Vol. 1, Iss. 5: The Book Of Bubble Basketball

The entire NBA took notice of the Phoenix Suns in the Bubble. This is a complete look at how Booker's scoring & play-making, led the Suns on an unlikely 8-0 run in Orlando.

Introduction

We are here to talk all things Devin Booker in the Bubble. Warning: there’s roughly 2,500 words & 30 mins of video below. Whether you are a returning subscriber or first time visitor, just a quick reminder to check out the housekeeping tips back in Issue One. This newsletter remains independent and free of charge. All I ask, is if you like what you read then subscribe below and/or share it with others.

“If you don’t know, now you do….”

Foreword

Devin Booker reportedly wanted to enter the bubble to make a statement. He leaves with a serious claim to being Bubble MVP or at a minimum, the first major snub of those honors. Over 8 games, in which he led the Suns to a perfect record, Booker showed a wider audience what he’s already been and where he wants to go.

• Bubble Book: 30.5 PPG - 4.9 RPG - 6.0 APG - 2.5 TOS (50.3% / 31.3% / 94.0%)

• Regular Book: 26.1 PPG - 4.2 RPG - 6.6 APG - 3.9 TOS (48.7% / 36.0% / 91.6%)

“I think Book is probably chomping at the bit to be able to play on national TV. People know who he is, but he’s going to get a chance to really imprint who he is on a big stage where basketball is going to be front and center all around the world. That is something that really excites him and all of our guys. He made the All-Star team and now I’m sure he wants to go out there and show everybody that he’s All-NBA.” - Monty Williams told Marc Spears.

Forget the fake Bubble MVP trophy. What about that All-NBA nod Monty mentioned? If the league office hadn’t decided to restrict voting to pre-Bubble games only, the stats (which do still count by the way) and narrative for Booker in Orlando would have made it very hard to leave him off media ballots.

But let’s not get caught up in that. Instead, let’s re-live the Sunderella Suns 2.0 experience through the eyes of their star on the rise. We’ll take a look at each game, what stands out in the stats for Booker and go to the tape to remind ourselves of just how brilliant he was.

Chapter 1 - Window To The Future Vs. Washington

125-112 // 27 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists // 8 of 21 FG, 2 of 7 3P, 9 of 9 FT

It all started with an unremarkable win over the worst team in the Bubble, the Washington Wizards. When dissecting the box score, you could be convinced that Booker was largely unremarkable too. He top scored in the game, but his 8 of 21 from the field was a little inefficient.

In hindsight, Booker was the best player on the court and he knew it. He was also giving us a window into how that confidence was going to translate for the remaining Bubble games and into the future. Short term, he flashed the first signs of how balanced his game was going to be in the subsequent games. He was trusting his teammates to make plays, relying heavily on the mid-range and occasionally letting rip from deep - even if it was with mixed results.

Longer term, we got a window into how Booker and Deandre Ayton continue to develop together as a Batman & Robin tandem. This season, 31% of Ayton’s assisted buckets came from Booker dimes. In the bubble that percentage held exact until the final game. Dipping to 28% of Ayton’s assisted makes coming from his running mate through 8 games. In our first video below we look at how that connection looked, especially down the stretch of the game. We’ll also take a look at the flashes Booker showed in Game One from an overall scoring and play-making perspective.

Chapter 2 - Into The Teeth Of The Dallas D

117-115 // 30 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists // 10 of 20 FG, 1 of 4 3P, 9 of 10 FT

The Suns first real test came in the form of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. The game went down to the wire. It was the first of many scoring clinics by Bubble Booker, where there seemed to be a real focus on getting into the teeth of the defense and taking what the Mavs gave him. We saw Triple Threat Booker emerge for the first time in Orlando.

Booker averaged 14.3 drives per game this season, 16.0 in the Bubble and cranked the dial all the way up versus Dallas with 19 drives for the game. It was evident watching the game, Booker had decided he was going to attack. From there he showed why he is such an offensive danger. If defenders help, he makes the right pass. If defenders sag, he’s happy to take the mid-range jumper. And if defenders press up, he’ll just blow right on by.

It’s all on display in the below Mavs breakdown. We start out looking at how he perfectly took what the defense gave him, using the triple threat skills he has at his disposal. From there, I wonder how hard he might be to guard if he ever adds a consistent pull up shot from deep. We end by highlighting a regular Rubio sneak play from the elbow that somehow manages to always get an open look and when it’s read, how the Suns counter.

Chapter 3 - A Shooting Clinic Over The Clippers

117-115 // 35 Points, 4 Rebounds, 8 Assists // 13 of 25 FG, 6 of 9 3P, 3 of 5 FT

Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns weren’t exactly clutch in season 19/20, with 11 losses by a margin of 5 points or fewer and Booker shooting just 42% in 113 clutch minutes. But as we know by now, Bubble Book was a little different. In just 10 clutch mins in Orlando, Booker was 5 of 7 from the field for 13 points. Most of which came in this LAC game.

It was an incredible shooting display from the Suns Shooting Guard, who had a rare night from behind the arc with 6 of 9 from downtown. Despite that surprise feat, Booker really killed the Clippers with his in between game, that is so hard to defend. Not only was the final shot of the game a vintage fade away jumper after some fancy footwork. Booker worked his way up to that moment, with many more.

And it wasn’t a surprise routine either. Booker went 6 of 11 (54.5%) in this game from mid-range, which is laughably less efficient than the 56.8% he averaged overall in the Bubble. It shot up to a remarkable level in the last 8 games, from his already impressive 46.1% (League Avg is 40.5%) during the season. Let’s take a look at how he worked his way up to THAT final shot, before more examples of Booker trusting in his team and the out of the box pull up shooting night (normally shoots 34.2%) from deep.

Chapter 4 - The Indiana Initiation

114-99 // 20 Points, 3 Rebounds, 10 Assists // 6 of 12 FG, 1 of 5 3P, 7 of 7 FT

This is the point where I started to believe in the possibility of an undefeated run. 4-0 with a tough win over the Pacers and the potential to play a few weakened teams down the stretch. It was also the night that Booker decided to really lean into his initiation game in the Bubble, with his 9th 10+ assist game of the season.

Psst…We need to talk about Devin. The passing game is criminally underrated.

While he averaged 6.5 assists per game for the season, a benchmark he largely maintained in the 8 Bubble games while limiting TO’s. There is a serious argument that Booker needs the ball in his hands even more. Why? Booker is Top 12 in the NBA for potential assists (13.2 per game) and also leads the league (and the Bubble) in assist to pass percentage (20.3%). Meaning, missed shots deflate Booker’s assist numbers significantly and he is also the most efficient passer in the league when it comes to converting passes into made buckets for others. In short, he deserves even more creation responsibility but more on that later in the OKC recap.

We start out the video with a breakdown of how Booker found Ayton for 6 of his 10 assists on the night. We’ll then take a look at the remainder of his dimes to others, before ending with a series of tough makes from Booker when he decided to go it alone.

Chapter 5 - Attacking The Heat

119-112 // 35 Points, 3 Rebounds, 6 Assists // 15 of 26 FG, 0 of 7 3P, 5 of 5 FT

In the fifth straight win, Booker managed to hit his Bubble game high of 35 points despite going 0 for 7 from deep. He was an insane 15 of 19 inside the three point line and an ultra efficient 9 of 12 inside 5ft. Whilst 75% at the rim is a bit of an outlier, this was no fluke anomaly. Booker finished his 8 bubble games with a marker of 65.2% inside 5ft, surprisingly lower than his season average of 68.5%. That’s exactly 7 percentage points higher than league average.

And it didn’t end with scoring versus Miami. Booker got the 6 assists that you can generally count on him for, but his overall play-making was much more than that. Feeling his way through the game, Booker began to attack the Heat’s switches and occasional double teams. He turned all the extra attention into finding the open man, whether it was for his own assist or beautiful ball movement from the whole team.

Don’t take my word for it though, let’s go to the tape. We start the Heat video with a full breakdown of the dagger set the Suns drew up to really attack the Miami switch defense being deployed. Booker toes the line to make sure he remains “0for” from three on the night. Also highlighted is the play-making and rim finishing mentioned above.

Chapter 6 - Finding A Way To Defeat The Thunder

128-101 // 35 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists // 9 of 17 FG, 3 of 7 3P, 14 of 14 FT

With the Suns going for six straight, they started the game without Ayton in the middle (or even the arena) due to a missed Covid test. Whether that was to blame or not, the team’s start was rusty to say the least. But again, the Suns had the best player on the court and he damn well knew it.

Booker’s usage in this game was a Bubble high 37.5% and it certainly matched the eye test. Before we talk about that, I do need to draw attention to the fact that Booker upped his PPG by 4.4 with a dramatic increase to his usage from 29.4% pre-Bubble to 33.9% in it. What’s impressive about that is, it didn’t come with any sacrifice to his efficiency or turnover numbers. Not only did he shoulder the extra load, it somehow made him stronger.

Against the Thunder though, Booker decided he was going to take the upper hand in the game through sheer will and basketball IQ. When you’re the best player on the court, you get the respect of the refs. Watch below as he forced 7 trips to the line for 14 FTs. That and finding his big men, got him in rhythm. Which then allowed him to make some ridiculously tough shots in the eventual blowout.

Chapter 7 - Taking On The Sixers Without Their Five

130-117 // 35 Points, 9 Rebounds, 7 Assists // 11 of 24 FG, 2 of 4 3P, 11 of 12 FT

In many ways, the win over the depleted Sixers was a culmination of everything Booker had shown in the lead up. Just like the game before, and all season long if we are being honest, the Suns played down to their opponent. The Sixers were without their best five guys - Simmons, Embiid, Harris, Horford and Richardson.

Enter the Valley Boyz 23 year old VETERAN. Booker got to the line another 6 times, often baiting Thybulle into silly fouls. His Bubble run ended with an average of 8.4 FTAs per game, driving his 19/20 season average up to 7.3 freebies a game. What did that mean for his game, especially in this one?

The “jail” game with Ayton opened up for Booker, as he pacified defenders by getting them caught on his back and used the big fellas gravity to wreak havoc. From there, the passing lanes opened to the likes of Saric & Payne and the Suns did a great job swinging the extra pass to the open guy. All that can be seen below, finishing with the beautiful sight of Devin Booker in attack mode.

Chapter 8 - The Mavericks Encore

128-102 // 27 Points, 7 Rebounds, 5 Assists // 11 of 20 FG, 0 of 5 3P, 5 of 5 FT

8-0. They did it. If the first Wizards game was a window into what to expect from Bubble Book, then the final game against the Mavs was just the encore.

For the second game in a row, Devin didn’t touch the court in the 4th quarter. What a way to end their season, considering Booker and the fans are more used to him sitting on the bench in blowout losses. In 31 minutes, Booker finished with 27/7/5 and showed us everything we are beginning to just expect from him. The reliable shooting efficiency, making the right pass reads and a maturity well beyond his years to balance the two.

Nothing further to break down here, let’s just enjoy Booker going to work in all his glory and not take it for granted…..

Epilogue

Despite a magical run, the Suns didn’t quite get their fairytale ending at Disney World. However Devin Booker did introduce himself formally to the wider NBA audience, as Phoenix’s hero and the villain other teams would have to worry about going forward.

Don’t get it twisted though. This was no shock to us Suns fans. Booker simply got his long overdue chance to show the NBA community what he is made of and he didn’t let a single person down. There were some key teammates who certainly came along for the ride in Orlando. Ricky Rubio remains underappreciated by most, Dario Saric found a role in the second unit, Mikal Bridges & Cam Johnson illustrated their worth as modern wings on both ends, Deandre Ayton doesn’t get any smaller down the stretch and the Cam Payne/Jevon Carter bench mob was certainly a nice surprise.

The short and long term future is certainly beginning to look bright in the Valley, with other guys starting to step up. Still, the hardest thing to find in the NBA is a bonafide star to build around. Bubble Booker solidified that status in my eyes.

The balance of knowing when his team needed a bucket versus when to defer to others, is what I will always remember from these 8 games. That and the fact Devin Booker left the Bubble with a few things he didn’t pack in his suitcase when he entered. A competent NBA team to start - which led him to either official or unofficial Bubble MVP honors, a definite 1st Team All-Bubble nod and the long overdue respect of the basketball fraternity. This was Devin Booker’s Bubble, we were just socially distancing in it. And fuck, it was fun!

---

Sequel?

Normally this OT section is reserved for a few more tidbits to end with. However you might be left wondering - What about every other Phoenix player not named Devin? Or asking - Are you going to focus on the other Suns stories from the bubble? Well to answer those very legitimate concerns, I’ll leave you with this. I wanted Booker to have his own spotlight for this Issue but I also have something coming for Issue Six, where everyone else will get their seven seco…I mean, fifteen minutes of fame.

Image credit: @ridiculouscage