Although compared to last season, there is a clear "promotion" that applies to every player in the Suns, Devin Booker is arguably the player who deserves the word best, and Devin Booker can even say that he can improve his skills every month.
Devon Booker has very good habits and rhythms in terms of play and daily training, which also allows him to take his game to new heights, of course, even if Booker's game has a more comprehensive performance, he still continues to strengthen his uniqueness on the offensive end. So in what way could Devon Booker's improvement so far this season be the most helpful to the Suns playoffs and the impact on the championship?
What have bookier improved this season?
1. Dry-pull three-point shooting stability
So far this season, Devin Booker has improved the stability of his dry three-point shooting, and in terms of statistics, Booker has improved to 35.9% of the three-point shooting rate in 117 dry three-point shots, which is also Booker's highest shooting rate since the 2017-18 season. That said, Booker's improved stability of dry three-pointers has also made the Suns' outside offense a greater threat.
2. Ball possession and control of the number of errors
There is also a significant improvement in Devin Booker's ball possession ability, with only 2.4 turnovers per game so far this season, which is also his best performance since his rookie season, while averaging a career-high 5 rebounds per game. This allows Booker to bring a more stable offensive performance to the Suns in possession, while also helping the team in rebounding.
2. More frequently stand on the free throw line in recent times
As for the free throw line, Booker's average of 5.4 free throw shots per game and 86.5% of the free throw shooting rate is indeed not particularly significant, but from the recent performance on the field, Booker can create fouls by opponents in more ways, which may be a valuable lesson learned from the team's veteran point guard Chris Paul, and the more efficient way of standing on the free throw line also reduces Booker's mistakes due to foul failures to some extent.
You know, the blow penalties booker can get last season compared to the top 15 players in the league can be said to be a significant gap, which often makes Booker himself, the Suns coaching staff, teammates and fans feel confused and dissatisfied.
This is by no means due to a lack of confidence on the offensive end or a lack of physical contact, or a "bias" from the referee or the impression that Booker likes to create fouls, but that Booker really needs to learn a smarter way to make fouls from Paul. Especially against teams that have performed better at the free throw line, the Suns undoubtedly need Booker to come forward.
For example, in the Suns' recent game against the 76ers (the 76ers averaged 29.2 free throws per game after The All-Star Weekend to rank second in the league), we can also see the Suns complaining about the 76ers' constant whistles in the first half of that game, and the body language of the Suns players showed dissatisfaction with the game.
Blowing penalties of this nature usually makes any opponent feel difficult in a 48-minute game, and in the game, the constant whistle means the following things:
1. Opponents make physical contact more often and impact the basket
2. The rhythm of the game on the offensive end of the opponent's game is improved, which usually makes it more difficult for the defender to control the defensive movement
3. There are players in the opponent squad who are good at scoring with fouls (Embiid and Harden in the 76ers are masters of foul making)
The good news is that the Suns can still win this game against the 76ers, in which the 76ers can have 26 free throw shots, and Suns coach Monty Williams also detailed the team's tactical arrangements after the game. From a strategic point of view, Monty Williams' message to the players is to do the job at hand:
"You have the right to express your opinion on the game, but you have to do the job at hand."
Simply put, even if the mood of the players on the field is not stable, the message conveyed by Monty Williams still makes the players insist on doing a good job at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. Truth be told, most teams in the league don't have this collective discipline to dampen the mood during the game, but the Suns are clearly the one with better discipline and can do that, so if Devin Booker can still perform well enough on the free throw line, it will definitely make the Suns a harder team to beat, especially against teams that are good at creating fouls.
So far this season, Devin Booker has made 356 free throw shots, which is also the 20th-highest number in the league. But in the last five games, Booker has made a total of 58 free throw shots, which is also the highest total number of free throws in any five consecutive games of Booker's career.
At least in recent times, Devin Booker is clearly smarter at creating fouls, even against opponents with different defensive styles and different referee groups, Booker can find the ideal way to make fouls. It's definitely a big boost for the Suns, and as a team that wouldn't have put particularly much pressure on opponents, Booker's ability to impact the basket and make fouls smarter make the Suns a more threatening team on the offensive end.
So compared to the improvement in the number of dry three-point jumpers and control turnovers, the Suns obviously need Devon Booker to perform well enough to create fouls. Recently, Booker has been able to play very well in terms of standing on the free throw line.
Why did Booker's ability to create fouls give the Sun a significant boost?
1. The Suns are a team that excels at scoring mid-range shots
So far, the Suns have averaged 27.6 dry-pull shots per game to rank fourth in the league, and the average score of 26.2 points per game on dry-pull shots can also rank third in the league.
The Suns' ability to shoot dry shots is indeed one of the biggest advantages of the team's game, among which Booker (averaging 11.9 dry pull shots per game), Paul (averaging 8.7 dry-pull shots per game) and Mikaar Bridges (averaging 2.6 dry-pull shots per game) are both players who are good at quick stop mid-range scoring, and these three players can more efficiently use the ability to score from mid-range in quick stops, and the improvement of Booker's foul-making ability will make it easier for him to hit the middle distance position on the court, and opponents will also give Booker an easier opportunity to make a quick stop mid-range shot because of fear of possible fouls.
Even Suns core center DeAndre Ayton has been able to bring considerable efficiency to the team in mid-range shooting, and so far this season Ayton has averaged 1.9 shots per game and 45.8% shooting from mid-range.
From a team level, the Suns' 44.8 percent mid-range shooting percentage and 16.2 mid-range shots per game are in second place in the league. Because of this, Devin Booker's smarter foul-making ability will undoubtedly help the Suns, who are good at scoring from mid-range shots.
Usually, the pressure to hit the basket is the most important factor in creating a foul, because more physical contact near the basket is more likely to make the referee blow the whistle. Because of this, Devin Booker's ability to create fouls could be a panacea for the Suns to play better in the playoffs.
2. The threat of the sun hitting the basket is in urgent need of improvement
So far this season, the Suns have had 41.7 ball-holding breakthroughs, which is only the performance of ranking 10th from the bottom in the league, and the average of 19.8 possession breakthroughs per game is the 15th position in the league.
In the Suns, Devin Booker's average of 9.7 possession breakthroughs per game is second only to Chris Paul and Cameron Payne, but Booker's average of 1.4 possession breakthroughs per game after the free throw shot is the best performance in the Suns.
Because of this, the Suns clearly need an improvement in Booker's ability to stand on the free throw line after the breakthrough, because except for Booker, the players in the Suns team can't get more free throw line scoring opportunities in the case of breakthrough. Considering that Booker is the number one person in this team that the Suns stormed the basket and created damage, this is why Booker's ability to stand on the free throw line is more important to the team.
Booker's performance on the free throw line could boost the Suns' playoff ceiling
Here's the data on devin Booker's scores and free throw shots in each series of playoffs last season:
First round: 29.7 points and 8 free throw shots per game
Second round: 25.3 points and 6 free throw shots per game
Western Conference Finals: Averaged 25.5 points and 7.2 free throws per game
Finals: 28.2 points and 5.3 free throws per game
In last season's Finals Series, if Booker could increase the number of free throws while maintaining his efficient scoring ability, this would undoubtedly give the Suns a clear offensive advantage in the series, and it should also be a great way for the Suns to win the series.
Write at the end
Because of this, with Devon Booker's ability to impact the basket and unsolvable mid-range shooting, if Booker can continue to maintain some clever ways of making fouls in the game, the Suns can definitely become a better team in the playoffs.