Stephen’s Notebook, Vol. 3: Dominant spacing process, durant's defensive impact and quick-hitting booker

It’s been an up and down stretch for Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns are 12-9 with an offensive rating of 114.4 (13th), a defensive rating of 114.7 (15th) and a non-garbage time net of -0.4 (16th).

It seemed order had finally been restored, but the injury bug bit the Suns yet again.

First, Bradley Beal went down against the Brooklyn Nets in game two of his return with an ankle injury that sidelined him against the Golden State Warriors. He later returned against San Antonio.

Then, news broke Monday that starting center Jusuf Nurkić would be out and re-evaluated in a week for a right thigh contusion.

Finally, Kevin Durant was sidelined with an ankle injury midway through Tuesday’s game against the Spurs.

With all of that in mind, here’s what has caught my attention recently.

Offensive optimization

Against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Suns put together their most connected two-way performance of the season.

Phoenix registered 127 points (a season-high) and 31 assists (tied for second-highest) on their season-high 51 field goals made. They also put up 99 shots on goal in regulation, which is their highest total of the season and the fourth time they’ve gotten up north of 90 attempts on goal in regulation this season.

This resulted in a 125.3 offensive rating, their third-highest of the year. In that, they’d also register an astronomical offensive rating of 115.8, their highest mark of the season.

The major reason why they were able to do so, and efficiently, lies in pace.

The Suns spent just 75.2% of their offensive possessions in the halfcourt, their second-lowest (or best) mark of the season, and one that on a league-wide scale ranks in the 80th percentile.

Some of that is because of how well they defended themselves and thus were able to provide opportunities in organic transition scenarios. 

In the postgame show after the Suns beat the Lakers, we spoke about transition frequency and how it ties into their win-loss, pace unlocking Booker and spacing.

Let’s talk about spacing, first.

What’s unique about the conversation we had postgame is Mike Budenholzer’s approach to the Suns and their numerous spacing templates.

Oftentimes, they work to clear the wings for primary action to take place up top as far away from help defenders as possible.

Specifically to pick-and-roll, they do a great job with what’s called “moving tags.”

A tag is, in pick-and-roll defense, a defender not involved in the direction action who temporarily leaves his matchup to cover for the screen defender’s man as they roll to the basket.

The goal here is for that extra player to shrink the floor and take away the roller, then recover out to the perimeter, in a connected manner.

What makes this defensive coverage tough to execute when the Suns are spacing, re-spacing, and manipulating space, is where Beal is in the two plays discussed above.

Traditional spacing would put Beal alongside either Grayson Allen or Ryan Dunn in some capacity. However, he’s under the basket and moving, toying with the defense principles and making them pause before committing to decisions.

When the action unfolds as quickly as it does, they’re too deep in reacting and are subsequently right where the Suns want them.

This three-baseline spacing process, keeping both wing areas clear, is one that compromises help, making for an organic two against two.

Notice how far away any semblance of help is here, enabling the organic two versus two in small-small pick-and-play with Beal and Booker.

Beal rejects, reacting to the coverage from Cam Reddish as he loads up on the anticipated side of the flat screen from Booker. The flat screen gives Beal neutrality in his decision on which side to attack, as well as forces Reddish to choose a side to take away.

Then, because of their spacing, Beal is enabled a runway, free of hand help, to attack with a full head of steam at Anthony Davis.

These serve as clever coverage solutions for the Suns against stingy teams that are heavy with their help at the blocks and elbows, or heavy with showing bodies in gaps to shrink the floor on primary actions.

The succession of their spacing process combined with the trusting of the pass stood out in their offensive approach against the Lakers.

That would then spill into their next game against the Warriors, where they also kept them consistently in rotation defensively, but also matched that with ball movement that was faster than their defensive rotations in recovery.

Watch for how often the Suns drew two to the ball on either of Durant or Booker, then leveraged that extra defensive attention into advantage.

From there, also notice the amount of drives and paint touches that both ultimately compromise the Warriors’ defensive shell.

That in tandem with their spacing as well as the cadence of the ball movement generated green shot quality-galore.

These are the buttons Phoenix can press, uniquely, that optimize their offense. Shots may not always fall, but in process, they can always create clean looks to take their chances on, ones that also play to the individual strengths of the players in their lineup.

Durant’s dominant defense

Kevin Durant is putting together another impactful defensive campaign in a Suns uniform.

When he’s on the floor, the Suns have a defensive rating of 110.9, meaning they defend at a level the equivalent of the 11th ranked Miami Heat.

When he’s off the floor, that jumps up seven points, which pits the Suns in the bottom third of the league in defensive efficiency, ranking 28th.

I know the clutch numbers and his all-time level proficiency offensively make him a true marvel, but equally (and at times, arguably even more) has the impact been felt with his defense.

Durant provides the Suns with something they lack regarding their general roster, which is size. He’s “6-foot-11” (cough cough, really 7-foot-1) with a condor-like 7-foot-5 wingspan.

That’s typically a team’s center, not their starting forward.

This, in tandem with the way he sees the game defensively, his communication which helps preemptively navigate things, discernment in decision-making, and abilities to slide across in lateral mobility, make him the perfect “switch anchor.”

He helps to clean up matchups when the Suns are in disadvantage, puts out fires at the rim in a primary or secondary manner and communicates commands to his teammates in coverage.

Notice the natural switch that occurs comfortably, then his body positioning defending without fouling into the contest, then the conversation to follow the stop. This is the care the Suns need to show in pride a whole lot more defensively. Durant continues to provide that.

Speaking to the preemptive-ness of his defense, notice him in early at the nail, deterring the drive from Dennis Schröder, then his ability to closeout, recover, contain the ball, and contest without fouling into the stop.

Here, we see Durant again in help as the “lowman” and putting a fire out at the rim with protection in rotation. Notice how well he times up his jump to contest with legal verticality.

Durant’s in the realm of a career-high on average in blocks, indicative of his activity, and in the realm of his career-low in fouls, which speaks to his defensive discernment and discipline.

Watch for how he establishes, then fortifies the Suns’ defense upon returning.

The organic “Igho-Durant” connection

On the subject of Durant’s defense is his time spent with Oso Ighodaro and how they’ve both collaborated to optimize the Suns on the defensive end of the floor.

When they share the frontcourt without a “traditional” center on the floor, the impact, activity levels, and effectiveness that their versatilities provide serve as a sustainable change of pace for their defense, a contrast from their somewhat reactionary base coverage.

Pressure points extend, switching upticks and communication rises as these two compile more minutes together.

As it stands, in Durant and Ighodaro’s 127 minutes together, the Suns have a defensive rating of 99.2, ranking in the 99th percentile for defensive lineups in the entire league — one of the all-out most effective on that end, per Cleaning the Glass.

Though just 14 possessions have been compiled, the most effective iteration of these two in the frontcourt together is the “Big 3,” along with Tyus Jones initiating, and Ighodaro helping to anchor.

That lineup is a game breaking +42.9 in non garbage-time net, with an offensive rating of 135.7 and a defensive rating equally if not more effective at 92.9.

The Suns being able to more effectively switch and also cover up for mismatches, while also being able to effectively cross-match (throwing Durant on an opposing center, then Ighodaro on a deemed non-shooter, to then help and roam defensively) has been very impactful to the team’s approach.

Additionally, they combine to make for arguably the team’s most effective pick-and-roll tandem, a crop of player tandems we will discuss at a later date.

Keep it in mind as Durant returns to the floor in the coming week.

The follow-up to unlocking Booker

The Suns have looked to feature Devin Booker in early portions of the clock, with intention on aggression of his featuring.

Jones previously emphasized that their pace can enable Booker opportunities against a defense that isn’t set, and them finding these windows for him to be decisive and honestly ultra aggressive in, has been effective.

Some efficiency dipped after his most recent game against New Orleans, but the looks and uptick in them seeking these out remains.

In the compilation above, notice the synergy between him and Jones as Booker works to get ahead of the ball when off it, to set the early advantage from the mid-post area.

Quick-hitting scenarios like above as he posts, screens to post, or initiates in early offense, present great value to his shot profile as well as the team’s offensive process.

Take That for Data is back

Our “Take That for Data” series is back! Hosted by me, Stephen PridGeon-Garner, we previewed the Suns final regular season match-up with the Miami Heat.

Join me with special guest Brady Hawk of the Five Reasons Sports Network as we speak on all things Suns and Heat.