{"id":315489,"date":"2025-10-19T07:56:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T07:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/315489\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T07:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T07:56:11","slug":"suns-dillon-brooks-looks-to-lead-by-example-defensively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/315489\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns’ Dillon Brooks looks to lead by example defensively"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Fresh off getting six stiches above his right eye after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face Friday<\/a>, Dillon Brooks was back at it with the same intensity during Saturday\u2019s scrimmage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came out and dapped the guys up after yesterday,\u201d Suns coach Jordan Ott said. \u201cIf you watch any practice we have, he comes with it. It\u2019s not just in games. I\u2019ve been around some of those guys that just bring it out in the games. He brings it out every day in practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s dragged a couple of people with him. Some guys that probably wouldn\u2019t, I would assume, practice that intense every single day. He raises everyone\u2019s level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now entering his ninth year in the league and his first with the Suns, Brooks has made a name for himself through his defensive prowess, and now he has the opportunity to take what he\u2019s learned in Memphis and Houston and lead by example on a new team in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Brooks said it was former Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale who taught him the importance of defense early on during his rookie season, and since then he\u2019s \u201cnever looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018You want to play, you\u2019ve got to play defense first,’\u201d Brooks said Fizdale told him. \u201cAnd I just, really put that as a priority and then 10 games in, I was starting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks brings his 492 games of NBA experience to a Suns team that finished 27th in the league in defensive rating last\u00a0season<\/a>, allowing 117.7 points per 100 possessions.<\/p>\n

Brooks acknowledged Phoenix\u2019s past struggles on defense and said he\u2019s tried to be a helpful voice while providing his \u201ctricks of the trade\u201d to the other wings to help on the defensive end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just contagious,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cI think guys wanted to get better from the past two years. The young guys are obviously sponges, so they\u2019re going to follow suit.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way Brooks has led by example is by bringing his infectious energy to the younger players each morning. He said he talks to second-year forward Oso Ighodaro at 7 a.m. to get \u201chis engine revving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play and you just see me climbing up and see everybody climbing up,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cYou just want to do the same and it\u2019s just fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Brooks does drills with the coaches at practice, he said Ighodaro and Ryan Dunn will come over and try to guard him with the same type of physicality Brooks is known for, and the two second-year players don\u2019t hold back, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to do my little bullying, but they just don\u2019t back down,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cThey keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn said Brooks takes it to another level and is \u201ca little crazy,\u201d but added Brooks\u2019 competitiveness has helped him and his own mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe tries. He goes 110% every time,\u201d Dunn said about Brooks. \u201cIt\u2019s the way he plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks\u2019 competitive spirit has also rubbed off on the younger players in more ways than one. His tendency of trash talking has also influenced the Suns\u2019 sophomore players.<\/p>\n

Brooks and Ighodaro have been going at it the whole summer by way of talking smack, Dunn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has been physical, pressing up, making each other better,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cI think we all need that because once when we get into the fire, it\u2019s going to be the same thing and we\u2019re going to be by ourselves on the road sometimes. Having that atmosphere here, talking smack to each other. It\u2019s all love but just competing at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn said Brooks has also taught him how to be physical and get away with fouls when the referees aren\u2019t watching. Dunn added he\u2019s upset he had a couple of \u201cticky-tack\u201d fouls called against him in preseason he shouldn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just growing pains and (Brooks) said he had that when he was young too, my age, and it\u2019s only Year 2 so just him helping me guard one of the best players and how to be physical and really get into their stuff and play great defense,\u201d Dunn said.<\/p>\n

Another way Brooks has led is with his voice, often speaking up and providing coaching moments to the younger players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf one of us is not doing it, he\u2019s going to speak up and tell us to lock in and do our jobs,\u201d Dunn said.<\/p>\n

Ott said when Brooks is talking at practice, he\u2019s usually speaking at someone, and oftentimes it\u2019s Ighodaro who responds.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of those guys will go back and forth with him, but again once Dillon goes up a level, then someone else has to answer and it raises their level,\u201d Ott said.<\/p>\n

While Brooks has gone back and forth with everyone, Ott said that\u2019s just part of the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have to sit there and smile because knowing at the end of the day how much he cares for his teammates, how much they respect him,\u201d Ott said. \u201cWhat Dillon does on the day-to-day basis. It just helps our group. It just helps everything. So we\u2019re in a good place when he\u2019s chirping back and forth with someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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