Suns Receive Reality Check in Preseason Loss
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The Phoenix Suns stumbled out of the gates in their 134-124 preseason opening loss to the Adelaide 36ers.
The overreactions have already poured in, but Suns coach Monty Williams isn't in that business. Phoenix's starters played in very limited minutes during the loss, although there's still little room for excuses.
"I thought we did not do a good job of reading the game. Once they made a few of them in the first quarter, I did not think we had awareness that these guys would keep making shots," said Williams following the game.
"The extreme part for me was they had 24 threes, but they also had 24 turnovers. We had chances to combat the three-point shooting but when they made that much, and we only made nine. We shot in the 20’s; that is not normal nor an average for the league.
"We did not give them the respect they deserved as a pro team. It is a great opportunity for us to learn.”
Learning how to stop the three ball will be imperative for Phoenix, as Sunday night and their going away party via Game 7 left a lot to be desired in that department. Adelaide knocked down 24-of-43 three-point attempts (55.8%). For comparison, the Suns made just nine of their 34 attempts (26.5%).
Miscommunication and failure is somewhat expected when playing your first competitive game, although it's a safe bet the Suns didn't expect to be beaten on their home court.
“It is just our habits. When we mess up, we know we have to be better," said Mikal Bridges following the game.
"There was frustration when both units were out on the court. There were just things we were messing up on and trying to help teach the guys. You want to win every time you are out there and play at our best in our way. It felt like that today.”
Center Deandre Ayton isn't wasting much time harping on the loss:
“Flush it quickly and move on. This is preseason. We’re still learning at the end of the day. It’s unacceptable, but at the same time we’re just getting back and we’re just trying to polish up some things to get ourselves better," said Ayton.
Perhaps this is a good thing for the Suns, who could use a reminder that any team can be beaten on any night. Phoenix experienced that up 2-0 in the NBA Finals and up 2-0 in the Dallas Mavericks series last season as well.
At least for Sunday night, their reality check came without warning.
“Sometimes it is rebounding, sometimes it is a one-on-one player, other times it is transition. Tonight, it was shooting. You have to be able to read the game," said Williams.
"I thought the first team when we went zone did a great job of recognizing where the shooters were. That helped us a bit, we are going to grow that zone. We changed from a 2-3 zone to a 3-2 zone. They started to do a better job of reading the game and getting to shooters. The bench gave up a few threes, even the starters did. At the beginning of the second quarter, we gave up a three right away first play out of the gate.
"That is something we will get better at. This is a good game for us, we had a really good camp competing against each other. I did not think we had the same disposition against this team.”
The Suns will continue their preseason schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas.
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