After surging a month ago, the Phoenix Suns have started to come back down to Earth as they’ve fallen back down to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
The Suns are 6-4 in their last 10 games and have dropped the past two to the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets.
Phoenix came into the 2023-24 NBA season as one of the favorites for the NBA Championship, but so far they’ve looked like a mediocre playoff team at best.
If the postseason started today, the Suns would need to earn a spot in the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament.
Head coach Frank Vogel now faces immense pressure to get his team back on track or else ramifications could be coming in the offseason.
Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back when criticizing the job that Vogel’s done this year, via ESPN.
“You have a job!”
"You have a job!"@stephenasmith wants Frank Vogel to help organize the Suns better. pic.twitter.com/PW0oHnjrSS
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 25, 2024
While analysts like Kendrick Perkins and Michael Wilbon point to other issues such as personnel, Smith didn’t want to hear any of it and laid the blame at Vogel’s feet.
While injuries have certainly played a factor in the Suns’ struggles, Smith does raise a good point that good coaching would help solve some of their stagnant offensive possessions.
Defensively, Phoenix doesn’t have many two-way players, even though that side of the floor is supposed to be Vogel’s bread and butter.
With 25 games left in the regular season, there isn’t much time for Vogel and company to figure things out, though they better or else things could look very different come the summer.
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