Eric Bledsoe working to sharpen killer instinct as Suns' leading man
PHOENIX -- The upgrade from sidekick to superhero hasn't gained much traction in the movies or on television.
Robin, for example, seems incapable of carrying an entire series.
But the transition has a reasonable success rate in the NBA, where Russell Westbrook is providing an eye-popping statistical model.
"He's as quick and powerful as any guard in this league," Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.
But Brooks wasn't referring to Westbrook. Oh, he wouldn't be wrong with that assessment, but on this occasion, the superlatives were offered in tribute to Suns guard Eric Bledsoe.
Hitting the opposition for 28 points, 9 dimes and 13 rebounds will provoke such declarations.
For those interested in the Suns, any focus on a potential rise from co-star to superstardom has shifted to Bledsoe, a 25-year-old bundle of athletic gifts whose career has defined the concept of second fiddle.
His one year in college was spent riding shotgun for John Wall at Kentucky. Bledsoe's early NBA years were invested as apprentice to Los Angeles Clippers superstar Chris Paul.
And even though the Suns provided his first true professional embrace, he was required to share playmaking duties with fan favorite Goran Dragic.
So, with the team's on-court reins now in Bledsoe's mitts (well, there's still the Brandon Knight issue to sort out), the $70 million (hardly top dollar for elite players these days, by the way) question is this:
Does Eric Bledsoe have the capacity to become the Suns' next big star?
Rather than soliciting understandably conservative answers from the team's hierarchy, let's provide our first expert input from a personnel executive employed by another Western Conference team.
"If you're looking for me to say he can become the best player on a championship contender, or an MVP-type like (Steve) Nash, I can't go there right now," the personnel exec said.
After saluting the candor, we sought an explanation as to why.
"Well, an obvious explanation would be his skills," the executive said. "Although he's a marvelous athlete, he doesn't shoot it great, his vision and execution as a passer is sketchy, to me, and his handle isn't tight enough to take the risks he takes.
"But that's not the reason."
Ah, before getting to this reason, let's take a look at this tricky skills component of Bledsoe's run in Phoenix.
As expected -- based on the glut of ball-dominant point guards in the Suns' lineup -- Bledsoe's productivity has dipped since last season. His minutes are slightly higher now, perhaps explaining his minimal hike in rebounds and assists.
But the field-goal percentage (from 47.7 to 45.5) has dipped, including a fall from 35.7 to 34.3 beyond the 3-point line. This has contributed to a minor slippage in points per game (17.7 to 17.1).
Perhaps the most telling statistical line, however, can be seen in his shooting-success rate from various areas of the court. Despite spending much of the summer working on his mid-range chops, Bledsoe's percentages have slipped from between 10 and 16 feet (28.8 from 42) and from 16 feet to the 3-point line (34.4 from 39.2).
And even with that shot readily available, thanks to ball screens in "Horns" sets or other typical NBA actions, Bledsoe had attempted only 52 shots from the 10-to-16-foot range through 64 games; he put up 50 from that distance over 43 games last season.
"I just got to shoot it," Bledsoe said after having some success from that vicinity in Wednesday's triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves. When I shoot it, I pretty much shoot a high percentage, and I just don't shoot it for whatever reason. Coach tells me to shoot it all the time."
The percentages from everywhere have improved since the roster-clearing All-Star break; Bledsoe has made 49 percent of his shots overall in the last 12 games, including 40 percent from behind the arc.
With more responsibility, Bledsoe also has piled up more turnovers, especially since Dragic and Isaiah Thomas were moved at the trade deadline. From last season to this, the per-game hike is only .1.
But in the first 12 games since Bledsoe became the last PG standing, the 25-year-old Sun is charged with 57 turnovers -- including eight games with 5 or more -- while handing out 78 assists.
For the season, Bledsoe is fourth among NBA players in turnovers, following James Harden, Wall and LeBron James. So we're reminded that usage rate is an obvious factor. But regardless of duty-related explanations, the shooting and decision-making continue to be problematic.
And that's a bit troubling, because Bledsoe considers himself upgraded in those departments. In fact, when asked to list areas of improvement, he mentioned decision-making first.
"I've done a great job of passing without turning it over so much," Bledsoe said.
Of course, that was his assessment 10 days before the trade deadline.
Anyway, the skills don't match the desired rise to stardom . . . yet.
"Those are issues that can be corrected, or at least improved upon through hard work," our personnel guy said. "So that's why I think his biggest issue preventing him from being great right now isn't skills . . . it's bringing that desire to rip out your throat for the majority of every game. And I'm not saying he doesn't' compete like a beast at times. His level of sustained, competitive fire is just not where the great ones live."
Suns coach Jeff Hornacek has been pinpointing energy and the need for a sustained, attacking effort in almost every discussion of Bledsoe's potential.
"I think Eric's made strides," Hornacek said. "Last year, the biggest thing was the energy level. He still probably has times when he doesn't have that same energy, but I think it's been a lot more consistent this year.
"I think his conditioning came back this year. He was great in condition and there are times when he looks that he's going to tire, but again, this is his first full year of starting and playing the 30-35 minutes and having to go out there every night. So, yeah I think he'll get better at that."
Since that thinning of the Phoenix point guard herd, Bledsoe seems even more focused on picking and choosing times to shift into full attack mode. Unfortunately, the Suns haven't exactly adjusted their roles to compensate for the temporary reduction in offensive weapons.
As a point of emphasis, Hornacek would prefer that Bledsoe reach this level of aggression-related awareness at all times.
"When you have your best player out there -- him and Markieff -- and say those two guys, you want them to be aggressive," the coach said. "Because once you're aggressive and you're playing well, then teams focus on you, and then that's when the so-called role players have it easy.
"I used to tell (Suns teammate) Kevin Johnson and John (Stockton) and Karl (Malone), 'hey . . . just attack early. If you guys get rollin' early then the other teams say, 'hey we've gotta do something with these guys' and the rest of us are left open.' "
"We want him (Bledsoe) to be more aggressive. I think he passes up a lot of shots around the free-throw-line area. He takes that one extra dribble . . . and because he's so good at getting to the basket that every time he goes in there, he thinks he can get there . . . it closes if off and there's two or three guys, that's when he gets those turnovers. We try to have him see that if there are three guys out there in front, just pull up and shoot."
When Bledsoe has been aggressive, the evidence of his potential is obvious.
The sample includes this stat line -- 27 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds -- against Paul and the Clippers. Bledsoe also went 33, 6 and 9 against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
While not matched against Harden for most of two recent home dates with the Houston Rockets, Bledsoe did have to deal with defensive ace Patrick Beverley. The results were 25, 9 and 8 in one game, with 32, 4 and 4 in the other.
We certainly can't forget the 28, 9 and 13 effort in an overtime win against OKC. Three of those five efforts resulted in Suns' defeats. Four occurred at home, where Bledsoe is making 5 percent more of his shots overall and a whopping 15 percent more from 3-point range than on the road.
His road and home shooting success rates were far more balanced last season.
The dribbling and passing mishaps are occurring all over the place.
"I think he'll level out the turnovers, obviously," Hornacek said. "I think he'll get better at that. A lot of those, I think, are when he's a little bit tired . . . so, I think it's the first year of really starting and playing those big minutes and he's going to get a lot better."
Whether Bledsoe even approaches the elite level suggested by superstar pal LeBron James depends upon how he adjusts to lead-dog status. And he'll also need to find that rhythm working alongside Knight.
"Even when Brandon comes back, I think I got to be more aggressive," Bledsoe said, "because my teammates want me to be more aggressive and my coaches and I want to be aggressive, too. But at the same time, I just want to get everybody open shots, too."
Doing everything all the time seems unreasonable, but it's also what the NBA's great players do. When the question of rising to be the next great Sun is broached, we do know Bledsoe is far superior defensively to Nash and Charles Barkley, for example.
"If you're talking about perennial All-Star," our personnel guy said, "he'll have to get by (Steph) Curry, Westbrook and Lillard out West. And CP3 (Paul) isn't going away for a while. But Dragic made third team All-NBA last season. I don't think anyone would take Dragic in the top 15 if they held a draft for every player in the league right now, but in a given year, guys who are good, but maybe not great, can play to that level."