12-27-23 Phoenix Suns Postgame Media Availability: Frank Vogel and Kevin Durant

12-27-23 Phoenix Suns Postgame Media Availability: Frank Vogel and Kevin Durant

Passing the ball moving the ball you trust the pass how much did that pay off tonight yeah carryover from the last game you know we played a really good offensive game against the Mavs on Christmas day uh we didn’t do a good enough job on Luca but you know the way

We played offensively uh is how we want to play you know we want to trust the pass we want to have Shooters around our stars and um you know when they face double teams you know we we’re going to make him pay and uh you saw what Kevin

Durant did tonight and book but Kevin went with the 16 assists career high uh very very impressive night uh for a long stretch he had a a no turnover night going too uh we tell was like a no hitter in baseball like can we get through the the game without one he

Finally got one but uh you know he played a terrific basketball game scoring the ball facilitating for others and then obviously Eric Gordon you know coming back against his old team you know knocking down seven threes was a recipient a lot of those extra passes but you know good good carryover from

The way we played offensively you learned lessons you know in wins and losses but but uh you know we learned how um how effective we can be offensively when we share the ball like we did against Dallas carried it over to tonight and resulted in a w Eric just

Made me speak to when he got it going early how huge was that for for you guys yeah I mean seeing the ball goes in uh you know when that ball goes in it just gives us confidence it sets our defense you know we held these guys at 42%

Shooting uh this is the number two ranked defense in the league you know and um you know for us to come in and uh Play This Way offensively uh is definitely a confidence build for our group uh Eric Gordon you know not just the knocking down backside threes but

Being aggressive off the bounce as well and getting to the basket Su was uh you know obviously gave us a big lift when you score that amount of points there is there is the tendency to give up some but I know if you would want to better defensive what you think about the

Defense overall yeah not great but pretty good 42% you know we’ll you know we’ll live with that you know that’s going to win for us most nights uh didn’t guard the three well enough when they were um you know when we had had the big lead

Uh but a lot of them were were guarded threes you know um you know so those those who live with good defense and and uh better offense um you know but it’s always going to be a work in progress but overall 42% is the number we’re

Happy with obviously just to get off the snot a lot of happy faces going to the locker room yeah we all want to win uh we’re working really hard uh to to get there um you know to do whatever we got to do and push whatever buttons we had

To push to build a cohesion uh to build the style of play that we want to play on the floor uh it takes time uh you know to to build that and um you know happy to get a w was Les and I can May AG BR I thought it

Was less ISO and more as soon as they got it go make a play and if to draw a double kick is that a fair well I think that’s result of Defense you know I mean any anytime they saw any type of iso they were running guys at at book and KD

So you know that’s that’s what triggered the ball movement you know teams that stay home then then you have to you know you got to go attack your matchup um you know so a product of the defense I think I just talked to Grayson Allen and he

Said when Kev gets going like that the rest of the team kind of follows through how did you see that out there yeah second quarter you know uh right around the middle of the second quarter you just saw a little bit of a a look in his

Eyes a hop in a step you know that he was going to be uh you know in in get me to ball mode and um you know you just get him the ball and simple action and let him uh let him read the defense you know and choose his spots when be

Aggressive he had a couple uh contested pullup threes early in the clock that showed me that you know he was ready to get going and um we just kept getting him the ball and he did the rest what was the key to building that lead in the second quarter just what we

Talked about Kevin Durant you know Kevin KD just got into uh into an aggressive mode to uh to score or pass um taking a ball in the back court running a high you know high volume of pick and rolls and just being aggressive he really led us during that stretch

Has similar to that but in the fourth him closing it pretty much of is that a situation where everybody else was involved and now he can can play that way in the fourth quarter yeah and and he just reads you know you get him the

Ball in in uh like I said simple action uh pick and roll or or in the post uh the way we’re getting the ball and you know then he’s uh you know he just reads if he doesn’t get double teamed he goes and attacks his his matchup and if he

Does shares the ball and guys guys pun uh guys punish the double teams with back side threes and being aggressive On The Backs side is that an instinctive adjustment when teams are obviously trying to prevent him from scoring and make him into more of a facilitator like

Is there even a conversation that takes place or does he just kind of switch into that no I mean we honestly we see it every night you know so it’s part of our our offensive game plan is is is not all the plays that we’re running but you

Know how we’re going to space through the double teams triple double tonight in just hard to feel about the victory your play yeah it’s amazing to get back on The Winning Side it sucks losing uh and having a tough stretch in the NBA it’s one of the worst feelings

To have um and and regardless of how many games we play in the season what what our expectations are at the end of the season just getting a win um sometimes you can take that for granted so I’m excited about the W tonight I think everybody came in with that sense

Of urgency that we we wanted to end this little slide that we was on and know you could tell by everybody’s approach curious when you look at even I just look at the shot attempts not many more than you had the last game but you penetrated found guys and just involving

Yourself in the offense that way let speak to that a little bit yeah it’s not always about my shot attempts I know I’m a scorer and people look at me I said this last game that I’m just a score that’s the only thing people know me as

Is just a score but I got intangibles um a good teammate I can do other things on the basketball court so when I’m not shooting H if you watching just watch for the little stuff that we all do when players don’t score subtle stuff that we

Do to help the game um and tonight was one of those games I think I took one shot like halfway through the first half you know what I’m saying but I felt like I was into the game cuz I was getting rebounds getting deflections there from my teammates we were all communicating

So it’s not always about the buckets I get and you see how I came back around later in the game that’s what I was going to lead to is that you know situation where you being able to close game is that something that you know you

Like to see more of in terms of Cu all the other guys were involved offensively yeah I mean but we didn’t run many sets it felt like it was just give being book the ball in our spots and let’s see what the defense does and most of the time they came and helped

Over and we was able to kick kick guys got involved um we kept the game simple that way and uh you know if a team is going to you know use a lot of resources to try to stop one guy then we got to take advantage of that and I think we

Did that tonight screens were great tonight Mesi uh ner uh dop uh they all had great screens all night for us and I was able to get us some momentum curious with your interaction with auk I saw you patting him on the head when he came to

The sideline then get then excited for him after that play inside you mentioned how you know this is an opportunity for him how do you feel about the way he took advantage of that tonight yeah man just love everything about do just his approach to the game how much he wants

To be good he works at it um you know so to to see you know him kind of um come out here and and does do you know did what he did tonight and the other night against Sacramento where he just effective in his minutes I’m happy for

Him and keep building on this um and you know he’ll only get better from it so you know we got to keep uh stay with him as much as we can and understand that we all going to make mistakes uh but tonight he it felt like it was a

Flawless game from him seems like there was a certain chemistry with you and er just for him him as a release F just you gave that pressure and kick out to Eric how helpful was that for you team as a whole trying to find some consistency yeah I mean coach always preached us

That it’s a three-point league and we want to take as as many as we can um and and EG is so good at spacing the floor sometimes to the four-point line is what we call it almost near the hash mark he can shoot from that deep and tonight it

Was a quick Trigger he didn’t hesitate he didn’t pump fake he didn’t try to drive I think he won the knock down threes tonight and uh tonight he was huge for us gu is going early and usually when EG get it going for us we have a great game you know so that’s

That’s uh we got something something we should look at you know to be honest and him and Grayson get us going in the first quarter then you know we usually have a solid time winning even mentioned Erica you said look like he wanted to hit three tonight

I was h a former Team B first time he had been back here uh did you said he had a little extra no I think I think EEG loves love playing here love living here love the whole organization I don’t think he was trying to stick it to his

Former team I he just wanted to play well and help us win I don’t think it was anything more than that um but I’m glad it was it was tonight you know it it it it felt like it was uh it set up that way that he just wanted to give it

To his old team but I think EG ain’t not even wired like that and he just tried to do his best to help us win thing I had is um again I saw your interaction tonight I I’ve Seen It All season you been watching my interactions lately

Yeah yeah i’ been watching all season well I just think because you know they feed off of that when you’re doing it that’s why I’m asking did you sense that tonight even more so they were feeding up for that yeah I mean you know being around the league so much

And been around so many different players you tend to learn that less is more and I try to you know try not to talk with you know I try to talk with my actions and hopefully that inspires people um but sometimes you know if it’s

Something that I see um I try to speak up but talking too much when we’re all teammates and I make mistakes too sometimes it’s hard to have a conversation with somebody when I just up you know what I’m saying so it’s like most of the time I just try to

Lead by example and go out there and play with intensity and hopefully people you know are inspired by it just like I’m inspired by others who play that hard as well so I try not to do too much talking

Head Coach Frank Vogel and Kevin Durant speak to the media following the Phoenix Suns win on December 27th, 2023.

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