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Suns 112, Bobcats 102
Postgame Quotes: Suns vs. Bobcats, Feb. 24, 2009

Alvin Gentry

Shaquille O'Neal

Steve Nash

Larry Brown

Boris Diaw

Raja Bell

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Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry

(Opening Statement)
“Good win, I mean any game now is a good win for us. We just couldn’t knock them out of the box you know we get up 16 and they have a 5-0 or 7-2 run or something like that, they hung in tight. I was happy with the way we finished the game. The most impressive thing to me was the fact that we had that team in there with Goran, Matt, Grant, Dudley and Lou and I thought that team right there did a real good job for us. They actually got a little separation for us and we kept wanting to sub back in, but they played so well we were able to rest our starters for a long time and did a good job of getting separation for us, so I thought they did a real good job. Then we were able to close out the game. I thought we did a good job of getting stops in the end. Boris and Raja kind of kept them in it, they made some shots and Boris made some plays, but in the end we were really happy the way we played.”

(On Nash’s injury)
“Ankle, we will just have to see. He gave us all he could, but in the end he just said we are better off with LB out there because he is healthy and he will make some plays for us.”

(On Offense)
“You know we continue to score, I mean we got 112 tonight and shot 53 percent. We shot well from the three point line almost 50 percent from three you know 47 percent so I was happy with the way we played. A little bit disturbing with the turnovers we had kept them down the last three games, but we gave up 19 turnovers with 22 points is a little high. We need to cut that in half for us to be effective so that was really a concern.”


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Suns center Shaquille O'Neal (20 PTS, 11 REBS)

(On the game’s importance)
“It was pretty important. I said the other game, against a great Boston team – it would be a great test. This next game (against the Lakers) will also be a great test for us. They’re the best team in the West and if we want our ticket somewhere, we’ve got to go through those guys. So this will be a good test for us.”

(On being consistent against worse teams)
“I’m not really impressed with beating teams we’re supposed to beat – we’ve got to beat the good teams that we have to stay consistent with. And this game on Wednesday will be a good test for us.”


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Suns guard Steve Nash (22 PTS, 5 ASSTS)

(On his ankle)
“I don’t know. It’s a little swollen, but I think it’s something I’ll have to assess in the morning. If I had to guess, it’s not going to be a long-term thing. I’ll have to be careful in the next 48 hours to make a good decision for Thursday’s game.”

(On the bench’s performance)
“Particularly at the end of the first and start of the second, the bench played really well. I thought that was a big part of the game – it was a big part of us having that separation and being on the right end of the runs and the ends and flows of the game, because of the bench’s performance in the first half.”

(On facing former teammates Raja Bell and Boris Diaw)
“It’s always tough in some ways. I know those guys are fired up to come back – they loved their time here – and they both had great games. But, fortunately for us, in the position we’re in, we needed the win and we got it.”


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Bobcats Head Coach Larry Brown

“I thought our effort was great. There were some strange calls. Big plays late in the game and if your team is without stars sometimes, it’s pretty difficult. That’s frustrating. Every time we got back in the game, something bad happened and that’s kind of disappointing. But I loved our effort. We had a bunch of offensive fouls and having Gerald (Wallace) in foul trouble really hurt. Give them credit, they made plays. The time we doubled down on Shaq when we hadn’t been doubling all night, and Barbosa hits that big three. They made big shots. There were some real difficult plays out there that really impacted the game and shouldn’t have ever impacted the game at all.”

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Bobcats forward Boris Diaw (27 PTS, 10 REBS)

(On reception)
“I came back during All-Stars in Phoenix and just from fans I saw on the streets and stuff like that, it was like that, and they said, ‘We miss you.’ I was hoping.

"It was tough. We got behind in the second quarter and the whole game we tried to come back and that’s very tough because they made a lot of tough shots in transition and every time we tried to come back, they took the lead again. It was tough to come back.”

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Bobcats guard Raja Bell (23 PTS, 3 ASSTS)

“It’s always unfortunate when you’re in your middle of your run you catch some whistles, but that’s the way the game goes, you can’t control that. You have to continue to make runs and I thought we did that tonight. We fought back multiple times and cut their lead down but just didn’t have enough to get over the hump.

(On reception)
"It was really nice. I didn’t know what to expect, but I have nothing but great memories from being here. I was thankful that the fans didn’t see me as a villain in the whole thing. It’s just business and it’s just the way it goes. I wish these guys the best. I’ll always cheer for them as long as they aren’t playing against me.”

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