Le Journal

Happy Monday one and all. The Arizona Cardinals coaching search marches on and there is a new team in town as well as the Buffalo Bills have fired head coach Sean McDermott. We don’t talk about that in this episode, but Jess and I do discuss the candidacy of both Matt Burkey and Arthur Smith. We then discuss the John Harbaugh news, and how that could change things up, or if it matters at all, and the talk about the staff of the Arizona Cardinals and who could possibly be retained. Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating! (1:00) Who is Matt Burke? (16:30) Who is Arthur Smith (27:38) John Harbaugh’s decision and remaining staff members who could stay Enjoy the show! View Link

Not everyone watches every Suns game every night. That is reserved for us sickos. If you do not, it is easy to fall into the falacies of box score watching and box score analysis. I see it all the time in my group chats. When Devin Booker went down last week after twisting his ankle, someone sarcastically chimed in that the team was really going to miss his 5-of-17 shooting. That comment told me everything. They were not watching the game. Booker was not efficient in that moment, but that was not the point. The intensity he brought on the defensive end mattered far more. The effort. The engagement. The tone he set. That is the stuff that never shows up in a box score, but it shows up loud when you are actually watching. That is part of what makes this Devin Booker season so interesting. If you only scan the numbers, you might come away underwhelmed. He is averaging 25.3 points, his lowest mark since the 2017-18 season. He is shooting 45.2% from the field, 30.1% from deep, and his effective field goal percentage sits at 49.7%, the first time it has dipped below 50% since the 2016-17 season. On the surface, that opens the door to the lazy question. Is he worth a $53.1 million max contract? If you live only in the spreadsheet, the numbers do not scream, “yes”. This is where I push back hard. He is absolutely worth it. This may not be the most efficient version of Devin Booker we have ever seen, and that is fine. He is operating within the structure of this system and doing it with a level of toughness and leadership that has been demanded of him for years. That Heat game is the perfect example. In past seasons, I am not convinced he comes back after that ankle twist. He probably heads to the locker room, changes into street clothes, and tells us he will be good next time. This time, he stayed in it. He fought through it. This group has pulled something different out of him, and it has been impressive to watch. And if you want to keep it in the numbers, there is plenty to appreciate with Devin Booker this season. The efficiency dip is real, but the context matters. He is playing 34.2 minutes a night, his fewest since the 2020-21 season. I doubt many people had that on their bingo card entering a season in which the thought he was going to have to carry this team to 30 wins. He is taking 18.2 shots per game, the lowest mark of his career if you remove his rookie year. That tells you everything about the offense. This is not a Booker carry job. This is a ball movement team, and I love that it does not live or die on his shot diet. The three-point percentage is down, but so is the volume. He is taking 5.4 threes a game, the third fewest of his career. Meanwhile, the free throws are up. Way up. He is attempting 8.3 per game, the highest of his career, topping the 7.3 he averaged in 2019 20. That is not random. He is attacking the rim. He is initiating contact. He is leaning into the identity of this team. Devin Booker is attempting 8.3 free throws per game, 1.0 higher than his previous career high of 7.3 and 1.9 more attempts than a season ago pic.twitter.com/owdwQisCF6— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) January 18, 2026 Yes, the turnovers were an issue early. Then something clicked. Through his first 22 games, his assist-to-turnover ratio sat at 1.84. Over his last 16 games, it has jumped to 2.20. The shots may not be falling at his usual clip, but the playmaking is tightening up, and the pressure he applies never fades. The efficiency might be down, but the impact is still loud. In a perfect world, you get a hyper-efficient Devin Booker and the wins follow. This season, he has not been that version every night, and it has not mattered. He is still impacting winning, and honestly, I prefer this version of him to what we have seen in recent years. There is a difference between a player who goes out and gets his numbers and one who bends the game toward winning by how he plays. Look at Detroit last week. Booker did not play, still…