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Talk to the Coach
Posted: April 5, 2004
Mike D'Antoni took time out of preparations for the Suns' final home stand of the season and chatted with KTAR's Kevin Ray on the 620 Sportsline's weekly "Talk to the Coach" program. K-Ray and the Coach talked about Jerry Colangelo's election for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame and the remainder of the 2003-04 season.
Kevin Ray: Here we are in the final countdown mode, just five games remaining and four of those remain on your home floor. But you’ve got some difficult challenges ahead. You’ve got Denver, Sacramento, Memphis, Utah. All teams either in the playoffs or fighting for playoff position. What kind of approach do you take these final few home games, if it’s any different than what you have been doing, Mike?
Mike D’Antoni: We’re going to try to win as many as we can. We’re going to try to play as well as we can. We have goals that we want to accomplish and we think we can do that. We’re pretty positive. Going into the Memphis game (Friday night) we felt like it was a game we could win. We’ll that way, that we can win Wednesday’s game and at least be very competitive, and put a good product on the floor and get better at the same time. We have our little goals and we’re going to try to come out and give the fans something to look forward to for next year.
Ray: Today, some news coming out impacting the Suns’ organization. Suns CEO and Managing General Partner Jerry Colangelo elected into the Hall of Fame. Third time (nominated) and joining five others who will be enshrined in September. Your thoughts on not only working with Jerry, working for Jerry and knowing his contributions to the game of basketball.
D’Antoni: It’s enormous and he deserves every bit of this award. It’s great for him and I’m happy for him. It’s a crown jewel of his. It’s been a long career for him and hopefully it will be a lot longer. He’s done a great job and the organization all the way through is known for its loyalty and hard work, it’s fairness and its success. It’s a great thing for him.
Ray: What kind of discussions have you and Bryan (Colangelo) had in terms of the team’s push here late, the progress and maybe what he would like to see over these final few games?
D’Antoni: I think we’re all on the same page. We’re trying to set the team up and learn as much as we can about the players, (and) find the holes that we need to plug up this summer. We have a lot of hope and we’re looking forward to it. The cap room and the lottery pick. We need a little bit of luck, you always need luck, but we’re in a great spot right now to get very good really quick.
Ray: I noticed today Jahidi (White) is still on the sideline, Jake (Voskuhl) had his foot iced down. Can we anticipate both those players shutting it down for the remainder of the season, based on you wanting to get this group you’ve got on the floor more minutes?
D’Antoni: It looks like it. If they can come back I’ll welcome them back because we do need the bodies, especially at practice time. Jake Voskuhl could definitely help up us in the rotation. It’s just up to them. They’re still hurting. We’re not going to, obviously, push them. We’re not going to risk (further injury). It wouldn’t make sense. But if they could come back, it’d be great to have them.
Ray: It seems like each week we find something new to talk about regarding Amaré Stoudemire. He went on this recent road trip with a basketball. Got on the bus with the basketball, got on the plane with the basketball, went to the hotel with the basketball and basically had a basketball in his hand for about the last 100-plus hours. The guy finds so many little things to continue to try and work on.
D’Antoni: He’s working. He’s got a lot of room for improvement. He’s pretty good right now, but obviously his defense and really focusing in on every play. He’s seen a lot of double teams and you see people zoning in on him when he gets the ball. Not only is that a compliment for a guy who’s 21 years old, but this is a great time to learn how to pass out of double teams and get your team to score. He makes some mistakes and we point them out to him, but the guy’s attitude is phenomenal and he’s doing everything he can possibly do to make the Suns a great team here shortly.
Ray: From a coach’s standpoint, it has to be so rewarding, particularly in all the light of the developments we’ve seen crop up over the last years with players and coaches going at it. I’m fortunate to be in a position to be at just about every practice. To watch practice end and for another 30-45 minutes, sometimes longer, Amaré and some times Maciej (Lampe), working on their game and to see those things coming through during the course of a game, that’s special.
D’Antoni: It really is. Amaré is setting the tone, but you can just go to Joe Johnson, Casey Jacobsen, Shawn Marion, all these guys are doing whatever it takes for us to be competitive. We’re shorthanded, we’re not as good as other teams and we make mistakes. We kick it away and we don’t finish games, but it’s enjoyable to be around them because they’re trying and practicing, and just having a great attitude. You have to believe that’s going to pay off. We do have a nice level of talent. It is young but it’s a nice level and we will add to that level. If we can get way up there and keep the attitude and the focus, there’s no reason we can’t be pretty good.
Caller (Rebecca, Gilbert): I wanted to know the difference was between the Memphis Grizzlies and our team. They seemed to progress really quickly in a couple of years. That team doesn’t seem to be really old and I wanted to know what your thought were, what pieces you think we’re missing and do you see us moving in that direction quickly.
D’Antoni: It’s a very good question. We point that out. We don’t think they have as much talent as we have. You said “in a couple of years,” and that true. They’ve been together now a year and a half, two years under Hubie (Brown), who’s done a great job and they’re now coming on. That’s what it’s going to take for us. We’re going to have to stick together with the nucleus and keep improving. They’re having stellar play from James Posey, who they picked up this summer (and) who has just been phenomenal for them. The guy in the last few games has been over 30 points and he’s playing hard both ways. They picked him up as a free agent and that’s really pushed them over the top, and Bo Outlaw has helped them a lot. We have to add a couple of pieces like that this summer and we think that will get us over the top, and hopefully we can have the kind of season like they’ve had.
Ray: One of those piece could come via the draft. You can’t always expect rookies to make the impact Amaré Stoudemire did. I know as a member of the organization you can’t talk specifics, but there’s a guy playing (Monday night, in the NCAA Tournament Final), we’ll just say his initials are E.O. Almost 6-10, not quite, has great skills, still not completely polished offensively, blocking over four shots a game. Is that a player that you could still plug in at (center), hypothetically?
D’Antoni: Oh, I think so. I think he’s going to be high on everybody’s list as a draft pick. Whether we get him or not depends on where we are with the ping-pong balls and how the lottery comes out. There are a number of players in the first round that are going to help you. It might not be next year, it might be two or three years down the line. The draft is getting younger all the time, so you have to pick the best available talent and go with it. I’m looking at the free agent cap room that we have. Again, you need some luck. Phoenix is a great place to sell and the Suns are a great organization to sell. We have that going for us and with the cap room you could make some serious damage. I think we can do that. Our team will jump up very quickly if that happens. Also, our guys coming back, having a training camp and a whole year. We talked about Memphis. We should be a lot better than them. We have more talent. That’s one of the teams we’ll be challenging next year and it will be very disappointing if we don’t get them.
Ray: What kind of timetable and what approach would like to see this young team take in the offseason?
D’Antoni: They’ll take a couple of weeks off. A lot people have a lot of tendonitis. Leandro Barbosa’s knee is killing him and he has had treatments every day, so he needs a couple of weeks to clear up the tendonitis and get him healthy. Other guys just need to physically and mentally get away from the game for a couple of weeks. We set up that in the whole month of May, we’ll have people here in Phoenix and we’ll have a good body of work for them to do with the weights, on the floor and they will hit May very hard. June, because of the draft and the Chicago pre-draft camp, we’ll give them a couple of weeks off here and there. Some of them will go home to visit their families. They’ll take June a little bit off but they’ll work where they go. Then they’ll hit July really hard. July comes in and we’ll have rookie camp, and some of the veterans will come in. Take a couple of weeks off in August and we want them back in Phoenix about six weeks before the season starts, and they can really make a push to get ready for the season. We’ll have a full summer and we’ll be on top of them. Everyone has indicated they’re going to do all this work, so we’ll be there for them and hopefully that will work out.
Talk to the Coach
Posted: April 5, 2004
Mike D'Antoni took time out of preparations for the Suns' final home stand of the season and chatted with KTAR's Kevin Ray on the 620 Sportsline's weekly "Talk to the Coach" program. K-Ray and the Coach talked about Jerry Colangelo's election for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame and the remainder of the 2003-04 season.
Kevin Ray: Here we are in the final countdown mode, just five games remaining and four of those remain on your home floor. But you’ve got some difficult challenges ahead. You’ve got Denver, Sacramento, Memphis, Utah. All teams either in the playoffs or fighting for playoff position. What kind of approach do you take these final few home games, if it’s any different than what you have been doing, Mike?
Mike D’Antoni: We’re going to try to win as many as we can. We’re going to try to play as well as we can. We have goals that we want to accomplish and we think we can do that. We’re pretty positive. Going into the Memphis game (Friday night) we felt like it was a game we could win. We’ll that way, that we can win Wednesday’s game and at least be very competitive, and put a good product on the floor and get better at the same time. We have our little goals and we’re going to try to come out and give the fans something to look forward to for next year.
Ray: Today, some news coming out impacting the Suns’ organization. Suns CEO and Managing General Partner Jerry Colangelo elected into the Hall of Fame. Third time (nominated) and joining five others who will be enshrined in September. Your thoughts on not only working with Jerry, working for Jerry and knowing his contributions to the game of basketball.
D’Antoni: It’s enormous and he deserves every bit of this award. It’s great for him and I’m happy for him. It’s a crown jewel of his. It’s been a long career for him and hopefully it will be a lot longer. He’s done a great job and the organization all the way through is known for its loyalty and hard work, it’s fairness and its success. It’s a great thing for him.
Ray: What kind of discussions have you and Bryan (Colangelo) had in terms of the team’s push here late, the progress and maybe what he would like to see over these final few games?
D’Antoni: I think we’re all on the same page. We’re trying to set the team up and learn as much as we can about the players, (and) find the holes that we need to plug up this summer. We have a lot of hope and we’re looking forward to it. The cap room and the lottery pick. We need a little bit of luck, you always need luck, but we’re in a great spot right now to get very good really quick.
Ray: I noticed today Jahidi (White) is still on the sideline, Jake (Voskuhl) had his foot iced down. Can we anticipate both those players shutting it down for the remainder of the season, based on you wanting to get this group you’ve got on the floor more minutes?
D’Antoni: It looks like it. If they can come back I’ll welcome them back because we do need the bodies, especially at practice time. Jake Voskuhl could definitely help up us in the rotation. It’s just up to them. They’re still hurting. We’re not going to, obviously, push them. We’re not going to risk (further injury). It wouldn’t make sense. But if they could come back, it’d be great to have them.
Ray: It seems like each week we find something new to talk about regarding Amaré Stoudemire. He went on this recent road trip with a basketball. Got on the bus with the basketball, got on the plane with the basketball, went to the hotel with the basketball and basically had a basketball in his hand for about the last 100-plus hours. The guy finds so many little things to continue to try and work on.
D’Antoni: He’s working. He’s got a lot of room for improvement. He’s pretty good right now, but obviously his defense and really focusing in on every play. He’s seen a lot of double teams and you see people zoning in on him when he gets the ball. Not only is that a compliment for a guy who’s 21 years old, but this is a great time to learn how to pass out of double teams and get your team to score. He makes some mistakes and we point them out to him, but the guy’s attitude is phenomenal and he’s doing everything he can possibly do to make the Suns a great team here shortly.
Ray: From a coach’s standpoint, it has to be so rewarding, particularly in all the light of the developments we’ve seen crop up over the last years with players and coaches going at it. I’m fortunate to be in a position to be at just about every practice. To watch practice end and for another 30-45 minutes, sometimes longer, Amaré and some times Maciej (Lampe), working on their game and to see those things coming through during the course of a game, that’s special.
D’Antoni: It really is. Amaré is setting the tone, but you can just go to Joe Johnson, Casey Jacobsen, Shawn Marion, all these guys are doing whatever it takes for us to be competitive. We’re shorthanded, we’re not as good as other teams and we make mistakes. We kick it away and we don’t finish games, but it’s enjoyable to be around them because they’re trying and practicing, and just having a great attitude. You have to believe that’s going to pay off. We do have a nice level of talent. It is young but it’s a nice level and we will add to that level. If we can get way up there and keep the attitude and the focus, there’s no reason we can’t be pretty good.
Caller (Rebecca, Gilbert): I wanted to know the difference was between the Memphis Grizzlies and our team. They seemed to progress really quickly in a couple of years. That team doesn’t seem to be really old and I wanted to know what your thought were, what pieces you think we’re missing and do you see us moving in that direction quickly.
D’Antoni: It’s a very good question. We point that out. We don’t think they have as much talent as we have. You said “in a couple of years,” and that true. They’ve been together now a year and a half, two years under Hubie (Brown), who’s done a great job and they’re now coming on. That’s what it’s going to take for us. We’re going to have to stick together with the nucleus and keep improving. They’re having stellar play from James Posey, who they picked up this summer (and) who has just been phenomenal for them. The guy in the last few games has been over 30 points and he’s playing hard both ways. They picked him up as a free agent and that’s really pushed them over the top, and Bo Outlaw has helped them a lot. We have to add a couple of pieces like that this summer and we think that will get us over the top, and hopefully we can have the kind of season like they’ve had.
Ray: One of those piece could come via the draft. You can’t always expect rookies to make the impact Amaré Stoudemire did. I know as a member of the organization you can’t talk specifics, but there’s a guy playing (Monday night, in the NCAA Tournament Final), we’ll just say his initials are E.O. Almost 6-10, not quite, has great skills, still not completely polished offensively, blocking over four shots a game. Is that a player that you could still plug in at (center), hypothetically?
D’Antoni: Oh, I think so. I think he’s going to be high on everybody’s list as a draft pick. Whether we get him or not depends on where we are with the ping-pong balls and how the lottery comes out. There are a number of players in the first round that are going to help you. It might not be next year, it might be two or three years down the line. The draft is getting younger all the time, so you have to pick the best available talent and go with it. I’m looking at the free agent cap room that we have. Again, you need some luck. Phoenix is a great place to sell and the Suns are a great organization to sell. We have that going for us and with the cap room you could make some serious damage. I think we can do that. Our team will jump up very quickly if that happens. Also, our guys coming back, having a training camp and a whole year. We talked about Memphis. We should be a lot better than them. We have more talent. That’s one of the teams we’ll be challenging next year and it will be very disappointing if we don’t get them.
Ray: What kind of timetable and what approach would like to see this young team take in the offseason?
D’Antoni: They’ll take a couple of weeks off. A lot people have a lot of tendonitis. Leandro Barbosa’s knee is killing him and he has had treatments every day, so he needs a couple of weeks to clear up the tendonitis and get him healthy. Other guys just need to physically and mentally get away from the game for a couple of weeks. We set up that in the whole month of May, we’ll have people here in Phoenix and we’ll have a good body of work for them to do with the weights, on the floor and they will hit May very hard. June, because of the draft and the Chicago pre-draft camp, we’ll give them a couple of weeks off here and there. Some of them will go home to visit their families. They’ll take June a little bit off but they’ll work where they go. Then they’ll hit July really hard. July comes in and we’ll have rookie camp, and some of the veterans will come in. Take a couple of weeks off in August and we want them back in Phoenix about six weeks before the season starts, and they can really make a push to get ready for the season. We’ll have a full summer and we’ll be on top of them. Everyone has indicated they’re going to do all this work, so we’ll be there for them and hopefully that will work out.
