Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins’ have labelled the Phoenix Suns as ‘soft’ as the team are 14-13 to start the season.
Phoenix were meant to be one of the top contenders this season as they created a Big Three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
Their depth issues have been fully on display, since Beal has only played in a total of six games due to injury.
The Suns have lost five of their last seven and following their 109-104 loss to the Blazers, Hammon stressed the need for the team to toughen up.
“I can’t put my finger on this team,” Hammon said on Tuesday’s episode of NBA on ESPN. “Something is missing, and it has nothing to do with basketball. I don’t know their team, those individuals, but there’s a grit factor. They have competitive guys, but something I can’t put my finger on yet. It’s not a skill-set problem. Alright, get in there and dirty the sheets. Go in there and mix it up. But that could be the grittiness and toughness that I’m talking about. Freakin’ take a punch, get the frick back up, and go hit somebody.”
Perkins agreed with Hammon and explained the specific areas where the Suns are struggling.
“Here’s the thing about Phoenix Suns: they are soft,” Perkins said. “All across the board and the whole league knows that if you bring a certain level of physicality, then the Phoenix Suns are going to fall like clean sheets,” Perkins said. “The one thing they gonna do is try to beat up on the Suns in the interior; they are gonna try to crash the glass. The other thing they (other teams) are gonna do is involve a lot of guys like KD and Devin Booker to being in cross-screen actions and pick-and-roll actions.”
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