duncan228
04-24-2008, 10:31 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042508_SunsSider.en.98a613cb.html
Pro basketball: Suns aren't making vacation plans yet
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
PHOENIX — A reporter wielding a microphone and a deep baritone voice asked Suns coach Mike D'Antoni on Thursday what he would say to Suns fans so overwrought they are poised to jump out windows in tall buildings because the Suns are down 2-0 in their first-round playoff series against the Spurs.
“Those can go ahead and jump,” D'Antoni said. “We've got 6 million people here. We're fine. We're overcrowded anyway.”
It was a joke from a coach who often employs sarcasm to take the edge off any situation, and the media throng clustered around him in a corner of the Suns' practice facility understood he wasn't serious.
This, though, is no one-liner: The Suns, from D'Antoni to two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash to newcomer center Shaquille O'Neal, still believe they can win the series if they do little else but play as well as they did in the first two games.
D'Antoni understands how deflating the two losses were. He chooses to see the Suns' effort as a sign that they are capable of playing with the defending champions.
“I'm ready to jump, too,” he said of the reporter's mythical ledge walkers. “I'm on the ledge with them, but I'm not going. I'm crawling back in, and we're going to play Friday, and we're going to bust them up Friday.
“That's our mind-set, and we still don't have any doubt that we can win the series. Our guys are ready.”
The four-time champion Spurs, of course, have their own mind-set about the series that resumes tonight at US Airways Center. The Suns hardly expect them to accept the notion they didn't deserve to win the first two games of the best-of-7 set.
“You've got to give them all the credit in the world,” D'Antoni said. “But there will be no back down, and we're not fretting now. We're ready for Friday.”
The Suns face tonight's must-win game — no team in league history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a series — content they have defended the Spurs well enough. All that is required, they say, is to return to the offensive mind-set that has made them one of the league's most prolific scoring units since D'Antoni has been head coach.
“I don't think it's our defense that's causing us to lose right now,” D'Antoni said. “It's our offense. We need to up the production. We need to hoist them up. We need to run more and move the ball a little better.
“We've got to play a little more carefree. We're a little tight right now. They got us down and with our backs against the wall, but I like our guys. They'll come out firing.”
Nash pointed to the 61 points the Suns scored in the first half of Game 2 as proof they haven't been frustrated by the Spurs' defense.
“We had a lot to feel good about in Game 1,” he said, “and we had a great first half in Game 2. We've just got to tweak it a little bit — be a little bit smarter and tougher and make a play or two. But they're the defending champs, and they're definitely going to be tough to knock off.”
Pro basketball: Suns aren't making vacation plans yet
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
PHOENIX — A reporter wielding a microphone and a deep baritone voice asked Suns coach Mike D'Antoni on Thursday what he would say to Suns fans so overwrought they are poised to jump out windows in tall buildings because the Suns are down 2-0 in their first-round playoff series against the Spurs.
“Those can go ahead and jump,” D'Antoni said. “We've got 6 million people here. We're fine. We're overcrowded anyway.”
It was a joke from a coach who often employs sarcasm to take the edge off any situation, and the media throng clustered around him in a corner of the Suns' practice facility understood he wasn't serious.
This, though, is no one-liner: The Suns, from D'Antoni to two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash to newcomer center Shaquille O'Neal, still believe they can win the series if they do little else but play as well as they did in the first two games.
D'Antoni understands how deflating the two losses were. He chooses to see the Suns' effort as a sign that they are capable of playing with the defending champions.
“I'm ready to jump, too,” he said of the reporter's mythical ledge walkers. “I'm on the ledge with them, but I'm not going. I'm crawling back in, and we're going to play Friday, and we're going to bust them up Friday.
“That's our mind-set, and we still don't have any doubt that we can win the series. Our guys are ready.”
The four-time champion Spurs, of course, have their own mind-set about the series that resumes tonight at US Airways Center. The Suns hardly expect them to accept the notion they didn't deserve to win the first two games of the best-of-7 set.
“You've got to give them all the credit in the world,” D'Antoni said. “But there will be no back down, and we're not fretting now. We're ready for Friday.”
The Suns face tonight's must-win game — no team in league history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a series — content they have defended the Spurs well enough. All that is required, they say, is to return to the offensive mind-set that has made them one of the league's most prolific scoring units since D'Antoni has been head coach.
“I don't think it's our defense that's causing us to lose right now,” D'Antoni said. “It's our offense. We need to up the production. We need to hoist them up. We need to run more and move the ball a little better.
“We've got to play a little more carefree. We're a little tight right now. They got us down and with our backs against the wall, but I like our guys. They'll come out firing.”
Nash pointed to the 61 points the Suns scored in the first half of Game 2 as proof they haven't been frustrated by the Spurs' defense.
“We had a lot to feel good about in Game 1,” he said, “and we had a great first half in Game 2. We've just got to tweak it a little bit — be a little bit smarter and tougher and make a play or two. But they're the defending champs, and they're definitely going to be tough to knock off.”