"Oh?"
Mark Jackson tilted his head, clearly interested in hearing more.
"Uh..."
Jon Barry gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking.
"The offseason trades and roster upgrades changed Phoenix's lineup to some extent compared with last season.
"From what I understand, at the beginning of the season, the Suns planned to have their starting five of Nash, Curry, George, Blake, and Yao Ming play the entire first and third quarters, while Klay and Carter led the bench rotation.
"The idea with that second unit was to let talented rookie Klay take on more of the offense, with Carter supporting him, so the Suns could increase their scoring power off the bench.
"But after about two games, Gentry realized Klay wasn't especially effective creating offense off the dribble. Or maybe he simply came up with a better idea.
"Starting around the third game, Phoenix adjusted its rotation, and it has stayed that way ever since."
"How?"
Mark Jackson immediately pressed him.
Jon Barry continued.
"The Suns still start with the lineup we've been seeing, but about halfway through the first quarter, Curry goes to the bench and Carter comes in.
"At the same time, the main scoring responsibility shifts toward Yao Ming and Blake.
"In other words, the Twin Towers.
"Then, when the second quarter begins, Curry comes back after resting for half a quarter. He joins Klay Thompson and Carter, which gives Phoenix's bench unit a major boost in firepower.
"That means both the starting lineup and the rotation unit now have considerable strength.
"And that's one of the reasons the Suns haven't just kept winning to open the season. They've also been ending almost every game early."
"That makes sense!"
Mark Jackson thought it over and nodded repeatedly.
In fact, Jon Barry's analysis was extremely accurate.
The Suns had adjusted both their tactics and their rotation this season. The rotation they used in the first couple of games had actually been an intentional experiment by Gentry because he wanted to compare different combinations.
The current setup was the regular rotation.
Phoenix opened games with its usual starting five. Because Nash and Curry overlapped slightly in role, and because the team also wanted more defense, Carter replaced Curry around halfway through the first quarter.
But those were not the real reasons for the change.
The real purpose was to give Yao Ming and Blake, Phoenix's two centers, enough opportunities to take over the offense in the second half of the first quarter.
That was the Twin Towers strategy.
And it was not an ordinary Twin Towers setup either.
Yao Ming operated inside while Blake attacked from the perimeter. One inside, one outside.
It was a version of the Twin Towers almost unique to Phoenix, and it worked extremely well.
Most opponents knew they had to focus heavily on Blake outside. But once they actually left Yao Ming open, his offense became much easier thanks to Nash feeding him the ball and Blake passing out after drawing extra defenders.
At the same time, having both big men on the floor made protecting the rim easier too.
Then came the second quarter.
Curry, who had rested through the latter half of the first, returned alongside Klay. One of the reasons for that arrangement was that Klay was still limited when asked to create offense with the ball in his hands.
With Curry organizing the offense, Klay could attack much more comfortably.
And when the three-point shooting of those two guards was combined, Phoenix's bench rotation became dramatically more dangerous.
There was another reason Curry rested late in the first quarter as well.
The Twin Towers offense built around Yao Ming and Blake consumed a large share of the finishing opportunities. If Curry stayed on the floor during that stretch, Phoenix would only be wasting his energy. It made more sense to let him rest.
So after an offseason of development and experimentation, the Suns entered the new season with a Twin Towers combination and, on the bench, the early form of the future "Splash Brothers."
Of course, this was only the standard rotation. Gentry could adjust it whenever necessary, especially when the team ran into trouble. The different lineups could be changed, mixed, or combined at any time.
...
Back on the court, Detroit had already lost most of its confidence after falling behind by 17 at halftime against a Suns team that looked nearly impossible to stop.
When the second half began, Phoenix kept applying pressure and continued stretching the lead.
With threats coming from all over the floor, the Suns were ahead by more than 20 again after three quarters.
Another game was effectively over.
Blake, meanwhile, casually put up 35 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in those three quarters, recording his sixth consecutive triple-double and stunning the crowd once again.
Phoenix had now won seven straight.
Normally, that alone would have dominated the discussion the following day. Instead, much of the attention centered on what Jon Barry had said during the broadcast.
Or more accurately, on the Suns' tactics and rotation finally being laid out clearly in public.
Coaching staffs around the league had already studied Phoenix and reached similar conclusions, but this was the first time someone had explained the structure so openly.
"Tsk, tsk... Now that you mention it, that really is exactly what they're doing."
"One Twin Towers lineup and one backcourt shooting duo. Most teams would already be thrilled to have just one of those combinations.
"But Phoenix has both. No wonder they're so strong. No wonder almost every game turns into a blowout."
"Hahaha, think about it. Yao Ming has been scoring pretty well this season, but the Twin Towers offense with Blake really is effective.
"And the Curry plus Klay backcourt combination in the bench rotation has completely changed what used to be one of Phoenix's weaker areas. That unit is basically winning its minutes every time it comes in.
"With both of those combinations constantly creating advantages, how could the Suns not be strong?"
"Damn... Phoenix is ridiculous right now."
"Hahaha, you guys make it sound like the Suns are some kind of unbeatable superteam, but if you really think about it, this roster is full of young players."
"Exactly. Curry is only in his third year, Blake and George are second-year players, and Thompson is a rookie. They're all young.
"And yet when you put them together, the result is already this powerful. That really is incredible."
"Hehehe. All you can say is that Phoenix has a great eye for talent. Every player they traded for was gifted, and last season was basically their development year.
"That was when this team was at its weakest.
"And even then, they still survived because 'The Emperor' Blake carried them with overwhelming individual heroics and led them to a championship as the lone superstar.
"They already made it through the hardest stage.
"So this season is when Phoenix is going to explode. This is when they start dominating right from the beginning.
"Sorry, but this year's Phoenix Suns are already unstoppable!"
"Exactly."
"No question!"
"Before, I just watched the Suns crush people without paying much attention to the tactics or rotation. Now that it's been explained like this, I actually want to watch more carefully and see exactly how powerful their offense looks with these combinations."
"Same here."
"Me too!"