"We want home court. We want home court. We've been playing well at home and our fans deserve it and we just got to make sure we go ahead and win. Home court is in our hands. We just have to play smart and take care of the ball and rebound we should be alright."
Well said, Amare. Throwing a nice bone to the fans, hitting on the Suns two main points of emphasis (turnovers and rebounding) and striking just the right positive note.
This guy is good and no better than when he's talking about his favorite past time - Bully Ball.
"Little Bully Ball in the fourth quarter there," Amare reflected on last night's game. "I am pretty sure everybody is going to try and ramp up the intensity and play a little more physical out there. It's going to be some Bully Ball out there in the playoffs. lol :)"
Ed note: Please consider the lol and :) to be visual representations of Amare's chuckle and grin inserted at the appropriate place.
Will the Suns playoff performance influence Amare's decision to stay in Phoenix?
A lot has been made of LeBron staying or leaving Cleveland based on how well the Cavs do in the playoffs. Since Amare is now playing at a max contract level, it seemed a fair question for him as well.
"Not sure. Not sure. Right now I haven't really put no thought into it to be honest with you so it's kind of hard to answer that question. I'm not totally sure. If we do well and win a championship that's the ultimate goal. That's what we both want. See how it plays out."
Well, it was a good question anyway but I guess I am not surprised by the response either. In fact, would we even want Amare saying anything else at this point and causing a distraction?
Next time you see me, go ahead and slap me in the back of the head for even asking.
In other practice news....
- No update (yet) on Robin's back. He was at the doctor during practice and no one had an update.
- I was surprised to see Taylor Griffin back on the floor but there he was, fresh of his 3 game stint with the Iowa Energy where he was pretty underwhelming.
Steve Nash said these things about the Suns' regular season, the tight playoff race and Jarron Collins:
- "As far as fulfilling our potential I think we are doing a really good job but we should never feel like we've reached our potential."
- "I was hoping for 50 (wins) so we're right around where I thought we'd be. If we win one or two more it would probably exceed where I thought we'd be."
- "This is amazing. For all eight Western Conference playoff teams to have a chance at 50 wins is incredible. It's a phenomenal season in the West."
- "The only way you can really move spots in the West is to lose."
- "(Jarron Collins) is a great screener. He's just a great guy to play with because he's smart, he plays hard, he plays within himself and he's a great team mate. I don't think they would have thought he would be starting on our team at this point in the season with everything to play for but we love him and we're happy to have him out there."
Coach Gentry talked about the Suns style of play in the post season,
- "We're not going to try and change our style nor will we try and change our style when we get into the playoffs. We're a rhythm, up-tempo team and that's the way we're going to play and we've been very successful doing that in the regular season and I don't see why it would change and be any different in the post-season."
- "He's the future of our franchise. He's one of the young players that we are going to count on for years to come. We're not going to do anything that would risk that."
Grant Hill talked about the playoffs and lots of other things using many words artfully without really saying much. He would make a good politician.
- "You're playing against playoff caliber teams going into the playoffs. I would rather play against these guys than maybe getting a false sense of reality going against that are not in the post season. We're going to be ready when the post season starts because we've had to play against some quality teams and teams that we may see in the first round. Teams that we may see at some point in the post season. It's a great test for us. We've worked hard all season to put ourselves in a position to....."
- Ed Note: At this point I hit the off button and walked away to talk to someone else...