In his weekly chat with Arizona Sports’ Doug and Wolf, Jeff Hornacek discussed the team’s impressive overall play over the last two weeks.
“When you lose six games in a row, they take it personally,” Hornacek said in reference to the Suns’ collective response after the losing streak.” They looked in the mirror and said, ‘We need to do better. We need to quit worrying about our stuff and let’s do what we need to do to make the team better.’Since that time, they’re playing hard every play, they’re sharing the ball and helping each other out defensively. When you do that, you can win games.”
Hornacek also stressed how there has been a direct correlation between putting forth a consistent effort and winning. Indeed, with such a young team lapses are to be expected but the good news is that the Suns have made a firm decision to increase their effort and preparation.
“It’s a tough thing,” Hornacek said. “We go over and over about it. I think when you’re young you get fired up if [you’re playing] one of the best teams in the league, and you get mentally prepared. Other games you lose your edge where you feel like you can just show up and play. We are a young team and we sometimes forget that. As coaches we are always pushing for perfection. It’s a natural tendency and hopefully they’ll learn as they go on and get better at that.”
The result on the court has been impressive, to say the least. The Suns have scored 100+ in eight straight games (average: 117.0), their longest streak since doing so in eight straight from December 6-23, 2013. If the Suns score at least 100 again, it will be the longest streak since 11 straight from February 13-March 8, 2011.
Phoenix has also managed to reduce their turnovers, which has certainly helped their offense as a whole.
“Sometimes that coincides with us not passing the ball around; if we’re jacking up the first shot, we’re not going to have many turnovers,” Hornacek added in regards to protecting the rock. “You look at the Golden State Warriors, I think they’re leading the league in turnovers, yet, look at what they’re doing. There’s kind of a fine line; we want them to move the ball and when you’re making the extra pass, sometimes you’re going to have turnovers. I think what our guys have done recently is they’re not trying to make the home run play. They’re coming off the pick and roll and hitting the first guy they see.”
For Hornacek, the formula for success isn’t rocket science.
“When we push the ball and we’re active defensively; it’s as simple as that,” Hornacek said. “When we play good defense, it lends to our offense getting out in the open court, pushing the ball and sharing the ball.”