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The Cardinal Smiles
From azcentral:
Suns resolve to toughen up, buckle down
Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 26, 2003 12:00 AM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - All season long, the Suns have played their best when they have been in a hole.
Give them a 10-point lead, and they're liable to let down. Strap them with a 10-point deficit, and they play at their best.
Give them a weak opponent, and they will play down to that level. Give them an elite team, and they will play like an elite team.
Now the Suns find themselves in a hole on a larger scale.
They're down to their final 12 games of the season, and they're a game behind Houston for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Golden State and Seattle are closing from behind.
Tonight the Suns begin a difficult three-game road trip that could determine whether they climb out of the hole or become buried in it. They visit the improved Memphis Grizzlies, then travel to Detroit and Indiana to face two of the Eastern Conference's top teams.
They may have to start the trip with a hobbled Amare Stoudemire. He aggravated turf toe on the big toe of his right foot and turned his left ankle against Seattle on Monday.
"I wasn't able to finish practice," Stoudemire said, adding that he hopes to play.
Coach Frank Johnson told the Suns on Tuesday that it's time to put aside sensitivities and get tough. They must do more than catch Houston. They have to finish a game ahead of the Rockets to advance to the postseason, because Houston has the head-to-head tiebreaker.
"Right now, we've all got to go out and give everything we've got," guard Stephon Marbury said. "We've got 12 games left, and if we want to get in the playoffs, we have to put ourselves in a position where we're playing the best basketball we can possibly play. Shawn (Marion), myself, Penny (Hardaway) and Amare - all of us - we have to play like it's our last game.
"I think we can do it. I honestly feel we can."
Johnson lectured the Suns on being able to take his criticism and being able to handle criticism from teammates in these final games.
"This is a great group of guys, but they've got to be able to get on each other and ride each other when things are not going well," he said. "This is a group that, we can't be critical of each other. One guy can't go to another and say, 'You need to bust it,' because he might not be able to take it.
"We just have a very sensitive group, and we have to be careful about how we talk to each other. That can't happen when you're playing on a team. You have to have thick skin - to a man."
Johnson says he listened when the team asked him to open up the offense, and he hopes they will return the favor now that he has asked them to toughen up.
"Now they've got to realize when there is something not going well, whether it's Steph's shot, Shawn's defense, Penny's running the floor, whatever it is - I was talking to them about all the different things - they've got to be able to take that and not be so sensitive," he said.
Marbury is the team's heart and soul, the team's leader. He said he prefers hearing things straight and saying things straight.
It doesn't always work well with the Suns.
"When I get on people, it don't go too far," he said, smiling. "It's funny, the way I am, my attitude is to get on people and say, 'C'mon you need to do this.' And vice-versa to me. When people do that to me, I play better.
"But everybody is different. It's kind of tough when you're dealing with so many different personalities. Coach said, we've got to be able to accept that. No matter what."
Marbury cautioned, however, that none of the Suns - including him - can try to do too much alone.
"When I was younger, I probably would have said, 'I have to come and I have to do this,' " Marbury said. "Now it's, 'We have to do this.' I see that, in order for us to go anywhere, we have to come together as a team and bring our game.
"When we do it as a team, my game, Shawn's game, Amare's game are all definitely elevated."
Suns resolve to toughen up, buckle down
Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 26, 2003 12:00 AM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - All season long, the Suns have played their best when they have been in a hole.
Give them a 10-point lead, and they're liable to let down. Strap them with a 10-point deficit, and they play at their best.
Give them a weak opponent, and they will play down to that level. Give them an elite team, and they will play like an elite team.
Now the Suns find themselves in a hole on a larger scale.
They're down to their final 12 games of the season, and they're a game behind Houston for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Golden State and Seattle are closing from behind.
Tonight the Suns begin a difficult three-game road trip that could determine whether they climb out of the hole or become buried in it. They visit the improved Memphis Grizzlies, then travel to Detroit and Indiana to face two of the Eastern Conference's top teams.
They may have to start the trip with a hobbled Amare Stoudemire. He aggravated turf toe on the big toe of his right foot and turned his left ankle against Seattle on Monday.
"I wasn't able to finish practice," Stoudemire said, adding that he hopes to play.
Coach Frank Johnson told the Suns on Tuesday that it's time to put aside sensitivities and get tough. They must do more than catch Houston. They have to finish a game ahead of the Rockets to advance to the postseason, because Houston has the head-to-head tiebreaker.
"Right now, we've all got to go out and give everything we've got," guard Stephon Marbury said. "We've got 12 games left, and if we want to get in the playoffs, we have to put ourselves in a position where we're playing the best basketball we can possibly play. Shawn (Marion), myself, Penny (Hardaway) and Amare - all of us - we have to play like it's our last game.
"I think we can do it. I honestly feel we can."
Johnson lectured the Suns on being able to take his criticism and being able to handle criticism from teammates in these final games.
"This is a great group of guys, but they've got to be able to get on each other and ride each other when things are not going well," he said. "This is a group that, we can't be critical of each other. One guy can't go to another and say, 'You need to bust it,' because he might not be able to take it.
"We just have a very sensitive group, and we have to be careful about how we talk to each other. That can't happen when you're playing on a team. You have to have thick skin - to a man."
Johnson says he listened when the team asked him to open up the offense, and he hopes they will return the favor now that he has asked them to toughen up.
"Now they've got to realize when there is something not going well, whether it's Steph's shot, Shawn's defense, Penny's running the floor, whatever it is - I was talking to them about all the different things - they've got to be able to take that and not be so sensitive," he said.
Marbury is the team's heart and soul, the team's leader. He said he prefers hearing things straight and saying things straight.
It doesn't always work well with the Suns.
"When I get on people, it don't go too far," he said, smiling. "It's funny, the way I am, my attitude is to get on people and say, 'C'mon you need to do this.' And vice-versa to me. When people do that to me, I play better.
"But everybody is different. It's kind of tough when you're dealing with so many different personalities. Coach said, we've got to be able to accept that. No matter what."
Marbury cautioned, however, that none of the Suns - including him - can try to do too much alone.
"When I was younger, I probably would have said, 'I have to come and I have to do this,' " Marbury said. "Now it's, 'We have to do this.' I see that, in order for us to go anywhere, we have to come together as a team and bring our game.
"When we do it as a team, my game, Shawn's game, Amare's game are all definitely elevated."
