Paul Coro

azcentral sports

FLAGSTAFF – Earl Watson is outwardly loving, direct and deep. Sometimes, all at once.

Watson’s first training-camp practice as Suns head coach was going on just as planned, drawing out defense and energy when he blew his old-school “John Wooden” whistle to make a point Monday at Northern Arizona University’s Rolle Activity Center gym.

The love: Watson began talking to the entire team with an arm around rookie point guard Tyler Ulis.

The directness: “We’re just talking,” he said with the raspiness of three hours of coaching. “We’re not talking with a purpose.”

The depth: “No energy, no victory,” Watson said one of his slogans – in Bruce Arians “No risk-it, no biscuit” fashion.

Watson has been thinking about doing this job since the time he entered the NBA as a player 15 years ago. At 37 and just two years removed from being a player, Watson could simply appeal to the players at their level. That, however, would not elicit the same respect that he earned by taking a straight-forward approach with players since becoming interim head coach in February.

“Similar to (Jason) Kidd in the sense that he has attitude,” Suns forward Jared Dudley said in likening Watson to Dudley's former Milwaukee head coach. “Young guys call it swag. His demeanor, you seem him in a hoodie and shorts and some Kobes (sneakers). He has the music going, but his attention to detail is like a Doc Rivers and like a J-Kidd that I’ve had.”

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Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough was aware of it after watching him operate in the role for the final 2 ½ months of the season. Players often told McDonough independently that he would be crazy to bring in anyone else for the permanent job.

McDonough also has seen the intense commitment to the job all summer, from draft workouts to voluntary player workouts to organizing team “family” functions to what plopped in his e-mail lap like a car manual Thursday night.

After Watson and the coaches met for six to seven hours on consecutive days, the finished product was a 35-page document detailing every foreseeable detail but injuries. Monday’s practice was like getting a taste after being in the kitchen for 5 ½ months of offseason.

“The more energy he gives us, the more we give him,” Suns guard Brandon Knight said.

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Watson is all about positive energy. He will not address questions that contain negative hypotheticals. He wants the players to have fun and leave practices on a positive note, like when center Alan Williams stripped the ball on a defensive drill to the thrill of his teammates Monday.

He is rewarding the players’ offseason hard work by keeping training camp to one long morning team session and individual workouts, and shooting at night rather than the customary two-a-day grind.

Watson is full of inspiring sayings and optimistic outlooks but he does not sugar-coat issues with players.

“He’s coming to you and telling, ‘Bled, you’re f---ing up, you gotta do this,’" said Suns guard Eric Bledsoe, who solely credited Watson’s work as an assistant for how he played before a knee injury last season.

“It’s been amazing. He doesn’t hold nothing back. If you’re messing up, he’s going to let you have it. That’s what you want out of a coach – to get on you. You gain so much respect by doing that. His enthusiasm, excitement and everything about him is bringing the team together.”

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The veteran players respect him as a peer while his positivity resonates with the Suns’ youth. Knight said Watson’s point guard background gives him the ability of knowing how to approach players differently.

Watson shows them respect and has a willing ear to his coaching staff that added two former NBA head coaches: assistant coach Tyrone Corbin and associate head coach Jay Triano.

“He’s also not afraid to let them know when they’re not doing as well as they should be or let them know what their role is and what the expectations are,” McDonough said. “It’s a combination of love, honesty and toughness. I think and I hope that’ll manifest itself in the way our team plays. Really, he’s created a powerful movement with the energy and the culture we’re trying to build here.”

It is a means to McDonough’s end goal for the Suns to be the hardest-playing team in the NBA. They believe that culture is a foundation for later success, although the players want both at once.

Watson is like them in that regard. He expects to win and dedicated most of Monday’s practice to what it will take – defense. Knight estimated 70 percent of the active practice time was spent on defense. It began with drill stations on how to defend pin-downs, pick-and-rolls, post-ups and flares.

He equates teaching defense to teaching someone how to shoot. There are fundamentals to where hands and legs should be.

Each player recites “top-10 defense” as a goal and the improved health and late-season defensive improvement as support for why it can happen.

“He gets the best out of everybody,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “He’s hard on us but, at the same time, we understand why he’s hard on us. That’s the family unit that we have. It’s like your parents. You know they want the best out of you.”

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Reach Paul Coro at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him attwitter.com/paulcoro.