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Phoenix Suns: Pros And Cons Of Making Earl Watson Head Coach

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 10, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson looks on in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets defeated the Suns 116-98. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson looks on in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets defeated the Suns 116-98. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Phoenix Suns
Feb 6, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson (R) talks to guards Devin Booker (L) and Archie Goodwin (20) against the Utah Jazz at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Jazz won 98 – 89. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /

Pro: Building A Better Culture

For most of the 2015-16 season, the Phoenix Suns were the most depressing team in the NBA. Their record wasn’t as bad as the Philadelphia 76ers, they weren’t as injury-stricken as the New Orleans Pelicans, and unlike the Brooklyn Nets, they have plenty of draft picks to look forward to.

But this was supposed to be a borderline playoff team heading into the season, and the Suns were struggling before Eric Bledsoe was lost for the season to a meniscus tear. Jeff Hornacek was fired, Markieff Morris was a frequent distraction in the midst of a season of major regression, Brandon Knight and T.J. Warren got hurt, the Suns went 2-30 over a 32-game stretch…you get the picture.

The Suns are far from the playoffs and they’re heading for their sixth straight appearance in the NBA Draft Lottery. And yet somehow, Watson has his young and older players buying into the establishment of a new culture in Phoenix.

"“The hardest thing when we took over was, it’s not really basketball,” he said. “It’s never been all about basketball and I’ve been saying this for a long time, it’s how do we get them to believe? And as we get them to believe, how do we get them to fall in love with the process and play the right way? How do we also get them to be young men of character to where they understand the process is more important than the product?”"

If Earl Watson sounds like the NBA version of Coach Carter, it’s because he pretty much is. From his first day on the job, Watson has consistently emphasized building a bond with his team. Words like “love,” “nurture,” “embrace,” “culture” and “believe” are littered throughout the transcripts of his pregame and postgame pressers.

But that almost high school coach-like approach to reaching his younger players has been working, even though we should note the Suns’ recent schedule has been favorable for even the league’s worst teams. This is still a rebuilding project, but Watson isn’t using the situation as an excuse or even as leverage to land himself the full-time job beyond this season.

"“I hate the word ‘rebuilding,’” he said. “To me, coaches will use that to get a contract extension. I can easily come up here and say, ‘Oh, we’re rebuilding, we have a young team, next year we’re gonna be great, give me a chance.’ I almost cussed, but forget that. “We say, ‘Uplift our tradition.’ We’re not recreating a new tradition, we have tradition. We have to uplift it, and then once we uplift it to where it once was, we try to go beyond it.”"

In a lost season, Watson’s ability to get his team to buy into a more positive culture has been great to see, even if they’ve taken their fair share of lumps in the process. With expectations likely low again in 2016-17, isn’t a positive, nurturing coach like Watson exactly what the Suns need, even if he never pans out to be a championship-caliber basketball mind?

Next: Con: Xs And Os

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