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Court Report: Suns Embark on Two-Game Trip

Posted: October 16, 2012

With five preseason games remaining, the Suns will embark on a two-game road trip that will begin with Dallas on Wednesday and finish against Oklahoma City on Friday. Suns head coach Alvin Gentry met with the media after practice Tuesday to talk about the upcoming pair of games. Here is what stood out from his comments.

1. Snippy Practice: Forced to verify whether or not it was an actual word, Gentry described the mood of Monday’s practice as “snippy.”

“At this stage of the competition, guys have a tendency to try to one up the other guy by doing something and get any advantage that you can get,” the Suns head coach said. “I like that because I think it’s really good competition. It makes for a better team.”

2. Focus of the Trip: After finishing 23rd in defensive rebounding last season, Gentry wants to make sure that the team shores up that area of the stat sheet this season. Much of Gentry’s talk with his players has been centered around that very subject.

“We have to get better in rebounding,” he said. “We have to do that. We have to do it on the defensive end, we have to do better attacking the boards and coming up with offensive rebounds.”

With a roster that has added athleticism and size, the Suns have the potential to make up ground in that area.

3. Beasley at Power Forward: Up until this point, Suns forward Michael Beasley has played only as a small forward in preseason action. However, with his versatility, Gentry would like to try the 6-10 Beasley at power forward this week.

With his ability to shoot from long range, forcing the opposing team's power forward to the perimeter could be advantageous for the Suns.

4. Veteran Exceptions: If you don’t see much action from swingman Jared Dudley or backup point guard Sebastian Telfair this week, don’t read anything into it. Both players completely grasp what the coaching staff want and have been in the league so long that Gentry would rather look at players he doesn’t know as well.

If power forward Luis Scola wasn’t a new acquisition that needed to learn the system, he would probably be in the same shoes as Telfair and Dudley.

5. Power Forwards: Two of the most consistent players during the preseason for the Suns has been Scola and fellow power forward Markieff Morris. The unfortunate part for both of them is that since they play the same position, there are only 48 minutes to go around.

However, with both of their abilities to play inside and outside, Gentry is considering playing the pair together.

“(Playing the two together) is a good possibility,” Gentry said. “Unless it is one of the dominating centers, I think either one of those guys can guard (opposing centers).”

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