1-3-24 Phoenix Suns Postgame Media Availability: Frank Vogel and Devin Booker
Coach uh quarter you guys made a a run I think got it down to maybe eight like 5 minutes too what you feel like maybe after that L to you guys not being able to make complete comat well I mean I think they made a couple plays they got to the free throw
Line a couple times on some difficult calls um you know and they made a couple tough threes you know that uh you know just gave him just enough separation that made it hard for us to get back in it had a couple turnovers during that stretch but um really proud of how we
Competed we didn’t give up on a game I think that’s a positive attribute to our team you know I’m more concerned with how we started the game defensively you know I don’t think we we have the necessary disposition you know to guard an elite offense you know a team with a
Lot of Firepower create creates a a lot of different challenges with the Personnel that they that they have and um you know we just weren’t we didn’t have the they didn’t feel us they didn’t feel us in the first half so we got to start stronger you know in terms of the
The defensive disposition do you is that more of not following the scheme or more of just an effort to deal defensively well it’s a little both you know I mean I I think uh you know this is a complex game plan you know what I mean and uh
Complex game plans you know fit fit the playoffs okay but they’re not always perfect you know with a you know a 20-minute segment of shoot around you know in 82 Game season you know in terms of uh ironing out all the execution pieces um you know so you know we’ll be
Better next time we play these guys next week you you know with some of those we have a feel for for some of the things that that they like to do and and the coverages we’re trying to implement and uh we I mean we were better in the
Second half at it you know so I’m confident what we’ll what we’ll do next week was there any reason why was Booker just looking to get other guys involved in the first half or was he just not being aggressive as he needed you watch you watch the first half yeah you think
He was getting double teamed every time he touch it he was but I’m just that’s why I’m ask that’s why I’m asking could he have gotten off the ball been able to get shots that way I mean they got two guys trapping him literally every time
He came off anything so he’s making a right play what was going on out there with all all the technical they give technicals the got guys that complain and they cross the line and give texts so what changed differently in the second half for him you think yeah I think wasn’t so much
For him it’s just I I think uh you know we space better around the double teams you know we made some spacing adjustments at halftime and and we you know we mixed up some of the action you know so we’re getting getting him in in different type of action uh there wasn’t
Always the same double team that he was he was facing in the first half but I thought we did both of those areas better in the second half coach when you look at just uh B his contribution particularly in the second half just really happy for him
And and proud of him you know he’s he’s doing the things we’ve been coaching not him on in practice you know to play a more disciplined brand of basketball uh with shot selection and turnovers and um you know just playing within himself you know and then working on the angles that
We’re trying to work with him on defensively and uh you know he’s contributed big time in the last two games how much is their size on the perimeter defensively a problem because guys are trying to get to the rim and and they’ve got guys yeah it’s you know
It’s a challenge but you know if you attack it the right way um you saw what we did in the second half you know we had 71 points in the second half that’s going to win for you most nights um you just can’t hold the ball you know
And try to try to play too much ISO against uh some of their Elite perimeter Defenders um you know if you keep them moving you got a chance seems like you guys have been making an effort to run more off misses the past week or two is
That an adjustment or is that been a point of emphasis all year you know we’re just we’re just doing it a little bit more right now and I I think we we all recognize the value of um you know we can score in a half court you know
With the best of them but if we get out more in transition that’s that’s better than any play that I can call you know Advance attack the paint you know and uh see the second side so um we’re encouraging on makes misses and turnovers FR it’s a scorers League
Obviously um but you guys have had trouble flowing uh the star the scoring stars of the other teams just Paul George got some good looks start tonight how much is that kind of setting you guys back each night yeah I Paul got loose on I’m frustrated with that more
Than anything about our first half I mean overall this dis disposition but um you know we have some ways that that we can take him out of the looks that he was getting and uh you know I thought thought our Closeouts most of the first half weren’t um they were too short on
Their lasers we got you four guys out there that um we want to take away the three ball from and we did not have the necessary urgency to get to them just in basic closeout situations but Paul got loose on some of the the pin down action
That that we have coverages for that we didn’t execute that um and you know I was a little frust we did a better job in the second half but didn’t start the game well enough on him Josh hasn’t had many shooting opportunities for a certain stretch but the past two games
He has and that one play where he faked and you know had an open three but decided to try to jab step and take it in the hole lost it do you think that was kind of a maybe he’s trying to affect the game in certain way to draw a
F or just maybe yeah we’re just we’re working with him on his reads you know I mean uh he had the one um overh help pass to the corner knock down the open three if he feels like somebody’s running at him you know we want him to
Dri uh to shot fake and drive the paint and make a make a good read they didn’t go for the fake so we got put in a bad way but um you know he’s improving what he’s doing from a from a spacing standpoint for us for sure coach with uh
KD get out and B getting the extra minutes uh when KD come comes back how do you incorporate B into the lineup and keep him in a rotation yeah we’ll see I mean he’s done enough to you know to earn more more more looks you know and
And uh more opportunity you know so uh as KD comes back we’ll look at all the other guys you know we get a lot of guys that have um you know showing what they can contribute to us you know as part of this early part of this season is you
Know seeing how everybody fits with this with his team with his roster you know the teammates uh as well as in our system you know and uh you know seeing what B did uh was very impressive you know so like I said he’s been coaching he’s been he’s been working on the
Things we’ve been coaching him in practice and um had two really solid performances in your short time here do you get a sense that there’s a rivalry between these two teams or is it too early you to tell I mean we knocked him out of playoffs last year so I think uh you
Know there’s always going to be you want to get back at that team 2020 you know so um I don’t like I leave The rivaly Talk up to you nice folks and the fans and what are you hoping uh the group yeah so we hoping the group learns from tonight’s game
That you can build off of moving forward uh we got to start games better with a sense of urgency um and just be ready for the fight um you know we’re fighting uphill battle the whole game and you know we showed some things in the second half of
You know what it what it looks like when we turn up the energy and we turn up the intensity curious I know you five shots I know they I know they were doubling the whole game but but you you’ve seen that so I’m curious were you looking
More to to try to get others involved in the first half or was you just taking what the defense was giving yeah first three possessions I got a few good looks um and made them all and I ran by their bench and T said not again um I mean I’m
Still looking for you know ways to be aggressive but you know I’m past that phase in my career of you know forcing bad shots especially when you know I trust everybody that’s out there with me in the second half coach said that made some play call adjustments to get you
Freer in different ways how beneficial was that for you as far as getting you going in the second half yeah it’s important um I mean especially when we’re staggering minutes and we’re missing you know one of the three of us you know it’s easy for a defense to key on key on
To us um you know when there’s three of us playing there’s usually two on the court at the same time where you don’t see those type of defenses but um we still we still find ways in the second half things that we can build on and carry over
From but when when it comes to defense how much of the problems stem from just learning the scheme the injury issues and how much of it is just individual pride in in what you’re doing um it’s a collective you know it’s everything you just said and you know I say the most
Important part is communication um transition defense you know we tend to run do our matchups a lot instead of running to the open man so you know they got a lot of Team looks in transitions in transition early and you know that that’s what caused us fight an uphill
Battle the rest of the game de when looking at B and the way he played today um building off the last game is maybe what you thought about how he played particularly in the fourth quarter I mean I’m geek for him um Everybody obviously the fans have their
Thing going with with them but you know outside of that you know just knowing him as a person and getting to know him and um I talked yesterday about his you know is he’s willing to learn you know he wants to learn he wants to be out on
The court and you know you’d be surprised everybody doesn’t have that type of you know mentality so you know he’ll come to you ask you questions and you know he wants to learn and he wants an opportunity and he’s taking advantage of it right now a lot of text um was
That just part of just intensity of the game no comment with the intensity of the game how do you encourage of your teammates as well to stay cool calm and collected because even with the intensity of the game you were still pretty efficient dropping 35 points how are you able to
Stay cool calm and collected during these times and also encouraging your teamat as well um I’d rather everybody just geeked up than being cool cing Collective um you know they came in they threw the first punch tonight um um and that’s something that we can learn from
Um we got to be better especially on our home court protecting our home court um you know let us be the ones to decide how the ref’s going to call the game and you know make the other team complain about you know foul cause or physicality um tonight that was us than sir
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