Suns Basketball » Bill Cartwright

Suns’ Defense, Stoudemire’s Retro Moves Confuse Lakers

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:14:58 +0000

PHOENIX -- Amar'e Stoudemire wears No. 1, and Sunday night he was looking like the guy who was the first star in Phoenix Suns history.

Stoudemire was swooping to the hoop like Connie Hawkins did 40 years ago. He had a baseline drive for a reverse layup and enough dipsy-doo moves that it appeared he, rather than Suns center Robin Lopez, should have been wearing a Julius Erving-like Afro.

Put it all together, and the forward scored a playoff career-high tying 42 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as his Suns beat the Lakers 118-109 at US Airways Center to cut the deficit in the Western Conference finals to 2-1.

"A lot of practice,'' Stoudemire said of the moves he displayed. "But I think just trying to keep those guys off guard, just really trying to bring out a lot of different moves, because they scout you so well and they know what you do best. So, if you can count on your go-to moves, it's hard for them to guard you. ... I wanted to be very, very versatile and try to catch them off guard with a few moves.''

Stoudemire sure did, and nobody on the Lakers claimed anything he did was "lucky.'' It was Stoudemire who uttered that claim after Lakers reserve forward Lamar Odom grabbed 19 rebounds in Game 1.

So, Lamar, how was Stoudemire's performance Sunday?

"He had a wonderful game,'' said Odom, not wanting to elaborate much. Then, after some prodding, he added, "He got to the hole and was forceful. He was great.''

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Amar’e Stoudemire Still Seeking Greatness

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:07:00 +0000

by Sam Amick

Filed under: Suns, NBA Playoffs

On an early October morning in 2006, Ama're Stoudemire awoke in his Treviso, Italy, hotel room and headed downstairs for what would become one of the most memorable meals of his life.

It wasn't about the food as much as the company, and so it is that he can't recall what was on his plate that day when Stoudemire looks back . There was breakfast of some kind and there was coffee. And, of course, there was Bill Russell.

He remembers that part. Every word of it.

"I had a long, long conversation with him," Stoudemire told FanHouse while in Portland last week. "We just talked about what it takes to be a great player. He felt that I had the potential to become a great player."

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Vets get a day off

Hersey — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:23:00 +0000

Suns are trying to build chemistry at the moment.
Guys are confused and turning the ball over... a lot.
They got torched in their home opener by a good team.
The Hornets are very similar to Phoenix at their D'Antoni peak.
They can be guarded and they will miss shots.
Plenty of usable stuff in the game film.

As for the Blazers, they are coming off an emotional win over the Spurs.
The back to back won't be fun for Portland.
I think Nash will make plays and the veterans will follow suit.
The kids will make the most of their minutes.
Once the cloud of season-opening hype and analysis passes, the Suns can continue the process of becoming who they'll be... with more focus.
Fewer people in their ears and a lot more time with the coaches.
Bill Cartwright and Steve Kerr both won 3 titles win Jordan.
Terry Porter saw Flip Saunders mistakes with the Detroit Pistons.

Coaches have a lot of interesting things to say.
On Amare Stoudemire: "He's not a great player," one member of Team USA's staff said in Beijing. "He makes great plays. There's a difference."
The process of this coaching staff getting these players' attention... to build a consistent ferocious effort around their strategy... to accept new roles... to fully commit to each other... is the most interesting aspect of this team to me.

Nash's assist to turnover ratio will an interesting stat to watch.
The barometer for losses last year was turnovers.
The Suns will need to be efficient because there will be fewer possessions in their new scheme.
Teams will try to outrun them... at their peril.
I hope Nash has an Isiah Thomas mode.

This team needs Alando Tucker to get healthy..
He's a bruiser who attacks the basket and draws fouls.
He's a winner and he'll find a way to give the Suns an advantage.

Looking forward to the matchup tonight.
The Blazers go deep on their bench, so we might see some interesting matchups.

Go Suns!