Phoenix Suns: How Monty Williams applied his 5 core principles

Compete

If you have heard Monty Williams say anything all year, it is probably, “Everything you want is on the other side of hard.” It has been something of a mantra of his since day one.

During training camp, he set up drills designed to make players compete. There weren’t exercises for the sake of exercises, he made players compete against each other with the idea that competition brings out the best in people.

Early on, the team bought in. Despite not running a high-octane offense, this Suns team was fun to watch, win or lose. They moved without the ball, played swarming defense, and Monty’s 0.5-second offense made for exciting and entertaining basketball.

After nearly every game, one of the first things Williams would almost always comment on was how the team competed. After bad losses, “We just didn’t compete…” After tough losses, “I liked the way we competed, but…”. And of course, after big wins, “I thought we competed very well tonight…”

The unfortunate truth is that no matter who you are or how much money you make, it is very hard to compete at 100 percent, night in and night out, for

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65 games. As much as we like to think otherwise, players are humans. Young humans, at that. It is hard to stay mentally focused 24/7.

Monty has done a good job bumping that “compete” percentage up from seasons past, though. This is the principle he most consistently and fervently reinforces.