Postgame Quotes: Suns @ Blazers - 12/17/2009
 
Head Coach Alvin Gentry | 
Channing Frye | 
Steve Nash | 
Nate McMillan | 
Jerryd Bayless | 
Brandon Roy |
Click on a player to read quotes
| Head Coach Alvin Gentry
ON GAME
"We didn't do a good job. They played harder then we did in the fourth quarter, and we did a poor job of execution and it cost us the game. We gave up one offensive rebound in the first half and 11 in the second half, and we just didn't complete plays. We've struggled with this. This is the third straight game we've done this, when we've played great and got in the lead, and we're not able to maintain. In some kind of way we got to start finishing games. We played a good third quarter and a very poor fourth quarter…
ON POOR PERFORMANCE
"Our transition defense was atrocious. We never got back on them, we never got set…they got easy baskets, we never got set where we could guard and help defensively on Brandon Roy and we gave up layups, and gave up offense rebounds. When you do that, you lose the game…We didn't execute down the stretch…They're playing with all small guys. They got three small guys. They have three guards and one post guy out there. If that's the case, we got to rebound the basketball. At the end of the day they shot 44% and they still won the game. That's not good.
"We can't give up 20 second-chance points…We gave up 12 or 14 second-chance points in the second half and I would imagine a lot of those came in the fourth quarter, so it's a bad loss. We have to finish games and get mentally tough enough to do it and play with the same energy they did in the fourth quarter.
"We can't play good for 36 minutes. We have to play well for 48 minutes, that's the only way you can win on the road. You can't do it. You can't spot play on the road, you got to be tough, hard-nosed, and you got to be able to finish games. You get nothing for playing well for three quarters…It's very very disappointing, it's the most disappointing loss we've had the whole year."
ON BAYLESS
"I've always thought he was a good player...you can see he's been effective…he did a great job."
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| Channing Frye
"I have a lot of friends here. This is home during the summer time, it's always fun to play here, the fans are great, we always know the Trail Blazers are always going to play hard but this is a game we should've won, but they played it out, so kudos to them." |
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| Steve Nash
ON STRUGGLES
"It seemed like we gave them six or seven points to start the fourth quarter. We just had too many breakdowns: defensive transition, we had a stretch where they made too many jump shots…it's disappointing. For me the breakdowns were defensively, we weren't picking up our men in transition, Brandon Roy dribbles the ball from his own free throw line and no one picks him up ‘till he's in the paint and then foul, just little things like that. And the fourth quarter, you can't let that happen on the road."
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| Blazers Head Coach Nate McMillan
On Bayless:
"I thought he had a great game. We knew Jerryd could put some points on the board and with all the guys we have out, we need that. He's getting the opportunity to play and he's taking advantage of it. I've told him for the last two years, be patient – be patient, the opportunity is going to come. I don't know when, but it just does in the NBA and that opportunity has come in the last two games. He's shown this at times, but the last two games he's shown what he's capable of doing with that opportunity."
"I like that we're scrapping and that we are trying to play a 48 minute game. The last two games, our second half has been really good. Defensively, we've done some good things. Offensively, we've attacked. Tonight we shot 35 free throws. The other night we shot 25 so we are being aggressive going to that basket. That's what we need to see. A lot of that is due to Bayless and playing the guards – Miller and Brandon getting to that rim."
On Bayless and Roy together:
"You've got to make adjustments. We keep talking about combinations, who can play with who. It's just a matter of making the adjustments and getting to your spots. Brandon played that whole second half and Bayless had some things going so I told Brandon, look, we're going to give Bayless the ball and you take a breather. Bayless came through. We ran the high pick and rolls, some sets that we wanted to get him involved in and he executed and made plays. It comes down to that, where we have to make plays. We talk about breaks – tonight we made those breaks by getting stops defensively and making plays on the offensive end."
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| Jerryd Bayless
"It felt great. I can't even lie - this last year and a half has been tough for me. Coach has given me an opportunity now and I'm just trying to make the best of it so I don't have to go through that again.
"I was just excited. It's been a long time coming I feel like. Now I get an opportunity and I'm just trying to make the best of it and help this team win."
"Me and Brandon talked about it a lot – we feel kind of like… he's the LeBron and I can be the Mo Williams off of him, because, you know, Mo's not really just a pure point. He's kind of just a guy that can make plays. That's what I was trying to do tonight and just make plays for myself and everybody else."
Is the team gaining momentum with the last few games:
"I think so. Everybody is playing well right now. Hopefully we can continue to do that. You never know with this team."
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| Brandon Roy
How does this win compare:
"Honestly, they're all just good. I thought Sacramento was a big win. I think if you look at how we've been performing since that New York Knick game, we've been playing hard. We've been in just about every game. It's good to be home and get those wins. They're all big wins for us – I cant say one is bigger than the other, but they're all big for us, huge for our confidence right now."
On heading out on tough road trip:
"I think we are as ready as we're going to get. It's great to see somebody like Jerryd stepping up and giving us some confidence knowing that we are going to some really good teams and we've got a guy coming off the bench who's not only playing well but playing with confidence. That gives me confidence and I know the rest of the guys see it. Coach sees it too."
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