Suns Top NBA in Unique Challenge Stat

The Phoenix Suns, under the first-year guidance of head coach Jordan Ott, have surprised nearly the entire basketball world thanks to an exciting regular season that will surely see the playoffs/play-in tournament in their future.

The Suns have operated vastly different under Ott compared to prior head coaches in Monty Williams, Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer. While there's an obvious list of differences that include three-point emphasis and defensive grit, Ott is more liberal when it comes to challenging calls.

Not just more than previous Suns coaches, but more than practically the rest of the league.

In a recent write-up done by Charting Hoops, Ott is one of three NBA coaches to challenge more than once per game:

"Coaches start with one challenge per game, and get a second if the first is successful. Three teams are averaging over one challenge per game, meaning they get (and use) a second challenge more often than not: the Houston Rockets led by Head Coach Ime Udoka, Minnesota Timberwolves (Chris Finch), and Phoenix Suns (Jordan Ott)" said Chris Gunther.

It's also interesting to note per Gunther's research nine of the top ten teams in the NBA who use challenges are in the West.

Ott seems to be a bit more advanced with his analytics department, often citing shot quality and other metrics during timeouts with his coaches and press conferences with media. That includes pinpointing exactly where and when to use a challenge.

Obviously, Ott isn't shy about looking for reviews. The numbers suggest it. Ott will search for every advantage possible, which includes challenging calls that don't directly lead to points just for the sake of gaining an extra possession.

“I think the analytics boom was shot quality and efficiency of shots, [but] they left out a lot of times (that) you can’t be in the negative in the possession game every night,” Ott said earlier in the year (h/t Arizona Sports).

“(You’re) basically in the hole to start the game. To the increase of offensive rebounding, to the increase of defensive pressure, some of that goes hand-in-hand with people talking about the possession game more.”

Ott isn't quite aggressive in nature, though his coaching demeanor and how the Suns play for 48 minutes every night suggests otherwise.

That can also be applied to his challenge usage, and it'll be interesting to see if those numbers follow after the regular season.