Report: Phoenix Suns are fouling more as NBA foul rates decline
Apr 7, 2017, 11:22 AM | Updated: 11:37 am
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) is fouled by Phoenix Suns center Alex Len during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, April 5, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
A not-so-flattering statistic has been pointed out in a report from FiveThirtyEight, which claimed the Phoenix Suns “get whistled more than a high school gym class.”
Sure, maybe the Suns have a bit more athletic prowess than you or I did when we were getting pelted with dodgeballs as teenagers. But the story’s author, Chris Herring, makes solid points when he explains how — and why — the Suns are on pace to be the first NBA team to reach 2,000 fouls in a season since the Jazz did it a decade ago.
Phoenix has committed 1,963 fouls in 2016-17 entering play on Friday.
Herring writes:
The Suns commit 25 fouls per game (the NBA average is 20) and send their opponents to the free-throw line an NBA-high 29 times a night. It isn’t necessarily a new problem, since Phoenix allowed opponents to go to the stripe more than anyone last season, too. But the team’s fouls are up 10 percent from last year, and the team is becoming a bit of an outlier by fouling more often, given that NBA foul rates have decreased over the past decade as more and more shooters space the floor, leading to less contact from play to play.
It’s noted that part of the team’s issue with fouling could be the fact that they’re so young. Earl Watson, as quoted in the FiveThirtyEight story, echoed that same sentiment.
“You ever seen a young group of guys play against a group of older guys in pickup? The older guys somehow manage to physically take advantage of the younger guys without making it look like that’s what they’re doing. Then the young guy starts to hit back, and it’s completely obvious? That’s what we look like sometimes.”
If youth is the issue, that stands to reason: 19-year-old Marquese Chriss leads the Suns in fouls per game at 3.3, while 20-year-old Devin Booker and 23-year-old Alex Len are each averaging 3.1 per game.
On the list of the NBA’s top 15 in personal fouls this year, three play for the Phoenix Suns: Chriss (No. 2), Booker (No. 9) and Len (Tied for No. 12).
Whatever the reason for the Suns’ huge number of fouls, it’s known that the team is a work-in-progress. And while they stand to add a few more youngsters in this year’s NBA Draft, let’s hope they aren’t quite as bad as a high school gym class.
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