Remember when Tyler Ulis almost looked like a starting-quality point guard at the end of last year? Sure, he would have been on the very low end of “starting-quality”, but I won’t ever forget the time he put up a 34/9/9 statline while making 15 of 22 shots. For a rookie whose height is maybe 5’2″ in shoes (and I’m being very generous there), that’s an unprecedented statline. And now the point guard job in Phoenix is wide open, yet Ulis hasn’t been able to take advantage. They’re talking about having Devin Booker be the full-time point guard, like Harden was before the arrival of CP3, just because there’s no good point guards on the roster.
Tyler Ulis was supposed to be that good point guard. Mike James got waived and that should have been the key to rediscovering Ulis’ potential, but it wasn’t. Ulis sucked before Mike James got waived and he sucked after Mike James got waived because Isaiah Canaan came in and played relatively well by Canaan standards. And if you’re getting outplayed by Isaiah Canaan, who doesn’t really want to pass and doesn’t really shoot that well either, that’s bad news for you.
This game could be the start of a resurgence for Ulis. It probably isn’t, but it could be. If he drops 35/10/10 next game, I apologize for being so pessimistic.