Suns notebook: Health updates; JaVale McGee’s 3; Chris Paul’s cadences

PHOENIX — The day after the Phoenix Suns were without Deandre Ayton (non-COVID illness) and Devin Booker (left hamstring strain) in a win over the Boston Celtics, there were no updates at practice from Monty Williams on their status before a quick two-game road trip of a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday.

Ayton showed up on Saturday to come to practice but still wasn’t feeling well and Williams sent him home. Williams said Ayton will travel with them on the trip.

As for Booker, there wasn’t any new information there, but there was the development of him independently getting shots up after practice when most of the guys were already off the court.

Devin Booker getting shots up after practice pic.twitter.com/f5YErJ2fTu

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) December 11, 2021

After every practice and shootaround, Booker will normally participate in a shooting game with Jae Crowder, Chris Paul, Cam Payne and Landry Shamet. While he did not do that just yet, him being on the court at least was an encouraging sign of more progress.

Booker has missed four games because of that hamstring while Ayton started feeling under the weather the morning of Friday’s victory against Boston.

When it comes to those determinations, Williams has told the media a handful of times that it comes down to what the medical staff tells him and he just wants to know the breakdown.

He expanded on what that relationship is like between him and the trainers.

“I think those guys have to just tell me what the deal is,” Williams said. “Sometimes if a guy is hurt or he can’t play, I know those guys feel bad, like they did something wrong and that’s just part of our game. I just need to know the information so I can prepare for the practice, the day or the game. I know that they are trying to do the best they can, so we’ve had pretty good open black and white conversation about the condition of our players.

“Because that’s the only way you can navigate where you are on that particular day. It’s grown over the years once they figured out just give me the information. (Director of rehabilitation) Adam (Loiacono) is typically the guy that has to walk the plank across the court and come to my office and tell me who can and can’t go.

“They know that they can shoot me straight so I can play them (or not play them). That’s how it has to be.”

Back in his first head coaching stint with New Orleans, Williams admitted he wasn’t as open to embracing the certain types of injuries that guys will miss time for now that players rarely sat out for a decade or two ago.

“If you were sore/hurt, you played. If you were injured, you couldn’t play,” Williams described it as.

But, as Ayton’s arrival in the morning showed, Williams has a group that is very competitive and wants to play anyway. Booker didn’t want to be taken out after he tweaked that hamstring on Nov. 30.

“We have guys that don’t like to sit out, so we have to err on the side of extreme caution with our guys because they won’t sit out,” Williams said.

MCGEE’S DOUBLE DIP

JaVale McGee was the best player on the floor during Friday’s game. He also made the two plays that required a followup from everyone possible, when he made a three-pointer after knocking down 10 across his 13 previous seasons in the NBA and then took another later.

JaVale's got RANGE! pic.twitter.com/PnWmP2dFAk

— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) December 11, 2021

The reactions, even a day later, were tremendous. As expected.

“Felt like I was putting a diaper on a grizzly bear when he took that shot,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘What is going on man?’ Jae gave me the look.”

Williams got a look from Paul too, who chimed in on Saturday as well.

Paul started shaking his head and smiling when being told how Williams described McGee’s second attempt, a miss in which you can clearly see Paul throwing the pass with the lack of oomph on it to set up McGee for a dive.

But McGee wanted another taste.

“I gotta look at the play over again, but I pushed it and sorta brought his man to me and sorta knew that I was being double-teamed, so I dropped the pass for him to catch it and do his statue of liberty dunk but ‘Vale was feeling good last night,” Paul said. “He wanted to yank it back and shoot the 3.”

The 21-point, 15-rebound effort certainly warranted another go.

And as McGee pointed out postgame, he took those shots in college. He made 14 in his sophomore year at Nevada back in 2008, more than he has over his entire NBA career.

He still practices them too, just like those sky hooks.

Patrick Ewing would be happy to know that JaVale McGee does work on his three-point shot (he also is constantly practicing those hook shots too) pic.twitter.com/9XBhkF1TET

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) December 11, 2021

One or two every now and then can’t hurt!

POINT GOD TAKING TRICKS

Paul is one of the greatest basketball minds the sport will ever know, so it’s always a treat when he shares some of the nuances he’s picked up.

As just about every person with his type of knowledge base for their specialty will tell you, a lot of the stuff is things he picked up from others.

When former NBA and Wake Forest guard Muggsy Bogues was brought up after practice, Paul said he saw Bogues’ steals record when he first came to school there and naturally wanted to break it.

Paul went pro after two years so he couldn’t reach the all-time mark, but even in a season, Paul’s 84 in the 2003-04 campaign is third to Bogues’ top marks of 85 and 89.

The trick Bogues told Paul is that Bogues would study the cadence of a ball-handler’s dribble while they brought it up. Because, when you think about how dribbling a basketball works, there’s that window of availability when the ball is between the player’s hands and the floor.

“Muggsy would get up under guys, and when you would let it go like that, Muggsy would come under you and take it,” Paul said. “That’s sick.”

When Paul was thinking about the passers that set a standard for him growing up, he talked about how he used to go to his local YMCA as a kid just working on his handle.

“All the time, I was just trying to be creative, innovative,” Paul said. “Just coming up with stuff.”

Paul would also study older guys coming to the gym during their lunch break to get some run in. He picked up on someone by the name of Rodmond Dunlap, a firefighter in Paul’s hometown, who used to do a fake spin that Paul has now used for over 15 years in the NBA.

Follow @KellanOlson