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The Phoenix Suns have a depth problem.
Coach Monty Williams has two of the NBA’s best scorers, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, at his disposal. But he has used his team’s rotation in a questionable way, which is part of the reason why it was not competitive for most of its 125-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of its Western Conference semifinal series Saturday night at Ball Arena in Denver.
The Suns played backup guard Landry Shamet 14 minutes over capable players and proven scorers Terrence Ross, T.J. Warren and Cameron Payne, who is the team’s usual backup at point guard. Shamet had three points and was minus-15 off the bench.
Williams has led the Suns to great success since he was hired before the 2019-20 season. Phoenix finished at the bottom of the Western Conference in each of the previous three seasons before Williams’ hiring and then reached the NBA Finals just two years into his tenure.
But the Suns are the odds-on favorite to win the Western Conference by FanDuel and are expected to perform at a high level. With how Shamet played and the bench minutes were distributed, Suns fans were not happy with Williams Saturday.
What does Monty Williams think Shamet is good at?
— Ray Hrovat (@RaymondInPDX) April 30, 2023
*Landry Shamet -13 in 11 minutes*
Monty Williams: pic.twitter.com/QU3R52OhSM— 🍬⚡️ (@McKenziesCandy) April 30, 2023
Yeah Monty Williams is the worst coach in the league man.
— Alan 🤞🏻 (@HangPullSociety) April 30, 2023
Monty benched Bismack Biyombo after a bad half despite playing a great series against the Clippers but Shamet can continue to get minutes unquestioned despite being bad for 2 whole years straight and playing terrible in this game ?
I mean what message does that send ?
— RB Insiders (RBSPN) (@RyB_311) April 30, 2023
Shamet averaging 11 minutes/game, 1.4 ppg, 21.4%.
It's absolute crazy what Monty sees here. https://t.co/CcZ853Egn1— Chuck Harris (@chuckh3) April 30, 2023
Shamet was expected to provide a ‘3-and-D’ type impact when the Suns traded for him in August 2021 for former guard Jevon Carter. That has not been the case.
There were times when Shamet was matched up against Denver guard Jamal Murray, who torched the Suns in Game 1 with 34 points on 13-of-24 shooting.
Murray had a 1-on-1 matchup against Shamet in the game and told the crowd the Suns’ backup player could not guard him.
"HE CAN'T GUARD ME"
Jamal Murray GOING OFF 😤 pic.twitter.com/2sNODCIzmd
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 30, 2023
Phoenix was also criticized by a former MVP with the franchise, Charles Barkley, for not having enough contribution off the bench to win.
"The Suns, I'm looking at their team…they just can't score enough."
Chuck has concerns about the Suns relying too heavily on KD & Book pic.twitter.com/3ZMWBRuwNf
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 30, 2023
The Suns will try to even the series Monday in Game 2 in Denver.
