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Suns Notebook:
D’Antoni Puts Up Defense of Suns Style
By Mike Tulumello
East Valley Tribune
May 31, 2005
SAN ANTONIO – With much of the nation’s basketball media gathered to record the likely demise of the Suns, coach Mike D’Antoni gave an animated defense of the team’s run-and-gun approach before Monday’s game.
He called the idea that the Suns’ style won’t work in the postseason "mind-boggling."
He pointed out this is the Suns’ first year with the current group together and that expectations for the team were — at most — to make the playoffs.
Despite this, the Suns had the league’s best record, produced three all-NBA players, the most valuable player and sold out much of the season, he pointed out.
Then, the Suns made the Western Conference finals despite losing a key player in Joe Johnson.
"My god, it works!" D’Antoni said.
As for the future, "The system can get a lot better.
"We’ve got to keep Steve Nash on ice and squeeze every drop of blood that he has. The rest of our team is only going to get better."
"It’s mind-boggling," he said of the idea that the Suns’ style can’t work. "I get stunned every time I hear it."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich agreed, saying that from the start, "I’ve been one of the ones who thought they could play the way they are and win championships."
He pointed out the games have been close and though the Suns lost the first three, "I don’t think that’s any indictment of the way they are playing or any endorsement of how we play."
HUNTER TO STAY?
Steven Hunter would like a raise from his $720,000 salary. But he’d also like to stay with the club.
Hunter has an option to play next season at the same salary. "I don’t see it as likely," he said Monday of exercising this option. But at the same time, he said, "This is definitely where I want to be."
It’s not clear whether the Suns would get into a bidding war for Hunter. He has given the Suns their most effective interior defense, yet he has been inconsistent.
It’s possible the Suns could use the so-called "milliondollar exception" to the salary cap, actually valued this season at $1.6 million, on Hunter.
Jake Voskuhl also has a player option to play next season for about $1.9 million. He reiterated that, "I’ll address that at the end of the season."
FOILING THE FLOPPER
Quentin Richardson said the Suns came armed for Game 4 with a new strategy regarding notorious flopper Manu Ginobili.
"We see that Ginobili is gonna fall every time he goes in or gets touched or anything. So if we’re gonna hit him, we’re gonna hit him,"
Richardson said. "We ain’t gonna let him flop and get a foul for something that we didn’t do. That’s what’s been happening the whole series. We don’t touch him and he just throws his hair and they call a foul."
Amaré Stoudemire also sounded sick of Ginobili’s antics, adding, "I guess he’s looking for an acting career or something."
RETURN OF THE MATRIX
Shawn Marion has had a dreadful Western Conference final and his luck didn’t change in the first half Monday when he went scoreless.
But Marion finally emerged from his series-long slumber with an active second half, scoring all 11 of his points, grabbing 11 of his 14 rebounds and recording two of his three blocks in the final 24 minutes.
The difference?
"We made sure we pushed the ball and I got a couple shots in transition. That’s how it happened," he said. "My teammates were looking for me tonight."
When pressed about his past struggles, he said: "I can’t control certain things on the floor but I can control my energy and that’s what I tried to go out there and do."
BILINGUAL MVP
Steve Nash answered a question from a Spanishlanguage reporter in unhesitating, fluent Spanish.
Calling the win "muy importante," Nash used only one English word: "Comeback."
"That’s why he’s the MVP," said NBA spokesman Tim Frank, who was overseeing the news conference.
BONUS SHOTS
Tickets for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals are on sale at Suns.com, by phone at 1-800-4NBA-TIX starting at 8 a.m. (if any are left), at the arena box office starting at 10 a.m. and at all Ticketmaster outlets. . . . Stoudemire is the first Suns’ player to score 30-plus points in four straight in the postseason. Stoudemire and Nash had three straight such games earlier in the postseason. . . . This is the sixth time Johnson either has set or tied his career playoff high in scoring this postseason.
D’Antoni Puts Up Defense of Suns Style
By Mike Tulumello
East Valley Tribune
May 31, 2005
SAN ANTONIO – With much of the nation’s basketball media gathered to record the likely demise of the Suns, coach Mike D’Antoni gave an animated defense of the team’s run-and-gun approach before Monday’s game.
He called the idea that the Suns’ style won’t work in the postseason "mind-boggling."
He pointed out this is the Suns’ first year with the current group together and that expectations for the team were — at most — to make the playoffs.
Despite this, the Suns had the league’s best record, produced three all-NBA players, the most valuable player and sold out much of the season, he pointed out.
Then, the Suns made the Western Conference finals despite losing a key player in Joe Johnson.
"My god, it works!" D’Antoni said.
As for the future, "The system can get a lot better.
"We’ve got to keep Steve Nash on ice and squeeze every drop of blood that he has. The rest of our team is only going to get better."
"It’s mind-boggling," he said of the idea that the Suns’ style can’t work. "I get stunned every time I hear it."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich agreed, saying that from the start, "I’ve been one of the ones who thought they could play the way they are and win championships."
He pointed out the games have been close and though the Suns lost the first three, "I don’t think that’s any indictment of the way they are playing or any endorsement of how we play."
HUNTER TO STAY?
Steven Hunter would like a raise from his $720,000 salary. But he’d also like to stay with the club.
Hunter has an option to play next season at the same salary. "I don’t see it as likely," he said Monday of exercising this option. But at the same time, he said, "This is definitely where I want to be."
It’s not clear whether the Suns would get into a bidding war for Hunter. He has given the Suns their most effective interior defense, yet he has been inconsistent.
It’s possible the Suns could use the so-called "milliondollar exception" to the salary cap, actually valued this season at $1.6 million, on Hunter.
Jake Voskuhl also has a player option to play next season for about $1.9 million. He reiterated that, "I’ll address that at the end of the season."
FOILING THE FLOPPER
Quentin Richardson said the Suns came armed for Game 4 with a new strategy regarding notorious flopper Manu Ginobili.
"We see that Ginobili is gonna fall every time he goes in or gets touched or anything. So if we’re gonna hit him, we’re gonna hit him,"
Richardson said. "We ain’t gonna let him flop and get a foul for something that we didn’t do. That’s what’s been happening the whole series. We don’t touch him and he just throws his hair and they call a foul."
Amaré Stoudemire also sounded sick of Ginobili’s antics, adding, "I guess he’s looking for an acting career or something."
RETURN OF THE MATRIX
Shawn Marion has had a dreadful Western Conference final and his luck didn’t change in the first half Monday when he went scoreless.
But Marion finally emerged from his series-long slumber with an active second half, scoring all 11 of his points, grabbing 11 of his 14 rebounds and recording two of his three blocks in the final 24 minutes.
The difference?
"We made sure we pushed the ball and I got a couple shots in transition. That’s how it happened," he said. "My teammates were looking for me tonight."
When pressed about his past struggles, he said: "I can’t control certain things on the floor but I can control my energy and that’s what I tried to go out there and do."
BILINGUAL MVP
Steve Nash answered a question from a Spanishlanguage reporter in unhesitating, fluent Spanish.
Calling the win "muy importante," Nash used only one English word: "Comeback."
"That’s why he’s the MVP," said NBA spokesman Tim Frank, who was overseeing the news conference.
BONUS SHOTS
Tickets for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals are on sale at Suns.com, by phone at 1-800-4NBA-TIX starting at 8 a.m. (if any are left), at the arena box office starting at 10 a.m. and at all Ticketmaster outlets. . . . Stoudemire is the first Suns’ player to score 30-plus points in four straight in the postseason. Stoudemire and Nash had three straight such games earlier in the postseason. . . . This is the sixth time Johnson either has set or tied his career playoff high in scoring this postseason.
