This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Phoenix • Outside of being named a head coach in the NBA, Earl Watson will be the first to admit last year was a trying one for him, both personally and professionally.
His appointment as Phoenix's head coach came at the cost of seeing his friend and mentor Jeff Hornacek fired. He was dealt a thin roster besieged by injury, and had the task of trying to enforce winning principles amid consistent losing.
This year, the former Utah Jazz point guard is the permanent head coach without 'interim' before his title. His two dynamic guards, Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, are now healthy and with a roster full of talented youth, Watson is more relaxed and more sure of the ground he stands on.
"The mindset this year is for us to just be one percent better than yesterday," Watson said. "We call that momentum. Collectively, we have a blank canvas. We don't want to miss any details. But at the same time, we're not putting a ceiling on how good we can be. Our veterans are very excited, and very committed, and we've done a great job collectively this summer and in training camp."
Watson says his time with the Jazz helped shape his career. He forged many relationships in Utah that he still maintain, so it shouldn't be surprising that his staff includes Ty Corbin and Mehmet Okur.
As a team, Watson wants to mold the Suns on some of the principles he experienced as a player with the Jazz. He wants a lunchpail bunch that works hard, plays defense, and makes the extra pass offensively. If they can do that, Watson says, the rest will take care of itself.
"Numbers don't lie," Watson said. "The last 24 games, we went from 29th to 15th on defense. Numbers are always inspirational, words kind of float. So we instill those numbers, acknowledge those numbers to our players throughout the summer, throughout training camp, throughout team meetings, and we understand we have to duplicate that, if not be better than that."
Injury bug
Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood were held out of Wednesday's game for precautionary reasons. Favors sat with a sore knee, and Hood was out with a sprained left hand. Both went through shootaround on Wednesday morning. Boris Diaw and Dante Exum started for Favors and Hood, respectively.
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