The NBA regular season is coming to an end, and now, the Phoenix Suns have long been at the top of the league, with a winning percentage of 79.5% that no one can surpass. Their next biggest goal is to reach the stage of the finals again, not to mention to be ashamed and win back the championship trophy lost last season.
It seems that the sun has a bright foreground, but for their victory, the outside world does not seem to be optimistic. Recently, some media said that in recent years, the regular season champion teams have all overturned in the playoffs, and even the finals have not entered.
Whether it's the Rockets in '18 or the Raptors in '19 and '20, the Jazz in '21 are all the same, and they're being turned over with a series lead. The worst of these was the Jazz last season, who was eliminated against the Clippers without Leonard and was turned over again with a 25-point lead in G6. So the question is, why can't the regular season champions make it to the Finals? Almost all of them are related to these three types of problems.
1 There is no excellent forward line-up in the team, which is the deadliest in the current era.
As can be seen from the several regular season champions who have overturned in the playoffs, none of them have a good forward lineup, which is particularly disadvantageous when playing small ball, mainly the center and defender are excellent, and there are few forward players who can gallop on the field. The Bucks also had a chance to go to the end and win the championship after making up for the shortcomings of the front line last season. However, this season, the Bucks have sent away a lot of forwards in exchange for centers and point guards, resulting in a state that is not as good as last season. It can be seen in its dealings with the Raptors and the Hornets and Clippers. Thanks to the Raptors and Hornets, the Clippers have excellent front-line lineups, so they can attack the combination of the Steppingrs and Middleton without even a chance to play tricks. Therefore, the Bears and The Raptors have all lost 3 times, and the Hornets are also half of the victory and defeat, the same is the residual and back-to-back situation, the Bears and Deer actually lost to the Clippers, which can see how much the Bears and The Horns have suffered in the center line lineup this season, and there is no forward player who can escort Brother Alphabet and Middleton.
The same is true of the Rockets and the Jazz, whose strength in the past was mainly in the guard Harden and Paul, and the forward lineup was either short in height or did not perform well on both offensive and defensive ends, so it would be blocked out of the Finals. The Jazz are also mainly Mitchell and Conley, the guard and center perform well, the front line is still a big disadvantage, so when facing the Clippers to put up a 4-forward and 1-guard small-ball lineup, the Jazz are powerless. Even if the number one striker Leonard is injured, substitute Mann can play the most. It can be said that the Jazz were also eliminated by the Clippers for this reason.
In fact, the Warriors were also like this, although before 17 years, the Warriors also won a championship, but in the absence of a good forward, it is impossible to establish a dynasty. Therefore, after understanding this problem, the Warriors will introduce Durant, the top forward in the league, after losing the Finals in 16 years, and sweep the old enemy Cavaliers in 17 and 18.
The Suns failed to win the championship last season also because of the lack of a frontal lineup, originally, Bridges and Crowder had a serious disadvantage in the height of the forwards, not even 2 meters, and later substitutes Craig and Sharic were also injured, resulting in the Suns being powerless in the face of the Bears and Bucks to swing the small ball lineup. This season, although the Suns recalled Craig, the fundamental problem remained unresolved.
2. There is no dedicated three-point shooter in the playoffs, which cannot open up space for the team
Even in the playoffs, there isn't as much room to shoot three-point shots as it does in the regular season, but a dedicated three-point shooter is needed to penetrate the opposing team's defenses, attract the opposing defense, and give other teammates more room to score.
Curry is a good representative, even if he did not show super dominance in the playoffs, but his three-point and running ability did attract the attention of opponents. When the Warriors and Cavaliers played, the opposing head coach Tyronelu let his men frantically pinch Curry, even if he didn't have the ball. Therefore, it is precisely because Curry's three-point ability is so amazing that he can catch the ball and shoot, so Tyronelu will let his players stare at Curry when there is no ball, and cannot let him have the opportunity to catch the ball. Durant's smooth sailing in the Warriors is also due to Curry's help, and it is precisely because Curry helps him attract the opponent's defense, so Durant will have more opportunities to score. Originally, in the 16-year Western Conference Finals, it was also because the Warriors had Thompson, a three-point shooter, who frantically shot three-pointers in the G6 battle to pull the Warriors back from the brink of elimination.
In the last season, the reason why the Clippers began to hide Kennard, a three-point shooter, was also because they wanted to protect him well and did not want opponents to see his weaknesses. Wait until the key moment to send him to the scene, let him use his excellent three-point shooting ability to penetrate the opposing defense line, even if he is stared at, he can create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Later, the Clippers regretted not reaching the Finals due to successive injuries to players.
The Suns do not have such a three-point marksman, even if Crowder is defined as a 3D player, but its three-point shooting production and shooting rate are not too high, and Shamet on the bench does not have the top three-point ability, otherwise the Warriors would not have given up on him and signed Kenard.
3, the team does not have a real singles strong point, the key moment can not frantically attack the opposing defense
It is not difficult to become a regular season champion, you can rely on the team style of play, so that the frequency of the team's gutter overturning in the regular season is reduced, and it becomes a part of the regular season, which is different from other teams.
Yes, this representative is last season's Utah Jazz, Coach Snyder's iron style was inherited by them, and the record that can maintain the top of the league is also maintained by defensive super strength and offensive caution, but in the playoffs, it was found that their main player is only an ordinary All-Star like Gobert and Mitchell, so when the playoffs need to be super ultimate to deal with the problem, no player stepped forward to help the team turn the danger, even if leonard was injured, the Clippers and George, the strong point of singles, Hence the elimination of the Jazz. Mann's superhero in the Clippers vs Jazz g6 battle is also because George's super strong singles attract opponents to pinch, so he has better scoring space.
And Durant's two years in the Warriors, it can be said that he and Curry are also complementary, one has excellent three-point ability, one is an unsolvable singles strong point, so the opponent does not know who to clip. As long as one of them is sandwiched, then the other will make the opponent doubt life with an inexplicable attack. And the Warriors also have Durant's singles strong point, before they really go to their heyday and become an unshakable team in the league.
And the Suns really don't have that kind of important moment to contribute to the unsolvable singles super ultimate body, whether it is Paul or Booker, the distance to the unsolved is always lacking some fire, Paul is not a single strong point, Booker does not have the ability to tear apart the opposing defense, which is far from the real invincible; perhaps after the return of Leonard and Powell in the playoffs, the Clippers will become a big dark horse, maybe they can find the Suns to report last season's arrow of revenge.