Inside the Suns - Topics: Fourth quarter collapses, Media Day questions, Collin Gillespie and TyTy Washington

Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team.

Each week the Fantable - a round table of Bright Siders - give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.

Fantable Questions of the Week

Q1 - Last season the Suns’ offense tended to collapse in fourth quarters. Their offensive ratings for the 1st three quarters were 4th, 6th and 2nd respectively but 30th in the 4th. What do you suspect was the reason/reasons for those collapses and can they be fixed in 2024-25?

GuarGuar: I think not having a point guard really was the issue in the 4th quarter. Teams liked to really up their ball pressure in the 4th and that made us struggle getting into our offensive sets quickly. We rarely ran any good actions other than isos or basic pick and rolls in the 4th. We slowed down our pace of play significantly in the 4th as well. So many times we waited till the very end of the shot clock to shoot.

OldAz: I always felt like this was a lack of a defined offensive system and strategy last year, made worse by the lack of a true point guard. For much of last season, the Suns seemed to “shut it down” in the fourth quarter when they had a lead. They would lose all aggression and start walking the ball up or taking 16 seconds of the shot clock before initiating any type of offense. This never made sense to me (or likely anyone) instead of continuing to run their offense like they had in the first 3 quarters. It just seemed to me that instead of running their offense, last years Suns decided when they felt like the game should be over and started coasting from there.

Other times, it looked like the opponent simply waited till the 4th and then stepped up the defense on the ball handlers, which is where the lack of PG really showed up in a negative way. In the previous years, the fourth-quarter was characterized by CP3 ensuring that their offensive sets continued to be run (and run well) so that there was a good shot taken almost every time down. Hopefully both of these issues have been adequately addressed going into this season.

Brrrberry: It’s coaching simple as that. There’s some element of having a target on your back that exists too and every team in the league wants to beat a “superteam” head in every chance they get. Well coached teams aren’t top 5 in the league for 75% of the game then one of the worst in NBA history for the most important 25% of the game. Yes it can be fixed, but it won’t get fixed to the extent we’re all hoping if Bud can’t hold all his players accountable. Praying he’s got the balls to do exactly that. Reason I wanted Sam Cassell to be our HC is he’d have accomplished at least that.

Rod: I believe there were several factors in those offensive collapses - most notably no true point guard, a predictable offense, a weak bench and plain old fatigue - which worked together to cause them. No real PG forced Book, Beal and KD into trying to be primary playmakers, a role none of them are best suited for and likely tired them more than usual for the number of minutes each played. That also likely played a part in the offense being too predictable, ending up with way too much iso and not enough ball movement. A weak bench meant the Suns’ best players had to play excessive minutes (Book played the most minutes per game ever and KD played the most since 2021-22 plus 20 more games) which led to part of the fatigue. Some would probably add turnovers to this list but I look at the turnovers as symptom of those other factors rather than a cause.

I think they’ve done a lot to fix those things during the offseason and I’m keeping my fingers crossed (which makes it damned hard to type!) in hope that those 4th quarter collapses will soon be nothing more than a bad memory.

Q2 - Media Day (Sept. 30) is now less than a month away. You get 3 questions to ask of anyone in the Suns organization (owner, coaches, front office staff, players, etc.) AND are guaranteed to get a 100% honest answer. What questions would you ask and whom would you ask them of?

GuarGuar: For Coach Bud: Are you going to run drop coverage defensively all year like you did in Milwaukee? (Our centers are not like Brook Lopez at all so I am not a fan of us using this coverage against elite scorers)

For Ishbia: How long of a leash are you going to give this Big 3 era?

For Kevin Durant: If we don’t make it far in the playoffs this year are you going to request a trade?

OldAz: Assuming I would get a straight and honest answer?

James Jones: What is this team missing from its main rotation (8-9 deep) to win it all?

Coach Bud: Same question.

Matt Ishbia: Was Coach Bud your first choice a year ago and he was not ready to accept the position or is that just the story I am telling myself?

Brrrberry: James Jones — who’d have been your pick if we didn’t trade down in the first round?

Mat Ishbia — How many years are you willing to carry the highest payroll in the league if we never progressed to the finals?

Booker — What would it take to push you in the direction of demanding a trade?

Rod: First, I really want to ask Budenholzer to explain what type of offense he’s planning to run. Out of all the changes that have been made this summer, getting Bud as our new head coach is the biggest one IMO and how he plans to run things could be the difference between the Suns being contenders or pretenders.

Also for Bud, how good does he think the Suns can be defensively this season.

And just for the record, I’d ask Bradley Beal how he would feel about taking on a sixth man role. I’m not completely sold on this being the best idea for maximizing his on the court production but I certain wouldn’t be against giving it a try.

Q3 - The Suns have 2 point guards - Collin Gillespie and TyTy Washington - on two-way contracts. Which one do you think would be the most productive contributor for the Suns if given meaningful minutes?

GuarGuar: I give a very narrow edge to TyTy over Connor. It’s very close and I don’t think either ends up having an impact at all this year. But if I had to go with one I’ll go with TyTy given his better measurables.

OldAz: I have no idea. For one, I am not too familiar with either player’s game. Perhaps more importantly, it is nearly impossible to predict what you will get or even what you want from a back of the rotation point guard. Are they asking that young player to fit in on the court with otherwise typical rotations? Are they asking the point guard to keep everyone involved with other deep bench players on the court? Are they asking them to control the basketball and tempo so as not to blow a big lead? In truth, my hope is we don’t see either of these players getting any minutes this season because that means Jones and Morris are healthy and there are plenty of other ball handling options except in the most extreme garbage time moments.

Brrrberry: Hmmm tough question, real tough actually. I honestly don’t have the slightest clue both of them played really well in the G League last year. Ty has that 1st round Kentucky guard pedigree and he’s a local kid so I’ll go with him as he’s undoubtedly gotta want to get some run at Footprint Center. Gillespie is a bit more of a traditional PG which may be called upon if Morris has any injury issues or can’t get back to the condition/player he was a couple years ago. He’s actually got an even better college pedigree in that he played a full 4 years ar Villanova which has churned out quite a few NBA PGs in the last decade. Hopefully one of them surprises.

Rod: Not know either of these two very well makes this a tough one for me and it really comes down to the position (PG) rather than the talent. Collin is a true point guard while TyTy is more of a combo guard and the reality of their situation is that neither of them will likely see any significant minutes with the big team this season unless injuries come into play. If that happens at the PG position, then I expect Gillespie to be given the 1st shot at filling in as a backup. In that role, I think he would be the best fit and most productive simply because of his high assists numbers in the G League (10.5 apg vs TW’s 4.2 apg, also in the G League).

It’s a close call though as Washington’s extra size (6’3” with a 6’8” wingspan vs CG’s 6’1” height and 6’4” wingspan) could be the difference maker in limited minutes as a backup.

Hopefully neither will need to be pressed into rotation service by injuries this season and we won’t have to worry about which is better.

As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!

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Last Week’s poll results

Last week’s question was “This year the Suns’ defense will be...”

10% - Much better than last season.

47% - Slightly better than last season.

40% - About the same as last season.

03% - Slightly worse than last season.

00% - Much worse than last season.

A total of 253 votes were cast.

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Suns Trivia/History

On September 3, 1994, the Suns signed Danny Manning as an unrestricted free agent. A 2-time All-Star, Manning signed a 1-yr, $1 million contract with Phoenix (all their cap situation would allow at the time) after making $3.5-million the previous year and turning down a 5 year, $35 million dollar contract from Atlanta.

The year before, Manning had made the rare choice of accepting his qualifying offer rather than signing an extension with his previous team (the LA Clippers) and become an unrestricted free agent for the 1994-95 season. When questioned about Manning’s decision to sign with the Suns for much less money, his agent replied, “It is not about money. It never has been and never will be with Danny. It is about winning.”

Unfortunately, Manning would tear his ACL during a practice on Feb. 6 and miss the remainder of the season after averaging 17.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 32.8 minutes per night. Up to that point the Suns were 36-10 (.783) and on top of the Western Conference. They were 23-13 (.639) for the rest of the season (59-23 overall) and lost 4-3 in the WC semi-finals to the Houston Rockets.

Danny Manning 32 Points Vs. SA Spurs - November 26, 1994

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Important Future Dates

September 30 - Media day.

October 1 - Training camp opens.

October 4 - Preseason begins.

October 6 - Suns @ Lakers PRESEASON GAME (6:30 pm AZT)

October 8 - Suns @ Pistons PRESEASON GAME (4:00 pm AZT)

• Will be played at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan

October 11 - Suns vs Pistons PRESEASON GAME (7:00 pm AZT)

October 13 - Suns @ Nuggets PRESEASON GAME (6:00 pm AZT)

October 17 - Suns vs Lakers PRESEASON GAME (6:00 pm AZT)

October 18 - Preseason ends.

October 19 - Last day for players on fully non-guaranteed contracts to be waived and not count at all against a team’s 2024/25 cap. They must clear waivers before the first day of the regular season.

October 21 - Last day of the 2024 offseason. Roster limits decrease from 21 players to 18 (2:00 pm AZT). Teams will be limited to carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals as of this deadline. Last day for teams to sign a player to a rookie scale extension (3:00 pm AZT). Last day for teams to sign an extension-eligible veteran player with multiple seasons left on his contract to an extension. Last day for teams to convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract.

October 22 - 2024/25 regular season begins.

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This week’s poll is...