Phoenix Suns Practice Report + Daily Links + Jared Dudley Dunk Count

I think by now if you've listened to all (or some) of the audio we've posted from Coach Gentry and the various players you get the impression that a lot of what's said isn't exactly..."breaking news".

Today's post practice interviews with Nash and Gentry were no exception but there was one little fun nugget from none other than Jared Dudley (who else?).

Jared is the first guy to be self-deprecating when it comes to his (perceived) lack of athleticism which (to be fair) is all relative. He's no Josh Smith but chances are good that he's far more athletic than you. He's probably also considerably more knowledgeable about the game of basketball, funnier, and perhaps even better looking than you as well.

Coach Gentry talked (again) about Dudley's ability to cover multiple positions and his high basketball IQ. We knew that. He talked about his constant effort and desire. We knew that. He talked about getting "more from less". We knew all that too.

But did you know that Jared Dudley has a running bet with his teammates that he won't get two in-game dunks this season? I didn't think so.

"The bet is over/under can I get more than two dunks," said Jared. "In 82 games I'm going to get two dunks so that's why I started laughing at them." And by them he means his teammates on the bench after he jammed home a wide open dunk after getting a feed from Nash while streaking in from the wing.

We are talking about a 6'7" small forward in the NBA confident and secure enough to joke with his teammates (and talk publicly) about getting two dunks during the course of the season.

For the record, he now has one.

He had one that looked close in the Warriors game but it was ruled to be a lay-up. So, though 32 games Jared has 1 dunk which means he's technically ahead of the pace (by a small margin) to get his two but since he said the bet was more than two he might need to step it up. But of course, it's all in good fun with Jared as most everything is.

In the mean time though, Jared is leading the ENTIRE NBA in 3P% with .509 (55/108).

Think about that for second.

Jared Dudley is the most accurate three-point shooter in the ENTIRE NBA. Who care if he only has one dunk when he can shoot like that, defend his and two other positions, rebound, have fun and generally be the glue that holds the Suns bench unit together.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 12/29/09 3:36 PM MST ]

Because there's no such thing as too much Dudley, here's his appearance this afternoon on Sports 620 KTAR's Gambo and Ash Show (w/o Gambo) for his weekly Twitter Tuesday spot:

Other Practice Notes:

Nash

• "We got back to playing tougher and grittier with more urgency and enthusiasm." Last night I asked Nash if the offensive success was about a different game plan or better execution. He talked about mentality.
  
• Nash is sure the Celtics will be highly motivated after losing to the Clippers and Warriors, "We're not going to get a free swing at 'em - at a fat cat."
• Nash talked about Rondo being one of the best PG's in the league. When asked to compare playing against him to Fisher, Steve talked about how Fisher doesn't have any offensive responsibilities for his team so he can focus on playing physical defense where as Rondo has to score and run the team as well
• Nash said they kind of lost their winning mentality and he wants to get back to that regardless of the outcome

Gentry

• It was a great win - anytime you can beat the World Champions it means something but it was just one win
• Suns did a good job on Kobe by keeping him off the foul line and no one else had a big game which makes the Lakers hard to beat
• Suns did a good job rebounding, points in the paint, second chance points and didn't turn the ball over. Gentry said that was the difference
• Did a good job making Gasol and Bynum move their feet which is going to be similar to going against Boston who will play KG, Sheed and Perkins together
• Gentry still most disappointed about the way the Suns started the Golden State game - trying to trade baskets with them instead of focusing on defense
• With Lopez in the game Suns didn't have to double team the post. He played under control
• Lopez will play against the Celtics

Daily Links

• Audio: Gentry 122909 
• Audio: Nash 122909
  
• SB Nation's NBA Power Rankings: Beware The Rising Cavaliers - SB Nation
  Suns 7th. "it's also hard to believe they'll be one of the seven best teams in the league by the end of the year. Here's hoping I'm wrong, because the NBA is a better place when the Suns are good."

• SUNS: Postgame Quotes: Suns vs Lakers - 12/28/2009
  Well for one the crowd was huge; the crowd sold out. The electricity (I was talking about this before the game) was definitely a different feeling out there. I thought defensively we came out and rebounded pretty well. For the most part our intensity was good. Most teams jump on us the first quarter but that didn’t happen tonight.

• Suns sharpen defensive rotations
  "We also have to be smart in our rotations. We lost some of that, too. We have to make them make the extra pass. We've got to be in a rotation position where we're making them make an extra pass and it's not a scoring pass."

• Suns strike back against Lakers
  The Suns became the only team to defeat the two conference leaders this season.

• Suns 118, Lakers 103 -- Back to November| Valley of the Suns
  The Phoenix Suns played their best game of the year to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-103, in a contest reminiscent of their November run.

• The Official Phoenix Suns Blog " Blog Archive " Suns Beat Lakers at Home
• Lakers Left Searching for Answers After Loss to Suns -- NBA FanHouse

• celtics - The Three-Pointer: Celtics Find Fools Gold Against Warriors - WEEI | Paul Flannery
  Playing the Warriors can sometimes be as much an exercise in restraint as anything else. There are so many open shots and available fast break opportunities that it can be incredibly enticing to settle for the first good thing that presents itself.

• NBA Commissioner David Stern isn't all he's cracked up to be. - By Tommy Craggs - Slate Magazine
  Fantastic compare/contrast piece about David Stern and Larry O'Brien. A must-read for serious hoop-head historians.

• Who Is Matt Barnes? - Orlando Pinstriped Post
  OPP looks at Matt Barnes, the Orlando Magic's overlooked eighth man. 20% from Three and they still like him. They must be winning a lot of games and not have much to complain about.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 12/29/09 1:21 PM MST ]

And this just in...Taylor Griffin is headed back to the Iowa Energy. According to Sports 620 KTAR's Craig Grialou he will be there through the middle of January. The 10-1 Energy have 9 games between now and the 14th of January.

When Griffin first went to the Energy, Cartier Martin was just back to the team after testing overseas waters. Now, Martin - who has more NBA experience than Griffin by far - is playing well at the SF position. Nick Nurse will either be forced to start Griffin over Martin to the detriment of his team or play Taylor more at the PF position.

In his last stint in Iowa, Taylor said that he played a lot of 4 which he can do at the D-league but he is trying to learn the 3 at the NBA level.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 12/29/09 3:03 PM MST ]

azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish - PaulCoro - Griffin returns to Iowa
Suns rookie forward Taylor Griffin has returned to Phoenix's D-League affiliate in Iowa for a 12-game game stint that begins tonight. Griffin will stay with Iowa through a Jan. 17 game against Albuquerque and then rejoin the Suns when they return from a four-game road trip and have a three-game home stand Jan. 20-23.