The Phoenix Suns have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA throughout the first week of the season after battling through a difficult opening schedule and coming out just two points shy of being 4-0. Even at 2-2, the Suns are reaching national headlines and much of the credit is deservingly being given to Head Coach Monty Williams.
General Manager James Jones reconstructed the Suns roster in the offseason, but ESPN’s Bobby Marks believes the biggest addition was the hiring of Coach Williams. Both Marks and his ESPN counterpart Kevin Pelton listed the Suns as the biggest surprise so far this season.
“Even though I was higher on the Suns than most because of their strong statistical projections, I didn't expect them to start 2-2 against a difficult schedule with a win over the Clippers and a pair of one-point losses to Denver and Utah,” Pelton said.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing throughout the first week of the season for the Suns as the team has dealt with injuries, a suspension and in-game foul trouble, but the team has proven they have the depth to battle through adversity. While most teams would look to “the next man up” approach, Coach Williams sees it more as a “whole team up” situation in Phoenix.
“It's really a next team or a whole team up,” Williams said. “We don't have anybody on our bench that's that caliber of player where they're just going to step up and come in and score 25, 30 and save the day. It's like our team has to step up and we've preached that from day one that it's a team deal for us. We know Devin has the ability to take over a game, but I'm not going to put all that on his plate. I think it's about our team, game plan, discipline, knowing that if we don't show up as a team, we’ve got no shot. If we don't play hard as a team, we don't have a shot.”
The Suns have shown their commitment to doing whatever is necessary to win and it’s been highlighted by the effort on the court and willingness to spread the ball. The team currently ranks second in the NBA with 27.8 assists per game.
“We have a really unselfish team,” Frank Kaminsky said. “We have a lot of guys who just want to win. I think that's been pretty evident so far.”
The addition of players like Kaminsky, who can play multiple positions and impact the game in many different phases has allowed for easier transitions when the roster size gets limited. The versatility of Kaminsky’s game has been one of the most crucial roles thus far this season as he feels comfortable at the four, at the five, playing inside the paint and spreading the court beyond the arc.
“That's always been something that I've done,” Kaminsky said. “It doesn't really matter if I'm playing the four or five. I can do either thing from either position. I think the most strides I've made is on the defensive end. I feel comfortable guarding both spots. I feel like I'm rebounding the ball well and our defense has been really well and that's something I'm proud of and hopefully we can get better and better as the season goes on.”
Throughout the first four games of the season, Kaminsky is posting career highs across the board with 14 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3 assists per game. He feels that the preparation he has put in before every game plus the freedom that Coach Williams gives his players has been the difference-maker.
“I just feel prepared coming into every game,” Kaminsky said. “I'm just going out there and playing freely. This is the first coach I've played for that's really just told me to go do what I know how to do and just feel comfortable and want to continue to do that.”
Kaminsky isn’t the only new addition shining for the Suns. Seven-year NBA veteran Aron Baynes has always been known as one of the toughest players in the league, but even at 33 years old is continuing to expand his game even further.
Baynes is quickly turning into another versatile weapon at Coach Williams disposal as he can still set the hard screens and battle in the paint, but has also added the deep ball to his arsenal. The big man is shooting an impressive 54.5 percent from three on 2.8 attempts per game and hit a career-high three three-pointers against the Jazz on Monday.
“Baynes is a great leader,” Kaminsky said. “He's even stepping out and knocking down threes now, which is kind of crazy to me because I can still remember when he was just a bruiser. We have so many different versatile options on our team. We can do so many different things. I feel like we're prepared for whatever the other team is going to throw at us.”
Similar to Baynes, Jevon Carter was brought in to be a defensive stopper and a change of pace at point guard, but his offensive skillset has been key in the Suns success. Carter stepped up in the clutch on Monday night as he knocked down a game-tying three-pointer in the final minute against the Jazz. He is currently shooting 50 percent from deep on five attempts per game while averaging 10 points and 1.3 steals.
“We were here for weeks in the summer playing pickup and you could tell then that Jevon just has something different about him,” Kaminsky said. “He wants to get on everybody and be the defensive stopper whenever he's on the floor. What surprised me the most was how well he shot the ball. I didn't know he could shoot the ball like that. Whenever you have scouting reports of other teams, it's just he's a defensive stopper, but now him stepping out, shooting the ball so well is really just helping out our team, in the second unit especially.”
The Suns will look to continue their hot start as the team travels to San Francisco on Wednesday to tip-off against the Golden State Warriors. Be sure to catch the action on Fox Sports Arizona.