On this dramatic NBA world stage, the story of the Phoenix Suns is like a blockbuster full of twists and suspense, and the protagonist is of course Durant, but today's focus is on the $31 million contract, which is their new head coach, Frank Vogel. Well, you heard it right, it's the same Vogel who came to Phoenix with high hopes and the responsibility of "goodbye sun, shock champion". However, as it turned out, their expectations seemed to have been disappointed, and quite completely.
The former Lakers meritorious coach and champion coach of the 2019-20 season, after taking over Phoenix, not only did not achieve the expected results, but also put Phoenix's defensive training in an orderly manner, and even sometimes, Vogel's nervous coaching philosophy reduced the unsolvable offensive deterrence to a minimum.
This season, the Suns have collapsed many times in the fourth quarter, which is inseparable from Vogel's tactical arrangement, in the initial stage of the fourth quarter, Vogel is generally used to using Durant, Beal two superstars to lead the team through the first four minutes, although Durant is still extremely stable, but due to the consumption of the first three quarters, let Durant take on the heavy responsibility as soon as he comes up, laying the groundwork for the next game, Beal is due to the long-term absence of the lineup, as well as the impact of injuries and other factors.
The state of the fourth quarter is extremely up and down, in this case, Vogel only adjusted once, put Booker in the team in the fourth quarter, the effect is quite fruitful, but this effect, but Vogel was ruthlessly trampled on again, Vogel's obstinate behavior, and once became an important factor in the team's collapse in the fourth quarter, it seems that the Big Three team, in fact, how to split the use frequency and combination of the Big Three in the connection section, has a lot of knowledge, obviously, Vogel did not master the password and true meaning.
At the beginning of the season, Durant led the team with a single core, super personal ability, so that he stabilized the team's military heart, after Booker's return, the extreme performance of the two, so that the era of the two giants once won a wave of consecutive wins, but at the same time, the defensive end is still no deterrent at all, the Sun's game, it seems that no defense has become a norm, although many players are not good at defense, but as a defensive coach, Vogel did not integrate the defensive concept into the team, even if it lacks individual combat ability, Vogel did not develop tactics such as joint defense, so that the team can avoid the defensive defects and shortcomings of individual players。
Even if Beal returns, the team's extreme offensive ability is extremely shocking, but the team still has no defense, many games, are offensive battles with the team, with the ability of the Suns, if the defense is improved, so that the opponent can not easily score, relying on the deterrence of the Big Three and Allen, the league's first outside line, even if there is a defense, the Sun still occupies the initiative, but after the door is wide open, even if the Sun can score, the opponent does not have the slightest pressure, so that the Sun can not show the superiority of the offensive end, and this is also where Vogel is not good enough, as a defensive coach, he did not inject such awareness and special arrangement on the defensive end of the team。
In such a situation, even Okji, Allen, these defensive giants, have given up defense on some occasions, after all, the performance of the whole team, will infect everyone, since others do not choose to defend, these former giants, naturally do not want to appear out of place, so that the Sun completely becomes a team without defense, so that even if the Sun can score, but because of not defending, so that the opponent can easily score, one or the other, the advantage of the Sun, will also be invisibly wiped out, there is no initiative at all.
Looking at the Suns' lineup, although Booker, Beal, and Gordon are not defensive players, they all have good mobility, and Gordon is experienced, if you use help defense, supplemental defense, strategy, etc., you can still make up for the disadvantage of single-point defense, and Durant has a strong defensive flexibility, even if the death five is enabled, the team does not suffer, but Vogel did not inject such defensive awareness and defensive energy into the team.
As an offensive team, the Suns' sense of energy and deterrence on the offensive end is undoubted, but if you don't work hard to defend, once you get to the playoffs, it will be a huge disaster for the Suns.
Winning the championship on defense has always been a commonplace topic on the NBA stage, and Vogel, as a beneficiary, has already experienced it deeply, but after joining the Suns, Vogel is reluctant to implant his own defensive philosophy, I don't know if he is unwilling to help, or lose his defensive ability, the Suns currently hardly see any Vogel as a defensive coach, the defensive efficiency and defensive awareness brought to the team.
Even Vogel's almost no defensive tactics have made some defensive players drift away and completely reduced to a lazy, unwilling to defend blue-collar players, so that even if the Suns have absolute talent, it will be difficult to go further in the playoff stage where they also have talent, and they will not even be able to break through the curse of fate, and Durant, who is aiming to compete for the championship, will inevitably not be able to accept such facts and blows. In the face of the Kings' game, when the team saw the hope of chasing points, after playing the ultimate performance on the offensive end, Booker responded and worked the defensive end one after another, which also shows that the Suns can still play an extremely fierce game at certain nodes, and can also show the intensity and ability of the defensive level.
After all, a team with extremely high talent is naturally extremely arrogant and unwilling to spend more energy on defense, but Vogel should implant this concept into the team, after all, if you want to win the championship, defense will be an essential part of the Suns, once you lack defensive efficiency, even if the offense is unstoppable, you can't go further on the playoff stage, a team without defense, want to completely rely on offense to defeat the enemy, this is extremely difficult, especially in such a stage full of superstars, it is extremely difficult.
Therefore, Vogel, as the head coach hired by the team with a high salary, did not bring what the team wanted, in other words, the reason why the team has today's record is all dependent on the deterrence of the team's big three.
After all, the offensive ability built by the team is not in vain, but the team spent such a salary and hired a defensive coach, but failed to give the team a satisfactory answer, failed to help the team get out of the trough, out of the comfort zone, such a giant team, the biggest weakness will undoubtedly be the defects and shortcomings of the defensive end, but Vogel failed to bring his advantages to the team, but let the team completely give up defense, so that the team completely became the culprit of the team's loss.
In addition, in addition to failing to bring defensive efficiency and defensive awareness to the team, Vogel's ability to adjust on the spot, as well as the ability to improvise.
It wasn't good enough, and in many games, Vogel couldn't help the team stop the bleeding, the timing of the timeout was too slow, and the coaching performance was not flexible enough.
In the recent focus battle, in the battle between the Suns and the Warriors, in addition to the mistakes in Vogel's lineup at the last moment, which led to Curry's stunner, in the course of the game, Vogel's use of Okogie and Royce O'Neale also had problems facing the Suns.
Okogie was obviously extremely focused and excellent, but he only played a pitiful 10 minutes of playing time, and Vogel's behavior was undoubtedly self-defeating, and the Warriors also reaped the benefits.
The Suns currently sit in sixth place in the West with a 31-22 record, which at first glance is passable, but with a Big Three team and chemistry between the three, the team should obviously improve, with some games, such as those against the Pacers, Magic, and even the Warriors.
The Suns have an absolute advantage, but at the last moment, it was all because of Vogel's chicken ribs.
and a lack of careful timing of the timeout, allowing the team to waste a great opportunity.
It also brings great damage and negative effects to the team's loss. As a defensive coach, after joining the team, Vogel not only did not bring qualitative improvement to the team in defense, but because he was not cautious enough to coach.
Putting the team in trouble one after another, Vogel's lack of concentration and lack of on-the-spot experience makes him a far cry from famous players like Popovich and Tyronn Lue.
The Big Three is Vogel's fig leaf, if the team is not supported by the firepower output of the Big Three, without today's record, Vogel would have been out of class long ago, even so, if Vogel could not amaze the whole field and complete the growth of adversity, the former meritorious coach still could not get rid of the fact that he was sacked.
Therefore, for Vogel, this will also be the last chance for the meritorious general, if he challenges tactics, helps the team win more games, and goes to the end, winning the championship trophy, it will be Vogel's only chance to redeem, and it will also be the only factor that the 10 million dollar coach can control his own destiny and let him continue to stay in this team with a big three, and can continue to be in charge of such a talented team。 Therefore, this time will also be Vogel's last chance, and if it is lost again, even the Big Three will not be able to save him again.