Suns coach Jordan Ott said he will look to manage minutes during the preseason with the Suns having a China trip sandwiched between their other two preseason games.
“We’re gonna play whatever minutes that is, as hard as we possibly can. But we’re not gonna go overboard and play someone, you know, their maximum minutes here, right off the bat,” Ott said at practice on Tuesday.
The Suns open up their preseason slate on Friday with a game at the Los Angeles Lakers in Palm Desert before two games in Macao, China against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Suns are leaving for their China trip on Sunday in what will be a 17-hour nonstop plane trip. The first game in China will be on Oct. 10 and the second game will come on Oct. 12.
Just two days after playing the Nets in Macao, the Suns will wrap up their preseason play with a game in Phoenix vs. the Lakers.
“You fly back from China, two days later you play. So I think our minutes will be organized and scheduled out here, these first couple games, because we need to get them there. We need to get them there fast,” Ott said.
“I think what we have is a little different preseason because of our China trip and because of that fourth game after it. That puts a little curveball in all this. We have to get our guys ready in our group faster than probably normal,” Ott said.
“We obviously started early, but we only have three games. You know, that fourth game is gonna be different.”
Once the preseason concludes, the Suns will open their regular season on Oct. 22 vs. the Sacramento Kings.
Suns players preparing to make trip to China
Suns forward Oso Ighodaro said the team’s nutritionists and athletic trainers have been helping players prepare for the China trip by giving them a step-by-step process on how to deal with everything, including the jet lag from the 17-hour flight.
“We’re just going to trust them, listen to them and we’ll be good,” Ighodaro said.
Ighodaro was already in China earlier this summer for two weeks with fellow Suns sophomore Ryan Dunn.
Meanwhile, Suns rookie Rasheer Fleming has never been to China before, or let alone out of the country. He said he thinks the China trip will affect the Suns’ preparations in a positive way.
“I think it’s going to be good to be out the country to play against teams,” Fleming said. “I think it’s going to affect it in a good way because it’s going to be another chance for us to play with each other. It’s going to be a good experience for me. I’ve never even been out the country before, so it’s going to be dope going to China for the first time. So it’s going to be good.”
