{"id":704184,"date":"2026-04-07T23:34:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/704184\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T23:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:34:26","slug":"suns-reacts-survey-royce-oneale-and-collin-gillespie-to-the-bench","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/704184\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns Reacts Survey: Royce O\u2019Neale and Collin Gillespie to the bench?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Suns fans and fans across the country. Sign up here<\/a> to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott did something different in the team\u2019s 120-110 win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. Collin Gillespie and Royce O\u2019Neale were not in the starting lineup. With the squad mostly at full strength, Phoenix went with Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Jordan Goodwin, Dillon Brooks, and Mark Williams, with O\u2019Neale and Gillespie, who have started the first and third most games for the Suns this year, respectively, coming off the bench.<\/p>\n

Along with starting the game with the second unit, both played fewer minutes than they usually do. The change comes after Phoenix suffered two straight losses, including a 20-point defeat to the Charlotte Hornets, which prompted Ott to say everything was \u201con the table\u201d after the game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a surprise O\u2019Neale went to the bench. With Dillon Brooks returning, O\u2019Neale and the starting power forward spot looked to be Brooks\u2019 once he got up to speed after returning from his broken hand. O\u2019Neale and Brooks have both started together this year, but not many games with Jalen Green and Devin Booker both healthy.<\/p>\n

Collin Gillespie starting the game with the second unit is a noticeable change in tactics from the Suns. Goodwin replaced him in the starting lineup. They both played 24 minutes, but Phoenix deciding to go with the more physical, better defending Goodwin signals a change in approach. Gillespie has been struggling with his shot since the start of March. He\u2019s shooting 37% from the field and 36% from three; both well below his season averages.<\/p>\n

As the Suns continue to get closer to the end of the regular season. Rotations and lineups should continue to tighten up to build some continuity. The team played just nine guys on Sunday. After being integral parts of the rotation in March, rookies Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach didn\u2019t play at all in the team\u2019s last game. For a squad that has not been uniformly healthy all year, it\u2019s noteworthy that the team is shortening its rotation when everyone but Haywood Highsmith is active.<\/p>\n

Often in the playoffs, teams shorten their rotations. Pat Riley\u2019s famous quote, \u201cuse eight, rotate seven, play six and trust five,\u201d is the strategy many squads deploy when a best-of-seven series begins.<\/p>\n

The Suns have four games left and three against Western Conference teams who will be in the top-six of the playoff standings. Another nearly clean injury report tonight against the Houston Rockets, the Suns will continue to show their cards on how their rotations look heading into the play-in and potentially the playoffs.<\/p>\n

If Gillespie and O\u2019Neale continue to come off the bench, would you agree with the decision? Why or why not?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,6,2065,472,4045,604,4147],"class_list":{"0":"post-704184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix-suns","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-phoenix","11":"tag-phoenix-suns","12":"tag-phoenixsuns","13":"tag-suns","14":"tag-suns-analysis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116366047157300471","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}