Elston Turner committed to improving Suns defense
Jul 21, 2011, 5:05 PM | Updated: 6:15 pm
Defense and the Phoenix Suns are words not often said in the same sentence.
The Suns are known for their fast paced offense and have relied on their ability to outscore teams rather than defend them and win low scoring games.
While the Suns may be fun to watch, this style of play is not conducive to winning when it matters most and new defensive coordinator Elston Turner is expected to change that.
Once the NBA lockout ends, Turner will begin his attempt to transform a defense that allowed just less than 106 points per game last season.
In a recent interview with NBA.com, Turner talked about his defensive philosophy.
It always takes a little time to analyze. If you’re cooking up something, you have to see what’s in the pantry to throw into the pot. I’ll tell you this though. We’re going to be the league-average or better next year. We have some goals that we’re going to meet. And from looking at the stats of where the team finished last year, we’re going to do better than that.
It may be a bit discouraging to see Turner say the team will be at the league average next season considering the fact that average or mediocrity is not often a team’s goal.
However, the Suns defense was near the bottom of the league in a lot of categories last season so a middle of the road defense would be a significant upgrade.
