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Suns-Knicks Quotes: 1/21/2009

Terry Porter

Steve Nash

Shaquille O'Neal

Mike D'Antoni

Chris Duhon

Tim Thomas

Al Harrington

David Lee

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Suns Head Coach Terry Porter

(On tonight’s game) “We were a pretty solid force in the first quarter and from that point on we really didn’t win another quarter. The third quarter we were outscored by nine and down the stretch when we needed a stop we couldn’t get one. We had opportunities, Steve (Nash) had a wide-open three and we had quite a few shots in the paint that didn’t go down. We either lost some (opportunities) or we just didn’t convert the shots.”

(On Knick’s performance tonight) "They came back and some guys made plays. The bench played really well for them tonight, I think they (bench) had 57 points and they (Knicks) had 21 second-chance points. You just can’t win like that. All and all we just didn’t do a good job in the second half and we just let up way too many points.”

(On team’s recent stretch) ”Were in a little bit of a slump right now, we just couldn’t get a stop. Obviously we’ve had some close games we’ve lost, we had two bad games and just tonight we couldn’t make a play and we couldn’t make a stop. They (Knicks) just made some shots tonight. You have to give New York credit tonight, they just made shots.”


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Suns guard Steve Nash

(On tonight’s game) “I just thought we didn’t play at enough of a high level and it looked like we faded. Maybe it is the four games in five nights, as we’ve just finished from West to East Coast, but it seemed to me like we lost our energy down the stretch and we were missing shots they we’re very capable of making. It’s strange because before this five game stretch I was feeling pretty good about our team and thought we had turned the corner. But lately it seems we’ve taken two steps back. Its sure frustrating and I don’t know have all the answers right now."

(On Knicks’ bench) "I’m not very good at remembering exactly what happened, but I know David Lee hit a lot of jump shots and we didn’t expect him to make as many of those. I can’t really remember the bench other than Nate (Robinson), but he had a good game. And yes there was Tim Thomas, he’s very capable of what he did tonight."


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Suns center Shaquille O'Neal

(On tonight’s game) “Against a team like this you’ve got to defend. It’s an another game we let slip away. You’ve got to defend and you’ve got to be there for the rebounds. It’s a little frustrating. We’ve let nine of ten games slip away and were suppose to beat teams like this every night, but they came out and played a little bit harder.”

(On David Lee and Knicks’ performance) “He (David Lee) hit a couple of jumpers and that’s what we wanted him to do. I think he hit most of his baskets slashing to the hole. Our rotation was supposed to be there, but Mike (D’Antoni) had our defense moving around a bit. That’s what type of a coach he is, he had a good game tonight. Its not hard defend especially when you go over it, you’ve just got to play defense and stop people.”


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Knicks Head Coach Mike D'Antoni

(On tonight’s game) “Like you said, it was a lot of things. First of all, I thought it was a great game. They played pretty well. They can play better. That is a good team. To be able to get up, go down, get back up, go back down, a lot of guys came through. Chris Duhon, at the end of the game, the three that he hit from the side, was probably the biggest shot of the game. Along the way, everybody from Nate (Robinson) came in the first half, we were down 11 I think, and he sparked us. (Danilo) Gallinari keeps sparking us when he comes in. Tim Thomas had a couple bad runs, then he hits a three, another three, he did a couple of things. David Lee, just the whole game, was out of sight. I hope I don’t leave anybody (out) because you can just mention everybody. To beat a team like this it takes all of the guys and they did it tonight.”

(More on tonight’s game) “A little bit of both. You have to get a stop and (then) you have to go down and hit big buckets. We had some opportunities a little bit earlier with some threes to get a lot more distance but then they had opportunities too. I think Steve (Nash) missed one and so did (Jason) Richardson for them. It kind of evened out, thank goodness. Just a lot of plays on both sides of the ball.”

(On David Lee) “David, mostly, kind of figured it out. When you are looking and you can’t see the basket, it is better to go ahead and shoot a jump shot (laughs). The thing about it is, he is confident with it. That is the whole thing. We just try to get him to be aggressive. He is one of our better shooters from that range so why not shoot it? If he is open every time, shoot it every time. You can’t get a better shot. Just, 25 (points) and 16 (rebounds), that is nice numbers.”


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Knicks guard Chris Duhon

(On tonight’s game) “We just kept playing, we kept playing hard. We had to make shots and we had to make adjustments. They were killing us inside with Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) and we just started to play our game. We got into a rhythm Nate (Robinson) and (Danilo Gallinari) Gallo gave us a big spark off the bench and we just played our game.”

(On looking forward to the rest of the season) “When we compete we are definitely in a better position than we were in last year. That’s the sign of improvement. I think we continue to improve this year now we just got to take advantage of the All-star break coming up. A lot of teams would take the all star break early and not play as hard. We can’t do that we got to play even harder and try to make up some ground by the time all star break comes.”


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Knicks forward Tim Thomas

(On tonight’s game) “I think we are going in the right direction because the games that we play well are when we go out and move the ball. Guys are not worried about who is doing the majority of the scoring, we are just worried about winning the game. At the times we play bad and we get into trouble is when we get into selfish mode and guys are going out and trying to score 20-plus points. This offense and this system is built around being able to play for each other and not worried about who is doing the majority of the scoring. I think now with this last two games, I think we are really starting to get an understanding of what the system is about and what it takes and the sacrifice we have to go out each and every night to win games.”

(On the defense) “I’m constantly on the guys about playing defense first and letting the offense come. We have enough guys in here that can score the basketball. Everybody is here for a reason and collectively if we all play defense together and worry about the defensive end first and let the offense come to us we will be alright . And the times we do that we will be in every game.”


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Knicks forward Al Harrington

(On tonight’s game) “Even though we were losing those games, I think that our defense was really good. It’s just that offensively we were shooting like 25 or 30 percent. You can’t beat anybody shooting that low. It’s pretty much impossible. The biggest thing is that we had better movement. We were sharing and made the extra pass and then guys were making shots. So if we do that, and our defense stays the course it’s been going so far, I think we will be in good shape towards the end of the season.”

(On adjusting to coming off of the bench) “I just have to adjust. I have to find a way to get my way into the game and find that good balance of being aggressive and still staying within the flow.”

(On David Lee) “Obviously you don’t expect those types of numbers but right now on this pick and roll, he’s an unbelievable finisher. And with Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) not trying to guard him, he had the wide open, left hand flat jump shot and he was able to knock them in.”


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Knicks forward David Lee

(On guarding Shaquille O’Neal) “My biggest thing is when he was rested in the first half, there is nothing I can obviously do to keep him from where he wants to go. We just tried to make him not shoot a great percentage. Every time they are going into him, at least it’s going to be two points and not three. In the second half I think he got a little worn down and that’s what it’s like sometimes on a road trip. I was able to run up and down a little bit and I guess I got a little bit lucky tonight.”

(On his unique style of play) “That’s what I’ve been doing more of when I have a five man (center) on me. Try to have the outside a little more and shoot the jump shot a little more often. It’s basically like a second point guard when I can have the ball at the top of the key and dribble the ball at a guy and hit him with a pass instead of pick and roll.”


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