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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
Few can do a stolid face better than Frank Vogel. The set jaw, mouth turned down at the corners giving off both impassivity and resolve. The steady focus from soft eyes.
In May 2019, Vogel showed legendary stoicism the day he was introduced as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Earlier that day, Magic Johnson went on ESPN and torched management after he had suddenly walked away from his team president role. And if that weren’t enough, Vogel sat and listened to questions from reporters about him being at least the third choice for the job in replacing Luke Walton.
Not once did Vogel show a hint of being bothered, instead referring to his notes about his plan for creating a defense-first team and insisting he would help build a winning team. He approached the job largely the same way — low-key and high-will. He stayed mellow and constructed a defense that was the best in the league.
Things were not fine for the Lakers at the start. But Vogel was convinced they would be in time.
In his first season, which was eventually derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he led the Lakers to their 17th championship. As he accepted the Larry O’Brien Trophy months later after defeating the Miami Heat in the bubble, Vogel simply said: “We have a Ph.D. in adversity.”
Last week, this time wearing Phoenix Suns colors in his first season as their coach, the Vogel face was back in its glory. The Suns were blown out by the LA Clippers 139-111 to fall to 19-18 with a team loaded with three potential Hall of Famers — Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal — and the sort of win-now or big-trouble pressure that comes with the “superteam” moniker.
“We’re remaining confident,” Vogel said Jan. 8 following the Clippers game, without a hint of doubt about a team where things were once again not fine. “It’s a long season. It’s going to take time.”
The Suns won their third consecutive game Tuesday night with a stunning 22-point fourth-quarter comeback against the Sacramento Kings. They are 7-3 since Beal returned from an ankle injury Dec. 29 and starting to bare their teeth.
Beal, Booker and Durant have played together in just nine of 40 games. Various absences and injuries to key supporting players Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen and Eric Gordon have stunted any continuity for a team with 13 new players and a new coaching staff.
It’s too soon to say the promising team that was rapidly reconstructed last year as a top-heavy colossus has turned the corner. But Vogel’s trademark disposition is emblematic of how the Suns have approached this season.
“We’re not trying to be too worried about who we’re playing against and [are focused on] working on ourselves,” Booker said Jan. 11. “We have a lot to work on.”
It’s true, the Suns have their problems. After ranking in the top seven in defense in each of the past three seasons, they’ve languished in the league’s bottom half all season. A number of the role players they signed to be 3-and-D floor spacers have struggled at times doing both.
They have been the NBA’s worst fourth-quarter team. Even after Tuesday’s rally against the Kings improved their numbers, the Suns rank last in defense in the game’s final 12 minutes and have been outscored by 14.8 points per 100 fourth-quarter possessions — last by a mile.
From Vogel and the stars down to the role players, there has been a spirit of working through the problems.
After the loss to the Clippers, the Suns had two off days in L.A. and they spent them working: the coaches meeting and players working on film and practicing. They returned and throttled the Lakers 127-109 for perhaps their most complete game of the season as Beal looked spry with 37 points, his season high. The team’s mood was electric, an indication of their intent.
Beal, though his season has been derailed by back and ankle injuries that forced him to miss time on three occasions, has helped keep spirits up.
“Brad’s always good vibes,” Booker said. “To keep that in the midst of [struggles], that takes a lot. I can’t do it. He keeps the morale of the team high.”
So, while the record and the numbers haven’t always been promising, there is a sense that it’s just a matter of time for the Suns.
Beal is averaging 20 points and shooting 53% in the 10 games since his return. His arrival has allowed Booker, who had been shouldering a huge burden as a playmaker, to shift some of those duties. Having Beal on the floor has, predictably, made it much easier for the Suns to generate open shots. Over the past 10 games, Durant is shooting 48% from 3-point range and Allen is feasting on open looks, nailing 52% from deep in that span.
Vogel is tinkering with lineups, trying to alter his stars’ substitution patterns so the fourth-quarter problem can be mitigated. Against the Kings, he deployed a lineup that had Durant at center in the fourth quarter with Gordon in as an extra guard. The Kings were unable to handle it, outscored 32-8 in the final 8:22.
Meanwhile, the Suns’ lineup of Durant, Booker, Allen, Gordon and Nurkic has the best defensive rating of any group in the NBA this season that has played more than 100 minutes together, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Repeatedly, there has been evidence that the pieces are there for a special team. Figuring out how to put them together is the mission.
“Coach has a good grasp of who we are as a team,” Durant said. “We just keep grinding, man. Come back to work the next day. Keep figuring it out.”
At a glance, the Suns might still appear underwhelming considering their talent and championship expectations. There’s no question they’re fragile — sitting eighth in the Western Conference. And with no proven depth to help withstand injuries to the Big Three, there is no guarantee it’s going to ultimately lead to the title the franchise has chased for decades.
But looking at just the surface might be a mistake. Real progress is starting to take place and the group still has next to no appreciable time truly working as a unit.
And Durant, Booker and Beal have the unshakable faith of their coach.
“I trust these guys,” Vogel said. “We have a roster that can win.”