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I enjoy reading Jerry Brown of the East Valley Trib. As far as beat writers go, we can do a lot worse than he and Paul Coro. After discussing Raja Bell being asked to defend players he normally wouldn’t due to size mismatches in his notes yesterday, he points out a few numbers. One in particular really jumped out at me:

The Suns are now 21-2 when they hold opponents under 100 points …

That’s pretty amazing, right? To borrow a line from my father, the Suns need to realize winning a game 105-98 is okay. A victory doesn’t have to come with a score of 115-110. More importantly, a game with just over 100 points can still be filled with fast-breaking, running basketball.

Energy is the postgame buzzword I continue to hear from this team, win or lose.

What this team fails to realize is energy needs to be brought in all facets of the game. Every possession, on both sides of the floor, counts the same when the game is over. Boxing out and cleaning the glass, playing the passing lanes, fighting through picks, these are the little things that win basketball games.

The Suns are surely capable of completing these tasks, the sustained effort is the issue. Perhaps the :07 or less philosophy is beautiful but too easily allows a team to revert their focus to scoring points in bunches. However, the crazy thing about scoring points within this system is increased energy and effort on the defensive end will only help.

Playing the passing lanes and deflecting balls disrupts the opposing teams flow and forces poor shot selection. Limiting shot attempts on the defensive end only leads to more attempts for the Suns potent offense. Defense can actually speed a game up.

Shouldn’t this be something that interests this team? We all know they love to score points, why not find a way to score more?

It’s not that I’m advocating a full court press, a half court press, a 1-3-1 or other hectic defensive strategies (they don’t work in the pros, right Mr. Pitino?,) but a fast pace can be maintained while playing defense. If done right, the pace can be increased.

We’ve seen glimpses of greatness from the Suns as currently constructed (Celtics and Blazers games) and moments of mediocrity as well (every other game…ugh.) The first half of the Blazers game was a joy to watch and something the Suns should strive for every night.

Now, tt isn’t realistic to expect that type of play every night for 48 minutes but in order for the Suns to approach optimum performance and make another serious run at the championship, they’ll need to turn it up a notch and really tap into the energy they enjoy discussing.

The offense has sputtered as of late but really, it’s hard to imagine the MVP, along with Shaq and Amare, continuing to lose the turnover battle. Getting a bucket will never be an issue for this team. Getting a much-needed stop, now there’s a problem.

We don’t need a lockdown, Spurs/Pistons like team. We just need a team that cares about defense.

Writing “the Suns are now 21-2 when they hold opponents under 100 points” on the blackboard every day wouldn’t be a bad start, Coach D.

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Tags: Arizona State Sun Devils, energy, Mike D'Antoni