After a much-needed win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday, the Suns continue their home-stand against the impressive Atlanta Hawks Friday night. Phoenix will no doubt look to build upon the several positive aspects of their win over Minnesota, namely ball movement and T.J. Warren.
“What’s gratifying to me is to watch practice, they’ve been working on ball movement and player movement and I thought [Wednesday] we did a lot better at that – more cutting, more ball movement,” Babby said on Arizona Sports.
T.J. Warren, on the other hand, created various opportunities for he and his teammates through his instinctive ability to cut to the basket at the absolute right time. It sounds trivial, but in Jeff Hornacek’s system, cutting to the basket is invaluable and yields ample scoring chances.
“He’s clearly a bright spot,” Babby said about Warren. “I think he’s going to get an opportunity the rest of the season and I think he is going to prove to be a very, very important part of our team. The timing of his cuts and willingness to do it rubs off on the other guys and has a tremendous impact on the defense.”
Warren tallied a career-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting in just 19 minutes on Wednesday. Indeed, Warren’s surging play will be relied upon as the Suns continue their playoff push.
“Regardless of the circumstances I think they ought to be out there,” Babby said regarding the Suns’ young players. “Obviously that will be Jeff [Hornacek’s] decision but T.J.’s played extremely well. We are still fighting to win every game but I think he gives us a chance at winning.
“I don’t think this is an aberration; I think this is who he is and he’ll only get better.”
Listen to the Babby’s entire interview with Arizona Sports below: