Fans are calling for the Phoenix Suns to fire head coach Mike Budenholzer. Budenholzer, who is a former NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks, is not meeting expectations, as the Suns fell for the fifth time in six games to the Toronto Raptors.
Phoenix’s core includes Kevin Durant, who is arguably one of the NBA’s best 10 players, and Devin Booker, one of the younger stars in the league. Bradley Beal is also a former runner-up to the NBA scoring championship. However, the Suns are looking like they are prone to every team’s best shot, as was the case in Sunday’s 127-109 loss to the Raptors, the third-worst team in the East.
For much of the season, the Suns have struggled to guard opposing teams. Phoenix’s defense on Sunday in the last 4:42 allowed the Raptors and RJ Barrett to make seven 3-pointers. Before then, the Suns were down 105-103.
Budenholzer is a coach who has been known to encourage many shots from beyond the 3-point line. The Suns were poor from beyond the arc — shooting 7-of-28 — and need more than offense in order to win games.
Here are some of the notable statistics defensively:
- Opponent PPG — 115.3 (No. 20 in the NBA)
- Opponent shooting % — 46.2 (No. 11)
- Opponent 3-point % — 35.9 (No. 16)
- Defensive efficiency — (No. 27)
The Suns’ defense is particularly bad. Even though Phoenix has arguably one of the better defensive prospects, Ryan Dunn, in recent history, he has fallen from the starting five to little to no playing time.
The Suns need to figure out how they will try and make the NBA play-in. Fans have also called for Phoenix to bring back former coach Frank Vogel, who was fired following the Suns’ 4-0 playoff series sweep to the Minnesota Timberwolves.