Phoenix Suns: 5 Takeaways From The Lost 2015-16 Season
3. The Players Love Watson
There are a ton of available coaches out there with more experience at the NBA level. The market will be competitive, but with names like Tom Thibodeau, Scott Brooks, Kevin McHale, Luke Walton, Mike D’Antoni, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, Jay Wright, Vinny Del Negro, Dan Majerle and Jason Kidd floating around, the number of options to pursue is overwhelming.
That being said, don’t be surprised if the head coach of the 2016-17 Phoenix Suns is none other than interim head coach Earl Watson.
To clarify, there wasn’t much of a change between Hornacek and Watson as far as on-court results go. In 49 games under Hornacek, the Suns posted a 14-35 record (.286) and ranked 27th in offensive rating (99.6) and 29th in defensive rating (106.6). In 33 games under Watson, Phoenix went 9-24 (.273), ranking 30th in offensive rating (99.0) and 23rd in defensive rating (107.7).
That being said, the numbers under Watson were inflated by the absences of Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, T.J. Warren and Markieff Morris — the team’s four leading scorers for most of the year — for large stretches of his tenure. And in a lost season where it would’ve been easy to quit, Watson won over a disgruntled locker room and got them to buy in to a new culture.
"“They were honest with everybody, what they were supposed to do, how they were supposed to play,” Teletovic said of the coaching staff. “Guys bought into it, guys wanted to experience how to be working the right way and win the right way.”"
Though the results didn’t always show up in the win-loss column, especially in a 40-point smackdown at the hands of the Clippers, a 30-point loss to the Hornets or a 31-point defeat against the Knicks, the Suns mostly showed more fight and dedication to the process under Watson.
"“I think at one point in the season we had a mindset where we were accepting losing and that’s why we went on a bunch of big streaks of stringing together a lot of losses,” Devin Booker said. “Once Coach Earl took over we didn’t accept losing anymore.”"
There’d still be issues to sort out, however. The Suns wouldn’t be doing their due diligence if they didn’t at least try for a more reputable option like Thibodeau or Brooks, and Watson still has a lot to prove with his Xs and Os.
From playing Alex Len and Tyson Chandler together in a statistically disastrous two-man lineup to not playing Jon Leuer enough to riding the veterans too hard at the expense of Archie Goodwin to not really doing much to improve the offense, Watson’s rotations and schemes still need work.
But the makings of an NBA head coach are there. He won over the locker room in a time of turmoil, he’d have better players to work with next season if he’s hired and things like his half-court trap zones were a nice way to mix things up and surprise opponents for a possession or two. During exit interviews, the players took up a unified front backing him for the full-time gig.
"“I really loved him and I think he did a great job communicating and building a relationship with players,” Alex Len said. “It was huge for everybody. He had confidence in everybody and we turned the season around, even when we were down 20, we were still fighting back in the games and early in the season we didn’t have that.”"
The players liking Wason shouldn’t be the be-all, end-all reason for hiring him, since those very players just finished a 23-59 season. But for a franchise that’s been plagued by chemistry issues on every front over these last few years, the Suns may look to avoid further upheaval and go with the best, most readily available option who spouts positivity with every turn of his head.
Next: No. 2