What clicked for the Suns?

I don't really know. I think the two are about equal on defense even if they go about a little differently. After a rocky start Jones has actually been more accurate from three than Crowder since the beginning of February but Crowder shoots a lot more. Crowder is a bigger part of their offense and he's also six years older so you know Stotts would make him a bigger part of ours. That being said, if we hold onto Jones past this season I think he's the more valuable commodity. So yeah we'd be a little better with Crowder but that's mostly just because of Stotts.

 

1. CP3
2. Booker is good and reaching his prime.
3. Health.
4. Balanced team that plays both ends well.
5. Middle of the pack strength of schedule played.

 

just for fun, SOS rankings. First from BBREF:



also from BBREF, SRS rankings (Simple Rating System; a team rating that takes into account average point differential and strength of schedule. The rating is denominated in points above/below average, where zero is average):




and remaining SOS from Tankathon:




what's a little scary about that for the Blazers is that after, they play the next 6 games against 3 teams with a combined winning percentage of .387, their SOS for the remaining 30 games will jump up toward the top of that list. Critical that the Blazers build a cushion over the next 6 games. That's especially true considering that Utah, Denver, and Dallas have 3 of the 4 easiest schedules and Golden State isn't far behind

 

I'm not sure bubble records from last year should be used to draw any conclusions. You had some players coming back in better shape than others, some players opting out, some teams with nothing to play for, while othe teams (Portland and Phoenix) were giving max effort.

The Suns have had 7 lottery picks in 6 years, traded for a HOF PG, and made some nice signings this off-season.

In comparison, we've had 1 lotterly pick in 6 years (and it doesn't appear to be a good one), our biggest trade acquisition on the roster is Covington (no CP3), and we also made a nice (singlar) signing.

 

Does SOS take into account of the SOS of the opponents that make up the SOS? For that matter, the SOS of the opponents that make up the SOS of the opponents that make up the SOS? It’s a very flawed stat rarely means anything. Remember when the Pelicans had the “easiest schedule” in the bubble? How’d that work out?

 

I didn't manufacture those websites or those rankings. I just posted them. Argue with the websites, not me (isn't that how deflections work around here?)

the SRS I posted above is a little more developed than raw SOS.

This site does some adjusting to SOS:

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

this site uses a composite of power rankings to rate played and remaining SOS:

http://powerrankingsguru.com/nba/strength-of-schedule.php

no matter how you slice and dice it, or how much sunshine you want to infuse, the Blazers have had a relatively easy SOS to this point, and will have about the hardest SOS over the last 30 games. The other side of that is several of the teams they are jockeying with for playoff seeding will have easier schedules

Portland is as capable of many of those teams of getting hot and going on a win streak. But when they have done that over the last 6 seasons, it's always come in an easier stretch of games

 

Just to be clear, my point in listing the Suns’ SOS as middle of the pack wasn’t to try to say anything about the Blazers and their SOS. I was just listing, in order of impact, my thoughts as to why the Suns’ record is so much improved.

 

It’s clearly the training staff and the weather

 

Good coaching.

 

Them being healthy for the most part has really helped them gel.

 

Maybe because they’re the current 2 seed in their first season, rather than 10th.

although not sustainable due to CP3 age, in my opinion

 

Health