For those of you curious about what I look like, you can see me blotting out Gentry at the beginning of his press conference as I take my seat. Anything to get in the vid, you know?
Gentry: "I thought the last three quarters were the worst we could have possibly played."
Utah got 60 of its 87 points in the paint - all in variety of ways. The Suns turning the ball over 21 times helped them, for sure, but Utah didn't get most of those paint points on fast breaks. In fact, they only got a handful that way. Their points in the paint were via their set offense and just giving the ball to Jefferson, Favors and Millsap in the low or high post to make a play.
Asked after the press conference if the turnovers were forced for the most part, and Gentry said no. The Suns were just throwing the ball where their teammates were not, or right at Jazz hands and feet.
Or, in Marcin Gortat's case, right off his own hands into theirs on a couple of occasions.
At one point in the second quarter, the Suns had 15 straight possessions without a basket.
Conclusion: "It was a disaster."
Next we have Jared Dudley talking about the horrific second quarter from which the Suns never recovered.
"We got a little selfish," he said. "Not getting easy buckets, a lot of iso[lations]."
"We turned the ball over way too much, including me," said Dudley of the team's 21 turnovers, 6 of them his own. "Trying a make a play, out of character."
Conclusion: "We are just not a good team right now."
Exclusive content from our own Kris Habbas with Dudley:
About the second quarter: "If you look at the game, it was shot clock winding down: fade away. Shot clock winding down: jump shot."
How to get the rhythm back: "Get back to basics. You got twelve guys still trying to make a full team."
About getting the ball to Goran Dragic on all possessions: "He's the only one that should bring the ball up, unless I get the ball on the break. You've got to have good decision-makers doing that. You have to look at the team and know if you can do that. I feel comfortable making the right choice."
How to get the ball to Goran: "I always get the ball to Goran. He usually just calls my name. If I have numbers I'm going to push it, if not I'm going to get the ball to him."
Dave King's exclusive with PG Goran Dragic:
Goran on getting ball after every rebound: "I think it's better with P.J. and Dudley in the lineup. They know that I'm the ballhandler."
When he doesn't get the ball: "I'm yelling, but sometimes it's the momentum of the game. Everybody is just trying to do their best."
The offense runs better when Goran Dragic sets it up and gets guys into their spots. As Gentry said postgame, they weren't getting into their sets fast enough, or they were making bad decisions with the ball as the clock was winding down.
In my observation, that was mostly when Dragic was out of the play entirely. When he doesn't bring the ball up, he floats out to the wing to give the chosen ballhandler the space to run the offense.
Maybe Dragic just needs to go and take the ball the away? Sure, but then there's two defenders within a couple feet of the ball, and that can cause turnovers too.
Really, the Suns just need to be more disciplined. They don't have the talent to be mavericks, with multiple individuals who can take over a game.
They need to be careful and sure of their plays, on both offense and defense.