Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel discussed the ingredients to make a league-leading defense in his introductory press conference Tuesday.
“I think it starts with the big fella,” he said. “I’ve always had elite rim protectors, and you can get the job done without that. But when you have a guy like that in front of the basket, deterring everything that comes to the rim, you just get stronger in everything. Because the perimeter can push up more and be aggressive.”
Vogel’s defenses in his 10 ½ seasons as assistant coach have had the top rating three times (the Indiana Pacers in 2013 and 2014 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020-21). His 2019-20 Lakers team that won the NBA championship was No. 3 in defensive rating.
Those teams have all had toughness, something Suns president of basketball operations James Jones said he learned about when he interviewed Vogel.
“What you find is that he’s extremely well-balanced,” Jones said. “And an underrated trade is, he’s a guy that knows how to bring the toughness out of you without barking, without screaming, without pushing. And he gets you to believe that you’re tough, even if you aren’t until you actually start doing it.”
The Lakers had physical bigs, Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis, on their 2020 championship team. Davis arguably should have been the Defensive Player of the Year and Howard, who was past his prime, looked like the three-time Defensive Player of the Year he was early in his career in spots.
All attention turns to Suns center Deandre Ayton as a possible anchor of Vogel’s defense. He was criticized for his lack of energy late last season, including in the Suns’ Western Conference semifinals loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Ayton may not be around for next season, as he is more likely to be traded according to ESPN. Still, Vogel said he feels like he can untap more from Ayton.
“I think he can be one of the best centers in the league,” he said.
Ayton thrived against Vogel’s Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021 playoffs. He shot just under 80 percent of the field and opened the Suns’ first-round series against Los Angeles with three straight 20-point, 10-rebound games.
Ayton has not performed to that level in Phoenix’s last two playoff runs. Vogel said he is intent on “restoring” Ayton.
“He can be a big-time deterrent,” he said. “And there’s still areas that he can grow offensively, but I’m intent on really connecting with him and restoring him to an All-Star level player.”
Vogel said Suns forward Kevin Durant told him he is excited to play in his system.
“KD even hit me when we were talking and says, “I can’t wait to guard in your system.” he said Tuesday. “He wants to get after it on both sides of the ball, he feels like that’s something that really gets him going on the other end. And I love that.”
Vogel added each Suns team member has to be a two-way player.
Phoenix has been great defensively over the last three seasons. It ranked No. 7 (2020-21), No. 5 (2021-22) and No. 10 (2022-23) in defensive rating over the last three seasons under coach Monty Williams, who was mentored by Gregg Popovich and relied on multiple efforts.
The Suns have a chance to be elite under Vogel. He went as far as to call his scheme the best in the NBA for this reason.
“I have a scheme that I believe is the best in the league at tailoring those strengths to the group,” je said. “So I believe in that.”
Suns president of basketball operations James Jones and majority owner Mat Ishbia, who was available in a radio interview via Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Tuesday, each voiced their praise for Vogel, who the owner called the “clear-cut, obvious choice” to be the next head coach.
Vogel said he felt like he got a “Ph.D in the head coach, star-player relationship” with LeBron James and Davis in Los Angeles. Vogel also pushed current Los Angeles Clippers coach Paul George with the Pacers.
Davis was named first-team all-defense in 2020, and George was named to the first-team all-defense list in 2014. Vogel’s teams have had five selections for first- or second-team all defense since 2011-12 (George, Davis and former Pacers center Roy Hibbert).
Phoenix lost the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up from 2021-22, Mikal Bridges. It will add players around Booker and Durant this offseason to fit the style of play the team needs.
No matter who the Suns bring in, Vogel has belief in his system. Phoenix seems to as well.
“When we get after it in practice and training camp, I think we set the tone early on of what’s expected of really how we coach practice, how we coach our film sessions,” Vogel said. “But our guys are going to hear that the No. 1 habit that we develop all year is that we have to play harder and tougher and with more hustle than our opponents every night. Because if you develop that habit over 82 games, boy, come playoff time, when every team’s trying to ratchet it up, it’s already going to be there for us.”
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