After “Point God”, here is “Point Book”! Last night in their trip to Oklahoma City, Monty Williams and the Suns trusted Devin Booker to lead, for the first game missed by Chris Paul touched on the thumb. This confidence has not been betrayed by the All-Star player, usually established at the rear position.
After a very complicated start to the match in the distribution (lobbed pass too high to Deandre Ayton, pass too high also to Cam Johnson in the stands…), the point guard corrected the situation. ” I thought Devin handled the game well. If you look at his assist tally, he found the guys at the right time.“, salute Monty Williams.
For the first time this season, his player exceeded the symbolic bar of 10 assists with a total of 12 units, his best total of the year. With a little more success from his teammates (only 13/34 for the Suns at three points), he could have reached his career high in the matter (14).
” He read the pick-and-roll defense well”continues the Suns coach. “He distributed in the right timings. It’s something I learned from working with Chris. When you can pass at the right height, it allows shooters to send faster.“
It is clearly in this area that Devin Booker shone the most. He first distributed to the periphery, towards Jae Crowder and Cam Johnson in particular, rather than finding Deandre Ayton after the screen. The pivot, accustomed to martyring the opposing defenses thanks to Chris Paul, was thus satisfied with 6 points at 3/6 on shots.
Already experiments in progress
Still deprived of his first substitute leader, Cameron Payne, Monty Williams could have introduced in his five the newcomer, Aaron Holiday, who had already made some good outings leaving the bench of the Suns.
” I just thought we’d be better off getting him off the bench and letting him be himself.”justifies the coach about the “combo-guard”. “It’s much harder for him to play as a point guard. He tries to know when to pass and what to do when our interiors cut out. He will be more and more comfortable.“
This did not prevent the substitute from signing a very good outing with 12 points (5/5) and 5 assists. But if Monty Williams did not hesitate to launch Devin Booker in the lead, it is also because he already had experience in the matter. During the 2018/19 season, when the sector was particularly unstable (Isaiah Canaan, Elie Okobo…), he shot nearly 7 assists per game, his best career average.
The full-back admits that past lead has him “ helped a lot. I still attribute it to my early years in the league, including my first two years playing with Brandon (Knight) and (Eric Bledsoe). When they were out the ball often landed in my hands and I had to create a lot, play against different defences, make mistakes and learn. I’m very proud of it. I haven’t been in this position recently but I certainly had some flashbacks tonight.“
His creation evening did not prevent him from easily compiling 25 points (9/16) but also from stealing 6 balls in defense. A career record phenomenal for Monty Williams who kept him on the floor for 38 minutes.
” He is in good physical condition, full of energy. I don’t think I saw him tired, at least he won’t admit it to me. So I sometimes have to regulate for him so that he can be fresh at the end of the match. […] We were still a little rusty but it’s good to get out of this game and get used to Book as point guard.“
| Devin Booker | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2015-16 | PHX | 76 | 28 | 42.3 | 34.3 | 84.0 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 13.8 |
| 2016-17 | PHX | 78 | 35 | 42.3 | 36.3 | 83.2 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 22.1 |
| 2017-18 | PHX | 54 | 35 | 43.2 | 38.3 | 87.8 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 0.3 | 24.9 |
| 2018-19 | PHX | 64 | 35 | 46.7 | 32.6 | 86.6 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 6.8 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 4.1 | 0.2 | 26.6 |
| 2019-20 | PHX | 70 | 36 | 48.9 | 35.4 | 91.9 | 0.4 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 6.5 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 0.3 | 26.6 |
| 2020-21 | PHX | 67 | 34 | 48.4 | 34.0 | 86.7 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 0.2 | 25.6 |
| 2021-22 | PHX | 43 | 34 | 44.5 | 38.0 | 86.0 | 0.8 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 25.4 |
| Total | 452 | 34 | 45.4 | 35.5 | 86.9 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 0.3 | 23.2 | |
