Practice Notes and...Guess Whose Birthday it is?

PHX Stan needed the night off so I'm giving him a birthday present by posting his thoughts and audio from practice today.

It was no surprise that Coach Gentry was happy with a W but unhappy with many aspects of the Suns' performance last night. Still a win is a win which is probably why the boys weren't running suicides at practice. Here are some of Stan's observations:

• Team was very loose. More goofing around and joking today then earlier in the week
• The guys had rookie Taylor Griffin showing how his hops. Literally had him stand in front of the rim on one leg and dunk and then then stand in the paint in the lane (where they stand for free throws) and dunk w/ two hands from a stand still jumping off both feet. Amare tried that same dunk a few times. He got it once and missed it three or four time. Grant Hill tried it and air balled the dunk right over the rim which caused pretty much everyone to laugh. Great stuff
• Taylor G and Earl Clark were last on the floor. They were working w/ Coach Igor on post moves
• Dragic is seeming to fit in better. Happier and joking more w/ his team mates. I asked him about that in the interview
• I wanted to talk to Tucker about the news of his option not getting picked up but didn't get the chance. He did seem to be in a good mood - as I was talking to Dragic in the hall he walked behind Goran and made some goofy faces, etc. Good to see that he wasn't down
• I asked Gentry about Amare and Frye face guarding. Answer was no. He expects them to get more boards. That's in the audio
• Jared Dudley arrived back around 1am and had a car waiting at the airport. His daughter was born at 2am. He wasn't at practice.
  

More Dudley's has to be a good thing...

Enjoy the audio, make sure to post a special birthday message for Stan and don't forget to guess his age!:

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/198767/Gentry_102909.mp3
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/198768/Amare_102909.mp3
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/198769/Dragic_102909.mp3

[Note by Wil Cantrell, 10/30/09 8:13 AM PDT ]

Also of note from the audio:

• (At about 3 minutes): Amare "hated" taking charges in the past because they hurt, but realizes there is an "art" to it now. The key he says is getting to the spot early thereby staying away from the "knees and elbows."
• Gentry noted that he was very pleased with the bench play, including Dragic and Dudley helped bring the team back. He also noted that he was happy with Clark's defensive performance but that he has to consistently make that 18 foot shot. Gentry downplayed Lopez's loss, stating, "He's not Kareem," and he shouldn't feel the pressure to play "38 minutes" when he returns.  Gentry also commented on the last play of the game where he chose not to foul and let the Clips take a 3. He noted the time left (25 seconds), and that he'd rather attempt to make the defensive stop than put someone on the line.
• Dragic felt confident about his performance stating, "I played great." He emphasized the importance of his confidence and that good practices equate to good performances during the game. He is having much more fun than last year, working with Dan Majerle is helping him a lot.