New Phoenix Suns Assistant Coach Elston Turner Talks Defense
by 7footer on Jul 14, 2011 2:46 AM MST
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New defensive specialist and coordinator, Elston Turner, had his first meeting with the media today since becoming the newest member of the Phoenix Suns coaching staff. Turner was hired by the Suns on July 11th after being handpicked by Suns head coach Alvin Gentry to be the defensive coach/coordinator. He now joins fellow Suns assistants Dan Majerle, Bill Cartwright, Igor Kokoskov, and Noel Gillespie on the coaching staff; but with the unique responsibility of teaching the team how to play effective defense and incorporate it into their style of play.
In an article by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, Elston Turner briefly covered some of his plans to address both team and individual defensive performance alike, in hopes of improving last seasons 26th ranked defense and league-worst 30th ranked rebounding. Although he is currently limited on what he can work on in regards to the specifics of his job, due to the lockout, Turner still sounded prepared to take on the challenge and confident that he can effectively utilize the talent on the team to create a new defensive identity.
Some of the more interesting points Turner covered in his media address included a plan to commit 40 minutes of each practice to working on defense. Since the Suns are already known for having relatively short practices compared to other teams, one would assume that this would mean practice times will also increase next season to accommodate this new commitment. Another interesting topic Turner covered was how he could help Steve Nash become a fantastic team defender and an effective solo defender by helping him utilize his proven ability to read the plays before they happen.
Whether or not Elston Turner will actually be able to change the attitude and the overall culture of the team remains to be seen. However, it is evident that the Suns are committed to improving their defense in the coming seasons. If Elston Turner receives the necessary support from the rest of the coaching staff and can also get the players to buy into his methods, the Suns may finally find a solution to their biggest issue which has plagued them since the Mike D'antoni days.
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I'm a little bit skeptic now
“he could help Steve Nash become a fantastic team defender and an effective solo defender by helping him utilize his proven ability to read the plays before they happen”
This, i’ve watched lot of games and i dont think i’ve seen Nash playing any more than less average defense, and so on, in order for us to defend we might need to do some hard adjustments to our offensive scheme, i dont think that’s not going to work for us, we have some pieces willing to play in another level but physical condition is a big factor here.
If i were to add a new defensive system it would be a 4th quarter defense so we can hold on when we are winning by 10 when there are 5 minutes left.
P.D: i’ll bust everyone bench ass so they wont lose any big lead while starters are trying to catch their breath.
Do not let Steve Nash and Grant Hill go away, please.
Otherwhise im not buying any tickets from you Saver.
by Lino Canaan on Jul 14, 2011 5:32 AM MST via mobile reply actions
I disagree
While the media gives him a bad knock and I’m not going to go out and say he is gary payton, I think he is an average defender and a reasonable help defender as he has a great bball IQ. However, you can’t really expect a huge jump in improvement at his age just because of a new coach
Carter having a glazed-eyes contest with Boris Diaw. Carter's winning, but Diaw might respond by eating his eyes.
Nash is a slightly below average defender
like most of the Suns roster.
"I don't lift weights because they are heavy, and I don't run because it makes me tired." - Charles Barkley
I don't think that is still true...
The Suns have certainly had the reputation of having weak defensive players in the past, and maybe it was with merit back then. However, the assumption that the Suns still don’t have the personnel to play efficient defense simply isn’t accurate for the majority of our players anymore.
Our below average defenders include: Steve Nash, Aaron Brooks, Hakim Warrick, and I’ll even throw in Channing Frye (although I think he is perfectly capable of playing good defense as he has demonstrated at times).
Looking at the rest of our roster we have: Grant Hill, Josh Childress, Jared Dudley, Michael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, Robin Lopez, Zabian Dowdell, Gani Lawal, Garret Siler, and Markeiff Morris — All considered very good, good, or at least average defenders in relation to their skills and their positions.
If we kept all of these players on our roster going into next season that would be only 4/14 players who are considered below average defenders….Not exactly an insurmountable obstacle to establishing an effective defense.
Not to mention, if Turner is right in thinking that he can improve Nash’s team defense by utilizing his instincts, and working with other players to improve skills such as rebounding and help defense that they are perfectly capable of doing, then I think we have a real chance to substantially improve our overall defense next year. and at least partially shed the reputation for being one-dimensional.
That's true, we are improving.
"I don't lift weights because they are heavy, and I don't run because it makes me tired." - Charles Barkley
We are never going to be
Very high statisticaly,WE score alot and are very efficient at it so we are going to give up more points due to pace and the number of attempts and said points we score at A hight percentage.The bright and exciting thing is that we do have A ton of room to improve rebounding and defending.
"BALL"- Turkish poet Hedo Turkeyglue
And I think that's the whole point...
Like you said, I don’t think anyone expects us to suddenly become an elite defense like Boston. But there is certainly room for improvement, and I believe hiring someone like Turner can help maximize our effectiveness on the defensive end without having to sacrifice what we do well on offense.
I think a key part of this is the plan to extend practices to include an additional 40 minutes spent solely on defense. In the past we would try to incorporate defense into the standard practice time which would only improve our defense at the expense of our offense. Having a separate coach that will take over this aspect is another substantial benefit over what we’ve tried in the past.
I realize we’ve been hearing about getting better at defense for the past three years without any results. But this time it appears that we are taking the task seriously and making the necessary adjustments to actually achieve our goal.
by 7footer on Jul 14, 2011 10:19 AM MST via mobile up reply actions
Another interesting topic Turner covered was how he could help Steve Nash become a fantastic team defender and an effective solo defender by helping him utilize his proven ability to read the plays before they happen.
I think he already does this somewhat. Like I wrote in one of my early FanPosts, Steve contributes on defense a lot more than the average fan believes. He’s always among the league leaders in offensive fouls drawn, and he double-teams the post a lot. It will be interesting to see if Turner can help Steve kind of lock in and become more effective, but the problem is and always has been his physical limitations. He simply can not move as fast as most good PGs, and he’s not as strong as some bigger guards either.
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl XLV Champions!!!!
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
John Stockton
came to mind when Turner said that. People seem to overlook Stockton was also the all time leader in steal. If Nash can pick up some of that the other team will have to be a lot more cautious bringing up the ball, not to mention we’ll get to score some easy basket
I am a bit skeptical primarily with respect to Nash’s age. Can he take it to another level again by taking on the additional responsbility on the defensive end?
BTW, you're killing it with these posts 7footer.
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl XLV Champions!!!!
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
by Omaha Sun on Jul 14, 2011 11:34 AM MST reply actions 2 recs
I don’t expect us to be a top 10 defensive team next season, but I do want average at least. I’m tired of seeing other teams get hot from the start of the game and never cooling off because they’re just so confident they can score against us.
I still remember that game against the 76ers where we just let them shoot jumper after jumper and as soon as we started playing defense, they kept making them even the tough shots because they already had the hot hand. That was the same game Nocioni scored like 30 and pretty much just bullied our frontline. I don’t want to see that next season. I also don’t want to see us leave Richard Jefferson open in the same spot on 4 consecutive possessions.
We also need to get to the point to where we’re capable of getting stops in the closing minutes. Overall, we just need to be more aggressive on that side of the court. Even our 7SOL teams were average in that area.
An improved defense will help obviously, but were still not going to be successful in the 4rth quarter as we’d like. That’s something only our offense can solve and we just don’t have a go to guy, so teams can easily shut us down when they get locked into their defense.
Don't trade Dudley!
If there's a shortened season, I see it being very difficult trying to implement a new defensive system.
I don’t really expect to see that much of an improvement this season because of the lockout unless it resolves itself before training camp (fingers crossed). If they have a full training camp/offseason to work on things together, I will be more optimistic. However, at this point I’m going to take the low road and say we won’t get anything out of this until 2012
That's a good point.
They don’t want to increase practice time when the guys will already be playing back to backs every week and sometimes even 3 games in 3 nights. That’s too much for Hill and Nash. They’d be worn out in a matter of weeks.
If anything the most we can hope for is just more aggression on that end. Say what you want about developing a scheme, but none of that matters if the guys don’t feel like getting back and putting a hand in the opposing players face. More aggression on that end and a better bench is the only thing that could get us to the playoffs next season.
Don't trade Dudley!
I still remember that game against the 76ers where we just let them shoot jumper after jumper and as soon as we started playing defense, they kept making them even the tough shots because they already had the hot hand.
It’s impressive that you remembered that one specific game. All the games like that kind of blurred together for me.
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl XLV Champions!!!!
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
Nocioni is one of my favorite players and that was his best game of the season.
Which is sad because he’s not that good anymore.
Don't trade Dudley!
I appreciated his game back when he was with Chicago.
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl XLV Champions!!!!
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
So did I.
His foot injuries hurt his game. They really limited what he could do and so he reverted into a streaky jumpshooter who could play some defense. He used to drive to the basket more and he used to be a better hustler and rebounder. He played hard. He was a PF in a 3’s body, but he could still shoot. I wished we had him backing up Frye instead of Warrick. We could use a tough guy like that. His contract is terrible though and he’ll be 32 next year.
Don't trade Dudley!
Great post, Beavis. I remember both of those. Perfect examples.
by BringBackBarkley17 on Jul 14, 2011 6:37 PM MST up reply actions
I'm tired of all this darn speculation. I want real basketball.
Real sports. Real news. Damn the NFL and the NBA.
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