THIS Is How the Phoenix Suns Have a Top Defense in the NBA 🔥

THIS Is How the Phoenix Suns Have a Top Defense in the NBA 🔥

Why does it feel so early, Stephen? Cuz it is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] What is up everybody? It’s PHNX Suns brought to you by our friends at Bet 365. Download the bet365 app and use the promo code phnx365. Deposit $10 and place a bet for five to get 150 in bonus bets. Must be 21 and over. Physically located in Arizona. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem or wants help, call 1800 next step next to 53342 or visit problemgambling.as.gov. I am Espo. He is Steven and the freckled Mamba is behind the Mac. The baby face as I called him earlier on Southwest Bias. Yeah, we’re a little early today because I was selfish and I said, “You know what? Uh, I got a meeting at 3:30, so we’re doing the show at 2.” Stephen, how are you, my friend? I’m doing great. Um, definitely a little earlier, so that shifts everything around some. Definitely some adjusting, but we are here and we got some fun to talk about because we usually don’t dive into the weeds on the defense and the ways that we give attention to offense. So, going to have some fun with this. We’ll get to that. We’re going to talk practice. We’re going to talk the bench, boys. We’re going to talk a little bit about should Mark Williams play Sunday or Monday if How’s that guy doing? How How are you, Ericin? I’m doing good. I said this on Southwest Bias and it still holds true. I am a huge fan of the rain. So, anytime we get rain in the valley, I am itching to go outside. It feels like back home today. It does. It does. Minus Minus the snow. Minus the snow. Minus the snow for sure. But this feels like fall weather indeed. It is beautiful. I know the rain continues on Saturday. So, you’ll get a chance to enjoy that. Aka, I’m not letting you out of the building today. So, uh, get ready for it. By the way, Cogs, I’m going to give you a hint. 101, but it’s not the freeway. As Cog said, Derek sent him on a scavenger hunt to try to figure out where we are. Hello to Sandman Ashley Cogs, and the rest of the group in the chat. We’re going to start at practice today. Uh, and Jordan had some updates to give and we will start with Grayson Allen. Jordan not said that Grayson is trending in the right direction and took part in practice today. My guess is if that uh quad reacts well, we might see him on Friday night against the T- Wolves. This one feels like the NFL equivalent to Wednesdays when guys are in limbo and usually by Wednesday it’s a telltale sign of if a guy how much they believe a guy might be available for their upcoming game versus if they’re not didn’t practice the last handful of times they had practiced um after he sustained the injury I think against the Pacers if I’m not mistaken. So, this is definitely a big stride in the right direction. If he comes back and he’s healthy for tomorrow, it would come with perfect timing because this is where you get to the thick of that tough schedule stretch. It feels like you’re going to need as much offense as possible against Anthony Edwards and that Minnesota team. You were joking right before the start of the show that we might see fireworks tomorrow because these two teams are like oil and water uh when they meet up. And so I I having Grayson will be a huge boost to it. And we’ll get into the rotation changes that that might cause which could benefit the Suns as well later in the program. But huge huge boost if Grayson can play. Uh and it could change the complexion of what that game looks like tomorrow night. It it most definitely can because Grayson is someone that withstanding that playoff series when he’s been a member of the Suns has had some some successes with uh going up against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Obviously in the playoff series he got hurt u and I think not saying they wouldn’t have got swept but he would have made things a little different because of the dynamics that he brings both in accounting for him off the ball and the things that he can do when he’s on the floor with the superstar. So yeah, they need his they need his uh his offensive punch and honestly the way he’s defended which is a lot of what we’ll be talking about today. Uh that part has been equally as important for the team. Do you think we get dueling crotch chops uh you know from Dylan and Ant tomorrow? I that’s that’s what I’m hoping for. That might be my prop bet uh for the game tomorrow if I can get it on bet 360. I don’t know about crotch chops, but they’ve both taken swings at each other. And I imagine there we’re going to see a lot of that going on tomorrow in some capacity. I cannot wait to see the mental antics that that go on between those two guys. If there are two guys that can talk, it’s it’s Dylan Brooks, Anthony Edwards going toe-to-toe. And with how well Dylan Brooks has been playing offensively, it could be literally toe-to-toe on both ends of the court. That’ll be a lot of fun tomorrow night. There was an interesting quote from Jordan at practice today that that I liked. He said, “The competitive spirit of our group is real. As you get into the thick of the season, you need that every night.” I think playing hard is a skill. Our energy, our toughness, it’s unique. We just have different guys every night step up. And for me, it is very interesting to to see how it has played out this way this year. and that, you know, every preeason, every offseason, you hear, “Oh, we’re going to compete hard. This is going to be different.” Everybody’s on that. And and rarely do you actually see it in practice and like and on the court. And it feels like we have gotten that. And to to point, it has been a different guy almost every night. It has been and that’s what the teams that see what they find as templates for success on the regular season stage translate to meaningful games and those meaningful games typically get them to the playoff realm in some in some capacity. Um, I talked with uh Rick Carlile prior to their game last week against the Suns and I just asked him about the similarities and the ways that his team from last season put pressure on opponents and how that was unique from any other team that wasn’t Oklahoma City. And he said yeah, he sees similarities in how the Suns operate because it’s a tryhard league now. He feels like that’s it’s been the skill part the last handful of years until they kind of spearheaded the tryh hard dynamic them in Oklahoma City. He said a few more teams are trying it this season, but the way Jordan has those guys bought into those extra effort margins, it really shows and how they’re able to dictate the terms of games and honestly keep themselves competitive in the es and flows. So he emphasized that part and I think that coming directly from him is a major credit to obviously Jordan not because there’s a handful of players that were on this roster last season and we just didn’t see the team comprehensively get the results that they’ve gotten in this 15 game stretch to start this season. It’s a night and day difference between the competitive um nature of them. Belief and effort can go a long way in any sport. And you bring up the first 15 games. I I don’t know how many people realize this, but in the first 15 games last year, and the first 15 games this year, they have identical records. In a in a season that was not supposed to be all that good, a season that most people didn’t expect a lot, that’s impressive to me that you that you have the same record. And they’ve gotten there very differently as well. Last season, very differently. Last season, Kevin Durant was probably a top three MVP candidate through the first 15 games or so. It was a ton of clutch heroics. So, him just being who he is as a tough shot maker, tough shot taker, and being that guy that steps up in meaningful moments on the offensive end and also doing it defensively, but it was just him on the defensive end. Last season on offense, Book got out to a slow start, but he was doing things to help bridge that gap outside of KD. Um, and a couple other guys were stepping up as well. Royce O’Neal had a hot start last year, last season to start as well. It’s been the other side of the floor defensively, which is where they’ve kind of found their footing and went from a team that started off one and whatever to ultimately getting to where they are now through 15 games. You start one and four and then nine of the last 10 games you’ve had an 18 plus point lead. That’s crazy. And all of the last six you’ve had it as well. Just an unbelievable start from from this team. And you bring up defense and that’s where we want to focus here to start today and just that team defense, how unbelievable that they have been and the the rating that they’ve had. Uh we have these defensive stats that Stephen put together through the first 15 games. And when you look at it, they’ve allowed 114.1 points per game that’s tied eighth. And when you consider the way that they started with multiple 70point first halfs that they gave up, it’s impressive that they’re sitting here. 15.2 stops, which is fourth in the league, 22 deflections, which is fourth in the league, and a 33.9 defensive three-point percentage, which is seventh in the league. How are they accomplishing this, Stephen? And do we believe that this is a sustainable thing? Yeah. um it’s putting pressure on their opponents and it starts with the ways that they’re guarding the basketball at the points of attack setting the tone time after time after time which then leads into the things that they want to do in the middle portion and late portion of the shot clock. So Ryan Dunn, Colin Gillespie, two of the top five or six guys in the league in terms of amount of possessions where they’ve picked up a guy in the back court. And Colin’s been one of the most efficient in terms of how his team’s defense performs when he’s at the helm of that. Ryan has some work to do there on the efficiency side of it, but he’s growing in it. Colin’s been just a steady hand in steering the wheel for them defensively, making sure guys don’t get across until close to 16 seconds. teams aren’t starting their first offensive action until about 15 almost 14 seconds on the clock. How much offense can you actually get to if in addition to the pressure they apply through that first third of the shot clock now they’re switching or they’re taking away certain gaps of the floor which is sending your offense off script and now you don’t have time to run a play. So if your read and react play of your offense isn’t sharp or you don’t have someone they can just put their cape on and do that time and time again, it gets hard. it gets really hard to navigate against them when they get comfortable on that end and it’s because of the intention behind all of the things that they’re doing and they’ve been really good with the execution part and that more than anything else. I know there’s been a lot of concern about these next 12 games and strength of schedule. It’s all been been the talk, but the kind of defense they’re playing and what you’re seeing when you go back and look at it on tape, is that something that that travels against even these good teams, Minnesota in particular to start it tomorrow night. To me, it seems like that the tenants of this defense are things that work regardless of who you’re playing because that pressure still prevents even the best guys from getting it up uh court quick. You you mentioned 16 seconds getting into your half court offense. How many sets can you really run? Exactly. That continues, right? Yeah, it does. And that’s why that’s why I was cautiously optimistic, but a little bit more on the positive side than it seemed like others were about the team’s defensive potential because I’m looking at all of these wings they have and I’m looking at the scrappy nature of a majority of the guards that they have and having a sensor in Mark Williams that gives them things that they haven’t had since I don’t even know when at the center position in particular. I’m looking at it and I’m like, okay, they can play traditional defense. They can get nuance with schemes and kind of flipping matchups and cross matching and things like that, but they can also just find a level of activity that the Suns teams the last three years just did not have even at their best. Top four in deflections is not something that any of the teams the last three seasons has been even close to. Individual players have chipped away at that, but as a team, they haven’t sustained there. Um, so that’s why I feel like there’s routes to success on the season and even in this upcoming stretch, which if their defense is playing to those levels, it naturally lends to their offense being able to operate with more flow because now you’re in transition or you’re in fast breaks off of the deflections and steals that you get. The deflection seem like an effort thing, too, and a communication thing. These guys know where they’re supposed to be. They’re, you know, they’re trying to get in those passing lanes and they know they can trust their teammates to rotate in a way that if they take a chance, it’s not going to cost them. Yeah, exactly. And like there’s that part which is a very very good point that you’re bringing up. Um the other one or the other two for me, for one, they’re third and switch rate, switching 35% of the pick and rolls. A lot of that is also naturally because he’s been in the main rotation. Nick Richards has been viable in doing so the last handful of games. He’s been a little bit better. And the big one for me, literally and figuratively, is Mark Williams. It shocked me how good he’s been at it because that wasn’t exactly something we were sold on when he came here. Yeah, we didn’t because we saw we saw Charlotte attempt to do things with them defensively. They were good in process, but the execution part wasn’t the best. That wasn’t solely because of him. I feel like it was more so One Piece can’t rise above the tide defensively to that extent from that position when he’s out on the perimeter that often. So, I was again cautiously optimistic because I’m like, okay, if he’s doing some of those same things schematically that he saw abbreviated success within Charlotte and the Suns have better coaching and better defenders around him to do those things. How much better does he look defensively because of the things and the ecosystem surrounding him? 15 games has only been that, but I feel like we’ve seen him look like night and day in terms of his his impact defensively. tons of deflections, the ability to switch and not commit fouls. Rarely does he get beat off the dribble, and if he is getting beat, he’s sending someone in to help, which then keeps their shell intact, or he’s just outright getting a stop, getting up a good contest on any of these guards that he’s switching on to, and he’s helping them put pressure on opponents after everything that they did to kind of set the tone for those possessions. I’m impressed with his ability to funnel the guy elsewhere because you’d assume when he would would switch and be up there, you would have a a glaring hole protecting the rim. But the way he’s able to funnel guys based on their scheme, that’s not that’s not that’s not just something that magically happens. That’s just very strategic thing. Uh and then the other defender knowing where to be and how to be there once he’s funneled there. I think those are the things that impress me the most. It’s it’s scheme, but then it’s the execution of said scheme because you have the greatest coach in the world drop the greatest way to play defense and if your team’s not bought in, it’s not going to matter. Team defense can hide a lot of a lot of individual defensive flaws. It absolutely can. And I think that’s the that’s the part that they’re understanding more than anything for me. Um, you talk about them being able to do a lot of different things and also mention it as well. Sometimes they switch up the scheme at times for matchup purposes, but also over the course of a game. We tried this. It didn’t work to the extent we want to or maybe Jordan wants to spark something in the terms of energy out of them. So, he ups the activity levels and kind of switches up the scheme and they respond. And it’s the buyin from him trusting what he’s doing and them just simply doing what they need to do better in tandem with whatever the scheme switch is. It’s been really good. And then in tandem with the switching part, the other one for me is that they’re sixth in terms of their pickup distance on average. They’re at 47.8%. Um, which So what is pickup distance? So how far away from the basket you’re defending. So they’re picking up guys like we mentioned, top third of the league or top top three in terms of pickup u picked up in the back court. And now if you’re looking at the distance away from the basket, number six, that’s a lot of Colin, a lot of Ryan, a little bit of Dylan mixed in there, a little bit of Devin mixed in there, a little bit of Grayson mixed in there, a little Royce, too. Uh they’ve been really good with those things. Obviously Jordan Goodwin as well, who we’ll get to a lot a little bit later. Uh but this is just a scrappy nature. You’re a little bit more involved when you’re not just sitting back waiting for the offense to come to you and you know that not only is the person on the ball, they have to be on their P’s and Q’s because they’re directly involved. Everybody else has to be on alert, too. Because inevitably, if you’re picking up from that far away from the basket, let’s say it’s John Morant or it might be Anthony Edwards, somebody’s gonna get blown by every once in a while. It’s just the nature of that scheme. If you’re not paying attention defensively and help, you have to be able to help out for them. If you’re not there and they just get a straight line to the basket, what good is your pressure if you’re not able to cover up for mistakes? And I think that’s something they’ve done well. It certainly feels like their mindset is nothing easy and and that that can create a lot of problems and it feels like they have an identity now and Oso Agodoro spoke about that today at practice when he said I feel like that’s the biggest difference between this year and last year is that we have an identity. we know what we’re doing like we might change something uh scheme-wise from game to game but we are sticking to our identity for the most part and everything that you talked about I think is exactly what they’re sticking to uh in regards to that and approaching that but it wasn’t just him that talked about it Jordan Goodwin the other day talked about the scrappy factor that the reserve unit brings that’s been so important to that mindset uh that’s the That’s just the our motto that JLo put in since training camp. Uh that’s the type of we gonna play like this the whole game. No matter up 40, down 40, tie game, we gonna go out there and leave it all out there. How important has that mindset been in actually having that identity? Now, it’s it’s big time and like I I mentioned it with Colin. Um you have identifying talent is one piece of coaching and assembling a roster. The other part is figuring out, okay, what’s our team’s identity? What’s the identity we desire to play to? What are the routes to success in that? And what guys can we bring in that are going to align with that so that we can not sway too far away from it. We caught him off guard. We caught him off guard on that one. And to that to that point though, you look at the the Suns starting lineup, assume health for everybody. You have Dylan Brooks in that starting lineup and you have Mark Williams. Mark Williams doesn’t get enough credit for his scrappy nature. Doesn’t get seen as much because he’s not like a high volume shot blocker. A lot of that is because the Suns have been good at controlling at the point of attack. So guys aren’t just driving to the basket like they were in seasons past. I think the Suns are like third or fourth in drives conceded to opponents this season, which isn’t is clearly speaking to their point of attack defense. Um but him and Dylan Brooks, you look at Dylan in particular, you know, he’s big villain. He does all of those things. Speaks for himself. And then you get to the reserve units. Villain Jr., Ryan Dunn, Royce O’Neal, uh, all of these other guys. Nigel Hayes Davis when he’s in there, Nick Richards has it a little bit. He definitely plays with force. Sometimes he does it too much, but you would rather that than having to ask for him to do it more. Um, you have all these guys that are playing to that specific style that you need and it’s not really too much loss when you’re getting into your lineups. Yeah. And I think the threat of uh of Nick Richard or excuse me of Mark Williams blocking shots has had an impact as well. You brought up the bench guys and how they’ve performed. We’re going to get into that and their impact on this team right after this. Telling you about our friends at Pure Edibles. They were founded in Arizona and they’re available in 130 dispensaries statewide. So if you’re looking uh for the best, you can get it across the valley. And right now they’ve actually Pure has created a you know a partnership here with Noble Dispensary from Flagstaff, Arizona uh which is the home of Pure Edibles. Uh and they are making some great stuff when it comes uh to that. Now their gummies are not covered in sugar like their competitors. So somebody that uh is diabetically challenged, that’s what I’ll call myself right now, Stephen. uh we can uh participate in these. Pure is a full-fledged candy company offering gummies, kicks, which is their version of Starbucks chews, which is soft candies like caramel, and hard candy. Pur’s effects are clearly listed on the tin. So, if you’re not, you know, familiar with cannabis, you don’t know what different strains are going to going to do to you. They make it easy. It says it right there on the tin, so you know what effect you’re going to get. And uh that’s important. Uh, Pure offers gummies for sleep support as well as candies with uplifting effects derived with unique cannib can cannab can cannabonoids. I always mess up that word. Such as CBN, CBG, CBD with marijuana derived THC. Uh, so go find yourself some pure edible products from one of the over 130 dispensaries across Arizona today. I’m telling you about Arizona Lottery. The holiday season is here and I love it because my birthday and then we got Christmas. Thanksgiving’s mixed in there as well. If you’re looking for the perfect gift, the Arizona Lottery has it for you because holiday scratcher tickets from the Arizona Lottery are your chance to fill your stocking with cash. Not just candy, you get cash this holiday season. Are there six different uh festive scratchers for you to choose from, including cash countdown, which has prizes up to $250,000. That’d be nice this holiday season. Uh, and candy cane cash, which smells like peppermint. So, Stephen, if you forget your cologne, but you have one of those, you can smell like peppermint. I love peppermint. Can attest to it. Don’t we all? Uh, plus you can dash to instant prizes with holiday fast play tickets. Uh, so play and gift today with the Arizona Lottery. And then want to remind you uh that the territorial cup’s coming up and thanks to our friends at Captain Morgan. You can join the PHNX Sunundevils crew for a live postgame show at Loco Patron on Miller Avenue following this year’s Territorial Cup. That’s November 28th if you didn’t know. Totry, Eric, and Shane will be hosting a live postgame show following the game. uh join them approximately 30 minutes after uh the final whistle for a special opportunity to witness your favorite Sunundevil show in person. So if you love watching Eric and you want to see him in person, why not? Uh and Melissa says Stephen never leaves the cologne. Uh never leaves without cologne either. So good to know. You always smell good. I’ve noticed it here, but I’m glad it’s not just for Eric and I and No. No. Y’all are special, but y’all not that special now. Well, good to know. I’m I’m glad Melissa reaps the benefits of it as well. And so does everybody out at at the uh I was going to call it the Footprint Center, but we know it’s the Morg. The big morg. Yeah. Let’s talk about the other guys getting the job done. We mentioned it before the break, but talking about the bench players, they have really helped not just defensively, but offensively. But Colin Gillespie is a guy I want to focus on here first. How important has he been to that defense that you’re talking about overall? Yeah, Colin I mean you start we start to run out of adjectives for how consistent he is at the things that he does for this team on the defensive end even more so u because he just understands his role. Um it can get a little nuanced when you’re looking at the ways in which they go about doing things with him at the helm. But in the most simple form of it, he’s picking up the guys on the other side of half court. Not always going for steals unless he sees an opportunity which and wear down effect because he’s doing it for all 25 minutes of the game and he’s in opportunities present themselves. He’s just being solid controlling the possession and once they do get into their sets now they’re able to get into the things that they want to do defensively in the half court. And to that point, they’re they’re keeping teams in the half court because of the ways that he’s kind of steering the wheel for them defensively. And the deflections he’s coming up with sometimes is after the person that he’s initially handling gets into the offense gets off the ball and try to get it back. Now you can make it a little bit harder on them. One deflection after you’re forcing teams to start with 16 or 15 seconds on the clock, it’s enough to throw everything off script and at that point it’s one-on-one defense and you can get into helping and things like that from there. So just being solid. It’s not easy. It’s simple in definition of role, but if it was that easy, everybody would do it. And there’s a reason why there’s only a handful of guys that are that positive to the extent that he is in defending full court to that extent like that. Yeah. I mean, everything’s simple and uh in description in practice, it’s much different. And I I think we heard for the last three years, the Suns need a point guard, the Suns need a point guard, the Suns need a point guard. Mhm. I think people were right and wrong all at the same time. They needed a point guard, but not the kind of point guard that everybody thought. They needed a guy like Colin Gillespie that could come in and put that defensive pressure on people when Devin Booker came out of the game and also still uh run things from an offensive perspective. And when you look at the way the lineups without Devin Booker but with Colin on the floor have played almost 300 minutes this season. Uh, and that’s nearly like 20 minutes per game. And they’re they have a a 10 points uh 10.7 points per possession, 100 possessions. They’ve outscored their opponents. And a lot of that has to do with Collins ability on defense. That helps lead to what he can do on offense. Absolutely. We can pull up the the graphic now looking at the reserve guys in particular or looking at their defense in general. Um when you watch them and you look at them on that end of the floor. No, not that one. Yeah, that one. That one. Okay, there we go. Yeah. Yeah. So, we can look at that one right here. Looking at what the Suns are doing on the defensive end of the floor. This is with Jordan Goodwin and Ryan Dunn on the floor, which we’ll get to a little bit more a little later. But Colin Gillespie’s mixed in with those lineups in terms of the ones that have the most possessions with them on the floor. It’s between him and usually they sprinkle in him or Devin Booker. We have the two torture twins obviously on this graphic and those two guys, but Colin I want to make sure we mention with that as well because if you’re looking at a lineup with those three guys on the floor, if Colin’s the guy that’s extending the pickup point guarding guys in the back court, those other two guys are just off the ball and they’re able to play heavy denial. And if it’s Oso or Mark Williams that’s on the floor at the five with them, that changes a whole lot for their defense. And again, that’s the adaptability across different lineups, then they’re just able to keep pressure on guys. Have you been surprised at his ability at the the point of attack this year and what he’s been able to do because we got, you know, what we thought of when we thought of Colin was, okay, a guy that can fill the stat sheet, can run an offense, but he that pressure has been so integral to everything. it has been. Um, so he he did it a little bit last season. It wasn’t as effective because of the the lack of defense surrounding him. So even if he did do similarly to what he did this what he’s done this season last year, one pass and teams are usually able to get a good shot quality look at the basket if not getting out getting out right into the offense that they want to get to. And it’s like, okay, am I just doing this for for the optics of it or is it actually impactful? It is, but it’s only good if that’s just one layer of it. It’s not your end all be all. And that’s the honestly the difference between this season and last season. Defensively, you didn’t have a Ryan Dunn in addition to a Royce O’Neal with a Dylan Brooks that kind of shifts all of that. And behind all of them is Mark Williams. At times, last season’s roster just didn’t have that. So, it just didn’t hit the same. And I think that’s a big difference in last season versus this year. Yeah. And you got to love just his mentality and going out there and what he’s also been able to bring on that offensive end as well. He he stabilizes things as Book goes out. I think it’s helped that bench unit look as good as it has and be able uh to kind of stretch some of those leads. In particular, you look at what they were able to do uh for Devin the other night. He comes out with about two minutes left. He never has to come back in that game. It was a a great thing. But can sustain this primarily on the defensive end uh this season? What is it that you’ve seen that makes you believe this isn’t just, hey, it’s the first 15 games and this is nice. No, that this is Colin Gillespie. Yeah, I think it’s the it’s the way he’s being coached. Um, I talked about it a little bit with Devin and with Jaylen in particular in terms of what Jordan Kn would challenge them to not necessarily do differently, but lean into more because they’re widely effective and skilled offensive players, but how can you get more out of them? Um, with Devin, I felt like it was going to be taking more pullup threes and with Jaylen is making quicker decisions as the game slows down for him. Um, with Colin, I think it’s been just simply being more aggressive. Um Jordan mentioned maybe after the first or second game that Colin was playing well, but he felt like he was passing up too many shots. And he said for them to be the best version of themselves when Devin’s not on the floor and potentially Jaylen isn’t on the floor, he’s got to be that guy that’s a pressure point for their offense because once a defense starts to react to the things that he’s doing, now you’re still getting maybe not to the same extent, but those close outs that Royce O’Neal and Grayson are two of the best in the league at attacking off of. That’s what you want. go get a paint touch, put some pressure on them, make them overreact, and then allow for the guys to play after you kind of tilted the defense. And he’s been much better with that, and just generally controlling the pace of play for themselves. I I will be fascinated to see what they’re able to do when Jaylen’s back on the court with him, too, because that’s that’s going to take so much pressure off of Colin. He’s going to be able to do even more, I think, on that front. But how much do you think Dylan has helped unlock uh Colin, you know, in terms of that aggressiveness? Because if there’s a guy that’s aggressive, it’s Dylan Brooks. Yeah. And he’s obviously taking Colin under his wing a little bit. Yeah. I think I think honestly it’s just mindset with with Dylan first of all being approachable in the whole villain u mystique. Yeah. and saying, “Okay, I we watched you go up against us last season when Dylan was in Houston, obviously, and then watched from a distance and saw some of the impact that you had.” You’re clearly not someone that likes to keep his sleeves rolled down and last button all the way up to the collar. No, you want to let loose and kind of get a little scrappy, roll your sleeves up, get your get your fist a little dirty at times and just get into the mix. and he’s like, “Okay, the fact that you’re approaching me to have this conversation says everything because that’s not something that you just kind of stumble into. You have to want it, accept it, and then wear it.” And those qualities have been worn. And I feel like again, he’s setting such great tones on both ends of the floor when he’s on the court for them because of those things kind of bestowed upon him from Dylan. One of the guys that I I think has fairly unfair and unfairly taken a lot of heat this year is Osho Gadaro. out. There are some bright spots in terms of what he’s brought. What has been the thing that’s caught your eye the most when it comes to that feroso? For me, it’s it sounds like very very basic, but I was saying this when Eric was questioning how I felt like I could see him find success in ways that he maybe hadn’t seen seen it shown through the first like seven or eight games or nine games of the season. And I mean, I emphasized it was just the lineups that he’s being used in and the ways in which he’s being featured within those lineups. So, defensively, you know what it is, his ability to switch and guard in space and play with activity, cause deflections and things like that. That part has never really been an issue for me. I think they’ve done a better job of again the lineups he’s being used in which naturally if he’s switching and he’s on the court with a Royce or Dylan and Tand with Ryan Dunn and um um Jordan Goodwin on the floor that’s a lot of defense. Colin Gillespie’s mixed in there as well. That’s a lot of defense around to where if he’s switching you’re covered on the back end because those guys are aware of how they have to defend with him on the floor which naturally allows for him to do what he does best. And now you look at the offensive end and I feel like that’s where it sh it shine through a little bit more. The double big lineups in a literal sense with him and Nick Richards wasn’t really working. So now it’s not the same, but you swap in Jordan Goodwin for Nick Richards. You still have a proverbial double big lineup on the offensive end because of how teams typically guard Jordan Goodwin. You’re able to make that work because he’s knocking down his threes at almost close to 40% clip, which we’ll get to him in a little bit. Uh but on the defensive end, he’s able to guard bigger guys partly because he has bigger wings on the floor, usually Ryan Dunn and one of Royce or Dylan Brooks that can kind of take on those bigger matchups to help him out. But he’s also able to just go and box guys out and just be scrappy and guard up. We saw him guarding Victor Wimyama. We saw him guarding Lowry Markin and doing a good job not having to need help because he can just stay solid and contest the ball. So, um, that part of them tweaking the lineups that OSO is being used in and having more toughness around him and then on the offensive end, he can just play with the ball in his hands a little bit more and guys are knocking down shots. I think that simplification of role has done him a great solid so far. So, I mean really that goes to Jordan not as a willingness to adjust, watch film and see where these weaknesses are, right? That’s what the first quarter of the season is all about. Some teams learn a little bit more about themselves quicker than others and it shows in the standings and then other teams find out a little bit later while other teams can adjust to teams adjusting to what they’ve shown in the first quarter. That’s where the es and flows of the season come out to the Western Conference being all within three games of each other by the end of the season. I think it’s I think it’s, you know, everybody was ready to write him off and and I’m I can attest that I was not too far off that earlier really four games ago. It’s again, big credit to Jordan to understanding what OSO could do and trying to figure out how to put him in a position to do that because the last three games he has been fantastic starting with that plus 54 game. You know, everybody knows I hate plus minus, but when it comes uh to, as the fret Obama calls him, the connector, uh that plus 54 stood out. It was the fourth highest in MB or third highest in NBA history. And it’s a testament to sticking with him and finding the ways to make it work. And you’ve seen his confidence grow over the last few games as well. Going to be very interesting to see how that continues over this next stretch of games. you know, you know, Minnesota can play big, so you know, Houston plays big. It’s gonna it’s going to be interesting to see if he can continue that success. Yeah, I’m looking forward to him stepping up and taking on that challenge because it’s certainly not going to be easy, but um he’s shown to be someone that can be challenged in coaching and also challenged in how much can he add to his table and um kind of sustain success with. also is up for the challenge and I think he’s shown that the last handful of games it hasn’t been an easy slate of opponents that he’s been going directly up against and I think the proof is there in this kind of small sample size and now it’s about how much can they get out of those lineup tweaking that have featured him a little bit better that have allowed for him to kind of play to his strengths more and um needless to say again it’s a learning part of the schedule for everybody on the roster including Jordan not also is at the top of that list as far as him going up against those reserves yeah we have seen the Suns have some good wins this year. But how much of it had to do with Goodwin? 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That’s what they want to do because the best outcome is what they want, not how much money their firm can take in. And that’s what the husband and wife law team will do for you. They bring hundred year of years of combined trial experience plus multiple certified specialists in personal injury and wrongful deaths. So if you’ve had a serious injury, call the husband wife law team today at 6027838841 or visit their website at the link in our show notes and tell them PHNX and ESPO sent you. Talked about Jordan Goodwin before the break. you brought him up what we were talking about also, but how important has he been to this uh rebranding, if you will, of the Phoenix Suns, both defensively and offensively? Yeah, Jordan Goodwin has been he’s been absolutely everything. Um I think that’s the most that’s the easiest way to speak on it generally. Now, when we look into kind of the details with everything, it’s him being someone that can go from guarding at the point of attack with those extended pickup points that the Suns enjoy and see as a part of their defensive foundation, their process. He’s a guy that can go and guard bigger wings. He can go and get switched on to a big in terms of being a center and do a solid job there, which is crazy at his size. He’s only like 6’2, 63. So, he’s not the biggest in terms of height, but the heart part is something. I know it’s people always say height heart over height, but it’s it’s literally worn as a quality for for a goodie. Solid base, too. It doesn’t hurt. Like, that doesn’t hurt at all. Yeah, that that was always I always love guarding bigger guys because I had that solid base even though I had the point guard frame. Not that I get it at a level that Jordan Goodwin obviously is, but but I think that’s a big part of it, too. and he’s smart with with his approach to it, which is which is huge. When you’re giving up the height, if you’re smart, you actually have some some leverage being smaller to kind of deflect balls that way. You do. And I think that’s the important part when you’re looking at someone like like Jordan Goodwin because in no kind of just watching the game fashion you would you expect for him to have sustained success against someone like um Victor Wimbeyama at times Larry Markin at times. But what Jordan is really good with when he’s on defense, no pun intended, it just keeps happening. Um he’s good with Okay, I’m starting to rub it. Uh you I’m I’m trans transferring the puns to you. Unfortunately, it’s like it’s like a freestyle almost. But no, seriously, when when you’re looking at Jordan on defense with these bigger guys, you want to watch for the intentional efforts that he plays within the post. So, if you know that someone’s going to try to poke at that mismatch, which they should, you know, the ball’s coming there, if you’re playing at specific angles, you can anticipate where a team is going to try to make the pass, usually the side that you’re not on. If you’re able to do a good job of pushing that catch point up as high up the floor as you can so that they’re not at the block they’re closer to the three-point line. Job well done number one. If you can anticipate that pass and deflect it because you know where it’s going. A catch contest they call it. Job well done number two. And then number three at that point is funneling that person with the ball to where you know your help is. Usually you don’t have help on the baseline unless the Suns are trying to send a double team which they do at times but usually your help is going to be towards the middle of the floor. So making sure they can’t get baseline and if they do you’re like right in their jersey and they’re not doing it comfortably knowing where your help is and then just at that point just being solid not bailing them out with fouls. He’s just really good with the discipline part of that. And I think it’s because of those things and him adding all of that with the activity that he’s able to bring. It makes him tough to deal with on that end because you can’t say that, okay, he’s not on the ball, so we’re good. Because now you got Colin Gillespie or Ryan Dunn or Dylan Brooks there. And when he’s in the post, it’s just it’s just a mess that he causes because he’s just so versatile on that and it’s a quality that’s why he’s so high on the blue collar spectrum. I’m going to call him the hanger, but he’s always in the jersey, right? Like that’s just that’s just the way Jordan Goodwin’s been. I think another thing that he does impressively well for his size is rebounding. And he talked about this earlier in the week. I was I was always a good rebounder growing up. Yeah. Uh especially high school, college, I led the nation in double doubles and stuff like that. So I was always a good rebounder. So just translating it over with bigger guys and JLo giving me the the freedom to just crash whenever I want to helps me out too. So that was like when you when you talk to Jordan about like in the back of your head you’re like when is he going to bring up rebounding? Can he say like you’re waiting for him to give you permission? He already the first time he seen me he gave me permission. Yeah. He said go. That’s what I do. you know, uh, you know, I make plays. I got national knows for the ball and he don’t want to take that from me. So, he’s going to crash. His rebounding has been impressive for his size and I think that has a lot to do with basketball instinct. It does. And that’s just his, like he said, his knack for the ball. Um, guys, understand not just see ball, get ball, but how to do so so that you’re not at a detriment to your team, but that you’re also still finding margins to impact the game with. Jordan Goodwin is not someone that’s gonna take 15 shots a game on average. He’s not someone that’s gonna get 20 points a game on average. So, you have to find these other ways to kind of have an impact on things so that the guys that are higher in the pecking order can do those things more frequently and sometimes with better shot quality when he’s getting some of those offensive rebounds that he does. So all these kind of things that they have systemically set up kind of put guys like Jordan Goodwin and Ryan Dunn and Colin Gillespie in position to have these marginal impacts. They hit a little bit bigger than a margin typically would when they’re able to do so to that extent. You bring up him not having a lot of opportunities but making the most of his shots is something he’s done great and he talked about his three-point shot improvement. Had a really good summer. Uh, I knew coming to the league that was like one of my weaknesses that I had to get better in. Uh, I knew that was one of the reasons why I wasn’t getting on the court and some teams I was on. So, just locking in and just seeing that ball go through the net every day with my trainer, my brother, and just being confident in it and just knocking them down. Now, how important has that change been to his game and his ability to stay on the court for this team? It’s been that’s been probably the most impactful change because I feel like the stuff he’s doing defensively is not different than if anybody that’s been paying attention to him since he was with the Wizards before he came to the Suns. That was his claim to fame, his scrappiness. So, him being able to bring the scrappiness and honestly not lose any of that, maybe even take another step up from what his base is while also knocking down 39 and a half% of his threes. That seems that seems pretty good, right? That seems pretty good. And when you’re looking at again the number of attempts he’s taken on average at 3.2 attempts a game, he doesn’t have that many. But again to your point before we brought up that clip, he’s making the most of the opportunities that he is being been given. And that’s again if you’re talking about someone playing and having that type of impact for the Suns, your defense can be really good. If you can’t be played on offense because you’re holding things back or you’re taking things off the table, at some point it’s going to kind of get in flux and it’s going to end up getting in the way of the team’s success success level. Goody knocking down 39% of his threes with the level of defense that he’s bringing. They’re five and a half points better on the floor defensively when he’s on versus when he’s off. Yeah, that’s not something that’s a that’s a major impact for someone that’s number like nine or 10 in your rotation. And I think it’s indicative of how important it is with this offense that’s getting so many good looks to be able to convert. And he’s been one of those guys that have done it uh at a high level. You’ve heard of the tortured poets department, but what about the tortured basketball players department? We’ll explain it right after this. Bet 365. It is Thursday. Is that correct? Double check it. I can’t keep track. It’s Thursday, which means there’s football on tonight. And you can see for yourself with Bet 365’s Thursday night football touchdown offer. You place a qualifying parlay bet uh totaling $20 or more on tonight’s game and get a bonus bet for every touchdown. Every touchdown. 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Visit macu.com/sons to learn more. Insured by NCUA, terms and conditions and exclusions apply like everything in life. loans, unapproved credit. I mentioned uh the tortured basketball player club uh department before uh the the break and that’s the torture twins. Now, the Suns lineups may slightly change if Grayson Allen is back, which means in all likelihood Ryan Dunn moves to the bench, but that might not be a bad thing as it will pair him again with Jordan Goodwin. And you’ve dubbed them the torture twins. Why is that? They’re the torture twins because they are just the most scrappy two-player tandem that the Suns have seen so far this season in their main rotation where one guy is playing off of the energy of the other and vice versa. It’s like a synergy that they have. Um, for my Dragon Ball Z fans out there, it’s like when Gohan and Goten or Gohan and Trunks Jr. fused together and they’re playing off of one another and it just creates a different type of energy for everybody else that’s on the floor with them. It’s really fun to watch. Um Jordan Goodwin actually talked about it um playing in the lineups with Ryan Dunn at practice with me uh last week and uh here’s what he had to say. It’s fun. It’s fun being out there with Ra especially like probably like three times a game we both look at each other like who going to pick the ball up? Who gonna pick the ball up and it’s like whoever closer just go up there. So, uh, but the energy he brings, I mean, athletic, making plays. I like the enthusiasm he play with. I feed off his energy. I think he feed off mine. Like I said, it’s fun. It’s fun. It’s fun. Uh, Gohan, that was the former Suns point guard. That is not that is not who I was talking about. I’m not cool. Melissa loves the reference. Found something they could go over Espo’s head. Cogs and and Melissa got the reference. Oh, no. I know. I know. I said choice Junior and I was tripping on my band. But yes, you you understood where I was getting at. Hello, relaxed. But uh what what do these lineups what has it meant to this team and how they have have worked so well together and what dynamic does it give them now that Ryan Dunn will likely go back to the bench when Grayson’s in there? Yeah, it changes a lot because I think you can still get into even with their present construct, you can still get into those lineups just in a secondary fashion. I think we usually see them to start second quarters and like to start fourth quarters at times or late in the third quarters. Uh but naturally when Ryan’s a true reserve again that puts them in position to lean into that even more potentially and you put that antenna with the things we talked about and those lineups getting more out of Colin being aggressive offensively while getting the goods from him defensively and then obviously with also at the in the lineup with them as well. you see everybody’s back at home in the role that this roster was constructed and the team’s approach was kind of constructed for them to play to. So, there’s an organization factor that comes with that. And I think again them being able to go to that lineup as a spark to go to it as a lineup to just maintain after the starting unit potentially does what they need to do in terms of creating separation or sometimes even just to create its own iteration of a spark and just kind of swing the stretch of a game. It’s really good and it’s very very very disruptive. Do you think this defense could actually get better with Ryan Dunn and and Jordan Goodwin being paired more? I do because I think it’s the pairing of them with Oso, but also being able to swap out OSO with Mark Williams at times when it’s his turn back in the rotation. It just doesn’t stop. It just takes on a different form. It’s that’s that’s the good of the team. And you can swap out Colin Gillespie with Devin Booker and you still get the point of attack stuff because now that’s Jordan Goodwin or Ryan Dunn or Dylan Brooks that might be at the point of attack and you still get the goods on offense with Devin doing what he does. So this is the shape shifting while keeping the template similar that Jordan not has at his disposal. So it’s kind of like uh Captain Planet when all the kids come together and they form him. It just changes things. See, I got you with a reference. You don’t cuz I don’t know who Captain I don’t know who Captain Planet is. Go look it up. The kids in the ‘9s loved him. And it’s about coming together to form something bigger than themselves. So, okay. Captain Planet. Was this like a middle school thing or something? This was This was god early 90s on TBS. So, okay. I wasn’t watching TBS in the early 90s. I was watching Cartoon Network and all of that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You were cooler than me. I want to let the context get in his bag here. You broke down a few plays that can kind of explain some of what we talked to today. I’m I’m going to give you the stage. you and Eritton, the freckle mamba. Uh, take it away. Yeah. So, this first one we’re going to be looking at and just a quick one on defense. So, this is at the end of the shot clock. I want to have y’all look first at the shot clock itself. This shot is going up with zeros on the clock. That means that they’ve done their job and then some defensively. Jordan Goodwin boxing out a center underneath the basket. That’s what you want to see. All of the Suns are inside of their offensive matchups and they all have that advantage in terms of angle to go for the off or for the defensive rebound stemming from them being able to switch. Again, you look at the shot clock again, it’s zero seconds on the clock. Jordan Goodwin boxing out a center. That’s a steel frame that I’m sure they showed in film of what they want to see on a possession by possession basis when you have this torture twin lineup in the on the floor with Colin Gillespie and Royce O’Neal and Oso Gadaro. So very good from them on this possession. This was one where they switched about three or four separate times and they were able to all just stay solid and do a good job ultimately until the shot went up and then get up a great box out. All of these things matter and this is why this team has been so good with the torture twins lineup construct on the floor. It’s insane to me that Jordan Goodwin can get a center that pushed that far under the basket there and how important that is because it takes him completely out of the play. So the other three guys that are there in the lane can crash those boards and ensure you get that which then sets the offense up for success. Exactly. Imagine you’re playing good defense for 24 seconds and four guys box out well. One guy either misses his check or doesn’t do a good enough job in terms of the effort part. And now his guy is the one that gets that rebound. So now you just did all of that work for 24 seconds and now you have to defend for 14 more while conceding that shot on goal opportunity that typically comes from an offensive rebound for opponents. That gets it’s it’s hard enough to play 24 seconds of defense. If you add another 14, you start to wither and now that wear down effect that we talk about being an advantage for them works against them. So that’s why that going to get the board part is as important as it is. And Goodie doing what he was doing with someone that has two of him stacked on top in terms of height says a lot about his heart. Yeah. Well, and then you you also show the shot clock there at zero. That goes back to your point that they’re putting pressure on the ball coming into that play. So they that the offense only has about 16 seconds to get into it. So they wind up taking a shot there, which may not be the ideal shot, which then gives you the opportunity to get that board. I believe you have one more, right? I do. Yes. And this one is going to be same lineup on the offensive side of the floor this time. So what we’re going to be seeing is at the bottom of the screen, not the exact same lineup, but the construct is the same. Isaiah Livers clearing that backside, getting to the strong side. And what the Suns are going to be doing is creating what’s called an overload. So you’re going to be seeing four Suns players all sharing that same side of the court. And what that’s doing is it’s kind of shifting the way that the defense is set. And it’s going to allow for Oso Eigodaro to kind of leak in from behind the defense to then set this flare screen for Colin Gillespie. That flare screen is being set after the overload takes place because it’s not going to allow for any other defenders to kind of try to help and take away the advantage that the flare screen creates. You see all that space? Colin Gillespie is going to float into that. Ultimately, he’s going to knock down a catch and shoot three-point opportunity from that. But what’s also unique about this flare screen is that should the Blazers decide to switch that also has the advantage on leverage underneath the guy that’s guarding Collins. So he can just slip right underneath that. That’s also another wrinkle and opportunity because of the overload that they created that can come from that as well. Now obviously on this one, like I said, they go and hit they hit Kyler on the flare, he knocks down the three, but this just speaks to again the adaptability, the coaching and the execution of the Suns. Just so many wrinkles within their halfcourt offense. So this is all obviously strategy by a by overloading it, forcing the defense and and using that leverage to get the advantage and then there’s those multiple offshoots from that play that can lead. So so this is kind of the brilliance of what Jordan Kn’s been doing with this system and why it’s kind of the polar opposite of ISO ball that we’ve seen. It is it’s the play before the play. So you get into your initial offense. You do what you want to do to get a trigger out of the defense, get them to react, pull away all of the defense from the backside to the front side, the strong side, and now there’s a numbers advantage on the backside. If they want to switch that with their center, Oso can just slip right underneath and that’s a layup or a dunk for him, if not getting fouled while doing that. And there’s just so many ways that they go about approaching on offense to stay ahead of a defense and put pressure on them. Again, that’s in a secondary lineup. There’s no Jaylen Green. There’s no Devin Booker. There’s no Grayson Allen on the floor. There’s no Mark Williams on the floor with that lineup. That just speaks to the brilliance of where they’re operating at in terms of their creativity. And again, it’s still 15 games in. They’re going to add so many more layers to what they have at that foundation probably over this stretch to come. But again, this is just a little bit of what they’ve been doing lately and why they’ve been so good with that particular reserve unit on the floor. And that’s why I call him the context because he provides the context of what’s going on. We got one more thing we want to get to before we get out of here today. There was a super chat that happened to actually just go along with the final subject that we’re going to talk about. Uh so Justin Perkins says, “What’s the best option here? Should the Suns rest Williams versus the Spurs to play uh against the Rockets or vice versa? Can we beat the Spurs without him with no Wemby?” I’ll let you I have I have an opinion on this, but I want to hear yours first, Stephen. So, I would rather if there’s a way for them to thread the needle here, maybe give Mark 15 minutes against the Spurs, give him a couple five minute stretches and hopefully by the time his third stretch is done, you’ve done your work as a team to where you can potentially coast to the finish line and then you don’t have to play him past that. If there’s a way for them to play him in a condensed fashion against the Spurs and then still play him on the second night of that back-toback at home against the Rockets, I’m all for it. I’m going to operate in the mindset of them having to choose one or the other. It would be the latter, of course, because for one, yes, it’s the Rockets. Yes, it’s one of the best teams in the league, but look at who who they’re playing in their front court and how they feature those players. Kevin Durant’s not always the four. sometimes not even a three in the lineups that they use. Size is a huge thing. They’re operating on the offensive side. Houston is as the best offensive rebounding team that the league has ever seen right now in terms of offensive rebound rate. Um Steven Adams, Alfred Shenon, Clint Capella, like these are just a bunch of big bodies and they throw them on the court in tandem with one another. You have to have your bigs all available and ready to rock out against that team to do what you need to do. Well, that’s going to be where the torture twins come in too, right? Because with Jordan Goodwin’s ability to do that, you might be able to get creative, which we’ve seen Jordan not do, and kind of force force the issue with a smaller lineup where maybe you get some advantages at least in terms of foot speed on the offensive end and trying to take the break. So, that’s going to be interesting. I say sit his ass against the Spurs because there’s nothing I want more than revenge and a big win against the Rockets on Monday. I don’t care if you sacrifice a win against the Spurs that you should have, maybe you probably should get with all their injuries. I need that win on Monday. Like, I need air. If you don’t want to ruin my Thanksgiving week, you’re going to play Mark Williams 48 on Monday and get the win against Houston because that is not something I want to watch happen on my home court. That’s worse than the crotch chop from Anthony Edwards. I need a win on Monday in the worst way. I am fiending for a win on Monday. Forget the turkey. Forget the stuffing. Forget the freaking cranberry sauce. I can do away with all that. I want to give thanks on Monday because of the suns. Give thanks on Monday for the feast that happens on the floor is what you’re saying. You better feast on Monday because I do not want to I don’t want any any of the uh Katie stands in my mention. I do not want to hear any gloating from a certain someone uh on Monday. No, I want you to take it to them and teach them why talent doesn’t have anything on heart and hustle. That’s what Monday’s about. It’s proving that the we is bigger bigger than the me. Monday is my holiday and I need to see a win. So sit mark on Sunday. Give me everything you got on Monday. I saved that all up. I didn’t have one of those all show. I knew I knew what your answer was going to be. I’m glad you let me go first cuz I would not be able to follow that up with the basketball side of it. He said, “I want to I want to win and I want to win that game. That game is the one that’s been circled on everybody’s calendar.” I hear you. The only stuffing I want to see is Mark Williams blocking somebody’s ass on Monday. And you know who that somebody is. I ain’t talking Al Prince Shangon. I ain’t talking Stephen Adams. I ain’t take talking Amen Thompson. You know who I’m talking about. Josh. Yeah, that’s it. Josh Kogi in the headband. Oh, you know who I’m talking about. Mark Williams better go out there and feast num num num num num like it’s a freaking Thanksgiving day on Monday. I got you to laugh. That’s all That’s all I hope for on this. that’s going to be a game that is going to draw a certain type of crowd that I don’t like to always say a playoff atmosphere because if it’s not the literal playoffs, you just can’t replicate it outright, but the way that everyone’s going to be emotionally involved in that game. I imagine there’s going to be Rockets fans involved in some capacity as well. It’s going to be a fun basketball environment that I think is going to be taken advantage of by the players on the floor. Have you ever seen a pool that’s been completely abandoned and not taken care of in years? Of course, that’s what it social is going to be like on Monday. That’s probably what our chat’s going to be like. It is going to be the definition of a cesspool because we know exactly why. And I need a win so I can live through that. All right, that is another edition of PHNX Suns in the books. A big thank you to the freckled Mamba behind the Mac. You can follow him at freckledmamba. This is a man that single-handedly makes us look good and has done it twice today for me both on Southwest Bias and here. We would not be the show we are without him. And a big thank you to the context Stephen as he uh breaks it down like nobody else can. I mean, the live play breakdown today was something special on top of all the knowledge you dropped on us. So, thank you for making us smarter basketball fans today. Thank you for allowing me to. Well, that’s what I’m here for. I’m just a point guard uh assisting to two of the best in the business and you and the freckled Mamba. You can follow Stephen at StephenPG3 and you can get all that great analysis and so much more. You can follow the show at phnx_sons and you can follow me at espo. And remember, you get that win on Monday, but you got to get one on Friday too against the T-Wolves. Ohoy hoy [Music] [Applause] silly like the mayor.

The Phoenix Suns didn’t stumble into a top defense — they built it. From Jordan Ott’s system tweaks to the new personnel buy-in from Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks and the entire rotation, Phoenix has completely transformed the way they guard.

Espo and Stephen break down **why the Suns’ defense is working**, what’s changed from previous seasons, and how this new identity could shape their season. Are the Suns truly becoming an elite two-way team? Let’s dig in.

0:00 – Intro
2:50 – Grayson Allen Is ‘Trending in The Right Direction”
9:30 – Are The Suns’ Current Defensive Numbers Sustainable?
24:00 – We NEED To Shoutout The Bench (The Fire Department)
40:00 – Jordan Goodwin Has Had An INCREDIBLE Start To The Season
49:45 – The Torture Twins Have Officially Been Dubbed
53:00 – (NEW SEGMENT) A Live Breakdown From SPG
59:00 – What Should The Suns Do With Mark Williams In This Upcoming Back-to-Back?

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