Suns’ Kokoskov provides more clarity on decision to foul, rotation choices

PHOENIX — When Phoenix Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov said after the team’s 116-109 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics that he wanted his team to foul up three with 7.3 seconds left, it was perplexing.

There are certain situations with the time left and how a play develops where wanting to foul up three and actually doing it is a whole other thing. The offensive players are looking for any way to draw a shooting foul and get three free throws, meaning the execution has to be precise to find the right moment.

The moment was certainly there for Devin Booker to foul when Morris caught the inbounds pass.

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— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) November 9, 2018

Booker was not all over Morris, choosing to give him space instead. That’s not the actions of a defender who is trying to foul when the opportunity presents itself.

The Celtics ran their play and it worked to perfection, aided by a switching mistake by the Suns.

Now the question became of what the players were doing. After the game, Deandre Ayton, Isaiah Canaan and Booker all said the plan was to switch but did not confirm the plan was to foul.

That made it increasingly more interesting to hear what Kokoskov had to say on Friday after practice regarding the decision.

Kokoskov reiterated once again the plan was to both switch everything and foul, but provided the explanation.

“You have to be careful saying foul right away,” he said, going on with the details of that action.

“You don’t want to foul once he’s in a shooting motion but the game plan was to switch and when they leave their back to the basket — which is obviously telling the referee that there’s no shooting motion, which there was a case.

“Morris was catching way out from the basket with the back to the basket so it was a perfect situation, moment to foul.”

Kokoskov was asked what he believed led to the miscommunication regarding the players saying the plan was not to foul.

“Game is too fast, a little fatigue,” the coach said.

That, of course, brings up the next point of how the players were that fatigued in the first place.

Every starter played at least 42 minutes in the game, except for Ayton, who had 38.

The path in the road with two directions for Kokoskov during the game to arrive at that minute distribution or not was simple.

Once the Suns were up 20-8 with 4:04 left in the first quarter, Phoenix held at least an 11-point lead until the 3:02 mark of the fourth quarter when Kyrie Irving’s three-pointer made it 94-85 Suns. That’s 40:54 worth of game time where the Suns held that advantage.

Kokoskov did so by keeping his starters in, quickly making changes when things got out of hand. He said after the game on Thursday that he rode with those guys because they were the ones that got them the big lead in the first place.

Here’s the full context of why he did that.

The coach started the second quarter with no Ayton or Booker. The full second unit of Elie Okobo, Josh Jackson, Mikal Bridges, Ryan Anderson and Richaun Holmes proceeded to turn the ball over four times and shoot 2-of-5 from the field while being outscored 7-4 over 4:21.

Kokoskov called a timeout and brought back in Ayton, Booker and Canaan for the rest of the quarter except the last 36.1 seconds that Ayton was subbed out for Holmes.

It worked because the Suns were up 20 at halftime and outscored the Celtics by four in that time.

Trevor Ariza made a three-point shot with 2:13 left in the third quarter after he subbed in for T.J. Warren and Bridges entered for Booker with Okobo and Holmes already in for Ayton and Canaan a few minutes earlier.

From that point on, Bridges missed a layup, Okobo scored a two-pointer, missed a 12-footer and Holmes missed a seven-footer. Holmes then had his shot blocked at the end of the quarter and turned over the ball on the first possession of the fourth quarter. One turnover and a 1-for-5 shooting effort.

Now, the deficit was only cut from 17 to 15, but the warning signs were there so Kokoskov brought in Ayton and Canaan with 11:31 left and rested Booker and Warren as long as possible to 8:51. By then, it was an 11-point game.

To be clear, Kokoskov should have seen fatigue as a factor late, maybe even subbing Bridges for Canaan or Holmes for Ayton during a few stretches while the fourth quarter got away from them.

He certainly should have in overtime, when his team was clearly gassed.

But what it came down to Thursday night and what it comes down to this season is trust, a bench on a not-so-deep team that lacks it.

Kokoskov doesn’t trust Josh Jackson, who would have played more than five minutes if the coach did.

He doesn’t trust the team without Canaan — or Ayton and Booker, obviously — on the court when it matters, as shown by Canaan being out there despite a 3-for-14 shooting night. The same goes for Ariza, whose play when compared to Bridges’ is somewhat debatable through 11 games.

Speaking of Bridges, he has played well, but Kokoskov at the moment uses him like a coach who isn’t willing to commit to the rookie in key moments unless he has it rolling. He sure did in the win over the Grizzlies when Bridges made five of his six shots, but Bridges was 1-for-5 on Thursday.

“You always stick with the guys who brought you to that point and I believe in the group that was on the court,” he said Friday. “I would still do the same, but more trust when it comes to trusting the other guys not to get to the point where the team is too tired.”

Here’s the reality of that.

Kokoskov ended that answer by saying he’s questioning himself when it comes to that trust and choosing when to grab those “couple of minutes” as he put it for the reserves to give the starters that extra bit of rest needed.

He doesn’t sound like a coach who is there yet with his entire team, which speaks to some of the issues as a whole that surround the 2-9 team as they head on the road.

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