The Phoenix Suns are one of the NBA's biggest surprises this season, sitting at 19-14 and seventh in the Western Conference despite being projected as one of the worst teams in the league ahead of the new year.
The key to such a surprising start? First-year head coach and longtime assistant Jordan Ott who was handed the reins of this new era of Phoenix basketball.
Suns players Ryan Dunn, Mark Williams and Jordan Goodwin appeared on the latest "Young Man & the Three" episode and praised Ott's genius.
Singing high praise of Ott
"He’s a genius," Dunn said. "From the game, he understands how to manipulate the defense. He gives us confidence to do what we do. As you see, we got guys here that have been killing it lately.”
Goodwin added, "Definitely the confidence. He’s telling me to shoot pull-up threes, and I never heard that until this year. I would never shoot a pull-up three. I’m dribbling the ball up the court two games ago, and he’s in my ear saying, ‘Pull it! Pull it! Pull it! Just having that little thing right there, it makes you play a little bit harder.”
And finally, Williams said, "Definitely the confidence. Balancing the analytics and go hoop, I think he does a really good job of that. We’re always talking about pace and defensively pressuring the ball, but at the same time, he’ll tell me, ‘Call for the f*cking ball.’
"We’re always sticking to our principles, cutting and sliding, and hitting our open guys in the corner. I think there’s a really good balance between the two. He’s definitely a basketball savant.”
Despite the promising start, Phoenix is enduring it's toughest stretch of the season with clashes against Oklahoma City, Houston, Detroit and New York twice in the first two weeks of January.