Eliav Gabay
After months of anticipation, the revamped Suns finally graced the practice court together.
“[Vogel] wants us to compete and be physical and that be our identity,” star guard Bradley Beal said. “It’s gonna be up to us as players…physicality is gonna be at the top of the list every single game.”
As great as this offseason was for Phoenix, until this roster becomes a team, they’re just names on a piece of paper.
Developing chemistry is always the first step toward turning a roster of individuals into a cohesive group with a common goal.
“We’re gonna throw a lot at these guys,” head coach Frank Vogel said. “We’re gonna really, really tax their legs in week one.”
Outside of conditioning, this year’s training camp is about learning one another. From the front office, to the coaches, and of course, the players.
“It’s necessary for those guys to push each other,” Vogel said. “For the coaches to push them. For them to challenge us on things that we all can do better, cause iron does sharpen iron and that’s part of building the togetherness and chemistry that we have to build.”
“It was a good first practice, I can tell we’re all going to push eachother.” – Bradley Beal on day 1 of #Suns training camp. pic.twitter.com/xqvnLrwrBx
— Jordan Spurgeon (@spurge_) October 3, 2023
“Communicating – that has to happen,” guard Eric Gordon said. “The competitive nature of knowing our game – that’s why we have to go out there and compete like we did today. Just have more of that, then the trust and all that will come.”
With so many new faces, it’s basically a reset button.
Starting from scratch means putting in extra work where teams that have already been together for years (*cough* Denver *cough*), don’t have to worry about as much.
“We’ve even developed a relationship a little before camp,” Beal said. “But to add the new guys from the trade…Now we kinda gotta pick it up again. We gotta teach them and get a flow for what they like and they feel. Get them used to what K, Book, and I like as well. It’s gonna be a work in progress.”
A ton has been made of this roster’s offensive talent, for good reason, but Vogel is known for his elite defensive coaching – and that’s exactly the tone he’s setting.
“It starts with transition defense and finishing possessions,” Vogel said. “Really heavy emphasis on the boards. The physicality of boxing out…the two-on-two coverages that try to keep us out of rotation…and that we’re gonna have a multiple layered defensive attack.”
As the squad gets to work this week (including a good old fashioned two-a-day practice setup for day one of camp), the Suns have plenty of time to get acclimated to Vogel’s, and to each other’s, methods.
More sights and sounds from the first day of training camp:
Day 1️⃣ of #Suns training camp:
We’ll be chatting with Bradley Beal, Eric Gordon, & Frank Vogel.@Sports360AZ pic.twitter.com/RHGi7wqCpj
— Eliav Gabay (@eliavgabay) October 3, 2023
