Suns speak out on defense issues

[Mr. Sun]

MARCIN GORTAT

"I came from a team where everybody's competing and trying, doing the stuff that Coach is saying. We just totally are changing our rotations. We're not playing hard enough. I've just got to tell you, there's a lot of work in front of us. The positive thing is it can't be worse."

"I think we have to be at the gym every day for three hours and learn the rotations and everything from the beginning. There are so many things that we are doing bad. I just can't find the explanation. I'm trying to get some rebounds and stops but unfortunately there are not too many opportunities for me to rebound. Because the team is scoring 120-something points, there is not much to rebound. It's just frustrating, frustrating as hell. I'm not going to lie. Now is a reality check for me, being on a team that is winning and now being on a team that is losing and we're the worst defensive team in the league. We've got to come tomorrow as early as possible and put in work, three hours at least."

"We've got to be more serious about everything we do. We've got a lot of young guys on the team and a lot of potential but a lot of young guys who don't know how it is to be on top and play on a high level. It's not just a focus on the game. It's also focus on the practice. When you're passing that door up front over there in the parking, it's a time when you're locking in and getting ready for the game or practice. It can't happen when we're coming in and doing different things. We've got to read the scouting report. We've got to read which guy likes to do what and we've just got to learn it. There's a lot of work. If Philly is scoring 120 points, I don't want to see teams like Boston, Orlando, San Antonio, Miami or the other teams because it's going to be bad."

"It still doesn't mean we're a bad team. We can turn this in the next two, three, four weeks. We're going to turn this. We've just got to play better defense. We can still make the playoffs. It's still possible. It's not over."

STEVE NASH

"It's frustrating. We're losing. We're not playing well defensively. We're practicing our defense and we're not carrying over to the game. It's frustrating. We've got to fight through it. We've got to test ourselves, our mental strength, our emotional commitment every day and try to bring it and not let it get to us."

"When you're playing as we are defensively and you're working at it, I think it's a situation where we just got to dig deeper and really be self-critical and try to do whatever we can to help the team."

"We've got to be positive and optimistic that we can turn it around."

"You've got to know your schemes. And I think right now, for whatever reason, we're not sharp and we're indecisive. Hesitation makes us really susceptible so we've got to make sure we get better than that and making sure we're all on the same page. Sometimes, I think when you're hesitant, it can appear like you're not playing hard but it's because you're unsure of what you're supposed to be doing and there's no excuse for that because we've been well-drilled at it and we should know where we should be and what we're doing."

"It does (feel worse than January's four-game losing streak) because we had such a good start last year and so much change. It's hard for us to draw a lot of confidence out of the season thus far but that's what we've got to do. We've got to find a way to be really positive and fight and work and find a way to make it happen because nobody is going to give it to us. We've got to earn it."

JARED DUDLEY

"You should be frustrated if you're losing. It doesn't matter how you lose. For us, I'm going to pinpoint the defense because we haven't been playing well at that and we keep talking about it."

"That's the question we have to answer. If not, it could be a long season. It's tough just because it's not just one thing. It's dribble penetration. It's rotations. It's rebounding. It's not like you can pinpoint one thing. We'll have to get better. Maybe it's film. Maybe calling people out. Maybe showing what we have to do. We can keep practicing it but as long as we don't do it game-time, it doesn't matter. You can practice shooting 3s but if you can't make it in games, you're not a 3-point shooter."

"I think guys are going hard. You have to be mentally engaged. If you use a lot of energy but you use it the wrong way, it can be bad. You have to be smart to be a good defensive player. Usually, the defensive players of the year are guys who are sometimes in the right position. It's not really blocking a shot or getting a steal. It's putting you between the basket and the the ball and being on a string. It's not just one guy. It's got to be five guys on the same page."

"We could definitely talk a lot more. I think we're overthinking. We're playing pick-and-rolls two different ways. So we're trying to call them out early. Sometimes, it's late. Sometimes, it's not. Sometimes one guy thinks it's this defense (and another) thinks it's that. It's an adjustment. It's something we're going to have to correct and we're going to have to do it fast because we're slipping a little bit."

"If you get into guys early and set the tone, it makes for a long night. But if a guy goes 3 for 3, he's got six or eight points, he's feeling good, trying a little bit harder and shooting shots you normally wouldn't shoot.

VINCE CARTER

"Just confidence. Trust. That's the biggest thing right now. We've just going to have to trust each other. The three of us come from a defensive-minded coach. We're going to try to instill what we've learned here as well. It's going to take a team effort. It's going to take time. What I like about the team, regardless of what people say, is they want to get better defensively. We feel like if we do that, the offense will take care of itself."

"It's just the willingness to do it. It's a daily process. It's not going to happen overnight. It's not going to happen over a week or a month. The mentality has to be we're going to get the job done defensively. It's going to make us get even easier baskets on the offensive end."

ALVIN GENTRY

"I guess the most disappointing thing is, as I said to the guys, we spent so much time working on our defense and it just doesn't seem to be getting any better. I'm not real sure why because I think we play extremely well in practice and do a good job there. We just can't seem to take it from there to game situations. It's not anything we're going to stop doing. We're going to continue to work at it. It's a disappointing loss. It's not the end of our season. We still have to find a way to guard better. I keep coming in saying that but some kind of way we've got to get to the point where we're doing a better job defensively. To give up 55 percent shooting and 123 points to a team that's averaging 95, 96, is unacceptable. It doesn't matter how good we are offensively. We have to be able to do some things defensively if we're going to win games and if we're going to be able to make a run and get back into the playoff race. For us, we'll got back to to work tomorrow and we'll try to find a way to come up with some answers. That's why I'm here."

"I just think the drives to the basket. Even in our zone, the drives to the basket. The middle penetration. We've got to do a better job of that."

"What decides game is your intensity and the level you play at. At the end of the day, the calls are not going to be the difference in what happens in a game. For us, I was more concerned about the dribble penetration and the easy baskets they got than the calls. I don't think the calls made any difference at all. We created our own problems. It wasn't the officiating that caused the problems. We created our own problems with the way we defended and that's what we've got to take care of first."

"The on-ball stuff. The screen-and-roll, we've got to get better in that area right there. That's the thing that we're struggling with the most. It hasn't come from post-ups or anything like that. It's just come from being out on the floor and being able to defend the dribble penetration and being able to defend the screen-and-rolls."

"The big difference and the reason we were able to make a jump and get to the Western Conference finals last year had nothing to do with what we did offensively. Because I think we're going to be good offensively. As long as Steve is here and we've got guys who can make shots, we're going to be fine offensively. What we have to do is improve our defense and make a huge jump there. That's the only way we're going to be able to be any kind of factor in a playoff race or anything."

"On defense, I don't know if it's like an offensive situation where you have to kind of learn. Defense, you come in and we have certain principles and everybody has to adhere to those principles. We have to execute defensively just like we do offensively. To me, that's where our season is going to be. What are we going to do and how are we going to get better defensively? If we get better in that area right there, we'll be fine from an offensive standpoint."

[MarJJMar]

Gortat has the by far worst +/- on the team the last 2 games.

He has made no impact even people who diss Lopez for having just 2 rebounds should realize Lopez had them in 12 minutes and was +2 while Gortat hat 5 in 35 minutes and was -19 or something again.

[NiGhtWiSh]

Gortat has the by far worst +/- on the team the last 2 games.

He has made no impact even people who diss Lopez for having just 2 rebounds should realize Lopez had them in 12 minutes and was +2 while Gortat hat 5 in 35 minutes and was -19 or something again.

yeah, yeah. Look at Gortat - moving in the paint and out of the paint in rotation, giving help etc. Then, look at Lopez - slow, not mobile, a "natural zone wall"... Do you see the difference? You know now from what this rating comes? Do you see any other Suns player doing team defence? No? Interesting So, who makes the holes in D? A man in the middle? Or maybe other lazy, low bbal-IQ guys?
Finally, look at eval.

[Calvin Klein]

Gortat has the by far worst +/- on the team the last 2 games.

He has made no impact even people who diss Lopez for having just 2 rebounds should realize Lopez had them in 12 minutes and was +2 while Gortat hat 5 in 35 minutes and was -19 or something again.

which shows +/- cannot be taken too seriously. It just means he played more.

[MarJJMar]

No it doesn't considering Gortat was -19 against the Clippers and the 2nd worse was Frye at -7 while Lopez was +2 in both games.

[pidi]

i blame the loss on nash and gentry - both didn´t realize that we got killed
from the sixers backcourt. steve can´t play one on one defense and gentry missed it to put a guy like ghill or cildress on holiday.

all this issues tell me that this team is not on the same page and that it takes time to be a real team.

[ray ray]

No it doesn't considering Gortat was -19 against the Clippers and the 2nd worse was Frye at -7 while Lopez was +2 in both games.

Its easy to have an +2 in both games when you have played a total of 19 minutes in the last two games. Its time that we call out Robin Lopez. I can't believe that a 7 foot center that is as athletic and as long as Lopez is can't dunk the ball with authority. Pietrus has dunked the ball harder with the Suns and hes only played 3 games with us. Its not so much about dunking the ball, its call being a physical player. I don’t see the passion in Lopez game. We already have a 7 ft shooting the ball, we don’t need another one!! I don't want to make this a Robin Lopez bashing because its not only him at fault. But its very evident that he's not putting up the effort that he should. It's time to move him before his value continues to decline and we essentially get nothing for him. We need someone who hustles, plays defense, rebounds and doesn’t need the ball to be effective. We need to get someone like Varajeo in this team.

[BurningHeart]

Love Gortat's leadership there. Hopefully it lights a fire under these guys.

[LukaMagic]

Jason Terry like motivation? Sure hope so..

[TASTIC]

Nash was getting TORCHED by Holliday - he literally just waltzed past him like he wasn't there. Nash played amazing on the other end, but I don't understand why we didn't employ a zone against a lousy 3 point shooting team like Philly. The only one who can knock them down at a consistent clip is Nocioni

[rsavaj]

We are the 6th worst defense of all time

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... -you-think

[RocPHX]

Gortat seems like he's 1 more game like that from calling people out. Which imo is a good thing. We need to be a lot more vocal. Gentry has to start benching noobs like warrick who bring nothing to this team at all.

[hunterxaz]

To be honest I think we're focusing too much on defense...

[rsavaj]

I think Gentry really needs to change something.

For all the flack Mike got about not coaching defense, ALL of his teams were better than any one of Gentry’s teams have been for the past ~2 seasons cumulative. Every single one. Our supposedly “improved” defense last season was still pretty bad(19). Our “Seven Seconds or Shaq” offense was the best EVER for that stretch where Gentry coached 08/09, but it was a really, really terrible defensive team( http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/s ... iem-090317 )

Honestly…I like Gentry as a coach, but our defense has been miserable ever since Mike left, which is stunning to think about. A team with this many talented defensive players(Chilly, Peaches, Hill, Dudley, Frye, Gortat, Lopez, Goran) should not be the 6th worst defensive team of all time.

Our best defensive team was the 05/06 squad. Up until January of that season, right before Kurt Thomas got injured, we were ranked FIFTH in defense, and it makes sense, seeing as how we had some strong defensive players: KT, Junior was decent, Marion should have garnered DPOY consideration, Raja was awesome, Diaw was very good, etc. I understand the personnel we have right now do not matchup defensively to their 05/06 counterparts, but 6th worst defensive team of all time? Are you flipping kidding me? That’s disgusting.

I’m glad Marcin said something, because this ish is mothereffing unacceptable.

[MaryvalesFinest]

Glad he's speaking out but honestly with the country club atmosphere I don't see it changing unless they make some more trades, get new personell and change the culture of this team.

[Birth of the Cool]

I'd argue the new guys (Gortat, Pietrus, Vince) were the most capable defenders of the bunch vs Sixers (not saying much I suppose) and that's probably because of the system they were in with the Magic.

It's about rotations, who goes to help on drives to the lane, which perimeter guy then comes down to box out the weakside big, who jumps back out when the opposing team passes the ball to the opposite/weak side, etc.

Also, it's little things like Hill (who is a capable defender) not willing to give Turner the drive, and daring him to hit a jumpshot with a hand up (which is usually good defense) but once Turner is feeling it, you have to jump into his shorts & trust that your teammates will come help you if Turner decides to put the ball on the floor. Also like the Suns announcers said you have to know people's tendency like Young who is a black hole (double him & force him to make a tough shot or pass out).

I personally think this team has the personnel to be a much better defensive team & it will show as they play together more but until then they better be outscoring opponents or they will be out of the playoff picture real quick.

Outside of defense, as someone just seeing this Suns team with "fresh eyes" I am kinda worried about their bench (Pietrus is amazing right now, Dudley seems super solid, but Warrick seems awful & Dragic seems to pound the ball for the whole shotclock looking for a lane instead of running an actual offense and he I suspect is the key - it seems without Nash there the offense collapses...maybe take Vince out early in 1st for Dudley unless Vince is on fire and have him run with Dragic to get some playmaking / space out there).

[RocPHX]

That idea isn't sounding too bad right now. When Nash is out, run the offense through Vince. Post ups, top of the key, I don't care.

[AddiFB]

Stan Van Gundy is a defense-first coach and he barks at his players if they don't do their absolute best on defense. Even if the team is winning, blowouts too, he's making faces, throwing his hands around and yelling at the guys for letting the other team score. Fans of other teams might not like the guy, but he installs "D first" into his players.

Now that Marcin is on the Suns, he sees all the details that are going wrong on defense because he's had this mad man barking at him for a few years. It pays off, now it might pay off for the Suns, having guys coming from a defensive minded team (now retooling to boost up the offense but still play some D - and will under SVG's commands) and leading by example. Gortat is being vocal and showing leadership in that department. He ain't no Dwight Howard, but he knows a thing or two about defense.

Hope it works out for you guys.

[rsavaj]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_d ... nba-301852

And at some point, though the Suns' brass hasn't done the coaching staff any favors with its penny-pinching ways and sometimes-regrettable deals, coach Alvin Gentry's role in this needs to be discussed.

In the eyes of way too many people, Gentry is the guy who finally got the Suns playing defense last season, which couldn't be further from the truth. All he did was slow the team down a little offensively, in literal terms. The Suns didn't run as much, though they scored with great efficiency, and that limited the amount of points their opponents could put up. So on the surface, sure, the points allowed went down. But when you factored pace into the equation, the Suns were far, far worse under Gentry defensively than they were under Mike D'Antoni, who was roundly criticized for paying little attention to the defensive side of things when he coached the Suns from 2003-08.
The frustration doesn't end there. As anyone who watched last night's game would tell you, Steve Nash was in a rage all night, usually at the referees. There were several instances where he could have been called for a technical foul for complaining (he only received one, and could have received another after his reaction that that particular whistle); and while the refereeing wasn't exactly spot on, it wasn't the problem.

The team is the problem, the refs were the scapegoat, and Nash is losing it, yelling towards Gentry after one particularly frustrating call. Pro Basketball Talk has the heavily edited quote:
"I'm going to [expletive] punch one of these [expletives] in the face."

[Dr Pepper]

Excerpt from ESPN about how the Suns basically have the worst defensive rating in NBA history:

Because the Suns have a long and storied history as a defenseless team, I'm not sure people truly understand just how awful they've been this season. According to Basketball-Reference, the 2010-11 Phoenix Suns are currently the sixth-worst team of all time in terms of Defensive Rating (which, again, is 114.1).

For perspective, the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks have an all-time worst D-Rating of 114.7. In other words, this year's Suns team is a mere seven-tenths of one point per 100 possessions away from being the worst defensive team ever.

Here's another ugly fact: The five teams that rank behind the Suns in Defensive Rating averaged 20 wins.

Look, the Suns have shown over the past several seasons that a team can compete without being an elite defensive squad. But no amount of scoring is going to overcome a potentially worst-ever defense. If the Suns are going to turn their season around, they need to start getting their hands in some faces. And fast.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... -you-think