Breaking Down Devin Booker’s Incredible January Getting the Phoenix Suns Season Back On Track

Breaking Down Devin Booker’s Incredible January Getting the Phoenix Suns Season Back On Track

On today’s episode of Locked on suns Devin Booker is an Allstar for the fourth time Kevin Durant an Allstar for the 14th time we’ll put books incredible January into perspective look back in Sons history at what multiple Allstars means and more let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast

Part of the locked on podcast Network your your team every Day we are back this is locked on Phoenix Suns we are part of the locked on podcast Network I’m your host Brendan clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons A riter ATS suns.com and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get

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Show it is brought to you by the FanDuel sports book make every moment more new customers get $200 in bonus bets if you’re first bet at $5 or more wins visit fel.com lockon to get started Devon Booker is an Allstar for the fourth time 2020 21 22 and now 24

Missed it last year for injuries but is on a streak now of of multiple of these things maybe even more impressive not more impressively equally impressive or also important whatever you want to classify it as Booker was the Western Conference player of the month for the month of January

Obviously there are only what October November December January February March six of those over the course of the NBA season so that is a very big honor in and of itself and I wanted to break that month down because I was skeptical whether Booker would get in maybe that was crazy maybe

That was stupid he is career highs across the board minutes per game field goal percentage three point percentage assists points all of it maybe I should not be surprised here but with the sun’s inconsistent play with he had a very weird December I was wondering I wasn’t convinced that he was necessarily going

To get there but as I said on the just basketball show which I talk about the whole league I said there as we picked our Allstars if book makes it it will be because of January and sure enough he did make it and I think it was because

Of what he just did in this past month so for those numbers 16 games played 36 and a half minutes per game actually a little bit down from December which might have helped but 30 points straight flat four rebounds six assists per game but that’s that’s just the numbers 54% shooting from the

Field 40% from three a 31% usage which is not the highest in the league but very very high and a 2 and 1 half to one assist to turnover ratio talk about bouncing back you know and I would say that as part of the Suns getting back on track aside from

Some of those numbers Booker has led this team by demonstrating a few of the things that I think everyone is going to have to embrace if their season is going to get anywhere close to the championship hopes that they want to have he has had a level head about

Things right he still has the arguments with the officials too much for my personal liking I know fans don’t always love that but as far as mistakes running back on defense after turnovers hustling to you know chase after a loose ball all of the little things

That we know great players do to show their teammates what the standard is he has been doing I think he had a very poor start to the season up until this month defensively they already don’t put him on the the anywhere close to the biggest threat on the opposing team right most

Knights ever he’s guarding the least the least feared offensive player on the other team and still there were breakdowns and miscommunications and off ball all cuts and Mis rotations and a whole bunch of things that you know again when a guy is doing as much as

He’s had to do offensively you cut him some slack but to me even with that it had been rough that said in January again Beyond those incredible numbers beyond the sun’s winning games you would have to say that Booker clicked back into place as at least a positive

Overall impact on the team defense right he’s where he needs to be he’s paying attention he is reading the opposing offense he’s communicating and playing hard you know so I hope there’s another level yet still for him to go as a Defender but he at least got it back to where it wasn’t

A drag on the team and so all of that has placed him as one of the most valuable players in the entire NBA the best player in the West in the month of January as voted upon by I believe that is coaching staffs around the NBA and an All-Star for the fourth

Time I’m not sure that he’s going to keep up the scoring right you know 10 and what was it two 200 points no yeah 200 points across Four Road games right and banana scoring totals on a routine basis especially to close out the month does he average 30 points per game in

Another month maybe not but the efficiency the approach the defense the leadership I think that he is back to looking the part of a Cornerstone of this team and somebody who can be re relied upon on a nightly basis to go out and do just about everything he possibly can to will his

Team to victory for a team that is topheavy for a team that is putting the ball in his hands on nearly every single possession they’re going to need that to continue let’s zoom out we knew Kevin Durant was an All-Star starter book joins him now the Suns had in note to

Media that he is that this is the 25th season in which the Suns have had multiple Allstars so I thought let’s go back into the history books examine what those seasons were what they can tell us about what this season might look like where the sun stack up against the rest

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Going all stars the Suns have two this season last year they only had one the previous two years before that both Booker and Chris Paul were all stars and this franchise has an impressive history of multi- Allstar Seasons just about every year they have had an All-Star I’m well

Okay that’s not fully true we know that from 2012 to 2020 the Suns did not have a single All-Star because they were bad you can make the case Goron dragic did make an all-nba team in 2014 maybe he should have made an All-Star team I believe that Sun’s team

Came on strong the second half of the year which is why sometimes guys will get the all-nba but not an All-Star even though there’s fewer spots but that big gap aside for most of the team’s history they’ve had at least one Allstar almost every single season you know you can

Look at the 9899 season they didn’t get one the 9697 season you know the no I was going to say the early 80s but they they had one pretty much all the way through so I’m looking at the page on basketball reference and not only is that the case

But 2020 2012 the late 90s into the early 2000s with Jason kid some of those lean years in the 80s and some of the lean years in the 70s mid 7s mid 80s are the only times that the Suns have only had one All-Star in 81 05 and ‘

07 they had three a piece that’s hallowed territory and to me to bring it back to now it’s just sort of a funny situation that I as a sports fan somebody who writes talks thinks about sports makes some money doing it am always so torn on this idea

Of when you know you’ll see a broadcast right outside of division rivals or Lakers Celtics or something like that in any sport I’m always skeptical when it’s like the Miami Dolphins are 41 and 46 all time against the Oakland Raiders it’s like I okay one what do those teams have to do

With one another two they don’t even have any history so I don’t really care similarly you know we try to do this with like the Lions this year I don’t know why I’m using only football examples but where it’s like oh the team always matches the city’s identity and

I’m always sort of like that’s chicken and egg does it or the city just learns to love whatever team is good and it sort of just turns into all the same thing and I look at this and I say wow the Suns have sort of always had star

Players I mean they like that’s true of a lot of the NBA but not just star players but the cycling through the star players is maybe the crazy part it’s common in the NBA now it wasn’t always common so to have a team have a franchise that acquired Tom Chambers

Acquired Steve Nash acquired Shaquille O’Neal Chris Paul Kevin Durant and also has been this stopping point that has been desirable for these Legends is rare you know and and by those players I mean I’ll throw out any number of examples obviously Shaq did I even say acquire Charles

Barkley I think I forgot to say that part when I was talking about the Acquisitions but Shaq Chris Paul Bradley Beal guys like Dennis Johnson or Maurice Lucas who have just ranom romly kind of ended up in Phoenix Eddie Johnson who was not an All-Star but

Obviously had a history here Danny a at one point not an All-Star but the fact that the market has that appeal that under Colangelo they were a team that was known for spending it is just making me realize that this type of season even if it has

Pushed all of that to the Extremes in terms of the salaries of the top players the trades that had to happen to get there the new CBA sneaking up on the Suns and making it even more complicated to build around the star players you only have to look at these

All-star teams to realize that this is sort of the situation that the sons have always been in and that’s a good thing right so I guess I’m saying we all just need to get used to it or I’m surprised we’re not used to it the Suns have always chased

Championships this way and this season sort of no exception also setting aside Suns history although I want to put one more note there just because I think it’s interesting the way that some of this Maps out I mentioned Dennis Johnson that one’s kind of a funny little it’s not like

He is not known for having ever played for the Suns but he played here the the fewest years he’s definitely known as a Celtic because he won championships there and played the longest there but he made an All-Star team here twice and played three seasons the other funny one is

1992 Jeff horachek made one Hornes sec cornner I always get mixed up had one All-Star appearance ever in his career and it happened to be here I know that he started his career here but again he’s a guy where primarily probably known for being a member of the Jazz

Having played in two NBA Finals over there and seven seasons there versus only six here and wasn’t here in the final season and everything else makes his one All-Star team here so just funny how many different stars have passed through um Jason Kidd another example of that right wins championships

Elsewhere win goes to the finals with the Nets probably best known for being a net but three All-Star appearances in Phoenix just crazy what I wanted to say though is big picture in the scope of the NBA events like this solidify what matters and I think all of you listening or

Watching would probably say right that really all that matters this season is a championship at the end of the day we expected that Kevin Durant would make make another Allstar team he’s done it 13 times it’s basically if he’s healthy it’s a lock we figured if things went according

To plan book would be there too but I guess that’s the point right everything doesn’t always go according to plan I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and say that this season has been ideal or that everything’s on track for a title

But if you were to tell me at the beginning of the Season that the suns were built in a very topheavy manner with a big three that they needed to produce at a high level and that two out of the three of them the the better of the better two

Of the three right Beal being sort of the the obvious final banana would that those two guys Booker and Durant would stay healthy enough and be dominant enough in a in an absolutely loaded Western Conference to both be Allstars I would be over the moon and so using the

All-Star game as a little bit of a check-in not only is this in lock step with what I think Suns fans have always enjoyed and stressed about and everything else in terms of the way that the team is built we can also use it as a check-in for this season and

Say things are trending better than a lot of other outcomes and those two being great is an ingredient that can’t be ignored or or they can’t get where they want to go without those two guys being All-Star caliber and they have been that’s a

W they’re going to need to rack up a lot more W’s in February March April May and ideally June but this was a big one and you can celebrate that let’s talk about how the Suns can close out the road trip with two easy but not to be looked

Over matchups in Atlanta and Washington first Today’s Show brought to you by prize picks the best place to play daily fantasy sports because it’s exactly the opposite of all of the other daily fantasy sports games meaning that prize picks has gotten rid of all the stuff you don’t like and kept the stuff

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The Atlanta Hawks on Friday you can get get all of the injury and game plan updates from morning all the way through tip off and post the buzzer on subtext with your locked on Sons Insider subscription the way to join get all of that plus my thoughts on

All news and rumors heading toward trade deadline week next week is to visit join sub.com orlock Dunson join sub tex.com loock Dunson or click the link in the show description below that is Hawks and wizards to close out the road trip the suns are currently 3 and

Two if things again speaking of going according to plan if that happens the Suns will close out this road trip 5 and two and not a moment too soon because awaiting them after an off day Monday is really 36 hours off cuz they play Mata

On Sunday in DC then they fly home then they have all of Monday off then they play a late game on Tuesday so pretty nice schedule-wise and that is against the Milwaukee Bucks a nationally televised hopefully fully healthy game between two championship contenders those are the those are the

Ones you Circle right but let’s not get ahead of ourselves we’ll have plenty of time to talk about that Atlanta this team does worry me for the Suns I’ve said all season long that teams with great offenses and mediocre or bad defenses actually worry me more than teams

With well yeah teams with great defenses but bad offenses I don’t think the suns are going to have to worry about Atlanta falls into the first category as somebody that can sneak up on them right we have seen Brooklyn and and even Washington Once Upon a Time Early in the season

Sacramento teams with dominant offenses have been able to get one over on the Suns even Dallas right so I would not Overlook it the fact that Grayson Allen is healthy is a good thing I would expect that he will probably get the Trey young assignment and I would think Beal will guard dejonte

Murray Kevin Durant will have his hands full with Jaylen Johnson who’s their breakout young guy so this is a team to not be overlooked on the offensive end that being said that they’re not good right overall they’re not a good team they are 10th in the East they’re barely better than Brooklyn

So you know five and five in their last 10 negative three point differential on an average night everything says that the sun should beat them it is a take care of business type of game the Wizards even worse I think the Wizards aren’t scary like just nothing to see here

But they at the very least have individual players who can heat up you know between P who is currently hurt or he’s currently out I should say but it was with a non-co illness two days ago so I would think he could play and then kozma those two guys can fill it

Up it’s at least something you have to pay attention to and early game last game of a road trip coaches always hate you’re looking toward getting home you can overlook your opponent but if all goes according to play on the sun should be able to finish this out what that would mean for

Them is let’s say they win both right Sacramento is on the road in Indiana on Friday second night of a back toback for them traveling so not ideal circumstances the Pacers I mean but that is not a sure win for the Kings and then on Sunday the Kings

Play oh wow they’re off so they have an off day on Sunday likewise the New Orleans Pelicans play on Friday at San Antonio probably a win and then on Sunday they are also off on Saturday they do not play either so oh the Kings do play there we

Go the reason I read these schedules and I think you know where I’m going is that the Suns have an opportunity to solidify themselves in this five seed if I’m in that locker room I’m looking at the lead up to the trade deadline or the lead up to the all-star

Break a week after the trade deadline as time to take Sacramento’s spot get over that mental hurdle not like it’s a they’re afraid of the Kings or anything but get there go into the break at 5ifth hopefully you make some Acquisitions next next week maybe a buy out on on the on the

Way toward March and use the final stretch of the Season February schedule for the Suns is also easy okay use the rest of February after the break they have a game against the Thunder not too far after the the the All-Star break they have a game two

Games against the Rockets a game against the MAV so a lot of West stuff right out of the out of the gates there and use that stretch run as a chance to chase for home court advantage in the first round you want to be hitting your stride

Putting the fear of God in your opponent making those top four teams worry about you the team let’s say in fourth that doesn’t want to have to go on the road to start the series if it is a 4 five any team that has an injury or

Anything along the way you want to be the team that everybody is saying well Phoenix is beating down the doors to take our spot in the standings and I think getting to five would be in the next week and a half would be a great step toward being that team in March in

April suns are eight- two in their past 10 games the only bad loss they’ve had recently was the Magic game the Pacers loss was they’ve been great on the road lately they’re finally starting to stack up wins at home they have these two more on the road to keep the momentum and before

Long this switch could happen and and the Suns could overtake the Kings that’ll wrap us up for the week don’t forget to hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re find in the show sign up for lock on Sons Insider text alerts at join sub tex.com lockon Sons or in the

Link in the show description below I I will be back with Brandon Monday to well no we are going to be recording later in the week I will be back Monday Sunday evening really recapping that midday Wizards game on Sunday more to come next week including

A recap of that awesome bucks matchup a jazz game which have been some of the most fun ones of the sun season so you won’t want to miss it get all that and more in your feed all through the week and I will catch you guys then

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are both NBA All-Stars, exactly as all Suns fans hoped to see.

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans goes inside Booker’s incredible month of January, which saved his and the Suns’ season. Then, some historical perspective on the Suns’ two All-Stars. To close, a look at the opportunity at hand for the Suns to close out their road trip and move up the standings.

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