Giricek Shaping Up Nicely for Suns

Gordan Giricek gave the question some serious thought before shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t even remember,” he said with a smile when asked when was the last time he played 30 minutes in a game. “I don’t know.”

In just his fifth game since being waived by Philadelphia and signed by Phoenix, the 6-6 swingman logged a season-high 30:41 minutes, and scored a season-best 18 points on 9-of-14 shots in the Suns’ 132-111 blowout of the Grizzlies.

“It’s great. I didn’t play like that in a long time, being so relaxed and just having so many touches,” he said, while admitting he was winded. “Especially on the last play. I was playing low post and I just fell down. My legs couldn’t stand me anymore. Running up and down the court is tiring on your legs.”

Traded from the Jazz to the 76ers in late December, Giricek saw little court time in Philly, playing limited minutes in January and making just two appearances in February. Although he is thrilled with the opportunity he is receiving in Phoenix, he said he will be even better with more time to get adjusted.

“I just have to get in shape, basketball wise,” he said. “You can run up and down the court, or run suicides in practice, but it’s not the same, because this is changing directions, defense, offense, fastbreak. It’s hard. I have to work through it, but they are doing a great job helping me out and I appreciate it.”

Suns Head Coach Mike D’Antoni appreciates having another option on his bench, as well, and is pleased with what he’s seen of Giricek in his first eight days with the Suns.

“He’s really good with the basketball and he can put it on the floor,” he said. “Hopefully he can get his legs, get his timing down and knock down some three-point shots. We’d like to have that, but he’s doing a lot of other things, too. He can really pass. He’s defending well. He’s good.”

FALSE ALARM

If Shaquille O’Neal’s dive into the third row of seats was the most impressive moment of the Suns’ victory over San Antonio on Sunday, then his bench-clearing non-dive on Tuesday was the funniest moment of their win over Memphis.

With a loose ball heading out of bounds towards the home team’s bench and O’Neal in hot pursuit, the Suns reserves and coaches alike jumped out of their seats, expecting a diesel to come crashing through. The 7-1, 320-pound big man put on the brakes, though, and just laughed at his cowering teammates.

“I guess a couple of my teammates thought I was going to take them out and they showed their quickness,” O’Neal laughed after the game. “They were moving. I guess they didn’t want to get their lip busted like the gentleman last game. Sorry about that, sir.”

Suns assistant coach Jay Humphries said he just saw a giant shadow approaching, while Head Coach Mike D’Antoni joked that his brother Dan D’Antoni was in the training room after the game getting checked for a hernia.

“We’ve got a team of smart guys who pay attention to tendencies and Shaq has a tendency to dive into the crowd,” said Suns forward Grant Hill, who spilled Gatorade on Steve Nash as he tried to get out of the way. “It was probably the highlight of the game. It shows that he’s going to hustle for us all to do that, because we know that he’s going to go for loose balls. I’m just glad he didn’t dive because knowing him, he could have taking out the whole bench.

MEMPHIS SUNS

Tuesday’s game was like a homecoming at US Airways Center with Marc Iavaroni returning to Phoenix for the first time as head coach of the Grizzlies following five seasons as an assistant coach with the Suns.

“It is a little strange coming back here,” he told Suns.com prior to tip-off. “I made a lot of good friendships here, had a lot of good colleagues, and they always made me feel very valuable to the organization.”

Admitting he keeps tabs on his former team and roots for Phoenix “78 games a year,” Iavaroni said he was surprised by the Suns’ trade for Shaq, but thinks that the win over San Antonio was a sign that the Suns have gotten “Shaqlimated.”

“He showed some intangibles that I think really picked up his teammates; the diving into the crowd, the taking a charge, the hustle, the pride. He got a bad call late and he was really upset with that. I think him playing with emotion really helps their cause.”

Iavaroni wasn’t the only former Sun making a return, of course. The Grizzlies’ traveling party also includes former Suns’ video coaches Jason March and Ron DuBois, who is now an assistant coach, as well as former Suns.com reporter Dustin Krugel, now the director of media relations in Memphis.

Former Suns guard Casey Jacobsen is also a member of the Grizzlies and scored eight points in his first game back in Phoenix since being traded to New Orleans in January 2005 in a deal for veteran Jim Jackson.

“We had practice yesterday in the Suns’ practice facility and that was the first time I’d been there in like four years,” Jacobsen told Suns.com. “It brought back a lot of memories of myself and Joe Johnson getting up extra shots with Phil Weber after practice.

“I really enjoyed my three years here in Phoenix. It was probably the first time in my entire life where I would wake up in the morning and genuinely be excited to go to practice. It was fun, it was challenging, we had a good group of guys, good chemistry, good coaches.”

Drafted out of Stanford by the Suns in 2002, Jacobsen played 196 games in a Suns uniform and earned the annual Dan Majerle Hustle Award in ’03-04.

“I tried to work my butt off every single day that I showed up, and I think the fans and Dan wanted to reward me for that,” he said. “That was a tremendous honor. I still have that on my mantle in my house and someday when my little girl gets old enough to actually understand what I’m saying, I’m going to tell her that her daddy actually did work hard and he actually got an award to prove it.”