12-29-23 Phoenix Suns Media Availability: Frank Vogel, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal

12-29-23 Phoenix Suns Media Availability: Frank Vogel, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal

Early still trying to get his condition what you think of his yeah I loved you know his Flor game tonight he did not force you know and um a lot of times when you’re coming back and trying to get your Rhythm and timing and get your

Legs under you uh you know you have a t you know guys can have a tendency to do that but he didn’t do that he really played extra pass basketball just let the game come to him um if we have a team that is selfless the way our three

Stars played tonight not just Brad but you know Kevin and and book and Brad having 25 assists um with the way those guys score the basketball we got a chance to be special this year with the spacing particularly early was you know really good you feel like that was just

Initially just you know guys moving the ball Tri that to ear now we continue to work on our spacing and we continue to work on making the right reads in terms of playing extra pass basketball and playing selflessly you know we have to become a team we have talent but talent

Doesn’t win for you how you play on the floor the on the court culture that you create is uh is what’s going to win for you and you know that involves spacing the right way it involves attacking the paint as as much as possible and what help comes

Make the right reads we did a lot of spray outs we l a lot of um finding nerk in the paint rolling a basket or do or or Mesi um so I was really pleased with uh you know the way we spaced and and the way we read the defense offensively

Thing I had was you know Eric has has talked about you guys be scoring between 1203 more 129 the other night 133 is that a number that’s reachable every game for you guys or is that a number that just we’ll see you know I I think the

Sky’s a limit for for what we can be if uh you know if we have not only those three guys in in the lineup but also Grayson and Eric you know those guys are uh Elite backside uh Shooters and attackers off the bounce you know so I

Mean we have an opportunity with with those five guys in the lineup uh you know to really generate high high offensive outputs and um but we’ll see where it goes prior to the Houston game Kevin had few turn how do you like how responded aser last games yeah I mean he had tennis

Zero turnovers at halftime last time finished with three one of them was saving the ball in bounds you know um that doesn’t really count and uh tonight 11 assists one turnover so I think he’s responded about as well as you could possibly imagine we talked about

Selfishness a lot in train he only had four shot three quarters that kind Rings true to some of those talked about right that’s right it’s it’s uh it’s about Elite Talent becoming a team you know and um the last honestly the last three games you know we’ve really played that

Way that I thought the Dallas game offensively you know we played uh really selfless uh brand of basketball and we saw it again in Houston we saw it again tonight what do you think about the way n kind of defended in coverage and protected the r yeah we’re uh you know we’re working

With nerk on um on his on his defense and his angles and the aggressiveness of attacking everything that comes to the basket you know uh a lot of a lot of defenses will have guys play center field and you know stay with the roller and try to play Cat and Mouse um you

Know but in my defense anything that comes to the basket he’s got to go attack and uh you I think he’s doing a good job protecting the rim and obviously he’s getting doing a great job on the boards for us as well coach when defensively in know roier

Every team has at least one guy that can get it going what what was yeah Terry’s that kind of player I mean he’s uh you know saw in the Scot report he’s got a lot of games where he he looks like a gunner because he’s out there firing

Away and missing uh but he’s very streaky and he has the ability to get really hot and I thought a lot of the threes he made were pretty well guarded um you know we turned up the the pressure with double teams uh in the fourth quarter later in the game but um

You know he’s that kind of player he’s flammable and uh guys like to shoot well against us you know you got Kevin Durant Deon Booker and Bradley be on your team you’re going to get a lot of teams best punch you that’s just the nature of

Having stars like that your point on a lot of those shots being contested how’ you like the way the defense sa compos 23es for them yeah 34 points in the paint you know that’s that’s a biggest thing right now you got to give up something um I don’t Envision us giving

Up this many threes last game and this game but our paint’s got to be our priority early in the season uh we have not been good enough protecting the rim and being strong in our gaps and container of basketball you know and uh I think we’re bottom third and in

Allowing points in the paint so our Focus right now is is to get that corrected and hopefully do it without damage at the three-point line and like I said I thought uh the number of Threes that they made weren’t weren’t really as a as a result of us overc committing to

The paint you know the guys making step back threes on his own man you know we can we’ll live with some of that so when you talk about working with individual guys on certain things is there a top down plan does individual coaches work with these players do you have your hand

In it how does it all work is it something formal that’s written out and this is what we want you to do and then you go out and work with the guy just how how what’s your your way you do it you just nailed it I mean we I I oversee

It uh every player has a coach that they work with individually they in our staff meetings every time uh players are in the rotation we talk about what they’re doing well not doing well and where they need to develop yeah they take them out for uh what we call um their daily

Vitamin pre-practice either shooting volume of shots or working on fundamentals they need to work on on both sides of the ball and that coach will watch their individual film with them and if guy’s not playing okay then the coach will watch film of somebody else playing that position you know so

They’re learning that position well so our coaches do a do a great job and very thorough you know with that type of individual work how much time in a day does this whole thing it’s pretty much around the clock yeah we we work hard coach just a saying

That if you don’t have luck sometimes you don’t you don’t have bad luck you have no bad you have no luck at all obviously that’s been the case with the injuries what is your feeling today getting through this game pretty much in free as far as a big are concerned and

Now you have some sort of hope that this will continue and you can build upon this as well with these guys staying help yeah my hope is that early struggles struggles will be a distant memory in six weeks two months three months you know that uh you know we

Battle some injuries while we’re trying to build cohesion hopefully we have um a stretch where we can have all those three guys out there together and uh and then the role players as well and then if we can do that then we got to got an opportunity to gel and build the

Cohesion that we’ve been looking for and uh if we have that then we got a chance to uh to really take off so this is one win uh but we have a a six game home stand and we’re one and0 on now and uh we got to get the next one that’s about

The many restriction minute progression you want for yes yeah Frank I know as you coach you probably love the shot numbers like 11 13 18 ball around the same how do you ensure stuff like that happens just kind of even shot numbers for everybody yeah I don’t think it has

To be even you know I mean I think everybody’s got to attack and read defense and then the ball finds the open man and the open man happens to be one guy more than another one night we’ll live with that you know as long as everybody’s making the right reads and

Playing selflessly so Eric Gordon he went 12o just how easy is it for him to transition from starting to going on the bench and it’s not easy to do and uh actually talked to Eric about that and I said um you know you’re coming off the bench now you’ve been in the starting

Lineup don’t change your mindset at all right you coming off uh it can it can feel differently for for certain guys but um you know when he was checking at the scores table I grabbed him and said hey don’t change your mindset at all he made seven3 last game of the star stay

Every bit as aggressive as you were last game and uh he did a great job with that um felt how I looked man um you know that’s it’s a game changer you know being at full strength and um you know the offense was moving the ball

Was hopping around and you know we were getting the best available shot every time down and you know guys giving up good shots and passing it into great ones um and great players doing that when you when three of you were out there he ate early how big is that to

Know okay we don’t have to shoot every time because we can find other guys yeah I think there’s going to be schemes that are you know going to be sent centered around you know trying to limit us three I know it’s crazy to say never said that before but um and you

Know those guys should have easy ones um and then especially early in the game if you punish them like that then as the game goes on I think you know open up opportunities for us to get off or you know if they want to die by giving

Up easy wide open layups and that’ll be the case hopefully KD got his play making going early and found n for the second time in a row he screamed B basketball how does that feel for you guys as a unit when the ball’s moving like that you’re playing sport way you

Want oh yeah and he’s been doing it at a high level you know especially these last two games of you know Kar tying his career high 16 assists last game and coming in tonight having 11 of them with one turnover um you know so it just shows the capability of you know how

Great he is and you know how he’s just a player you know he’s never put himself in a box um as a scorer or any position you know he’s just a basketball player at the highest level so you know he just takes what the defense gives him and you

Know he’s getting us all easy looks might seem like I L to a lot of people that Grayson’s just an elite spot up shooter but what’s it like having someone like that that putall on the floor and create plays like he other tonight um yeah you know it’s what we’ve

Been preaching you know since the beginning just be aggressive you know you can’t be timid if you’re out there on the court with us because that’s what team’s going to play into so you know Grayson’s one of those guys that you know is a lead at his role um and he

Does it all out there he’s also matching up you know with the other team’s best player and you know being physical and um you know he’s a guy you can hit in transition and he’s either going to get a fou the layup or find an open man on the backside so um

He’s been unbelievable look I know reps are going to help things excited to just build with back yeah it’s exciting um you know I’m just most excited for him you know to get through the game and and be healthy and be ready to get for get ready for

The game Sunday um you know I know it’s been tough on him not being able to play and you know you just rehab after rehab so um seen a lot of smiles on his face today his mood was better and you know I’ve been in that seat before the game

Does you know it it’s it changes changes everything when you’re out there playing um you know so I was happy to have him back then what was it what it like out there when you find yourself wide open for shots that just not yeah um it’s an adjustment you know

But I’ll take it um yeah it’s it’s fun it’s a lot of fun what um effect does the spacing the getting easier shots easier baskets have on the defense uh you’re taking the ball out of the net now as opposed to turning around and transition you find yourself getting

Back on defense um much less now it’s you know Mak shots easy shots um yeah you know it’s just the flow it’s how the game supposed to be played um and you know that’s what that’s what we want to do you know we always said um especially us three you know not only

Are we scores and Brad and KD have both averaged 30 in their career through Seasons um but they’ve always made the right play too you know those are guys have seen every defense also and you know has been forced to you know not only make the the pass to an assist but

You know the one more pass that leads so four on three on the backside so you know it’s it’s a selfless play um and we have a selfless team you know starting at the top uh first Pres Lord and Savior Jesus Christ um me it was it was just

Good to be back you know um just good to be out there on the floor good good to just be playing be moving and finish a game that’s all I cared about tonight you work hard to get back sooner the two weeks how important is that for you get

Back well I’m usually a little faster with ankle Springs this one was really tough this one was I really I really twisted I really tweak this one um so for me it was it was definitely frustrating um you know dealing with the back and then coming back and feeling

Good in that New York game and second play of the game I’m out and that can’t make it up you know it’s it’s unfortunate but um I think it it definitely just helped challenge me a little bit more um challenge my faith a little bit more and just for me is it

Gave me a little bit more of an open L of just looking at the dynamic of the team where where I can fit in and how I can contribute only thing I had was the spacing ear how nice that to it seemed like everybody wasn’t a force issue wasn’t for Action to be

A yeah I mean that’s what we want you know that’s that’s the beauty of it um it’s there’s a lot of threats out there a lot of guys who who are very versatile we can shoot the ball really well you know uh EG and Grayson have been

Shooting a leather off of it so you got to respect everybody on the floor um booking K and you know I have the ball you you got to you got to expect pull-ups layups dump offs corner kickouts you can’t guard everything so uh the spacing was great you know we got

To continue to build continue to get better at it um but our defense has to be a little bit better than than anything the best you felt physically out a trick question question says the best I’ve felt since no when you came back you still had ttail problems with your back

Then you hurt your ankle that you got a good chance to rest your rest your bank back for a couple of weeks work on your back and then you recovered from your ankle so that’s it’s a straight off question no I’m saying for me it’s a trick question of how to answer that

It’s not it’s not a trick question you’re asking me for me it’s a tough one cuz I can sit here and say yeah I feel good but my ankle probably isn’t 100% so I’m not going to sit and say oh yeah it’s the best I felt I felt really good

At the beginning of the year but I’m getting there we’ll get there okay Brad we saw your Chemistry with Nerf again tonight what’s he like as a screening partner and how’s that developed you oh man he’s it’s a willing passer and I think that’s what makes it difficult to guard

Him you know you know um his ability to be able to handle the ball and also facilitate it you know bigs bigs one thing about bigs they never let they don’t like their man scoring that’s one thing about big they hate when their man scores so he makes our life easy you

Know as guards we just come off and we got open looks or he just rolls right to the basket he has layups all game but he’s a over he’s a willing passer to where he kicks those out for threes or he gets And1 or Powers up gets fouls

Puts us in a bonus so I mean he’s very huge P St team man you know U it’s an understatement of how we missed him the last few games but uh his presence is always felt Kevin had backto back assisted in the first quarter after second one he yelled out that’s

Basketball what’s it like when the gears are spinning and you can feel the offense playing at that level oh it feels good you know we know we know what we’re capable of obviously we got to be healthy we all got to be out there we got to be available and it’s just a

Matter of us putting it together you know we we’ve seen what we’re able to do and it’s just us constantly building on it is there any specific movement that you feel the ankle still a little bit is there no I think it’s more of a mental

Thing me just putting it behind me and just saying I’m okay my body’s good your ankle’s good you’re fine go go hoop you know and I was that’s probably what got me to play tonight you know being able to get over those humps of you know your

Ankle’s good you’re able to move good you can run you can jump uh you know so you know give it a go um there’s no real I think one of the most difficult things about our sport there’s no way of getting in game shape besides playing in

A game you know there’s no way of knowing how you feel unless you’re out there so a lot of that all kind of factored into to the night you mentioned your past experience with ankle Springs is that does that first game really really help with that trust establishing

100% um this is definitely probably the longest I’ve ever been out with an ankle but um it’s be hopefully it’s behind me and I can just continue to move forward just curiously your take on the offensive talent in today’s League you know seven WI team in here hit 23es and

Just across the league I offense is booming what’s your take on the Youth and Young Talent it’s funny I was talking to one of my friends back home about this the other day so you know we have these I think as fans we have these kind of crazy expectations of players

And a lot of stuff that we do isn’t normal you know a lot of the stuff that guys do averaging 30 points a game triple doubles like that’s just not normal things to do but because guys are talented we have this huge expectation like no you have to do that and if we

Don’t do it it’s like damn why didn’t he have a triple double tonight why didn’t he get 30 tonight but these guys are really good man like everybody in the league is good and I think now we’re in an age where the entire league as a

Whole like you said is very locked in on that offensive end gr we all can play a little bit more better defense but you got to respect every single team that you play like Charlotte is a well assembled team they just got to figure it out like they have a lot of good

Pieces they’re a competitive team just like every team that’s going to come in here they made 23s that can be anybody on any night for whatever reason they see the Suns they want to make shots but you know we got to be a little better on

The defensive end but you know for the most part one thing we never do is disrespect our opponents everybody is good everybody’s talented uh and we just got to make sure that we continue to put our best foot forward because we have a Target on our backs every night

Head Coach Frank Vogel, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal speak to the media following the Phoenix Suns win on December 29th, 2023.

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