You know things aren't going well when the Suns are not even a month into their season and they're talking about "turning points" and "must-win games," according to Bob Young in  the Arizona Republic.

"Even though it's early, we've got to make something happen," guard Penny Hardaway said. "We're really disappointed because we play really hard in practice. We keep saying the same thing: It carries over into the games in spells, but it doesn't last long enough for us to win. We're almost last in every category in defense in the NBA, and that's not going to work if you want to win."

The Suns are among the worst defensive teams in the league, both in terms of their points allowed and the field-goal percentage opponents shoot against them. They foul more than all but a handful of teams, and they're dead last in drawing fouls from the opposition.

"That's our fault," Hardaway said of the foul disparity. "Offensively, we can put our heads down and attack the basket. And defensively, we're getting broken down and then we get a bad foul."

Of course, the Suns are a different team than the one that has been among the league leaders in those defensive statistics the past two seasons.

Jason Kidd is gone. Clifford Robinson is gone. But the problem doesn't appear to be personnel alone. "It's not like guys are loafing," Skiles said. "but we're not at Level 9 or Level 10 in the type of hustle we need to be at."