Suns coach: Youthful team must learn to maintain focus in back-to-back games

The last time the Phoenix Suns took the court, they were in Salt Lake City facing the Utah Jazz one night after a statement win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.

There, in Utah, they lost 118-91 to a Jazz team that is currently 1-3.

The loss was off-putting in a way, given the team’s aforementioned 94-89 defeat of the Spurs a night prior and their 20-point rout of the Los Angeles Lakers in the season opener. And it was all the more surprising, considering the Suns’ relative youth, with an average age of 25.5 — the third-youngest roster in the Western Conference.

On Tuesday, Suns coach Jeff Hornacek joined the Doug and Wolf show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM and explained why his team may struggle with back-to-back games this season.

“(People think), ‘If you’re young and you love the game, you shouldn’t get tired,'” he said.

“I think where the youth hurts us is that when you play back-to-backs, it becomes more of a mental game. You know, the physical part of it — you have to tell yourself, ‘I’m not tired.'”

Against the Jazz, Hornacek suggested, his players began to lose focus at the initial onset of fatigue.

“I think some of these guys think they’re tired, and then when they think they’re tired, they can’t think at all,” he went on.

The Suns’ mistakes, be they turnovers, poor shot selection or otherwise, were indeed rooted in mental — not physical — tiredness, according to their coach. The Jazz scored 35 fast break points and 21 points off turnovers in their win over the Suns. Phoenix, meanwhile, made just seven of the 31 three-pointers they heaved at the basket Saturday at EnergySolutions Arena.

“We were just (not making) the extra pass, we were just taking the first shot available and then that turned into a bad shot that gave them an easy fast break layup in the other direction,” he said. “You know, it’s the mental strength that, when you’re young, you have to learn to develop.”

Of course, the team’s young bodies can hold up to the challenge of travel and playing on back-to-back nights. But it’s the inexperience, Hornacek says, that daunts them under such circumstances.

“Really, most of these guys except for Goran, it’s their second year of really playing a lot of minutes,” he said. “So they’re still dealing with trying to get that mentality of a back-to-back and just being sharp and focused all game.”