Post Game Quotes (Suns Game Two)

[duncan228]

Post Game Quotes (Suns Game Two)

Head Coach Gregg Popovich

(On where the game got away) “I thought in the first half Jared Dudley changed the whole game. He came in and he was a monster. He was committed to the board and it was infectious and for that period they really got after us on the board and that changed it for the first half. In the second half I thought Channing Frye did the same thing making his threes. If he’s going to make those threes that really makes their spacing work, when he knocks down those shots. They were contested, he might have had one that was open but they were contested and he knocked them down. When he does that they are very, very difficult to guard. Then Grant Hill made two really timely shots over Timmy. Those were the biggest changes in the game I thought as far as momentum and that type of thing.”

(On Suns getting second chance opportunities) “Ya they did. They beat us on the boards’ real well. That was really in the first half. After that happened that wasn’t as big of a deal. That’s why I said it was Channing Frye in the second half spreading the court hitting those threes.”

Tim Duncan

(On not getting separation) “We got ourselves a lead in the first quarter and the second quarter they had guys come in and made plays. (Jared) Dudley came in and got a couple of three-point plays in a row and made some threes that got them right back into it. We go into the half tied and we feel pretty good—were in good position there. Same thing in the third, we were pretty even then they found a way to pull away. They just made some big shots, they made shots all night—Channing’s 5 of 6 from three, and they make 50% of their threes basically. Every time they needed a shot it seems like it fell for them.”

(On Suns’ offensive rebounding keeping them in the game) “Exactly, their energy hitting the glass; I guess they recognized their shots weren’t going down, whatever it may be. They just seemed to get the ball back and got a couple and-ones in a row, and that seemed to get their offense going.”

Tony Parker

(On being Tied at the Half) “Definitely it’s a little bit frustrating. I thought we played pretty well but when we had that lead we didn’t take advantage. They beat us on the boards; offensive boards really hurt us tonight. It was one of those games where you think that you have it and they just make big shot after big shot in the second half. They shot the ball very well in the second half.”

(On Depth of Phoenix Bench) “Five players played well tonight. Dudley was huge too taking all those boards when we couldn’t take advantage in the first half. They played well overall and they made the plays they needed to win the game.”

Richard Jefferson

(On Tonight’s Game) “They did a good job. Again, we did some things well but there are a lot of things we need to improve on. Whenever you make a mistake, they do a good job of capitalizing on that and that was the story. Any mistake we made; we missed a read or we went over the top of a screen when we should have gone under, they’re knocking them down and you give them all the credit in a situation like that.”

(On Being Tied at the Half) “The game before, they were up by ten and then 3 minutes into the second half we were up 3. There’s going to be ebbs and flows and ups and down, especially in the playoffs. You have to kind of stay even keeled and understand that. We’re on the road and we’ve got a tied game at halftime and that’s what we want. You want the opportunity to win in the last three minutes.”

Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry

(On the game) “It was a great win for us. I think it was about as gritty a win as we’ve had since I’ve been around here. I thought our guys played exceptionally well, but we never could get a rhythm going. San Antonio did a great job of just getting into us enough and throwing our rhythm off enough that we couldn’t get anything going. We shot the ball awful – I thought we were rushing our shots a little bit and they did a good job of closing out on us. I just thought that at some stage of the game we would try to make the run and we would be able to open the floor and we would be able to score a little bit, but it would have to come on misses and not makes. We were trading baskets there and the only way you’re going to get separation is by coming up with stops and I thought we did a great job. Once again, Channing (Frye) and JC (Jarron Collins) – those guys did a great job on Tim (Duncan) – as well as you can, considering the cir stances. I thought our guys did a phenomenal job on (Manu) Ginobili. Grant Hill never ceases to amaze me, here’s a 37-year-old guy who has been in the league for a long, long time and he just does a good job. Everything we ask him to do, every night we ask him to do something and he never complains. We tell him to go out and he’s always on the best perimeter player and he never complains, he just plays. I’ve been the luckiest guy in the world to be able to coach him for as long as I have and he’ll forever be my favorite player, he really will. Everybody else – I thought Amar’e (Stoudemire) did a good job, he just couldn’t ever really get anything going but you look at the end of the night and he has 23 points and 11 rebounds. I just thought it was a real total team effort and once again I thought our bench, they didn’t play very well, but they afforded us an opportunity to keep Steve (Nash) and those guys over there until the six minute mark and I can’t tell you guys how important that is for us. For Steve to be able to have six minutes instead of the 10 or 11 minutes we try to play him in the fourth quarter – to me, it was just a great team victory and at the end of the day we haven’t really done anything except what we were supposed to do and that’s to hold serve at home. Now we’ve got to go to San Antonio and try to figure out a way to win the next game.”

(On rebounding) “I thought we did a good job – I thought we were active even early on in the game when our shots weren’t going in, I thought we still did a good job of being active on the offensive boards and having a lot of activity and beating them to balls. Even though we didn’t shoot the ball well, I thought that at some stage, we would make some shots.”

(On shooting the ball poorly to start the game) “The one thing that we tried to do was we just talked about we had to keep playing defense. We’re somewhat arrogant when it comes to offense because we think at some stage we’re going to make some baskets somewhere down the line and I just said we needed to do it off of misses and we had to be running off misses if we were going to get any separation. That’s exactly what happened, really, we came up with some stops and some steals and a few plays here and there and before you know it, we got it up to 11 I think.”

Amar'e Stoudemire

(On the game) “We struggled in the first quarter – the second unit did a phenomenal job again of coming in and playing great for us. The energy was high, offensive rebounds, put-backs and they got the fans involved and the first unit riled up. They did a great job for us out there.”

(On rebounding) “We’re doing a good job collectively of rebounding. It’s not always easy when you’re battling guys like (Tim) Duncan and (Antonio) McDyess – both guys are great on the boards. I think the guards are doing a great job of crashing the boards and coming in there and helping us out. It’s a total team effort out there every night – all the guys do a phenomenal job for us.”

(On the fashion in which they won) “We didn’t shoot the ball well and we won the game defensively. We got stops in the fourth quarter and we were able to get rebounds and with that being said, it makes our fastbreak and gets us going. Great spacing offensively and they had a hard time guarding us out there.”

(On the second unit) “Channing (Frye) and Jared (Dudley) have been great for us all season long; they’ve been phenomenal for us. The second unit – there’s been times where Lou Amundson will come in and help and we’ve had great input from the guys in the second unit and if we keep that going, we’ll be in good shape.”

Steve Nash

(On the game) “It wasn’t the start we were looking for, that’s for sure. I don’t know if it was nerves or not – I felt like maybe it was nerves, because I know it wasn’t for a lack of want or energy, but I think sometimes you get passive and we lose our rhythm and that makes us more passive and we almost scare ourselves and we get on the back foot. I thought in the first quarter it wasn’t that we didn’t want it; we weren’t quite there mentally yet. We hung in there, we rallied each other and told each other to hang in mentally and we weren’t going to go the entire game shooting 29 percent and I thought our toughness was great. I have to say the most impressive thing to me with the win was the team effort. So many guys made plays for our team tonight and I can’t remember really being a part of a team that’s had so many guys step up and play so well.”

(On Jared Dudley) “He was my player of the game – he made some huge plays for us. Our first unit struggled a little bit, our second unit came in and I thought they struggled a little bit and then there was a turning point where he got about three offensive rebounds, a steal and he did a bunch of things that more than anything gave us energy and confidence and changed the game and enabled us to come back and tie at halftime just because of the energy and spirit.”

(On Channing Frye) “Channing (Frye), when he makes threes, is really important to our team. But I also think Channing has done a good job defensively. He’s hustled and fought and I thought he’s been a little more physical in the playoffs than he has been before and he’s gotten some rebounds that I think he may not have gotten at different times during the regular season. That’s really impressed me – his toughness has improved. So on top of his ability to stretch the floor and make threes, he’s really fighting and scrapping and I’m proud of him for that.”

(On whether he senses the Spurs are frustrated) “I’m not really worried about what they’re feeling. To be honest, it’s because it’s a compliment. We know they’re not going away – even if they are frustrated, they’re going to come out and give us a heck of a time in Game 3 and 4. We haven’t done anything but hold home court and we’ve got to continue to improve and play better and they’re going to continue to play better and they’re an incredible team that has been there before. They’re as well coached as anybody who has ever been in this league, so we know what they’re made of and we’ve got to match it.”

Jared Dudley

(On the game) “It was big that we protected our home court. We did what we were supposed to and I’m proud of the style we did it in – we came back from a poor first quarter and the bench came in and played well and I tried to give some energy and get some offensive rebounds and slashed to the hoop. We just battled, we shot less than 40 percent in the first half and that’s usually how the Suns have won in the past, but as you can see it’s a different team and a different year. We just hung in there, hung in there and in the fourth quarter made a nice little run.”

(On the second unit bringing energy) “I fell like that’s what we’re supposed to do – bring energy. We were down, obviously not shooting the ball extremely well and we tried to come in and slash and get offensive rebounds. I’m a little disappointed I missed a couple of free throws that could have helped the team even more, but for the most part defensively we got after it and got the team back in the game.”

(On the team’s defense) “It starts with Alvin and in the beginning of the year setting the tone of how we’re going to play defense, our rotations and keeping people accountable. We came in with the mindset of shutting down (Manu) Ginobili more so and putting more pressure on him on pick-and-rolls and I thought we did a pretty good job. He did an excellent job of passing out of the double team, but our energy wasn’t there in the first quarter and we picked it up, hung our hat on defense and made the right people shoot the ball who we wanted to – Richard Jefferson, (Tony) Parker from the outside and George Hill and because of that we were pretty successful tonight.”

[kaji157]

Dudley seems to have the answer to those crying about Manu not playing well. And as many here think, their strategy was to let Hill-Jefferson-Parker beat them, and they were right to bet they weren´t going to.

(i still think they had an awesome help from the refs)

[duncan228]

Gentry on Tim Duncan Hitting Another Playoff Three-Pointer Against the Suns
By Brett Pollakoff

Anyone who knows their recent playoff history between the Suns and the Spurs can't possibly forget the way Phoenix went out back in 2008. The Suns battled the Spurs to overtime in Game 1, and held a three-point lead with under 10 seconds remaining, when Tim Duncan hit an unlikely three-pointer to send the game into a second overtime, where the Spurs ended up winning the game, and getting an advantage in the series which the Suns would never be able to overcome.

San Antonio bounced Phoenix from the postseason in five games that year, and put an end to the reign of Mike D'Antoni as Suns head coach in the process.

This history wasn't lost on Suns' head coach Alvin Gentry on Wednesday, after his Suns took a 2-0 series lead on the Spurs. Duncan once again hit a three-pointer against the Suns, although this time the results were far less meaningful. With Phoenix up by 10 and 22.3 seconds left on the game clock, Timmy fired and connected on a 26-foot bomb that hit nothing but net.

As Gentry left the post-game press conference podium, he felt the need to comment on the incredible long range shooting that Duncan seemingly finds only against the Suns, and only in the post-season.

"I should say something about Tim Duncan," Gentry said as he headed for the exit. "The guy's hit two three-pointers in 10 years. You figure out who he's done that against."