Postgame Quotes: Suns at Bulls, January 17, 2012

(On their play tonight)

"Turnovers did hurt us. However, many of those were late in the game. I thought Steve Nash played great for us. The big difference was we just didn't slow them down. We are not the Phoenix Sun's of old. We need to slow down and guard them more closely. We just need to play closer to players like Boozer. We just can't go out and say on their jump shots 'make them and beat us.' We need to defend better, we need to be more physical especially on our rebounding. We also need to communicate better on our defensive rotations."

"They played well. They came out and played hard. For a team missing their best player and a team that played yesterday they sure came out with a lot of energy. They played harder than us. They played like the team in the Eastern Conference with the best record. We didn't come out with that same intensity level. If you're not going to play that hard, you're going to get embarrassed like we did tonight."

(On Carlos Boozer's game)

"Boozer looked like a Dukie out there. He played well. Last year his injury really set him back early and he never really got his rhythm. It looks like he is back to playing the way we all know he is capable of. I'm happy for him. Although I am unhappy he did it tonight, but he's been playing well for him thus far."

"I thought it was great. We had a lot of guys play well. Joakim was very active to start the game, going after every ball. He was hustling and knocked down a couple of shots. Carlos Boozer was on fire to start the game. To CJ's credit, he worked really hard at coming back particularly on his conditioning. Rip also was terrific. Not so much with his shooting, but with his play making. I loved the way the ball hopped, it was not sticking anywhere. It was moving freely and once we got into a rhythm, we were able to know some shots down."

(1st time with this starting backcourt and 31 assists)

"It was great. The ball was moving and we made the extra pass and when you do that, good things happen. And, we made shots. Rip also gives you a primary option and that gives our offense a good rhythm."

(On Rip Hamilton running the floor)

"He runs the floor really hard and the thing about Rip is that he knows how to find shots. He has a great instinct to find an open area. He moves great without the ball. Phoenix plays with pace so the game is going to be faster. Nash put incredible pressure on us early. It's amazing what he's doing at his age."

(On Joakim and Boozer playing together and not playing well together)

"In your eyes, I think they do fine. Their record speaks for itself. They played well and with high energy. They were play making. They're fine."

(On Joakim's activity with 2 double doubles in the last 4 games)

"I thought as a team, we were very flat vs Memphis. Joakim's timing is coming around. He is a lot more active. When he is high energy, good things are going to happen for us."