PHOENIX SUNS

Suns offense behind their defense to start season

Oct 27, 2015, 5:37 PM

Dallas Mavericks' Zaza Pachulia, middle, shoots between Phoenix Suns' T.J. Warren (12) and Jon Leue...

Dallas Mavericks' Zaza Pachulia, middle, shoots between Phoenix Suns' T.J. Warren (12) and Jon Leuer (30) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jim Cowsert)

(AP Photo/Jim Cowsert)

The Phoenix Suns are living by the cliche’ that says a team’s defense will be ahead of its offense at the beginning of a new season.

With the opener against the Dallas Mavericks at Talking Stick Arena Wednesday night, head coach Jeff Hornacek made clear they’re going to have to rely on stopping opponents until the other side of the ball has time to catch up.

“I would probably say the defense is a little better right now,” said Hornacek after practice on Tuesday. “Offensively, we’re still thinking about a lot of things because we’ve had illnesses and stuff like that to some of our main guys. We haven’t been able to get everything in there and really go over a lot. We tried to put a lot of it in there and we put it in, review it the next day. There’s still a lot of things offensively that we can continue to work on as the season goes. Defense can win you games when the offense isn’t going.”

Hornacek is referring to players like starting point guard Eric Bledsoe and third PG Ronnie Price, who each only played in half of the preseason games. Phoenix’s issues are more about the counter-action they can use than its base offense.

“We still have sets that they’re going to run,” continued Hornacek. “I think what it comes down to is all the little wrinkles you can do off all these plays. We haven’t put all of those in. They’ll do some of that naturally. When you’re a player, some of the wrinkles you can call, these guys just happen to do the way the defense plays it.”

The power of intuition has to be acted upon versus structure when a defense takes away the top options during a called offensive set. In some cases, this may even turn out to be playing to the roster’s strengths.

“I think every day you see a little growth,” said center Tyson Chandler. “I think that’s the right idea for this team and this group because we have incredible athletes. I think the more that we’re just playing off of instinct the better.”

 

Phoenix Suns

Jusuf Nurkic...

Damon Allred

Jusuf Nurkic questionable for Suns’ matchup with Thunder; Bradley Beal no longer listed

The Phoenix Suns are listing center Jusuf Nurkic questionable for a matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.

9 hours ago

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets is guarded by Kevin Durant #35 of the Phoenix Suns during th...

Kellan Olson

Suns respond to season’s low point with thorough win over Nuggets

The guessing game of which Suns team shows up on which night persists. The best current version did on Wednesday in a win over the Nuggets.

1 day ago

Bradley Beal #3 of the Phoenix Suns looks on during the second half against the Boston Celtics at T...

David Veenstra

Bradley Beal in, Jusuf Nurkic out for Suns’ matchup with Nuggets

Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal is active for Wednesday's matchup with the Denver Nuggets while center Jusuf Nurkic is out.

1 day ago

Tyler Kolek, Marquette...

Damon Allred

Here’s who Phoenix Suns fans should watch in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

The Suns' first round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft sits at No. 19 overall, and they could select a star from the NCAA Tournament.

1 day ago

Phoenix Suns take on San Antonio Spurs...

Arizona Sports

O’Neale: Phoenix Suns took Spurs ‘too lightly’ in glaring loss

The Phoenix Suns' lack of effort was on display Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs, leading to an honest film session.

2 days ago

...

Arizona Sports Video

Video: Royce O’Neale: Suns took Spurs “a little too lightly”

Phoenix Suns forward Royce O'Neale joined Burns & Gambo to talk about the team's disappointing loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night, and to look ahead at the team's remaining schedule, as they continue to make a push toward the NBA playoffs.

2 days ago

Suns offense behind their defense to start season