Bickley Blast: It’s going to take more than Phoenix’s Big 3 to help get the Suns back on track

Bickley Blast: It’s going to take more than Phoenix’s Big 3 to help get the Suns back on track

And marada boings Arizona Sports the local sports leader bigley blast the Suns have a big problem that good health cannot solve it’s called defense and the Suns play it like they’re matadors not predators and alas I don’t know if this team can run or hide or shoot their way

Out of this dilemma I mean did you see how easy it looked for the Clippers to stroll into the paint or hoist uncontested threes to shoot 55% from the floor and 53% from the free three-point line you don’t need a super team to play great defense folks you need the right

Vibe you need the right players or you need a coach with the right system and a healthy amount of buyin from those in uniform and in Phoenix something is clearly missing on that end of the floor look we are all easily deceived by victories over substandard teams and we

Can yah butt our way through most difficult conversations because of the injuries that have kept our big three from materializing that has kept our super team as an unfulfilled dream instead of a nightmare for opponents but when the Suns face a really good team they look terribly deficient and from

Jaylen Brunson to Luca from Lori Markin in to Jordan Clarkson from Terry Rosier to Victor WN Ben Yama the numbers are frightening and while the NBA will always be a scorers League sometimes you got to make the other guy Miss especially when it matters the most all right today’s bitly blast

Brought to you by my great friends at Chapman BMW who make Lu luxury attainable find them online at Chapman bmw.com I think we were scaming little bit more start getting pissed off a little bit you know um and that’s kind of have that has to be our disposition

When we start the game you know we we got four five allars over here we got to we got to make sure that we’re ready to go from the jump you know uh you know they shot 6050 or 95 or something like that’s that’s crazy you know so that’s that’s just

Unacceptable we got to be a lot better on that end and you took your high to him but we still could have made a lot of those catch and shoots like early on like a lot tougher you know team manm mates but PG got going Kawai got going

They just like they laced them up got got be better with that Bradley Beal last night on the sun’s defensive performance uh which was not good for most of the game no got better as the game went on but had dug themselves a 23-point hole at one point hard to climb

Out of those holes against the team as put together as the LA Clippers and I’ll give Bradley Beal credit for this he’s getting acclimated yes played a lot of minutes last night did not have the most efficient offensive night finished I think with 21 points but he’s been the

Most outspoken on the defensive issues that the Suns have had a good point he’s the guy that came up with the tragic line he’s the guy that came on Burns and gambo and talked about the need to get uh you know better on that side just

Talked about it there hey we got to start the game pissed off yeah and uh you know you know when you hear Frank vogle uh say things like this really proud of how we competed we didn’t give up on a game I think that’s a positive

Attribute to our team you know I’m more concerned with how we started the game defensively you know I don’t think we we had the necessary disposition you know to guard an elite offense you know a team with a lot of Firepower create creates a a lot of different challenges

With the Personnel that they that they have and um you know we just weren’t we didn’t have the they didn’t feel us they didn’t feel us in the first half so we got to start start stronger you know in terms of the the defensive disposition with all due respect to Frank vogle

That’s the type of quote that should be coming out of Detroit Michigan from Monty Williams talking about his team you know being proud of them for not giving up on the game this was a team built to compete and win compete for and win a championship completely and your

34 games in the time for moral victories for hey great effort and trying to come back that don’t fly here no I agree yeah and listen and and that that was part of uh part of the thing that I was afraid of last night is that that the comeback

If you will getting the lead down to eight if you will that it was going to help sugarcoat this loss I I I I felt like this game was this game was a A Sucker Punch to me uh and and not that I expected the Suns to win but it just the

The temperament of the Clippers versus the temperament of the Suns particularly in the first half was was something else and I’ve mentioned that whole Terren man following Devin Booker all the way to the rim after a timeout just to let him know nope not leaving you for a second

Bud it’s just it was just it was really it was really just disrespectful and that’s the way I think the Suns have to play defense they have to they have to take it personally and I just I I I think a healthy basketball team especially with a defensive minded head

Coach which which Frank Fogle has that reputation you would think that they’d rally around that that okay we don’t have KD and that sucks but let’s rally around playing defense because you don’t playing defense it’s attitude it’s effort it’s hustle rally around the family right with a pocket full of

Shells but again I mean I I’m not wrong about this defense is attitude it’s want to it’s it’s there’s nothing spec special about playing defense other than having that kind of nasty attitude and Suns did not have that and there’s a reason why there’s a reason why uh there

Are players in the NBA who are not good defensive players and there there are players who don’t have the requisite size or the foot speed and and you can get caught up in matchups I mean watching Grayson Allen trying to D up kawh Leonard last night that was a joke

I mean like what do you Grayson Allen gave it everything he had but you know the Clippers are also a very very difficult team to defend uh they’re a very difficult team to officiate they they got a lot of tricks up their sleeves from an individual

Standpoint yeah yeah go ahead Jer well I was going to say but like Grayson Allen or Yousef nkit are not going to just become more athletic no the these bench players you know that have never been that good at defense their whole careers are not all of a sudden going to be good

Just cuz they’re trying harder some of that stuff is based on the roster well you’ve got to you’ve got to decide who you’re playing and you’ve got to decide who you’re bringing Off the Bench you got you’ve got different guys for different things and and I think that

It’s you’re going to have to reconcile this you’re either going to have to commit to outscoring teams and whatever we we’ll we’ll kind of wave at you instead of playing defense but we’re going to outscore you and if that’s the case then you know then then maybe the

The roster looks like this and if it’s not the case then maybe the roster looks like you know kab Bates deop and Josh aogi and I I don’t know I like I said this is an issue that’s the issue that jumped out at me and in the first half

Devin Booker the way he was getting jumped I thought this isn’t fair to him man he is not a point guard by trade and and at some point in time somebody needs to help him out it can’t always be him carrying a boulder up the hill and I

Don’t think Devon Booker was very good in the first half and and the turnovers were there again but but it was also a reflection of the way that Clippers were just blitzing him and tyo pretty much had a game plan for Deon Booker there’s no doubt about that and book in the

Second half you know found some urgency and he and he and he kind of forced the issue a little more and he put up a big big number but if you just saw the if you just saw the score of the game and and read the box score and saw Deon

Booker stat line you wouldn’t have any clue of what the game looked like in the first half not really uh here was Devon Booker on adjusting to the Clippers defense after halftime I mean especially when we’re staggering minutes and we’re missing you know one of the three of us

You know it’s easy for a defense to key on key on to us um you know when there’s three of us playing there’s usually two on the court at the same time where you don’t see those type of defenses but um we still we still find ways in the

Second half things that we can build on and carry over from yeah with the latest sample of what we saw with Durant Booker and Beal Alto together the offense did look easy it looked smooth there wasn’t a whole lot of double teaming there wasn’t a whole lot of blitzing of any

Player on the court because you can’t do it but it’s just it’s disconcerting to see all right Kevin Durant’s not playing what oh what do we do Devon Booker’s not playing oh what do we do the you somebody else has to step up and there’s players stepping that are capable of

Stepping up that still look uncomfortable in doing so there was a there was a key stretch when the suns were fighting back and there was a possession where the ball zipped around and it ended up in the corner with Josh aogi and he had an open three and he

Would not shoot the ball and he put the ball on the floor and tried to drive and he turned it over and he turned it over that was a i that a very telling possession bookmark that very same POS possession from the couch at home last

Night that that’s very telling a a a good basketball team in the NBA 2023 that shot’s got to go up and that shot’s got to go in yeah and if it doesn’t go in at least you’re giving your team an opportunity for an offense thanks for watching Bley and

Marada click to see the latest Bley blast and hit the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports

Following the Suns’ slow start, and ultimate loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Dan Bickley takes a closer look at what Phoenix needs to do in order to right the ship.

Video: Felisa Cárdenas and Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports
Photos: Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports; Chris Coduto, Alex Goodlett, Christian Petersen/Getty Images

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