PHOENIX SUNS

Assists and turnovers continue to be primary issue for Suns at halfway point

Jan 17, 2017, 6:00 AM | Updated: 11:27 am

(AP Photos)...

(AP Photos)

(AP Photos)

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The Phoenix Suns are ranked dead last in the NBA in assist to turnover ratio, managing only 1.14 assists for every turnover.

That’s the worst mark in the league by a substantial margin. The Brooklyn Nets are next on the leaderboard at 1.24 and after that, it’s the Philadelphia 76ers at 1.35, over 0.2 points higher.

The last time a team posted an assist to turnover ratio worse than 1.13 was a decade ago in the 2006-07 season when the New York Knicks (1.09) and Orlando Magic (1.10) both did it.

For Phoenix, it’s been an issue all season.

The Suns have recorded more than 23 assists in only four games this season. For reference, six teams in the NBA average at least 24 assists per game.

On the other side of the statistic, there are 21 teams averaging under 15 turnovers per game. The Suns, meanwhile, have turned the ball over at least 15 times in 27 of their 41 games.

Any way you swing it for the Suns, they are not good at setting up their teammates and taking care of the ball.

When looking at the roster, there are problems left, right and center. The players with the three best assist to turnover ratios are Leandro Barbosa (2.45), Tyler Ulis (1.88) and Eric Bledsoe (1.91).

One group that struggles with the number is Phoenix’s centers. Among the 193 players that have played in at least 30 games and averaged at least 20 minutes per game, Tyson Chandler (0.38) is the second-worst and Alex Len (0.45) is fourth-worst.

In those same qualifications, the Suns fail to have a stand-out performer such as Andre Iguodala’s absurd 5.08 number for the Golden State Warriors or even someone like T.J. McConnell, a fringe roster player turned capable starter, posting a 3.25 average for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Bledsoe is the highest-ranked Suns player to qualify for the leaderboard at No. 70.

When compared to other teams in the league, the problem for the Suns appears to be lacking those key rotation pieces who take care of the ball.

An example in the middle of the pack of the NBA leaderboard in assist to turnover ratio is the Toronto Raptors, who are ranked 15th.

Toronto’s point guards Cory Joseph (2.69) and Kyle Lowry (2.48) far outshine Bledsoe and have only two rotation players below 1.00 while the Suns have four, and all of them are lower than 0.55.

The Raptors’ primary scorer DeMar DeRozan (1.59) takes care of the ball, while the Suns’ Devin Booker (1.10) does not.

So, how do the Suns fix it? At this point, it doesn’t seem fixable besides the obvious, “stop having so many brain farts and try to provide for each other.” There are a ton of problems with the Suns, and one of them is not having players surrounding Bledsoe that can complement him not being a natural point guard. Instead, he’s playing on the perimeter with the instant offense, score-first mentalities of Booker and T.J. Warren.

A player that was helping the ball move much better was Jared Dudley, but he’s been benched in favor of playing time for rookie Dragan Bender.

Even in a recent 10-game stretch when the team has played much better as a whole and individually, they are still 30th in that span.

All of the numbers are bad, and among the issues with the team, their assists and turnovers have to be near or at the top of the list. They were last in the league last season and are very likely going to end this season in that same spot, a good way for them to continue being a bad basketball team.

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