The Phoenix Suns ended their last two seasons on the wrong side of the possession battle.
The Suns were minus-404 in shot attempts in the 2023-24 season under Frank Vogel counting the playoffs, in which Minnesota swept them in the first round.
Last season, Phoenix finished minus-311 in a 36-win season under Mike Budenholzer. To put that number in perspective, defending NBA champion Oklahoma City was a plus-470 in shot attempts last season.
The Suns are determined to win the possession battle this season under first-year head coach Jordan Ott, their fourth coach in four seasons.
“It’s just pretty straight forward,” Suns star guard Devin Booker said. “You get more opportunities to score the ball than your opponent, that’s an advantage. It’s something Coach has been stressing and it’s something that we’re locked into and that we chart.”
The Suns open the 2025-26 season Wednesday, Oct. 22, against Sacramento at Mortgage Matchup Center. They are placing a heavy emphasis on playing with pace, defensive and offensive rebounding, forcing turnovers and protecting the ball to win the possession battle.
“You watch these games, even in the preseason, games come down to one, two possessions,” Suns forward Dillon Brooks said. “If you can steal some in any given scenario or situation, you’ve got a better chance of winning the game and putting yourself in position to win games. Overall, we want to be aggressive, we want to be physical and we want to be the aggressors.”
“When you watch these games in the preseason, games come down to one or two possessions. You can steal some on any given scenario or situation, you’ve got a better chance of winning the game.” Dillon Brooks.
Story loading on Suns looking to win possession game this season. #Suns pic.twitter.com/p0c0keDg0S
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 18, 2025‘You saw Dillon’s head’
This style of play fits Phoenix’s young, athletic roster and played out in practice.
Exhibit A.
Brooks needing stitches after taking an elbow while guarding too closely Friday, Oct. 17.
“You saw Dillon’s head,” Suns forward Ryan Dunn said. “You know what’s going on out here. Everyone has been physical, pressing up, making each other better. I think we all need that because once we get into the fire, it’s going to be the same thing and we’re going to be by ourselves on the road sometimes. Having that atmosphere here, talking smack to each other. It’s all love, but just competing at a high level.”
Playing this way requires a ton of effort, commitment and being in tremendous shape.
“We want our pace and our pressure to be constant offensively and defensively,” Suns guard Grayson Allen said. “We want to pressure up, we want to force turnovers, we want to rebound and we want to get out and run. Offensively, we’re moving. Everyone is moving. There is no standing when you’re out there.”
Any letdowns and the Suns will find themselves losing games and the possession battle.
“Conditioning is a huge key for us because movement sounds good and pressure sounds good and all that sounds good, but if you get tired, things get sloppy real fast,” Allen added.
Suns coach Jordan Ott saw Dillon Brooks walking past and probably figured he’d say something.
“Hey coach, tell them how hard our practice is. I got a split in my head. Tell them how hard we play defense.”
Smiling in reaction, Ott said, “Definitely might get a couple of… pic.twitter.com/l5DSvbavkg
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 17, 2025‘Even better than what we expected’
The Suns are competing in specific practice drills to reinforce their principles to win the possession battle.
“When we take a shot, how do we crash?” Allen said. “No one is running straight back. We’re tagging to the outside.”
The Suns certainly won the possession battle in their four preseason games this month.
“It starts here in practice, being physical and being aggressive,” Dunn said. “Trying to cause havoc on the defensive end and offensively, just trying to make extra possessions.”
The Suns attempted 378 shots, 58 more than their opponents in the preseason.
They finished plus-40 in turnovers in forcing 100 with aggressive, pressure defense and scored 125 points off turnovers in preseason play.
“Forcing turnovers has been good for us, probably even better than what we expected,” Ott said, as the Suns committed 60 turnovers in preseason play. “It’s so hard to tell where it lands in the season because we played two teams.”
The Suns (3-1) started and ended preseason against the Los Angeles Lakers and took on the Brooklyn Nets twice China.
“They haven’t had full rosters, we haven’t had full rosters,” Ott continued. “It’s hard to know exactly where that lands. We’re going to keep preaching our defensive rebounding. We know at times we’re probably a little bit on the smaller side. The Western Conference is big We’ll keep stressing the defensive rebounding, trying to take care of the glass.”
Holding teams to one shot, working offensive boards
With the way Phoenix wants to have its center defend high on the pick-and-roll, it’s going to often require help on the defensive glass.
“That has to be there, that’s how the game is played right now,” Ott said. “And then read it. Do we need the low man? Do we not? In early, do we really need him to help, or is our X-5 back in front of the screener and roller?”
The Suns were 19th in defensive rebounding under Monty Williams in his final season as head coach in 2022-23, with a minus-19 in the regular season.
They took better care of the defensive boards the following season, with a plus-293 in finishing seventh in defensive rebounding, but the Suns regressed last season in this area. Phoenix ranked 18th in defensive rebounding with just a plus-23.
The Suns are not only looking to hold teams to just one shot this season, but they also want to work the offensive glass and do so in a strategic manner.
“If we’re going to send guys toward the offensive glass, it can’t hurt you going the other way,” Ott said. “That’s the balance that we have to read. In the preseason, I don’t think it did a ton. We were still able to get back. It’s both. You’ve got to come, show the effort to at least be in the area to rebound, but also the effort to get back even if you happen to be out of position.”
‘It’s frustrating’
Phoenix went from ranking fifth in offensive rebounds in 2022-23 at 11.8 per game to 19th in 2023-24 at 10.1 to 28th last season at 9.5.
The drop off coincides with their second chance points.
The Suns were eighth in the NBA in second-chance points at 14.8 per game in 2022-23.
The next season, they ranked 23rd at 12.9 in 2023-24.
Last season, try 26th at 12.4.
In their four preseason games this season, the Suns averaged 14 offensive rebounds and 15.2 second-chance points.
They’re looking to more than hold their own on both backboards this season.
“I know from being on the other side, it’s frustrating,” Booker said. “You play good defense for a good 20 seconds and a shot goes up and the team gets another possession. We’re stressing it on both sides. Defensive rebounding, make sure you hit a man and offensive rebound, make sure we have a chance at getting it.”
Steal the ball, protect the ball
Forcing turnovers and limiting them is just as crucial in winning the possession battle.
The Suns once again digressed on both sides from over the past three seasons.
They forced 14.4 turnovers to rank 11th in forcing turnovers in 2022-23, scoring 17.1 points off turnover to rank 15th in that category.
In turn, the Suns finished that season 11th in turnovers, committing just 13.5 a game.
In 2023-24, Phoenix plummeted to 25th in turnovers, averaging 14.9 a game. They ended that season 24th in turnovers forced at 12.7 and 22nd in points off turnovers at 15.8.
Last season, the Suns committed fewer turnovers on average, ranking 15th at 14.1 a game, but were still one of the NBA’s worst in forcing turnovers and scoring points off them. Phoenix was next to last in forced turnovers at 12.2.
Only the Utah Jazz, who had the NBA’s worst record at 17-65, were worse in forcing an average of 11.8 turnovers.
The Suns scored just 15.7 points off turnovers to rank 24th.
They were far better in this year’s preseason in forcing turnovers, but the Suns still averaged 15 turnovers. They’re looking to have Booker take the bulk of the ball-handling duties.
He averaged a career-high 7.1 assists to 2.9 turnovers last season.
“He’s going to have the ball in his hands, more,” Ott said about Booker.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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