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The Long Game: A Brief History Of The Six-on-six Era Of Women's Basketball
Basketball star Denise Long is interviewed after a game during the six-v-six era of the sport, played on a half-court and originally with skirts as a required uniform. — archival video More than 50 years before number 22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes was amazing basketball fans and creating new ones, number 55 on the girls basketball team of Union-Whitten High School in Harden County was doing the same. The six-on-six era of girls basketball in Iowa had a lot of dynamic players and high scorers, but even among them, Denise Long stood out. A forward who scored more than 100 points in four games in her high school career, Long would go on to make history as the first woman drafted by the NBA.
Not the WNBA, the NBA. Even Long was surprised by that.
But if a six-on-six player was going to be thrust into the national spotlight, it's no surprise it would be an Iowan. Because Iowa high schools embraced this style of girls basketball more enthusiastically than almost anyone else. It was mainly played in small, rural schools like Union-Whitten High, where Long was one of 34 seniors who graduated in 1969. In small towns with a team, the girls basketball games were an important part of the community's social life, from the first six-on-six high school games in the state in 1920 to the final ones in 1993.
It was inevitable that girls would want to play basketball after the game invented by James Naismith in a Massachusetts gym in 1891 gained popularity around the country. It was also inevitable that in early 20th century America there would be worries that girls playing a "boy's game" would lead to un-ladylike behavior. So rules were devised and uniforms designed for a female version of basketball.
The original six-on-six uniforms were long socks, voluminous bloomers and long sleeve blouses. They concealed all skin south of the neck, except for the hands. The rules of the game were almost as restrictive. The uniform evolved with the times, eventually looking like the gear used today. The rules did not evolve.
It was a half-court game. Three forwards from one team trying to score, three guards from the other team playing defense. The reverse lineup on the other side of the centerline. No crossing the centerline, you stayed on one side.
You couldn't dribble the ball more than twice in one possession. When not dribbling, you couldn't hold the ball for more than three seconds. Any physical contact was a foul. Committing a breach of decorum by failing to raise your hand when called for a foul got you a technical foul.
Playing within these strict limitations, the girls and their coaches developed a fast game with lots of passing and shooting. And when it came to shooting, Denise Long was a sensation.
In 1968, the 5'11" forward set a record by scoring 111 points in a regular season game. She also set records for most points in a state tournament game (93 points), most points in a state tournament (282 points), most points in a season (1,986 points) and most career points (6,250 points). Even though Long was a long-distance shooter, all field goals counted for two points, because the three-point line didn't exist yet.
In February 1969, Sports Illustrated featured Long in a story. The writer reached deep into his bag of incoherent Iowa clichés to describe her: "Like a Grant Wood portrait until she moves, then she's all swiftness and grace."
Two months later, Long got a phone call informing her she had been selected in the NBA draft. Franklin Mieuli, the owner of the San Francisco Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors) had used his last pick in the 13th round of that year's draft to choose Long. Mieuli, who was often politely described as "eccentric" (because he was rich), had never spoken to Long and didn't give her any advance warning. Long would later tell reporters that when she got the call saying she'd been drafted, she was confused and for a moment thought the caller was telling her she'd been drafted into the military.
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No woman had ever been drafted before, and NBA Commissioner Walter Kennedy wasn't about to let such a change happen. He immediately voided the Warrior's pick on the grounds women didn't play professional basketball.
Long did fly out to San Francisco to meet with Mieuli and the Warriors, unaware it was basically a publicity stunt. Mieuli wanted to start his own women's basketball league to play exhibition matches before Warriors games. Eccentric but cheap, Mieuli expected the women in his league to play for free. The league, which he tried to build around Long — paying her $5,000 — failed.
The WNBA wouldn't be founded until 1996. There were no professional playing opportunities for Long to pursue. College opportunities weren't much better. Before Title IX became law in 1972 the money available for women's college athletics was meager, and few colleges had a women's basketball team. The University of Iowa didn't field a women's team until 1974.
Long did get some college offers, but scholarship amounts were so low, she wasn't able to accept them. In 1975, she earned a degree in Bible theology at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny. In the '90s, Long attended Drake University, graduating with a pharmacy degree, before going on to a long and successful career as a pharmacist in Kansas.
The push for greater equality between men's and women's sports jumpstarted by Title IX led to the demise of six-on-six. High school girls were increasingly interested in playing full-court five-on-five, with all the normal rules boys played under instead of the six-on-six restrictions. Starting in 1984, Iowa schools were allowed to choose between five-on-five or six-on-six for their girls basketball teams. Nine years later, the last school playing six-on-six switched to five-on-five.
Although it's been 31 years since the last high school six-on-six game was played, there's still a strong connection between that older style and the current UI women's basketball team that is transforming college basketball.
Hawkeye Head Coach Lisa Bluder played six-on-six growing up in Linn County. Associate Head Coach Jan Jensen not only played six-on-six at Elk Horn-Kimballton High School in rural Shelby County, her grandmother Lottie was a star on the Audubon High School team that won the Iowa state championship in 1921. Lottie's real name was Dorcas Andersen, but she was given her nickname because she scored "a lot of" points.
Caitlin Clark was born nine years after the last six-on-six high school game in Iowa, but the record-smashing star has made it clear she respects the players of that very different game.
"When I hear from a lot of people that played basketball, whether it was six-on-six however many years ago, I think they're blown away at where women's basketball is now and the platform we get to play on," Clark told reporters earlier this season. "That doesn't come if it's not for the people who came before us."
The 2023-2024 University of Iowa women's basketball team huddles during a timeout at the Crossover at Kinnick game on Oct. 15, 2023. A record-breaking 55,000 people were in attendance. —Jason Everett This article was originally published in Little Village's April 2024 issue.
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2024 Aggregate NBA Mock Draft: The Top Point Guards
By Michael ScottoMarch 19, 2024 Follow @MikeAScotto
SHOOTING GUARDS / SMALL FORWARDS /POWER FORWARDS / CENTERS
ALTAN GOCHER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images (Crvena Zvezda: Guard, International, 6-6)
Overall rank: 3 / Previous rank: 13 (+10) / Best rank: 1 / Worst rank: 15
Nikola Topic, who has been out with a knee injury since January 4, has skyrocketed up draft boards around the league over the past six months. Topic is now considered the top point guard available in the draft thanks to his size, playmaking ability, and potential to make an immediate impact next season. For now, the biggest question surrounding Topic's game is his three-point shooting ability.
"I love Topic's brain and physicality," an NBA executive told HoopsHype. "I like his demeanor and he's played at a high level overseas. I think he's shooting high 50s at the rim. A part of his game he'll have to develop is his outside shooting. If you're going to be a lead guard in the NBA, you've got to be able to come off highball screens and knock down shots. You've got to be able to pull the defense away from the rim so that you can get to those drives and into the seems to make passes to shooters that are surrounding you."
As the executive mentioned, Topic's three-point shot could use work at 28.2 percent this season. The encouraging sign is that he's a great foul shooter at 87.8 percent, which usually translates to long-term upside as a shooter beyond the arc.
In addition to Topic's three-point shooting, some NBA talent evaluators question whether Topic has the length and lateral quickness to stay in front of opposing NBA guards on defense consistently.
"He feels smaller than 6-foot-7," another NBA executive explained. "I feel like since he doesn't have great length, he's functionally more like a 6-foot-4 guard, which is still good for that position. I think he's a guy you can put into an NBA game today and feel comfortable that he'll be productive with the right guys around him. I don't know if he'll be an elite-level player, but I think he can play at a high level right now in his first year."
Part of Topic's feel for the game that could make him an immediate contributor next season comes from his father, Milenko Topic, who was a part of the Yugoslavian National Team that won the silver medal in the 1996 Olympics and has been an assistant coach overseas with a brief stint as interim head coach for Crvena Zvezda.
Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports (Kentucky: Guard, Freshman, 6-3)
Overall rank: 8 / Previous rank: 45 (+37) / Best rank: 4 / Worst rank: NR
Kentucky's Reed Sheppard is the highest riser of any player featured in our latest HoopsHype aggregate mock draft thanks in part to a blistering 52.6 percent from beyond the arc with the ability to make a play for his teammates as evidenced by his 4.5 assists per game and quick hands with 2.5 steals per game.
"Sheppard is a fun player to watch," a longtime NBA executive told HoopsHype. "He's very crafty in everything he does. He's a knockdown shooter. He moves the ball, and it doesn't stick with him. He's a quick thinker on the court. He makes winning plays. I'd be a little worried that even though he gets a lot of steals, he gambles a little bit too much at times. He's not afraid of the spotlight playing at Kentucky, where he has a lot of pressure on him as a homegrown kid from the state. He and a guy like Austin Reaves have that inner confidence and believe in their abilities, which translates to the floor."
Similar to Reaves, Sheppard can play on or off the ball as needed. If Sheppard leaves Kentucky for the draft in June, NBA executives believe his shooting and IQ will immediately translate. The question is whether his quick hands will make up for his average lateral quickness.
"I think I'll have Reed in my Top 5," an NBA executive told HoopsHype. "I think where the NBA is going, where you have to make decisions so fast, he can read the game at such a high level. Reed is a culture builder. That's something that a team that's young and trying to get to another tier like Charlotte or Washington, who aren't good culture pieces, Reed can come in and change the way your program looks and operates by how hard guys play, how hard guys get in the gym and work. Those things matter."
While some executives believe Sheppard has limitations and is best suited as a backup point guard long-term, he's also considered a sneaky athlete who has found a way to embrace the pressure of playing in his home state and thrive with the brightest of lights on him each night.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports (USC: Guard, Freshman, 6-5)
Overall rank: 14 / Previous rank: 1 (-13) / Best rank: 1 / Worst rank: 19
Isaiah Collier, ESPN's No. 1 overall recruit in his class, has the physical attributes to be a good point guard, given his size and strength. Collier has shown an ability to attack his defender off the dribble, draws contact often, and can finish at the rim. However, he hasn't been able to put it all together yet at a consistent level in the eyes of NBA executives.
"Collier is a little bit too laxed with the ball and turnover prone," a longtime NBA executive told HoopsHype. "He doesn't play defense. For him to be as high as he was going to USC, and they've had problems there with injuries to their team, that team is at the bottom of the Pac-12. Is he going to help a team win? He's not that great of an outside shooter. He gets to the basket with his body for the point guard position. If he knows how to use it, that translates really well to the NBA."
In addition to taking care of the ball more, Collier must improve his shot beyond the arc (33.8 percent) to open up driving lanes for him to penetrate and at the foul line (.673) to convert easy points when he's often fouled going to the rim.
"I'm not sure Collier is in my lottery," another NBA executive told HoopsHype. "He hasn't impacted winning at a high enough level. He's tall, but he's not necessarily long. He's a decent athlete, especially in the open court. I think for a guy that does what he does, he's got to be a much better shooter than what he is. He's never been a good shooter, even going back to high school. I think you can have him as a backup guard, but I think he's going to play a lot in the G League his rookie year."
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (UConn: Guard, Freshman, 6-6)
Overall rank: 15 / Previous rank: 6 (-9) / Best rank: 5 / Worst rank: 20
UConn's Stephon Castle won BIG East Freshman of the Year honors after becoming a full-time starter. Castle is a pesky on-ball defender who can get downhill off the dribble, make a play for his teammates, or grab a rebound.
"Castle has a bit of a bigger body than Isaiah Collier and is probably a bit better of a defensive player, but I view him as more of a combo guard," an NBA executive told HoopsHype. "He does a little bit of everything on the court, but you wish he could shoot the ball better and speed up his release. He can pass the ball for a guy at his size."
As the executive noted, Castle's three-point shooting has been his most glaring weakness at 29.1 percent. However, as a 75 percent foul shooter, there's plausible room for improvement beyond the arc with more repetition and adjusting his shooting mechanics.
"I love Castle, and I think he's going to be a good player," another NBA executive told HoopsHype. "His shooting is an issue. He's strong and can switch defensively. He's probably one of the better defenders in this draft class. I think he can make an impact directly on that end. He's a good kid and works hard. He's a freak athlete. There's stuff there that you can put into an NBA game, especially if he has shooters around him, so it's not clunky."
Sarah Stier/Getty Images (Providence: Guard, Junior, 6-3)
Overall rank: 17 / Previous rank: NR / Best rank: 17 / Worst rank: NR
Providence guard Devin Carter has enjoyed a breakout season, earning Big East Player of the Year honors.
"I think Carter has a chance to be a good guard," an NBA executive told HoopsHype. "He can defend at a high level. If you look at a player like Derrick White and what he does for the Celtics in transition defense, and a guy is going full speed ahead at him, and he can jump and block a shot, Carter does a lot of that stuff. He's got length, can pass, rebound, and does all the things you want. What impacts winning? He does all those types of things that impact winning at a high level. He helps you gain an extra possession. He helps you finish a possession by getting a rebound or steal. He brings a lot of those things at a high level that a lot of other players in this draft don't bring. I think the shooting doesn't look great, but he makes enough and is confident. I think he'll be able to make enough shots when he's wide open."
Carter, the son of former NBA veteran point guard Anthony Carter, has become a viable prospect by knocking down 37.7 percent of his threes this season, and his 8.7 rebounds per game are an elite rate for a 6-foot-3 guard.
"I think the 20-30 range is where Carter should be," an NBA scout told HoopsHype. "He's making his shots this year, which I still don't trust. He's made some big shots this year, though. It's all of the other tenacity stuff like his defense, making an impact during clutch times, and rebounding the ball at his size."
Andy Lyons/Getty Images (Kentucky: Guard, Freshman, 6-3)
Overall rank: 22 / Previous rank: 15 (-7) / Best rank: 12 / Worst rank: 43
DJ Wagner is a combo guard who can attack downhill off the dribble and create for his teammates, similarly to his father, Dajuan, a former lottery pick. At times, Wagner has poor shot selection and must improve as a three-point shooter if he wants to be a late lottery pick in June.
"Wagner is another player that needs to improve his shooting," an NBA executive told HoopsHype. "He's very tough-nosed and knows how to drive the ball and get to the basket. It's just that from high school to college, it's an adjustment with the height, athleticism, and protection at the rim."
While DJ's stats don't jump off the page as a freshman, Kentucky assistant coach John Welch recently called Wagner a natural leader who has confidence and gives that same confidence to his teammates, similar to Patrick Beverley whom he coached for three seasons with the Clippers.
"I think the way he's performed this year could push him to the late first round," another NBA executive told HoopsHype.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports (Marquette: Guard, Senior, 6-3)
Overall rank: 30 / Previous rank: 58 (+28) / Best rank: 30 / Worst rank: NR
Marquette senior Tyler Kolek is one of the best point guards in the country, leading men's Division-I in assists per game (7.6).
Kolek's IQ and shooting ability should translate to the NBA level as a potential backup point guard. The question will be whether his lack of a strong first step off the dribble, defensive lateral quickness, and ability to score in traffic, given his size, will hinder him.
Michael Ciaglo-USA TODAY Sports (UC Santa Barbara: Guard, Junior, 6-5)
Overall rank: 39 / Previous rank: NR / Best rank: 16 / Worst rank: NR
UCSB's Ajay Mitchell earned All-Big West First Team honors and earned his way into the aggregate mock draft for the first time.
The biggest stride in Mitchell's game was his improved three-point efficiency at 39.3 percent to complement his 51.1 field goal percentage for his collegiate career, which makes him the latest West Coast Conference player to be considered an NBA prospect.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports (Colorado: Guard, Junior, 6-2)
Overall rank: 45 / Previous rank: NR / Best rank: 29 / Worst rank: NR
Colorado's KJ Simpson had a breakout junior campaign where he improved exponentially as a shooter from the field (.396 to .488) and beyond the arc (.276 to .451) while being an adequate playmaker for his teammates with 4.9 assists per game.
The First Team All-Pac 12 guard makes his debut in the aggregate mock and has shown signs of becoming an NBA backup point guard if his shooting holds and he maintains a pesky on-ball defender thanks to his quick hands.
Greg Fiume/Getty Images (Syracuse: Guard, Sophomore, 6-3)
Overall rank: 46 / Previous rank: 47 (+1) / Best rank: 23 / Worst rank: NR
Judah Mintz earned All-ACC Second Team honors in his sophomore season with Syracuse.
Mintz is an athletic guard who can score in bunches despite a below-average three-point shot. Defensively, he's a pesky on-ball defender who's averaged two steals per game in two seasons.
Looking ahead, the two biggest questions surrounding Mintz are whether he can become a point guard and if his perimeter shooting will ever improve.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports (Pittsburgh: Guard, Freshman, 6-5)
Overall rank: 52 / Previous rank: 30 (-22) / Best rank: 11 / Worst rank: NR
Pittsburgh's Carlton Carrington earned ACC All-Freshman honors and garnered the attention of NBA executives in the process thanks to his all-around game.
Two veteran NBA scouts told HoopsHype they'd select Carrington in the first round of this year's draft.
"Carrington has been able to score the ball and is going to be a very good NBA player," one of the NBA scouts told HoopsHype."He reminds me of a younger and healthier Caris LeVert when he was coming out of Michigan. He should be as high as the lottery, in my opinion. He can score at all three levels and play some point guard. It's not his natural position, but he can do it."
Carrington's swing skills are whether he can improve his perimeter shooting and improve as an on-ball defender.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports (Duke: Guard, Sophomore, 6-5)
Overall rank: 53 / Previous rank: 9 (-44) / Best rank: 17 / Worst rank: NR
Duke's Tyrese Proctor was a potential breakout candidate entering his sophomore season. While he improved notably as a shooter from the field (.381 to .455) and beyond the arc (.320 to .369), his other statistics remained stagnant across the board.
Should Proctor declare for the NBA Draft, one veteran NBA executive predicted a team would take a chance on him as a third point guard and look to develop him as a future backup. An NBA scout predicted Proctor would land in the late first round or early second round of the draft.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports (Kansas: Guard, Freshman, 6-3)
Overall rank: 59 / Previous rank: 56 (-3) / Best rank: 16 / Worst rank: NR
After starting for the first half of the season, Kansas freshman guard Elmarko Jackson has since moved to a reserve role.
The combo guard boasts intriguing athleticism and is an aggressive on-ball defender who can also get into the paint off the dribble, but his jumper (28.6 percent from three-point range) has held him back.
After entering the season as a potential late first-round pick according to the first aggregate mock draft, Jackson could be better off returning to school for his sophomore season to improve his draft stock.
You can follow Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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Poor Execution Has Made This A Lost Season For The Phoenix Suns
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 17: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns looks on during the second half ... [+] against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on March 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesFollowing the Phoenix Suns' worst letdown of the season, a loss to the 15-win San Antonio Spurs without Victor Wembanyama on the floor, head coach Frank Vogel didn't mince words.
From inexplicable turnovers to a lack of generating quality looks, the Suns resembled a lottery team on Monday — just 48 hours after handling the same team and controlling the game from start to finish.
"It's just unacceptable to lose that game for our guys," Vogel told reporters after Monday's loss. "We all said the right things and did the right preparation coming in. But we didn't play with the necessary focus and disposition throughout (the game). If you give a team like that life, that's how the NBA works. They get going, get charged up, and they start believing they have a chance to win it."
With his team struggling to find consistency over the last five months, the frustration is warranted. Between the offense sputtering late in games and their point-of-attack defenders not keeping the ball out of the paint, there are too many errors that keep reappearing.
Now, with a couple of key starters banged up again at the worst possible time, things could be spiraling out of control.
Bradley Beal sprained the ring finger on his shooting hand during the fourth quarter and couldn't finish the game. Considering he didn't practice on Tuesday, his status for Wednesday's game against the top-seeded Nuggets is up in the air.
Jusuf Nurkic also suffered an injury in San Antonio, rolling his right ankle and only playing 19 minutes. Nurkic has arguably been the Suns' best connective passer this year operating out of the elbows and high post, along with their only elite rebounding force. They can't afford him to miss any time with the upcoming schedule being a bloodbath.
With only 10 games left, it's past the time for sugarcoating. If there is a deep playoff run in store for Phoenix, they now have the toughest path imaginable. It would have to be shades of last year's Miami Heat, who narrowly made it to the first round and pulled off three consecutive upsets in the East playoffs.
The Suns haven't been able to escape the injury bug for more than two weeks at a time. While other teams around the league have dealt with worse, the timing of the Suns' misfortune is the biggest reason they are in this position.
Beal missing 24 of the first 30 games — during the easiest portion of their schedule — was always going to put them under immense pressure later in the year. The odds of a team being under .500 on Christmas and then evolving into a championship threat are fairly low in any season.
With all three of Durant, Booker, and Beal in the lineup for longer than five minutes, the Suns are 19-11. Both the total number of games (30) and the winning percentage (.633) aren't good enough. Not for a team that sprinted through the NBA's second tax apron to construct this roster. And certainly not for a franchise that leveraged most of its future draft capital for one of the greatest scorers ever. Durant might be having a spectacular two-way season, but he's in the back half of his career with not many chances left to win as a premier superstar.
Looking back, nobody should've expected the Suns to magically discover the on-court chemistry and connectivity with all of the lineup inconsistency they've dealt with.
Some teams can get away with it — but only if they've been together for a long period of time.
And remember, Durant and Booker only had eight regular season games and two playoff series together in 2023. In many ways, this was a brand new team with one of the lowest continuity ratings heading into the year.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 01: Head coach Frank Vogel of the Phoenix Suns talks to Kevin Durant #35 ... [+] during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center on December 01, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Nuggets defeated the Suns 119-111. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Getty Images"Execution" is one of the buzzwords that flies around the NBA all year long. Sometimes, it can feel as if players and coaches overuse the term, especially when they aren't in the mood to deal with the media after a bad loss or rough stretch of games.
But for the Suns, the lack of execution in second halves is precisely why they find themselves in eighth place and fighting for their postseason lives.
After 72 games, they still have the worst fourth quarter offensive rating in the league. Worse than the Pistons, who went on a 28-game losing streak this season. Worse than the Blazers, led by a rookie point guard and bereft of quality decision-making in the halfcourt. Scoring just 104.6 points per 100 possessions, the Suns' offense in the fourth quarter is 10.2 points worse than league-average and nearly three points below the 29th-ranked team.
Because of how ineffective they've been at closing games, their scoring differential in the fourth quarter is still one of the five lowest of the last 27 years (since the NBA started play-by-play tracking in 1996-97).
Phoenix's turnover issues, which Gerald Bourguet recently dissected, have interfered with their offensive flow in tight games. When the pressure intensifies, the Suns have fallen flat and coughed it up far too often. In fourth quarters, they have turned it over on 16.5% of their offensive possessions — also dead last in the NBA.
A lot of their problems stem from not having the adequate time together. But that excuse eventually has an expiration date. At a certain point, a team's record is who they are.
There's a reason only two eight seeds in NBA history have reached the Finals. In a best-of-seven playoff system, marching through the postseason without homecourt in any series is too steep of a challenge.
According to PlayoffStatus.Com, which uses a detailed formula to predict playoff seeding, the Suns are most likely to end up eighth or ninth in the conference.
The tiebreaker situation won't be friendly for them, either. They currently have two fewer losses than the Lakers, but lost the head-to-head tiebreaker. So, it's effectively just one loss ahead because the Suns know they will have to finish above Los Angeles.
Currently in the sixth seed are the Dallas Mavericks with 29 losses, leaving the Suns tied with Sacramento at 30 losses. Phoenix lost the tiebreaker to Dallas but still has an opportunity to claim it against Sacramento. That makes the final Suns-Kings matchup on Apr. 12 one of the most significant games of the NBA season.
However, the final couple days on the schedule only matter if the Suns tread water in this upcoming stretch. It's a gauntlet with one contender after another and could be the final nail in the coffin for Phoenix.
Their final 10 opponents have a combined winning percentage of .648, equivalent to a 53-win team. That includes road games against the Nuggets, Thunder, Pelicans, Clippers, and Wolves — all teams currently in the top six of the Western Conference.
The Suns' fate might be sealed. And if a play-in berth is the ceiling for this team, they will undoubtedly look back on the games they let slip through their fingers.
There's more than a handful of them.
All three losses to San Antonio, a young and inexperienced team that isn't on pace to crack the 20-win mark. In fact, the Suns are currently accounting for 18.8% of San Antonio's victories since October. That should paint the picture of how uninspiring the Suns' season has been.
What about the inexplicable home losses to Brooklyn and Memphis? Two teams that were struggling to find an identity — one of them marred by injuries — outclassed Phoenix down the stretch. The Grizzlies had no business taking that game, much less wrecking the Suns 35-18 in the fourth quarter.
They also had a home meltdown against the Knicks after taking a two-point lead into the fourth quarter and getting blitzed 42-23 in the final 12 minutes.
Or, the two-point loss in Indiana after scoring 80 first-half points and having the wheels fall off — again — in the fourth quarter. Devin Booker's 62-point performance was wasted in a game they should've closed against one of the worst defenses in basketball.
There's also the last-second gamble for a steal against Stephen Curry in mid-February, which cost the Suns a victory after holding an 88% win probability with just four seconds remaining.
For the Suns, those eight games will come back to haunt them. Even just splitting them puts Phoenix in the West's No. 5 seed. Instead, they are sitting at 30 losses and in danger of falling to ninth.
Of course, playing the hypothetical exercise is never a great idea. The NBA season six months of peaks and valleys. Every team in history can point to various stretches that ultimately cost them a higher seed.
But this season was supposed to be a smoother experience for Phoenix than last year. Instead, it's been worse, on top of watching their West counterparts make significant strides and leap them in any "contending" conversation.
Still, there's some positive news for the Suns. It's not all doom and gloom.
If this year ends poorly and they fail to get out of the first round, all of their superstars are under long-term contracts. There will be more bites at the apple. After all, year two of a new core is typically when you see tangible results on the court. It takes time for players to learn each other ... And the Suns were robbed of that earlier in the year.
This is just not how the franchise envisioned 2024 would go with such a pricey roster, a new coaching staff, and passionate ownership that's determined to win at all costs.
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