The Phoenix Suns are in the midst of a multi-day break between games. 

Phoenix (1-2) returns to action on Friday night in NBA Cup action against the 2-2 Denver Nuggets.

Suns head coach Jordan Ott spoke with media following Wednesday's practice, discussing a pair of key pertinent topics surrounding the team in the process.

There's many areas of concerns that the Suns must address in the weeks ahead. Perhaps the most urgent is figuring out recent defensive woes, as the Suns rank 30th (last) in defensive rating heading into the Denver contest.

Ott was very clear in stressing that defense became the focal point of practice on Wednesday (Duane Rankin).

"If you didn't walk away with a defensive message coming out of today, I'd say you weren't paying attention. We hit the defense pretty hard today."

There are numerous concerns on the defensive side of the ball at this moment. The chief of which is Phoenix's efforts on the defensive glass. This is due to a myriad of factors, including the personnel groupings and the team currently not suiting Mark Williams up.

An extension of giving up more second-chance opportunities than one would like is the extensive three-point volume given up. The Suns are ceding 48 three-point attempts per game, with 16 makes per contest accompanying this. While the efficiency isn't incredibly strong, the sheer volume inherently places Phoenix in a precarious position. 

One of the major focuses here has to be on the individual efforts of Miles Bridges. The first-year Sun has been the subject of recent controversy surrounding his blown assignments and rotations on defense that lead to numerous scoring conversions in each game.

Whether the Suns will be able to recapture the defensive efficacy they had last season or not is up for time to decide. However, they certainly need to improve from the rock-bottom state they find themselves currently.

The status of Phoenix's second center has been in-the-air ever since he left the season opener with an apparent hip issue.

Ott gave a crucial update in his climb back to a return to game action (Rankin).

"He went through practice today. He did most of practice. So this was his highest day back. It's helpful that we have a couple of days. So that's been good over the last week, but we're going to be smart with him. See how it reacts after today's practice, but he definitely went through most of practice." 

The day-to-day status that has been the status quo for Ighodaro over the last week seems to be intact. This is likely the right approach to take, as the official oblique strain diagnosis has to be taken seriously. While the Suns need the presence of the Marquette alum to aid in the offense flowing more freely, as well as in fortifying second-unit defensive concerns.

Until then, Duop Reath is continuing to hold the fort in short spurts.

The Suns-Nuggets game is tipping off shortly after 7:00 P.M. MST Friday night from Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.