AZFAN777
01-20-2007, 11:16 AM
You gotta love the attitude and mentality of this team. This is our year baby.
From SUNS.Com
Suns Not Satisfied with Win
By Jeramie McPeek
Posted: Jan. 19, 2007
For the 12th time in their last 12 games, the Phoenix Suns left the court with a victory on Friday night. But instead of high-fives and proud smiles, their walk back to the locker room at US Airways Center featured hung heads and near silence.
“We didn’t play real good tonight,” explained a disappointed Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. “We didn’t have our focus. We didn’t come ready to play. It’s one of the few times, but we got lucky to escape without something disastrous happening…
“It’s just not good enough for what we’ve set ourselves up for. It’s not good enough. We need to develop a mentality of winning a championship, and it doesn’t start in April. It starts right now.”
The Suns started the game out slow, letting the visiting Trail Blazers score the first five points and take a 28-25 lead into the second quarter. It marked the third straight game in which Phoenix, the league’s top offensive team, has been outscored in the opening period. A fact the coach made sure to point out in his post-game speech behind closed doors.
“I agree, we were very lucky to win tonight,” said guard Steve Nash, who scored seven of his 13 points in the final 1:17 of the game to lift the Suns to their 31st win of the season. “It may not have looked that way from the casual observer, but I think if you look at it closely, they had a lot of threes go in and out. We made some difficult shots at the end, and we relied on a lot of talent and a lot of luck tonight, and I think that’s just not good enough.”
The NBA’s back-to-back MVP admitted that it can be tough to maintain focus over an 82 game season. Although the Suns have won 28 of their last 30 games and own the second best record in the league, Nash warned that they can’t get too confident in their success.
“The regular season you beat a lot of teams you should beat and you fool yourself into thinking you’re good because you’ve won 12 in a row or whatever it is. Our team needs to recognize the amount of ground we have to cover, and the amount of improvement we have to make, in order to be a championship team, and right now I think we’ve forgotten that.”
Forward/center Boris Diaw, who recorded 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, acknowledged that the Suns played down to their competition. Portland, now 16-25, is tied with Seattle for the worst record in the Northwest Division.
“It’s always tough to come focused and ready against a team that you know you have the abilities to win against,” he said. “But that’s the trap. You’ve got the best team and know you can win, but you can lose to any team also if you’re not ready and prepared. That’s why we’ve got to come out strong every night.
“It’s not that we relax, but we know we can beat those teams, so sometimes we don’t come out as strong and focused... If you play San Antonio or you play Dallas, you’re a little more ready, because you know they’re really dangerous. So that’s what we’ve got to work on, being ready and prepared, because if we’re not we can lose.”
Nash took it a step further, noting that a loss might be just what the doctor ordered.
“It wouldn’t be a bad thing. Obviously, it could hurt us because we’re chasing home court. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s about becoming the best possible team we can be.
“We need to suffer a bit sometimes and we haven’t suffered much lately. I think we may not suffer that much (this season), but we need to find a way to learn lessons, to learn to be more disciplined on both ends of the floor, and to really go out and play to our capabilities.”
The Suns will look to get back on track Sunday when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves (6 p.m., FSN AZ), before heading out east for five games in seven nights.
From SUNS.Com
Suns Not Satisfied with Win
By Jeramie McPeek
Posted: Jan. 19, 2007
For the 12th time in their last 12 games, the Phoenix Suns left the court with a victory on Friday night. But instead of high-fives and proud smiles, their walk back to the locker room at US Airways Center featured hung heads and near silence.
“We didn’t play real good tonight,” explained a disappointed Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. “We didn’t have our focus. We didn’t come ready to play. It’s one of the few times, but we got lucky to escape without something disastrous happening…
“It’s just not good enough for what we’ve set ourselves up for. It’s not good enough. We need to develop a mentality of winning a championship, and it doesn’t start in April. It starts right now.”
The Suns started the game out slow, letting the visiting Trail Blazers score the first five points and take a 28-25 lead into the second quarter. It marked the third straight game in which Phoenix, the league’s top offensive team, has been outscored in the opening period. A fact the coach made sure to point out in his post-game speech behind closed doors.
“I agree, we were very lucky to win tonight,” said guard Steve Nash, who scored seven of his 13 points in the final 1:17 of the game to lift the Suns to their 31st win of the season. “It may not have looked that way from the casual observer, but I think if you look at it closely, they had a lot of threes go in and out. We made some difficult shots at the end, and we relied on a lot of talent and a lot of luck tonight, and I think that’s just not good enough.”
The NBA’s back-to-back MVP admitted that it can be tough to maintain focus over an 82 game season. Although the Suns have won 28 of their last 30 games and own the second best record in the league, Nash warned that they can’t get too confident in their success.
“The regular season you beat a lot of teams you should beat and you fool yourself into thinking you’re good because you’ve won 12 in a row or whatever it is. Our team needs to recognize the amount of ground we have to cover, and the amount of improvement we have to make, in order to be a championship team, and right now I think we’ve forgotten that.”
Forward/center Boris Diaw, who recorded 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, acknowledged that the Suns played down to their competition. Portland, now 16-25, is tied with Seattle for the worst record in the Northwest Division.
“It’s always tough to come focused and ready against a team that you know you have the abilities to win against,” he said. “But that’s the trap. You’ve got the best team and know you can win, but you can lose to any team also if you’re not ready and prepared. That’s why we’ve got to come out strong every night.
“It’s not that we relax, but we know we can beat those teams, so sometimes we don’t come out as strong and focused... If you play San Antonio or you play Dallas, you’re a little more ready, because you know they’re really dangerous. So that’s what we’ve got to work on, being ready and prepared, because if we’re not we can lose.”
Nash took it a step further, noting that a loss might be just what the doctor ordered.
“It wouldn’t be a bad thing. Obviously, it could hurt us because we’re chasing home court. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s about becoming the best possible team we can be.
“We need to suffer a bit sometimes and we haven’t suffered much lately. I think we may not suffer that much (this season), but we need to find a way to learn lessons, to learn to be more disciplined on both ends of the floor, and to really go out and play to our capabilities.”
The Suns will look to get back on track Sunday when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves (6 p.m., FSN AZ), before heading out east for five games in seven nights.