Coach Little touched on the areas of improvement for TyTy Washington Jr. and the Suns’ other two-ways
The Valley Suns are halfway through their regular season at 10-7 after a 10-6 Tip-Off Tournament, but that total of 20 wins to 13 losses isn’t what coach John Little says he’s focused on.
“For us, it’s just about our daily habits, the things that we gotta do detailed. Really worry about ourselves as much as possible, as much as you can in the course of a season when you have, like, opponents,” Little said on Friday after a 125-104 win over the San Diego Clippers at Mullett Arena in Tempe.
“For us, it’s just a day-by-day thing. We’re not gonna be looking at the wins and losses, it’s kinda, ‘Are we getting better today, are we able to hit the little marks that we want to be at?’ And hopefully at the end, if we do those things, we’ll be in the mix in the playoff time.”
If the season ended today, the Suns would be squarely in the G League playoffs (sitting at fifth as six teams from each conference make it).
They’re also a half-game out of a first-round bye (the top two teams each get a bye) sitting at fifth with the second-place Austin Spurs at 9-5.
The Suns have been among the league’s best at scoring the ball, averaging 116.2 points per game (second behind the Westchester Knicks’ 120) over the first 32 games while beating that mark by eight in their 33rd game.
TyTy Washington Jr. headed to All-Star Weekend
Two-way guard TyTy Washington Jr. has spearheaded that effort with a team-best 21.2 points over 13 regular season games, garnering a G League Up Next Game selection for NBA All-Star Weekend.
“Absolutely,” Little said of a deserving Washington. “TyTy’s been great for us. He’s been like awesome the whole year. He’s growing, he’s continuing to work, big night again for him tonight.
“Just helping us really being our real only point guard today and just getting us into stuff all game and the way he defended. He’s been growing and growing, happy to see him get this opportunity.”
let it fly, TyTy pic.twitter.com/w4LvrGc4OU
— Valley Suns (@GLeagueSuns) February 1, 2025
Washington was missing fellow playmakers Collin Gillespie, a fellow two-way who played four minutes with Phoenix in its game against Golden State on the same night, and David Stockton, who was home sick.
Little knows that’s a position Washington is comfortable with.
“I think first of all, his personality. He’s got like an infectious personality. People gravitate towards TyTy,” Little said. “So he has a little bit of that natural leadership, and as he continues to grow with his game, his voice and like all the other little aspects and details of the game, it’s just like the perfect guy for us.”
How have Valley Suns’ two-ways, assignments done?
Oso Ighodaro was recently sent to the Valley Suns as the first sighting of a non-two-way player getting run down at the G League level.
He finished his lone game with 18 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and one block, getting valuable playing time while Phoenix works through a reshuffled center rotation behind recent acquisition Nick Richards.
“Oso looked good. He just needed to come down and get some reps. He’s still in their mix up there, so he came down. What he does, it’s like perfectly fit with our guys,” Little said. “He’s gonna get guys the ball, he’s gonna rebound, he’s gonna be the most positive guy on the court, he’s gonna support everyone. Anytime we get Oso, it’s always great.”
As for the other two-ways who consistently get minutes with Valley behind Washington, Little had nothing but glowing remarks.
“Overall, everything,” the coach said of where they’ve improved. “The pace of the play, it’s totally different form college, just the physicality, the people you’re gonna see every night, the other two-ways, the assignments, all those things. I think they’ve absorbed it really well.
“Defensively, they’re up to speed. I think offensively, they’re continuing to grow and especially in our system so that they translate hopefully when those guys are back up with (Phoenix).”
Gillespie has averaged 20.4 points and 9.4 assists in eight regular season games, while Bridges has had 14.1 points (39.4% on 6.9 3s per game) across 15 contests. Both average at least 1.5 steals per game.