Suns fans are already growing weary of the process

Nearly three minutes into what would become a 125-111 Rockets win against the Suns on Wednesday, Houston ran Mike D’Antoni-proclaimed “points guard” James Harden off a double screen.

Phoenix’s defense was back and set, a good start for a transition defense that struggled to stop Houston all night and 20-year-old Devin Booker criticized after the game.

But on this play, it wasn’t about youth. It wasn’t even about effort.

The starting lineup with two youngsters and three veterans failed to make a basic rotation to cover noted shooter Ryan Anderson, who popped out after setting one screen.

As P.J. Tucker trailed Harden across the double-screen, Chriss, who was guarding Anderson, slid into the paint to stop Harden from getting to the rim. Tyson Chandler, whose man Montrezl Harrell set the other screen, sagged in the paint, only worried about Harrell diving to the rim.

Nobody covered Anderson, and Harden made the easy read and pass for a made three-pointer.

The play was troubling on several fronts. It wasn’t Booker’s fault — he was not involved in the play as he watched Trevor Ariza in the far right corner. Tucker is supposed to trail Harden over screens. Most likely, Chriss is expected to keep Harden in front of him until Tucker could recover.

Meanwhile, Bledsoe, on the strong side corner covering Patrick Beverley, stood. Chandler pointed at the open Anderson as he drilled a shot without anyone within 15 feet of him.

After the play, Bledsoe patted his chest, as if to take blame for the missed rotation. Whose fault matters less than the real crux of the problem.

It represents the starters, veterans included, failing to execute basic rotations minutes into a game. As the Suns sink out of the playoff picture in the middling lower-tier of the Western Conference, more pressure will be on Earl Watson to play his young players.

If we’re to believe that how Twitter responds represents the wider fanbase, then it’s safe to say Suns fans well-educated about the expected losses this year are growing sour on the Phoenix iteration of The Process. Unlike the strategy to describe the tanking in Philadelphia, the young players aren’t playing front and center in this process (which by Earl Watson’s words we should label the Krebs Cycle, by the way).

Of 240 minutes per game, 124.3, or about half, is going to five players over 25 years old. The remaining 10 players 25-and-under fill in the remaining time.

Eric Bledsoe (27 years old) — 32.3 minutes per game

Tyson Chander (34) — 27.7 mpg

P.J. Tucker (31) — 26.6 mpg

Jared Dudley (31) — 23.7 mpg

Leandro Barbosa (34) 14.0 mpg

The Suns head coach said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM earlier this week that he knows the importance of playing the Suns young players.

“For us, what I do not want to happen is I never want Dragan Bender to consistently know what it feels like to not play. That can’t happen,” Watson said. “To me just being a former player, that mindset from the first three years — I say this over and over, I’m not sure how many people understand how true this is — your first three years define who you are as a player in this league.

“So if we know our young guys are the future, we can’t say the future is next year.

Chriss has earned limited minutes in a starting role, but No. 4 overall pick Dragan Bender and fellow rookie Tyler Ulis haven’t been so lucky.

The Rockets game saw a quick leash on Ulis after he turned the ball over early in the fourth quarter. Bender didn’t play until the game had been out of reach for a few minutes. The forward earned just more than two minutes.

That conversation isn’t about whether they are deserving — it’s about how other players, young and old, are when he is not.

Chriss did little to supplant Jared Dudley as the starting power forward. After all, Dudley has been one of the Suns’ most consistent players. Ulis, Bender and even Alan Williams have appeared in at least 100 minutes, many of which have been important ones, and have tallied positive plus-minus scores. No veterans can say the same.

Of course, that isn’t an end-all statistic.

Yet, it means the rookies have played well enough to justify more playing time.

On Wednesday, Chandler (minus-16), Bledsoe (minus-16) and Brandon Knight (minus-10) recorded the worst plus-minus scores because they earned the most challenging minutes. Chandler’s, however, represented a terrible defensive matchup against a small-ball team that forces switching and transition defense.

For that reason, Chandler was stuck to the bench in the game. But in considering the center’s inabilities in the matchup, he did not find Bender playing time in a game that — more than literally any other in the league save for the Warriors — would benefit from Bender’s ability to defend players big and small.

There are, for sure, things Watson sees in his youngsters in practice that could lead to Chriss getting minutes when Bender and Ulis cannot. Physically, Chriss is most ahead of the rookies. Mentally, he could be the least afraid.

In fairness, Watson is also in a tough position. It’s hard to justify to competitive veterans why they’re losing minutes to rookies with their eyes wide. The roster built by Ryan McDonough wasn’t made to begin The Process just yet. Asked on Dec. 7 after a loss to the Pacers how hard it was to keep Ulis off the court after a very successful five-minute stint, Watson spoke truth.

“This is the NBA, man. Guys get paid, they need to play, they need to produce,” he said.

But if Watson believes what he says about the crucial years of development, it’s time to find the youngsters minutes.

Follow @kzimmermanaz