Phoenix Suns Seek Marginal Defensive Improvement

by Seth Pollack on Oct 1, 2009 4:15 PM MDT in Phoenix Suns Commentary

NBA basketball has changed from the days of low post domination (aka Shaq's glory years) and is now a pick and roll game. Defenses have evolved as well.

No longer is a big body down low a requirement for defensive success which might explain why Greg Ostertag wasn't able to find his way back into the league. Great defensive teams are now a combination of skilled and aggressive defensive players, solid defensive schemes and a mind set that emphasizes help and accountability.

The Phoenix Suns recognize that they do not have the personnel to be a great defensive team. This is an "offense first" system. If you look around the league there are very few great defensive players that would have the scoring chops to start for the Suns.

Sure, there are exceptions like your Kobe's, LeBron's, Paul's and Garnett's but those are the true super stars. The top 5 or 10 players in the world and not every team can have one of those guys. The rest of the competitive teams surround their two or three best offensive players with two or three very good defensive players. It is much easier to find solid defensive players that can occasionally score 10 or 15 points than it is to find five guys that play both ends of the floor.

Putting a team together with balance is a tried and true strategy. Add that to the over abundance of defensive minded players available and it is no wonder that the mantra of "defense wins championships" exists.

Maybe it's the summer time heat or the incredible golf opportunities for the remaining 8 months but that's not how we roll in Phoenix.

What the Suns have is five starting players that can flat out score the ball. Nash, Richardson, Hill and Stoudemire are proven scoring threats who will now be joined by Channing Frye.

According to Coach Gentry, they are going to use Frye in a role similar to what Tim Thomas played for the Suns in 2006. A big guy that can draw his man away from the paint which helps spread the floor for Amare or other Suns slashers. A traditional team would have started Robin Lopez to add defensive balance and size to the mix but by naming Frye as a starter Gentry is going "all in" with his system.

That doesn't mean the Suns are ignoring defense. Phoenix basketball calls for the top offense to be supplemented by a just-in-time defense that is good enough to make the Suns competitive in the West which is high as they've set their sights for this low-pressure season. No "trophy boy" running around keeping his eyes on someone else's prize this year.

"I still say the big thing for us is not what we go back to offensively but we've got to get better defensively...We can't try and out-score every team that we play. We have to be able to come up with stops and then convert on the other end," explained Suns head coach Alvin Gentry.

With Grant Hill as the team's best defensive player in the starting rotation they understand that they won't be a top 10 defensive team but the goal is only to get a little bit better.

Hill, after joking that they can't get any worse, explains how the Suns can make that kind of marginal improvement, "The difference is not major. Alvin [Gentry] talked about the difference between holding teams to 47% from the field and 45% is an extra three or four defensive rebounds. It's closing out to a shooter. It's little things like that that separate you from being in the bottom ten in terms of defense to being in the middle of the pack."

In X's and O's what the Suns will do differently this season is simplify the defensive schemes. Instead of trying to do too many different things they are going to defend the pick and roll two ways. Gentry wouldn't say what those two ways were (although it will become obvious once the team takes the court). He insists that if they get beat playing their style of defense they won't panic and change the plan. They will simply work harder on doing what they do, only better.

There are only so many ways to defend the pick and roll. Last season with Shaq they sagged off and allowed teams to shoot over the top. This season with the more mobile bigs, I would expect to see more trapping and possibly switching along with a standard single coverage involving the guard going over or under the screen depending on the match up.

It sounds like the Suns might use a lot less zone as well but that remains to be seen.

What the Suns will do is hold each other accountable on the defensive end while understanding that it takes a village to stop the best players in the world from beating their man off the bounce. They feel that improved chemistry and focus on a simplified system along with a bench that can come in and hold a lead will make the 2009/10 Suns a better team.

Gentry explained that the Suns are not talking about winning X number of games or reaching a certain level in the playoffs. They are relishing the decreased pressure that comes with being an underdog and only hope to play up to their potential and the Suns certainly have the potential to be the best offensive team and a mediocre defensive team.

That should provide for a winning season that will be entertaining and competitive even if it's not good enough to reprise "trophy boy".

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hooray for coach Gentry

I won’t say Coach Gentry will be as successful as Coach D’Antoni—I have no evidence—but I already like Gentry better. He sounds more flexible and more interested in defense. I always thought Gentry should have been D’Antoni’s replacement. When Terry Porter was hired, I thought, “Why didn’t they give Alvin Gentry the job?” I understand why, though: it was probably because Gentry liked D’Antoni’s system and didn’t want to imitate the Spurs.

by Species8472 on Oct 1, 2009 4:41 PM MDT reply actions

Good point

I could see on the suns’s videos that chemistry won’t be an issue this season. Hopefully we will make the playoffs again and maybe upset someone on first round.

by Guilherme on Oct 1, 2009 5:04 PM MDT reply actions

Nothing remotely marginal about a 2% FG% improvement

And selling it this way I think will only make it fail.

This season will be even better as long as I'm drinking while watching!

by ZonaFlash on Oct 1, 2009 9:13 PM MDT reply actions

...

I don’t understand your statement. There is nothing marginal about 2% improvement, but you think it will fail? Explain.

Go read a book!

by N8lol on Oct 2, 2009 8:32 AM MDT up reply actions

marginal=small, but 2% huge

2% is a 20-40% improvement in FG% allowed.

So selling a very big step as a very small step, you do the math -→<——

We’re always told the differences between winning and losing is just a few rebounds or a making a few shots, but those last few rebounds or shots require so much more effort to get than the first few. It’s a lie. And this sort of thinking that it will be easy to improve defense will fail.

Having Shaq gone may improve the defense some, but it will also take away from the offensive FG% as well. We’ll see if we can exceed last year’s differential of 3.7% between our FG% and FG% allowed.

This season will be even better as long as I'm drinking while watching!

by ZonaFlash on Oct 2, 2009 1:00 PM MDT up reply actions

Is There Still A Gap At Center?!?

Gentry showed the right style when the Suns reached a 117 ppg average under his leadership last year but the team is going to bump-up against a hard ceiling this season if we don’t have a center who can handle the task. Channing Frye may be THE ONE but it would be nice if we had someone in that key spot with a career average beyond Frye’s 8.2 points per game.
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by fedres on Oct 1, 2009 9:39 PM MDT reply actions

we aren't worried about his offense, but his D

This season will be even better as long as I'm drinking while watching!

by ZonaFlash on Oct 2, 2009 1:13 PM MDT up reply actions

Do we really need our center to score? We get enough scoring.

by Species8472 on Oct 1, 2009 10:29 PM MDT reply actions

+1

We don’t need a center to score. We need a center that can block or alter shots after they drive by Nash.

by eagleheart on Oct 2, 2009 3:01 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs

Frye played the 5 his rookie year in NY. That year he averaged a career high in rebounds. Every other year beyond that has seen him either being moved around the floor, due to his offensive capabilities, or getting inconsistent playing time (Portland). He will get every opportunity to succeed in PHX, Kerr certainly wanted him badly, and Nash and Co. are pretty happy he’s around.

That said, don’t expect Frye to be anything more than an average defender at best. He will scrap for rebounds and give it 110%, etc. but he’s got a build a lot like Amare-lean and cut, which doesn’t include a huge a** that moves people out of the way like Barkley or Shaq.

As Stan said, this is not going to be a prototypical X and O type of traditional team in any way. This will be your typical Suns team that will cause great joy on the offensive end while giving you chest pains on the defensive end.

by Wil Cantrell on Oct 2, 2009 8:44 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs

Oh and if Earl Clark starts “getting it,” I wouldn’t be surprised to see him getting early season minutes solely due to his size and length. This kid could be a mini Garnett or a longer version of Marion. I could see him eventually being the guy who could defend nearly anyone on the floor. (IMO)

by Wil Cantrell on Oct 2, 2009 8:46 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs

Frye is our X factor

My hope for him is that he can turn into kind of a poor mans Marion. He has some size, and can shoot ok. If he can run the floor, he can keep opposing centers tired. The Suns do that a lot with bigger centers (they did that to Shaq when he was on Miami, Yao with the Rockets, etc). If Channing can spread the floor offensively, then Amare can work the low block (which he likes, even though he really isn’t a back to the basket guy). And if Channing can run up and down the court, then we’ll have interesting mismatches at times.

Of course defensively, we’ve got two bigs that seem to work better as help defenders. That’s pretty much always been an issue (except for our Shaq experiment), so we’re sorta used to it. I just hope Amare steps up and accepts that he’s going to be dealing with bigger players more often.

by Max Simbron on Oct 2, 2009 10:45 AM MDT reply actions

I think Frye has a lot to prove. He should do very well with our system.

Not sure what you mean by “poor man’s Marion,” he doesn’t have that kind of athleticism nor does he play a Marionesque kind of game. Still, though the plan is to have him run and become the outside threat that will allow Amare to work one on one.

As Kerr quoted: “Channing Frye is going to be taking a lot of three pointers this year.”

by Wil Cantrell on Oct 2, 2009 11:18 AM MDT up reply actions

My point exactly

regardless of his physical abilities, we expect a few things from Frye

run the floor to force opposing bigs to match, or end up with mismatches when guards have to D up because they’re the safety.

shoot from the outside at a clip respectable enough that opposing bigs leave the lanes open for Nash to create, and don’t provide help D on Amare

play help D on defense

Certainly Marion brought a few other things to the table (an amazing ability to pick off lazy passes and turn them into highlight dunks, great second jump ability which made him very productive in a long rebound situation, and running the floor so well that he and Nash led the league in alley’s until the Paul-Chandler duo dethroned them), but ultimately running the floor, keeping bigs outside of the paint and being a help defender were his main responsibilities.

I’m also interested in seeing what Earl can do. I don’t think we’re going middle of the road this season: we either thrive or die based on how our 3-8 play… if JR can score efficiently, if Leandro can become a better combo guard, if Goran can play the point effectively enough that we don’t dread Nash leaving the court, and if Lou can do more than just play with a big heart, if Frye can stretch the floor and run, and if Earl can play hard and live up to expectations, we got something.

The big plus is that we have one of the best players to play alongside in Nash. If you recall the year that Amare was out due to microfracture surgery, seven players scored career highs. That team was an eclectic mix of throwaways and second rounders.

the big minus is that Nash is older, and while I previously felt that Dantoni was really just letting Nash be Nash, I’m now more curious to see who really made that team so fun to watch. I hope it’s Nash, but I’m pretty sure it was the right mix of coach and player.

If it doesn’t come together, the reality is that we have a bunch of incomplete players. Amare is almost allergic to rebounding, Channing is not a true big, Lou has hands like feet, Leandro passes like he’s being fined for every assist he serves, JR needs the ball as much as Shaq and is small for a shooting guard, and Nash is still a defensive liability. Oh and who knows if Earl decides to play with some heart.

I’m hoping for a fun Suns season. I really am.

by Max Simbron on Oct 2, 2009 8:36 PM MDT up reply actions

WTH?

JRich is small for a shooting guard? Dude is legit 6’6" with like a 9 foot wing span. He’s also solid.

Monta Ellis is small for a shooting guard. JRich is one of the bigger dudes at the position in the L

Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @phoenixstan

by Seth Pollack on Oct 2, 2009 9:02 PM MDT up reply actions

is he a legit 6'6?

I dunno man, he might be that in sneakers or something. He never really loomed very large to me.

by Max Simbron on Oct 2, 2009 9:27 PM MDT up reply actions

hahaha… 9 foot wing span… it’s so true… the dude’s got gorilla arms!

by SunsFTW on Oct 5, 2009 1:00 PM MDT up reply actions

He’s not like Shawn Marion? Is there any former Sun you would compare him to?

By the way, here’s another comparison question. Was Shawn Marion’s game at all similar to that of Cedric Ceballos, with good defense added? Ceballos was not much of a defender when he played for the Suns, but he scored, rebounded and dunked well; and I think I might have heard him get called a garbageman, which Marion gets called frequently.

by Species8472 on Oct 2, 2009 11:28 AM MDT reply actions

What I like about this year...

Is that we are keeping it simple. We are playing to our strengths. We aren’t reinventing the wheel, here. People are going to be surprised at just how good we are:

1. Amare is going to be a monster this year. This is not about maturity or leadership or about wanting to win, this is about raising his stock. He’s going to be playing for that max-contract.

2. We are going to score the hell out of the ball, and we have guys who know how to do it. This year, we know who we are, and we know how we are going to win. Richardson is going to be a big part of this team, this year. He’s really going to step up. Richardson knows the uptempo system, and now with Shaq gone he is going to be getting a lot more touches. I agree with keeping Barbosa on the bench as our sixth man. This may change though as the season progresses.

3. We are deep now. The old Seven Seconds or Less was run by only Seven Players or Less…we got tired at the end of games, lost our legs, lost our shot. Never mind bad defense, we were just exhausted at the end of games. But now we have a deep bench of hustle guys, who can make stops, and keep teams from going on runs while our starters rest. It amazes me SSOL ever worked with such a shallow rotation.

4. I think Frye is going to do fine. He is going to spread the floor, give Amare the lane to himself, letting him play face up (where he thrives) or on the low-block. I like the Tim Thomas analogy. That’s exactly what he’s going to be. Amundsen and Lopez are two good energy big men who will see a lot more minutes when we play bigger teams.

by DaMax85 on Oct 2, 2009 4:12 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs

Point 3 is huge-we have the role players and bench to go 8-10 deep, depending on how Earl Clark progresses.

We said this in another thread but the second unit is much more defensive oriented. We can mix and match down the stretch if we need to lock down an opposing player. It should be interesting what lineups the Suns use to close out games.

by Wil Cantrell on Oct 4, 2009 12:05 PM MDT up reply actions