The Phoenix Suns are having way more fun this season than anyone expected. After a slow start, they’ve been picking up wins and showing they can hang with the tougher teams in the West, and a huge chunk of the credit has to go to the man in charge of the technical area.
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Phoenix is 21–14 and sitting comfortably in the seventh seed in the West. Not only that, their latest win came against the league’s defending champions, the OKC Thunder, when Devin Booker hit a clutch three with 0.8 seconds left to send the Thunder home with yet another L.
It’s the type of win the Suns were unable to get last year. Gritty, hard-fought battles against the NBA’s best. This year, it’s a different story. And what’s even better is that Jordan Ott’s group is doing it as a team. It’s not like Booker has been carrying them on his back.
This was the topic of conversation during The Hoop Collective’s latest podcast. Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon, and Tim Bontemps all praised the Suns for overachieving one season after massively underachieving by missing the postseason. Bontemps, in particular, believed that even Phoenix themselves would not have bought into this level of success if they had been told back in October that this was the path they would be on.
“It’s not an insult to say the Suns are overachieving. The Suns are overachieving. That’s fine. They’re having an awesome season. If you had said before the season, ‘Hey Phoenix, 35 games into the season you’re going to be 21-14 and you’re going to be 7th place in the West, ‘ I don’t think they would have believed that,” stated Bontemps.
The big point that he brought up was how Booker, arguably the squad’s best scorer, isn’t playing lights-out ball, a testament to the job Ott has done. “Honestly, I’m not sure Devin Booker is an All-Star this year. He’s having a fine year. He’s shooting 29% from 3.
“My point is he’s not having some otherworldly season. They’re winning as a team playing hard-nose defense and grinding out wins. It’s been really impressive.”
Bontemps’s not wrong. The Suns’ role players have been a major reason Phoenix is exceeding expectations this season. Dillon Brooks has been a consistent scorer and energy boost, hitting big shots when it matters most. Jordan Goodwin, JaVale McGee, and others have also stepped up, filling gaps on both ends of the floor and giving the team depth it didn’t have last year.
Ott must be given his flowers, and according to Bontemps, should be considered for Coach of the Year voting. “Jordan Ott’s had a fabulous season. He should be right near the top of Coach of the Year voting at this point of the year,” he stated. Windy and MacMahon agreed.
Are the Suns going to be a true championship contender? Who is to say that they won’t be? Teams catch fire at the strangest of times, but what’s important is that Phoenix is figuring out who they are now. So by the time postseason comes around, they’ll know what they need to do to finish games. The Thunder victory is more than proof of that. Sure, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t play his best ball, but a good team takes advantage of that.
The Suns’ season so far has been a reminder that basketball is a team sport above all else. They’re not relying on one superstar to carry the load. Ott has them playing with confidence, grit, and a clear identity, which is why Phoenix looks like a team that can surprise anyone on any night.
