Postgame Quotes: Suns 107, Hawks 102, Jan. 13, 2009

(On defense at the end of the game)
"I thought overall our guys made them take a lot of contested shots, especially early on in the first half. In the second quarter they got to the basket a little more and we got beat off of penetration. As the game went on, we did a much better job of taking the challenge."

(On bouncing back from foul trouble)
"I kept my composure, watched the game from the bench and learned from my mistakes. I went out there in the fourth quarter and tried to go from there. We did a great job of closing the game out from there. The main thing is to be calm under pressure.

"I play tenacious defense, I’m all over the place helping and trying to block shots. Sometimes I get myself into foul trouble just trying to be physical. I just need to learn from that."

(On late defense against the Hawks)
"The big thing is closing out with rebounds. That allows us to take the lead, and that’s what we did tonight."

(On getting his shot back)
"You know, my minutes have been up and down and mentally I need to lock in more and be prepared when I'm called upon, and know that it's a long season. We're starting to play well right now, and it’s important for everyone to be locked in.

"When we get teams down we need to step on their necks and finish them. We had this team down by 20 and we let them come back. We need to focus on finishing teams off so Steve, Grant and Shaq can get some rest."

(On Suns defense)
"Their defense was solid. I thought they did a heck of a job on Joe (Johnson) wherever Joe was trying to make plays with the ball they had one or two guys going at him and he struggled tonight to make shots. We still had our chances I mean it is a fine line when you are trying to win games when you are struggling and you have to do everything right coming down the stretch. We just didn't do it; we missed free throws and didn't get key stops when we needed to get them."

(On the slow start)
"We just got to come more prepared. The coaches have been doing a great job of putting together a game plan for us and it is our job to execute from the start of the game, not from the second quarter on or second half on. From the moment the ball is thrown in the air we got to be ready to play."

(On battling back)
"We did, but Shaq us playing like the old Shaq and when he is down there making offensive moves like he did in Orlando and Miami it makes it tough to defend. We were starting to run out of bigs towards the end and he was knocking down free throws. It was a good effort by us and we are looking forward to heading LA and get a win against the Clippers."