Phoenix Suns' Elston Turner confident about defense

New 'defensive coordinator' held similar responisibility in Houstin, Sacramento under Rick Adelman

11 comments by Paul Coro - Jul. 13, 2011 07:02 PM
The Arizona Republic

If phrases such as "no question" and "no doubt" popped up about the Suns' defense in recent years, they were part of opponents' thoughts on being able to score on them.

With Elston Turner on board, those are the words he uses in exuding confidence about how the Suns' defense and rebounding will improve, how center Marcin Gortat can be their lane protector and how Steve Nash can be a "great team defender."

Turner agreed to a two-year contract to be the Suns' "defensive coordinator," an assistant-coaching position being added to a full staff to improve last season's defense, which was ranked 26th in the NBA last year, and league-worst rebounding.

With full empowerment to lay out a strategy, Turner has some film to study. But it is clear the annual goal to improve the defense has teeth this time, with a commitment to 40-minute defensive sessions to be run by Turner during each practice.

"The emphasis is going to have a tremendous increase," Turner said. "It's something that is going to be constant, and we're going to get better."

Turner, a 14-year NBA assistant, held similar responsibility for Rick Adelman's teams in Sacramento and Houston for 10 years. Houston was not far ahead of Phoenix last season in opponent field-goal percentage (22nd) but finished second and fifth in 2007-08 and 2008-09, when it had Yao Ming playing (with Dikembe Mutombo behind him), Shane Battier and Ron Artest.

On offense, Turner said Houston had one main plan against the Suns.

"We would always attack them and attack the rim," Turner said. "We didn't think there was a great rim presence there. Stay aggressive. Crash the boards. When you flip that, we need better rim protection and rebounding. Those are blanket categories that must improve and are going to improve."

Turner said Gortat can be a defensive and rebounding force and added that Nash is not so different from most point guards in that he needs help to stay in front of quick point guards.

"You can't single out Nash, because of his age, and say, 'Stay in front of the quickest guys in the league,' " Turner said. "(Backup point guard) Aaron Brooks will have trouble staying in front of most guys. The whole thing is based upon help. Some need it more than others.

"Steve has knowledge. He has vision. I can tell how he passes the ball that he can see plays before they happen, and a lot of that is defensive instincts. I'm expecting him to be a great team defender, plugging holes, seeing plays and helping. There's no doubt in my mind he can be a fantastic team defender and hold his own solo."

Turner was nearly the Suns' head-coaching choice in 2008 when Terry Porter was hired and has been interviewed for head-coaching jobs in Minnesota, Sacramento, Philadelphia and Chicago. He was out of work this summer after Houston fired Adelman. Turner's easygoing way was ideal to integrate with an existing staff.

"I'll meet with Alvin (Gentry) and come up with Plan A, Plan B and Plan C," Turner said. "We'll be ready when the time comes, no question."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/2011/07/13/20110713phoenix-suns-elston-turner-defense.html#ixzz1S5jzWH4y

nixluva wrote:IMO this is good to do but don't expect greatness. They can and should improve with hard work. ANY team can improve defensively, but you also need capable defensive players. Billups may WANT to play good D but if he's got CP3, D Rose, B Jennings etc. in front of him only GOD can help him in an ISO situation. So you have to have a good combination of Defensive physical ability and hard work and determination. That's why I was behind the idea of adding Iman. More than additional coaching, give me a team full of naturally talented and willing defenders and i'll go to war with that. If you have Iman, Artest and Howard on the floor you're going to have some good defense!!!

How about defense inside. Gortat is a decent defender, but he's not Howard! He may want to be that good, but in reality he had limitations. That's why we're looking to actually REPLACE the interior defenders with someone better. New defensive coordinator or not this nicks teams will be headed in the right direction so long as we keep adding better defensive players.

On offense, Turner said Houston had one main plan against the Suns.

"We would always attack them and attack the rim," Turner said. "We didn't think there was a great rim presence there. Stay aggressive. Crash the boards. When you flip that, we need better rim protection and rebounding. Those are blanket categories that must improve and are going to improve."

I think this is exactly what teams do to the Knicks. I don't think Turiaf, Jorts and even a morphed into an nba player Jordan can provide the defense needed in the middle for the Knicks to truly be successful. Maybe if the Knicks can get Pryz on the cheap or find someone else to fit that role they might improve. It also has to be emphasized and hopefully the Knicks follow suit and bring in someone to run the defense.