In the third quarter of today's game for the Suns, the Suns' top team in the West, the referee blew as many as seven technical fouls. Thompson was sent off for eating a T because he was dissatisfied with the referee, and it was the first time in 796 games of his career that Thompson was ejected. Thompson spewed trash at Booker with a disgruntled look and compared four fingers.
What did Booker say to him? Me and Jenna four times a night? Thompson responds: I have four a night?
Just kidding, it's pretty obvious what Thompson meant: It's crazy week. Oh, Wednesday.
The four rings may represent the past, as Barkley commented on the game: Thompson was once the best offensive and defensive guard in the league, but now he is not. Four fingers can also have another interpretation: Townson shot 0-for-4 from the field under Booker's defense that night. (Booker also paid tribute to Thompson after the game)
No one has ever said that Booker is a guard who is both offensive and defensive, and even in the eyes of many, Booker played the pinnacle of his career last season and was named to the only All-Talent Team of his career, but he is still a simple and pure scorer. He may be able to average nearly 30 points per game in the regular season, but what else can he do besides score?
Let fans remember the most memorable moments of last season. Curry's Night Night may be the highest, followed by Doncic's evil smile at Booker's ghost. In the two most important games of Booker's life, he turned in 6-of-17 shooting, 3-of-14 shooting, and a plus-minus of -60 in both cases. It deepened the fans' impression of Booker: he was just a pure scorer.
Is that really the case? Since entering the league, Booker has been accustomed to being disdainfully despised. People laughed at his 70-point performance after losing with his teammates, ridiculed him for scoring and not winning, and ridiculed him for losing day after day with the Suns until 2020 at the park, when the Suns won eight straight games. Paul joined the Suns that summer, and the Suns soared to the Finals, breaking the team's all-time record with 64 wins. Booker was able to smash some of the doubts about him. In an anonymous general vote before the start of the new season, he was considered the best shooting guard in the league by 45 percent of managers. For the first time in his career, from honor to word of mouth, he sat in the position of the first quarterback.
But after the Suns' humiliating loss, this offseason is full of depressing news. Savol was heavily penalized to sell the team, Ayton's contract extension was procrastinating, and his conflict with head coach Monty was well known, the Suns did nothing in free agency, and power forward Crowder fell out with the team again when the season was about to start, and completely stopped playing.
In addition to the data model, many people are not optimistic about the Suns, this team's locker room is somewhat problematic, and Paul's aging is also shocking. Are they still the top teams in the West?
After the start of the new season, Paul behaved like a tiger head of the 90s that trembled on the high speed, looking very intimidating on the outside, but actually driving like the Lakers. The engine is aging, and the car does not move when you step on the accelerator. In the first week, Paul handed over a 32.1% + 9.1% shooting percentage, so many people guessed by name, how many people have to guess this data as Wei Shao?
Although Paul has reached the end of his career, Booker has carried the team on his shoulders.
The opener played the Mavericks, trailing by 22 points at halftime. Booker scored 29 points over the Mavericks in 20 minutes and 30 seconds of the second half, and he personally turned in 28 points and nine assists to lead the Damien Lee and Payne's three-guard lineup to complete the big comeback.
In the second overtime loss to the Trail Blazers, Booker contributed 33 points, five boards and three assists on 11-of-23 shooting. In the third game of beating the Clippers, Booker scored 35 points and 4 assists on 13-of-21 shooting and 5-of-9 from three-point range.
After the game, the reporter asked Leonard: "Has Gram grown into a more difficult opponent to defend against?" ”
Leonard's response was: "No, Booker has been doing this for a while. Booker scored more points that day than Leonard and George combined (27).
Before the first timeout in the first quarter of the game, the Clippers' starters scored a total of 10 points, and Booker scored 14 points to give his team a 24-10 lead and set the tone for the Suns' big win. It was Booker's three-point shot that forced Lu to call a timeout.
Not only is he as efficient as ever on the offensive end and enhances his ability to handle the ball after being trapped, Booker is also more alert on the defensive end, and from time to time he will kill from the weak side, putting certain pressure on the opposing players on the line.
Today they host the defending champions. Booker was always the team's most secure attacking center, and Paul just picked up, hitting three three-pointers in the first half. At 55 in the second half, Booker faced Wiggins' difficult three-point shot and the Suns haven't fallen behind since. With Thompson sent off in the third quarter, the Suns stretched the deficit to 20 points 11-0 and basically sealed the victory.
For the game, Booker scored 34 points and seven assists on 10-of-19 shooting, with a plus-minus of +32. In four games so far this season, Booker has averaged 32.5 points and 5.8 assists per game, shooting 53 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from three-point range, and ranked first in the league with a plus-minus of +63 on four occasions.
Monty said of Booker at the start of the season: "One of the key abilities of players in the league's top 10 is to move their teammates, and usually they get caught in games so they can get the ball to teammates in open positions. It's not a direct assist, but it's also valuable on the offensive end. Sometimes, I ask Booker to do that, and I think Booker can do that, he can create space for his teammates. ”
According to Cleaning The Glass, the Suns scored 36.7 points per 100 rounds this season when Booker was on the floor. Although the sample is still small, it can be somewhat seen how important Booker is on the offensive end. In today's game, Booker attracted the Warriors three-man bag, and the assist passed to Kongche Bridges between the electric flints was very beautiful.
Paul's aging is irreversible. Fortunately, Booker was already ready, and in Paul's twilight years, he learned the ability to read the game from him, and who said that the script that could not be written on Booker? Maintain this kind of play, and perhaps Booker can launch a fierce assault on higher honors.