1-19-24 Phoenix Suns Postgame Media Availability: Frank Vogel and Devin Booker

1-19-24 Phoenix Suns Postgame Media Availability: Frank Vogel and Devin Booker

And how that jump started you guys yeah I mean the guy’s just got an incredible Killer Instinct you know he had that look in his eyes tonight saw the ball go in a few times early and uh guys were looking for him and he was looking for

It you know we keep uh asking him to be aggressive at the three-point line and you know he’s he’s coming off the screens looking for it um but I think tonight’s a good picture of how you can still shoot a high volume of Threes 11 threes and still get that free throw

Line a bunch as well you know with 10 free throw attempts and um set a great tone for for us offensively you know I thought uh Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant set a great tone for us defensively KD on the the Brandon Ingram matchup and um

You know we as Bradley beeld to you know to be the first line of defense on Zion you know he he guarded him but it was a team effort we wanted nerk nerk was really good at the basket as well um and nurk had a great game you know I mean

You can’t you can’t guard this team Zion Williamson without having a big body in front of the rim you know most of the night and nerk did a great job with that got 15 boards nine assists get everybody involved on the other end so um really

Just a great team win but but book was spectacular you know and I very rarely will leave a guy in at that played a whole quarter but a guy at 25 I just you know I gave him the choice I want to just follow that up because you know he’s asked to

Facilitate but I thought tonight you know was like hey just go just go make a play go go do something you don’t have to concern yourself with passing is that a fair assessment no I mean I it’s still because when they double teamed him he

Shared a ball you know he was just Ultra aggressive looking to score and you know he found enough Pockets where there wasn’t uh a double team or or the help was late and he was able to to torch these guys um you know but when the

Double teams came he shared it and then everybody else was getting threes or layups you know so you know he was really the engine tonight offensively and then you mentioned OB the strategy the Zion having Bradley initially gracing us all in in there as well obviously nerk just maybe just maybe

Speak to how key that all those working together en you guys to have kind of success yeah team effort you know mult we knew multiple guys were going to be on him but it was uh it was really about you know having a wall at the paint as

Much as we can still at 24 points but I I think we did a great job on him and he’s still at 24 um but Eric Gordon as well and J you those guys off the bench are probably better matchups than the guys we have in a starting lineup but um

You know Bradley the took the challenge on to start the game and uh and had him throughout you know in different stretches so you know credit to him for doing a great job and then KD’s competitive Spirit the last four or five games has just been off the charts you

Know we saw it again tonight just really battling Brandon Ingram and limiting him uh the best that that he that we could um but I was happy with the the 48 minutes of Defense right we we had a great fourth quarter last game against Sacramento but we did not start the game

Well defensively um in fact we started very poorly so you know was a challenge to you know play a 48-minute game and have a better defensive disposition and we started the G game with uh with a great energy on that side of the ball is this the best defensive effort from start to

Finish off season yeah I think so you know um you know we’ve had some good performances but you know I think from start to finish for 48 minutes guys were really locked in yeah you I’m sure notice scouting that they made 25 thre previous game tonights

Go did do you feel like you had a defensive plan that really changed their ability to score from out there or sometimes they just have a bad shooting night a little of both you know I mean they didn’t shoot it as well tonight as they did the other night you we watched

The game and um but our our guys really committed to taking away the paint first and then multiple effort fly at their Shooters you know I mean you got to you got to do both with this team um you know they’re they’re one of the best at

At in in the league at at hurting you both ways you know attacking the rim and and if you you overcommit um they’re bom and threes uh third in the league and in three-point field goal percentage so you know credit to our guys for uh you know the multiple effort possessions that we

Had but they did miss some open ones as well what do you feel like you guys did once they started mixing it up they went to some like a little Zone there what do you feel like these guys were able to do and still score yeah we have his own

Offense that our guys executed and you know it didn’t slow us down at all I me in terms of you guys have seen it now I guess I would say vast majority of games teams have gone to it when you guys start that way is there anything

Particular you feel like you guys did against the Zone tonight no I we kept it simple yeah we have a simple action that we go to and um you know our guys were were scoring pretty much at will um we have really three different things we

Look at and all three of them worked you know what I mean uh not to get into what what our our overall strategy is but um we do try to keep it simple and you we’re effective in all three ways this might be the closest stadium

To where de grew up it’s about an hour 4 minutes East on 10 yeah um have you found the course of your career that that can be a thing sometimes where guys have sort of a homecoming game and they just they seem to be locked in yeah I I do I mean I

Don’t know if that’s that’s why you know book has had this game and the game he had last year um you know but I think the big picture you’re asking have I seen that throughout my career yeah guys guys typically like to play well you know when they’re

Home uh they got I know this a pregame intro after they moved you I saw you bouncing the around I was thinking he could beame uh just trying to be aggressive from the start I think this is an important game um this is a team that

You know one is ahead of us in standings and two could potentially be a playoff matchup so um just trying to set the tone early be aggressive and you know everybody put me in the right spots n through some hellified passes today and um yeah what’s it like to have it going

Like I know you’ve done numerous times having this Tye of enir tonight um just like to you know whatever it is just stay there you know don’t get distracted by how many you got um still play the right way and you know remain aggressive

Um but I think we got a lot of open threes off of me being aggressive early and then them starting the double team and pass out of and open looks on the backside this is the first you you had two 20 point quarters you obviously had

It in the 70 point game did you feel that 70 in reach you uh I mean I’ll never put it Out Of Reach um obviously closest arena in the MOs Point yeah did you have here oh yeah I got 50 folks out there I’m about to go

See them now so you know that’s where my main motivation comes um from all my family that’s here and you know they they drive over every time I play here and I you know I like to put on a show for them right it must been really

Gratifying that to know you had it going early with all those people watching and also just a huge crowd in general yeah them folks you know they’ve been watching me they watching me grow up so you know since a kid and then supported me all the way through to high school

And like you said this is the closest Arena it’s 90 minutes from my high school and you know everybody makes the trip did you make any kind of ey contact with doing again after 50 I looked up at my dad my grand my grandpa keep going keep going they yeah

They they seen me look up there they sit they’ve been sitting in the same place too for past nine years here y same seat so you made it the point to make sure that they have those seats uh I mean they’re not the best seats you know they yeah they’re behind

The bench probably like 15 rows up yeah um so coach green was kind of talking about how the game went for um the Pelicans they said you know you knock them off their hers early in the game and you know they really couldn’t make a

Run after that is that kind of how you felt the game went or yeah after our last game you know we were down 20 points in the fourth quarter and you know we’re fighting uphill battle the whole game we eventually won but you know we didn’t want that to be the case

Tonight um we just said play play at the start of the game how we played the fourth quarter last game and we’ll be in good shape you knew Willie to try all kind of defenses to maybe speak to how you guys adjusted these times and be bble to

Still SCH I mean they have a lot of Versatility on defense they have a lot of you know multiple long athletic Wings second guard so um you know I think it’s a good matchup for us they’re you know they’re they’re big in size too and um like I said they’ve been playing good

Hoops this year so you know just want to come out and play hard is there one particular shot that you feel like okay I’m I’m there I’m I’m there tonight What was the first one was probably like yeah I just I don’t know I mean but that seemed like just a nor I mean some of the shots you with the fade away like falling down I thought maybe one of those might be the signal for you there was a tough one too

You got really nailed for aint play you know a drop oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah U no another you know I made those shots before it’s not you know just one in particular offensively you know how much what jugg or not this team is but coach

Tonight might have been one of your best defensive performances of the Season just talk about how locked in the guys w’t that into the court yeah that’s where you know we got to hang our hat on the defense end we know that we know we have the fire power to score every night

And you know when we’re playing our best it’s when we’re defending at a high level um and playing fast and I think when we defend well like that and get you know Steals and deflections that’s when we’re at our best playing fast and teams can’t match up in transition we

Get a lot of easy look that key was that for you specifically playing fast before they can get set you know that’s how I want to play all the time but you can’t do that if you’re not guarding and you’re taking the ball out the net every time so you know you have

To get get a stop first

Head Coach Frank Vogel speaks at the podium and Devin Booker in the lockers room following Booker’s 52-point performance on January 19th, 2024.

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