascardfan
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Jones may be respected by players but everyone knows he is Sarver's puppet and that Sarver is making all the personnel decisions. The only way players overlook that is if Booker and Ayton become superstars.
I wanted to post this somewhere because I feel it needs to be mentioned. Yesterday during all of the uproar over Sarver moving the team, Booker sent out a tweet simply stating that he loves Phoenix. He clarified the reasoning behind that today to Gina Mizell. He stated "There’s a lot going around the program right now. I feel like the city needed to hear that. I’m part of this too...We still have unconditional love for the fans that stayed behind us each and every night"
That's encouraging, IMO. I know he doesn't have a say as far as if Sarver wants to move the team but that's beside the point, I think. Booker does not seem like the sort of player to cut and run like a lot of people have suggested he was on the verge of doing because we still suck. He came out a couple weeks ago and talked about how he wanted to build a super team in Phoenix and now there's this comment. I hope the idea that Booker will demand a trade out of here is something we can put to rest for the rest of this season, at least, since his extension hasn't even kicked in yet. Could he be happier? No doubt, but he's committed to the Suns.
That's encouraging, IMO. I know he doesn't have a say as far as if Sarver wants to move the team but that's beside the point, I think. Booker does not seem like the sort of player to cut and run like a lot of people have suggested he was on the verge of doing because we still suck. He came out a couple weeks ago and talked about how he wanted to build a super team in Phoenix and now there's this comment. I hope the idea that Booker will demand a trade out of here is something we can put to rest for the rest of this season, at least, since his extension hasn't even kicked in yet. Could he be happier? No doubt, but he's committed to the Suns.
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Yuma
Suns are my Kryptonite!
How good is he? He misses 6 games, comes back and calmly puts up a 28/7/7 stat line, just like he was never gone!
Nice to see Melton pick up the ball handling duties and seems competent enough to do so on a nightly basis. His defense really helps out too.
Booker seemed at ease in the first half and didn’t force anything. Near the end Booker wanted the ball to finish things out, I like the fact that we finally have a guy who wants that responsibility and is confident enough in himself to own it.
Booker seemed at ease in the first half and didn’t force anything. Near the end Booker wanted the ball to finish things out, I like the fact that we finally have a guy who wants that responsibility and is confident enough in himself to own it.
devilalum
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Oh yeah, he ALWAYS thinks the next shot is going in. I don't think I've ever seen him pass on a shot due to a lack of confidence.
We need at least one, likely two, other players who are willing and able to handle that responsibility (as opponents will key on Booker down the stretch of games) in order to turn the corner. I believe Ayton can be one of those, with the right coaching. I have no idea who else, though. Warren just doesn't have that mentality. I don't see Bridges having it either (and in my opinion, he really projects to fill much the same role that Bruce Bowen did with the Spurs or that the good version of Trevor Ariza did with the Lakers and Rockets). I am not sure Josh Jackson will ever have the offensive capacity or reliability to be a go-to scorer down the stretch, either. Any ideas?
devilalum
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I agree. Ayton needs to be that guy. I saw Shaq, Hakeem, Wilt, Jabaar, etc do this night after night. The last 6 minutes of a game they'd get fed on the block and just humiliate their opponents.
This is too similar of a play to brush off as coincidental. I think this is proof that Booker has watched a good amount of Nash on the Suns. I'm glad someone put this side by side.
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Evan Sidery writes some good things about Booker that makes one want to go wow.
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And this as well.
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Raw numbers are good, but efficiency numbers (especially true shooting %, which is actually down, turnovers, which are up, and PER, which isn't as up as the raw numbers) are not as encouraging. That will need to change in order for our team to be able to win more consistently with Booker as our go-to player.
His FG% is up to .448 which is a career high and his eFG% is a career high at .509
His true shooting is SLIGHTLY down at .558 but that is just because he is putting up threes off the dribble instead of spotting up. He is at his lowest point ever on assisted 3 pointers.
Ultimately his OBPM is up to 3.4 which his DBPM has stayed the same. That is a net Box Plus Minus 0.9. Just two years ago he was -2.3.
All of this is because he has gotten more efficient not less.
