LOS ANGELES — Igor Kokoskov, the first-year coach of the Phoenix Suns, seems to have a habit of answering questions about his team in the form of lists.

Ask him about the development of Deandre Ayton, the rookie center and top overall draft pick, and Kokoskov will praise Ayton for his poise amid so much pressure before rattling off the lessons he still has ahead of him: “We want him to keep learning about everything — learning about personalities, learning about coverages and adjustments, learning about referees.”

Ask him how he has tried to maintain the morale of his young players during such a trying start to their season, and Kokoskov will talk about the importance of individual roles: “They have to understand their roles, accept their roles and embrace their roles.”

Ask him whether he has a coaching philosophy, and Kokoskov will politely explain that he would not use that word quite yet — “Philosophy,” he says, “comes from somebody who’s been in this business much longer than I have” — before insisting instead that he has “thoughts and ideas” about his team at this early stage that include the following: starting lineups, rotations, substitution patterns and offensive sets. The general impression one gets from being around Kokoskov is that he could go on and on.