Isitjustme?
05-29-2011, 09:00 AM
The Suns already are working on improving defensively, even though the draft is four weeks away and free agency is uncertain with a lockout looming.
Until the Suns' roster can be changed, the attempt to improve will come with a coaching addition.
Suns coach Alvin Gentry is interviewing candidates to add an assistant with defensive expertise.
Gentry has talked with San Antonio assistant Don Newman, former Chicago assistant and current scout Pete Myers and Houston assistant Elston Turner, who was a finalist for the Suns' head-coaching job in 2008. Gentry also could talk to Lakers assistant Jim Cleamons and coaches who have been involved in the conference finals, such as Dallas' Dwane Casey, Oklahoma City's Maurice Cheeks and Miami's Bob McAdoo.
After finishing the 2010-11 season with the NBA's fifth-worst defensive-field-goal percentage (47.2), the Suns have placed an off-season priority on improving defensively. Management is backing the notion by allowing Gentry to hire a veteran coach without losing any of his four assistant coaches.
"I'm going to run it like a football team, and he'll be a defensive coordinator," Gentry said. "We'll spend a ton of time meeting the next two to three months to see how we can put changes to be better.
"What I decided was we just needed someone from the outside with a new voice and outlook. It's not anything against who we have. Dan Majerle played for Pat Riley and was all-defensive, and I do have confidence in Bill Cartwright and the other guys, but we need a new approach because if we're ever going to be good, we need a whole new voice to be consistent."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2011/05/26/20110526phoenix-suns-defensive-assistant.html
Until the Suns' roster can be changed, the attempt to improve will come with a coaching addition.
Suns coach Alvin Gentry is interviewing candidates to add an assistant with defensive expertise.
Gentry has talked with San Antonio assistant Don Newman, former Chicago assistant and current scout Pete Myers and Houston assistant Elston Turner, who was a finalist for the Suns' head-coaching job in 2008. Gentry also could talk to Lakers assistant Jim Cleamons and coaches who have been involved in the conference finals, such as Dallas' Dwane Casey, Oklahoma City's Maurice Cheeks and Miami's Bob McAdoo.
After finishing the 2010-11 season with the NBA's fifth-worst defensive-field-goal percentage (47.2), the Suns have placed an off-season priority on improving defensively. Management is backing the notion by allowing Gentry to hire a veteran coach without losing any of his four assistant coaches.
"I'm going to run it like a football team, and he'll be a defensive coordinator," Gentry said. "We'll spend a ton of time meeting the next two to three months to see how we can put changes to be better.
"What I decided was we just needed someone from the outside with a new voice and outlook. It's not anything against who we have. Dan Majerle played for Pat Riley and was all-defensive, and I do have confidence in Bill Cartwright and the other guys, but we need a new approach because if we're ever going to be good, we need a whole new voice to be consistent."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2011/05/26/20110526phoenix-suns-defensive-assistant.html