http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22738.shtml
In Vegas: From Mike D'Antoni's Seat
By Tracy Graven
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jul 12, 2007, 16:39You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see imagesWednesday was a very good day for the Phoenix Suns organization.
After finally putting pen to paper with free agent Grant Hill, head coach Mike D'Antoni and general manager Steve Kerr flew to Las Vegas to re-join the rest of the Phoenix contingent and were treated to one heck of a performance by the two players they drafted last month, Alando Tucker and D.J. Strawberry.
The NBA Summer League is about players trying to make a dent in an NBA roster, and none may be tougher to impact than Phoenix's.
Marcus Banks is out here in an attempt to justify his contract and show those who put his faith in him that he can be worth every penny of the multi-million dollar deal. 2006-07 wasn't exactly his time, but Monday night was, when he broke summer league scoring records with a 42-point performance.
Nursing a strained left shoulder in Wednesday morning's shoot around, it was learned that Banks wouldn't play against the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday afternoon, which gave Strawberry and Tucker a front and center opportunity to show D'Antoni, Kerr and David Griffin what they were made of.
Though the Suns lost in an overtime nail-biter, they were nothing short of superb, much like Banks on Monday.
I caught up with D'Antoni right after the final buzzer:
Mike, your thoughts on Marcus Banks' performance Monday night, 42 points, that was nice, wasn't it?
Oh yeah. It was good. He scored a lot of points, came out and played hard and made some shots. I thought he looked pretty good.
How about Alando (Tucker) tonight? Twenty-nine points. He and D.J. (Strawberry, 19 points) really stepped it up in Marcus' absence tonight.
They played well. They're two guys that have similar games in the sense that they play very good defense and they move the ball. They both need to work on their shots and knock down their open jumpers, but they've got a good chance (to make the roster).
As you mention similar games, why did the Suns draft two guys have such similarities, play the same position, nearly the same height. Is it because of their defense?
Well, one can play a little '1' - one can play a little '2' - one can play a little '3'. So there's three spots out there for them. It doesn't really matter that they're that similar, there's still three spots out there that they can play and even be on the floor together. Especially at the 59th pick, you take the best player available and D.J. was by far the best player available.
That's when you know it's a deep draft, when someone like D.J. Strawberry is still available. How about today's signing? That's got to make you happy.
Grant Hill? Yeah, yeah -- that was huge. He's going to be a real, big positive for us.
I heard that you might envision him as one of your starters. Is that something that's feasible from your point of view?
Yeah, definitely. We'll see what happens, but he could easily start.
Looking at a potential starting line-up of Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Grant Hill, Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire then? That's quite impressive!
Yeah, that would be nice. Nothing's written in stone, though. We'll just have to wait and see what goes on.
Using last year as a model, do you go a little bit deeper into your rotation this year? Or do you still go only seven or eight deep with all the talent you've got on the bench?
That's funny. I've never played seven guys ... ever. In five games out of 90, I may have played seven players. So that's 85 games we played eight or more players. I know there's the perception that we go eight. Eight's a good number. We've got the best eight in the league and we'll probably stick with that, and maybe try and work a ninth and tenth guy in there once in a while. But we've got eight of the best players in the league.
It was a great fiscal move for the team, but won't you miss what Junior (James Jones) brought to the table?
Oh, yeah. Junior was great for us and we'll miss him and his character and his family. He was super. But Grant would have taken up his minutes, so it was the thing to do.
Do you think the chip that the team will likely have on it's shoulder from the ruling debacle of Game Five will be the motivation for this season, where they seemed to kind of expect things last year and the chip was missing?
No, I don't think so. I don't think we can play any harder than we played. They play that way every night and they give you everything they've got. They didn't have any more to give. I'm really happy with their effort ... and it will stay that way.
But two extra players in Game Six, and you guys are on your way to a title, though ... seriously.
Yeah, we're there. And we're gonna be there. Anytime you've got Amare (Stoudemire), Shawn (Marion), and Steve (Nash) on your team, you're going to be in the title hunt. So, hopefully it will work out.
The coming months, training camp, and official announcements will tell the tale, but it appears the Suns have what they want and need to make another run at the championship that eluded them just a few weeks ago, fairly or unfairly.
The slate is clean.
The roster is packed.
Buckle in, Suns fans ... it's going to be one hell of a ride.