Not in the West.

Guys in the league at five and to our researcher Michael Schwartz could barely come to work today because of all the dancing he's been doing for the past week.

Their third in defensive efficiency, fourth and net efficiency and first in limiting opponents, made three point field goals for game.

I told you, our researchers, a big fan of this team.

We get all the stats from Phoenix Suns.

Fiz.

Are you buying the Sun's hot start to continue deep into the season?

I absolutely am buying it.

First off, let's credit James Jones.

We're putting an awesome team together.

Uh, Monty Williams should have never been an assistant coach.

This guy is a big time head coach in N B A.

He's a tactician.

He gets the most out of his guys and you're talking about Chris Paul, the great competitors.

You're talking about a Devin Booker who's breaking through into getting into conversations like M V.

P.

And you got a big time seven footer who's back.

They're learning how to defend on a nightly basis and bring energy and effort to the game E like him.

I don't know if they could hold this spot, but I think that they were looking at a playoff team and we're looking at a dangerous team when it comes to those playoffs.

Well, look, they were a team That was a revelation in the bubble, right?

Like a Devin Booker was the star of the bubble.

They were great.

But when you add a guy like Chris Paul, it's the question is, is it going to be a seamless transition?

So far, it has been.

And I think the big stat that you put up there, that is most telling to me is they're doing it a defense.

It's not just about the way Chris Paul's organization offense, the way Devin Booker could score the way Bridges hitting three pointers right now, like they're like Devin Booker hasn't actually been as good as he was in the bubble.

He's 5.5 turnovers a game.

He's got to clean that up a little bit.

But when you have that defense when you're organized on that end of the floor, you're gonna be in a lot of games and I think that's where you give credit to Monty Williams and his staff for bringing this team together on that end of the floor?

Absolutely.

And I think Chris Paul and Monty Williams already had that connection.

So talking about seamless I mean, you already played for a guy.

You've already been in the trench with them.

You know what to expect from him.

Mani handed that thing over to Chris, and now he's got a coach on the floor.

I expect this team to be really good this year.

All I know is when the Karma Ferry is walking around handing out good things.

Monty Williams deserves all of all the good karma for him, and I would also say, Look, five and two, it's a start, right?

It's not going to guarantee a playoff spot.

It's not going to do any of that stuff.

But I will say it's a shorter season.

I just have to keep saying each game is not one of 82.

It's one of 72.

That makes a difference.

And so these starts or something, we gotta pay a little bit more attention.

Thio.

I do want to take some time to pay our respects also to Paul.

Westfall died at the age of 70 on Saturday.

Westfall diagnosed with cancer in August of last year as a player.

He won a title with Boston in 74 then helped the Sons to their first NBA Finals appearance in 76 as an N b A coach.

Westfall went 318 to 79 including a trip to the 93 finals and two conference semifinals with Sons.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

And Coach, can you just tell us about the impact Paul Westfall had on basketball coaches at all levels?

I mean, he had a huge impact on coaches.

I think what he did with that Phoenix team was fantastic.

That team was so fun to watch.

They were exciting.

And if it wasn't for a guy named Michael Jordan, you know we'll probably be talking about feelings.

Uh, but, you know, as mentioned on this network as a player, we you know, my grandfather and this is I'm black and white.

So I could say that my grandfather would always say That's a bad white boy, eso for all races and all people Exactly.

So I could say that he was just he was.

He could ball, and I think he has a ball player.

He has so much respect from everyone.

But then as a coach, I think he just had a great connective ity and guys really like playing for him.

And I know some people that worked for him.

They loved working for him, and it's just really sad to see and condolences to his family.

Look at that.

What a career?

Well, his his book came out this year, so you could go and read a whole bunch more about him.

I was just impressed.

How long a career head and how much of an impact he made as a player, as a coach on so many of the great players in this league and you talk about him as a player.

He lost a bit of his career to injury when he came back, though Comeback Player of the year and I think I just I just look at him a man 70 years old, he just got diagnosed with This is real quick and it's so sad right now when people pass because there's you can't go see him, you can't talk to him.

You can't tell him you love him.

Very difficult for a lot of the MBA family, because for us, much as we just talked about all of his contributions on the court, there just isn't a person who spent time with Paul Westphal, who wouldn't tell you?

Well, he was even better as a human being.

There just I mean, that's the impact he had on everyone he touched.

So our condolences to his family and everybody who loved him.

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