Phoenix Suns assistant coach and new 'defensive coordinator' Elston Turner is taking a pragmatic approach to forging a defensive upgrade.

"It doesn't matter what kind of system you use," he said. "You have to implement a certain approach, a certain way you have to play. Focus and awareness ... those are huge.
 
"The energy ... the effort ... that has to be there. Without it, nothing else matters.

"There's a lot of misconceptions out there," Turner said. "The way you evaluate a defense is not how many points you give up in a game, but how many you give up per 100 possessions. You just have to be good enough to keep the opponents' score under your score."