kcplayboi_26
02-17-2009, 06:48 PM
i dont think so unless they just get blown away with a cant turn down offer
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2009/02/16/20090216sunskerr0217.html
Kerr suggests Amaré won't be traded
160 comments by Paul Coro - Feb. 16, 2009 08:13 PM
The Arizona Republic
The Suns felt like they got their team back Monday afternoon when they practiced for the first time under interim coach Alvin Gentry.
With orders to return to a "breakneck pace," there were non-stop scrimmages with a five-second backcourt rule reinstalled. Talking and walking was gone. Running and gunning was in.
The session marked the return of an unabashed desire to push the tempo, one that remained after the addition of center Shaquille O'Neal last season. In their final 20 games last season, the Suns averaged 112.5 points and were 15-5.
Monday's coaching change - Gentry replaced first-year coach Terry Porter, who was fired Sunday night - was welcomed by the players, and they might get their wish to stay together.
After Suns General Manager Steve Kerr went to Porter's house to fire him Sunday night, he gave the team the impression at practice Monday that they would stay intact past Thursday's NBA trade deadline despite much speculation involving forward Amaré Stoudemire.
"I'd like to keep what we have and go forward and see what we can do," said Kerr, who said the decision to let Porter go was made Sunday.
Kerr complimented Porter, whom he hired in June to replace Mike D'Antoni, for his integrity and work ethic but said he underestimated how difficult the transition would be under Porter.
The Suns are 28-23 but have lost 10 of their past 16 games, including seven by double digits and four to losing teams. That made Porter the first Suns coach to get fired during the season with a winning record and the first NBA coach since Cleveland's Paul Silas in 2005.
"This is a move we had to make in order to give our team the best chance for success," Kerr said.
To that end, the Suns were willing to swallow millions of dollars for Porter's three-year, guaranteed contact and a new head coach's deal despite the franchise's frail finances.
The Suns have lost a major sponsor, expect season-ticket sales to drop and project a $30 million loss for next season.
Although they sit in draft-lottery position rather than in a playoff spot, the Suns believe they can fulfill their potential in the final 31 games. They will have to re-establish the identity that Porter had tried to recapture since December while trying to minimize the Suns' defensive flaws.
"We've got to get that mentality back," said Suns guard Steve Nash, who has been worn down by heavy minutes and will get more breaks with Goran Dragic playing regularly. "We've also got to get some cohesion and an understanding and a feeling between us that we're going to read and react rather than be as deliberate as we were. It's definitely going to take time, but it's worthwhile. We're even emphasizing some of the little adjustments that will make us more familiar to the teams of the past.
"Maybe a new beginning is what this group needs to inspire a little more life out of us and get more of a swagger and confidence about us. . . . It depends how we respond. The NBA isn't really full of clairvoyant point guards or management."
Gentry returned the Suns to the practice style of D'Antoni, which was scrimmage-heavy to establish the conditioning and fast-break structure needed. They played two seven-minute games and a five-minute game.
"If you can survive that, the games never go that long without a break," Suns forward Matt Barnes said. "That first team looked really good. Steve looked great. Amaré looked great. This is what I came to Phoenix for, to be a part of a team that has this style."
Gentry talked to the team as the head coach on "a multi-week contract" and declared that to be the last team meeting he would have following a winter of fix-it gatherings for the unraveling squad.
"I don't know what else we can talk about, unless we start talking about what's going on in Afghanistan," said Gentry, who called his fourth head-coaching appointment "bittersweet."
He was an assistant to D'Antoni for four years but stayed in Phoenix for his family when D'Antoni went to New York to coach the Knicks. Talking to New York reporters Monday, D'Antoni joked that he did not feel vindicated.
"It's interesting, that's for sure," D'Antoni said. "But in this business, I don't think we're shocked at anything. It's tough. They had high expectations (and) didn't live up to them. Usually, something happens, a trade or a firing . . . (Gentry) is a great guy, and he'll step in and try to get them back on line."
Nash said the team has felt like the "weight of the world" has been on it for four months, starting with an awkward training camp under Porter.
For a day at least, the Suns felt freed but must turn around their season with consistency. They have not won more than three games in a row after win streaks of 11 (twice), 15 and 17 the previous two seasons.
"Considering the circumstances and what we've been through, he's probably the perfect person to take over at this time," forward Grant Hill said of Gentry. "We're going to get up and down, similar to what you saw last year. If we're going to go down, we're going to go down doing what we do and being who we are."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2009/02/16/20090216sunskerr0217.html
Kerr suggests Amaré won't be traded
160 comments by Paul Coro - Feb. 16, 2009 08:13 PM
The Arizona Republic
The Suns felt like they got their team back Monday afternoon when they practiced for the first time under interim coach Alvin Gentry.
With orders to return to a "breakneck pace," there were non-stop scrimmages with a five-second backcourt rule reinstalled. Talking and walking was gone. Running and gunning was in.
The session marked the return of an unabashed desire to push the tempo, one that remained after the addition of center Shaquille O'Neal last season. In their final 20 games last season, the Suns averaged 112.5 points and were 15-5.
Monday's coaching change - Gentry replaced first-year coach Terry Porter, who was fired Sunday night - was welcomed by the players, and they might get their wish to stay together.
After Suns General Manager Steve Kerr went to Porter's house to fire him Sunday night, he gave the team the impression at practice Monday that they would stay intact past Thursday's NBA trade deadline despite much speculation involving forward Amaré Stoudemire.
"I'd like to keep what we have and go forward and see what we can do," said Kerr, who said the decision to let Porter go was made Sunday.
Kerr complimented Porter, whom he hired in June to replace Mike D'Antoni, for his integrity and work ethic but said he underestimated how difficult the transition would be under Porter.
The Suns are 28-23 but have lost 10 of their past 16 games, including seven by double digits and four to losing teams. That made Porter the first Suns coach to get fired during the season with a winning record and the first NBA coach since Cleveland's Paul Silas in 2005.
"This is a move we had to make in order to give our team the best chance for success," Kerr said.
To that end, the Suns were willing to swallow millions of dollars for Porter's three-year, guaranteed contact and a new head coach's deal despite the franchise's frail finances.
The Suns have lost a major sponsor, expect season-ticket sales to drop and project a $30 million loss for next season.
Although they sit in draft-lottery position rather than in a playoff spot, the Suns believe they can fulfill their potential in the final 31 games. They will have to re-establish the identity that Porter had tried to recapture since December while trying to minimize the Suns' defensive flaws.
"We've got to get that mentality back," said Suns guard Steve Nash, who has been worn down by heavy minutes and will get more breaks with Goran Dragic playing regularly. "We've also got to get some cohesion and an understanding and a feeling between us that we're going to read and react rather than be as deliberate as we were. It's definitely going to take time, but it's worthwhile. We're even emphasizing some of the little adjustments that will make us more familiar to the teams of the past.
"Maybe a new beginning is what this group needs to inspire a little more life out of us and get more of a swagger and confidence about us. . . . It depends how we respond. The NBA isn't really full of clairvoyant point guards or management."
Gentry returned the Suns to the practice style of D'Antoni, which was scrimmage-heavy to establish the conditioning and fast-break structure needed. They played two seven-minute games and a five-minute game.
"If you can survive that, the games never go that long without a break," Suns forward Matt Barnes said. "That first team looked really good. Steve looked great. Amaré looked great. This is what I came to Phoenix for, to be a part of a team that has this style."
Gentry talked to the team as the head coach on "a multi-week contract" and declared that to be the last team meeting he would have following a winter of fix-it gatherings for the unraveling squad.
"I don't know what else we can talk about, unless we start talking about what's going on in Afghanistan," said Gentry, who called his fourth head-coaching appointment "bittersweet."
He was an assistant to D'Antoni for four years but stayed in Phoenix for his family when D'Antoni went to New York to coach the Knicks. Talking to New York reporters Monday, D'Antoni joked that he did not feel vindicated.
"It's interesting, that's for sure," D'Antoni said. "But in this business, I don't think we're shocked at anything. It's tough. They had high expectations (and) didn't live up to them. Usually, something happens, a trade or a firing . . . (Gentry) is a great guy, and he'll step in and try to get them back on line."
Nash said the team has felt like the "weight of the world" has been on it for four months, starting with an awkward training camp under Porter.
For a day at least, the Suns felt freed but must turn around their season with consistency. They have not won more than three games in a row after win streaks of 11 (twice), 15 and 17 the previous two seasons.
"Considering the circumstances and what we've been through, he's probably the perfect person to take over at this time," forward Grant Hill said of Gentry. "We're going to get up and down, similar to what you saw last year. If we're going to go down, we're going to go down doing what we do and being who we are."