NBA Game Notebook: Nets vs. Suns
Posted by Scott Stanchak on March 21, 2008
The following interviews took place before and after the March 29, 2008 game between the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns. The Suns won, 110-104.
Lawrence Frank:
Scott: “I know you’ve played Shaq when he was with the Heat. I also know you’ve seen him on tape with the Suns. What kind of different Shaq are you seeing with his new team?”
Lawrence: “Well, I think he’s healthy and there’s no substitute for health. I think in Miami he obviously wasn’t completely healthy, he was dealing with injuries, but now he’s healthy, he’s running the floor well and he’s doing the things that he did when he was healthy with Miami.”
Scott: “Despite losses here and there, you guys have put up over 100 points in seven of your last nine games. You have to be proud about that.”
Lawrence: “The one thing I take pride in is wins. So, for me, it’s whatever it takes to win and I think, yea, we’ve been able to show the ability to score, which is positive, but we’re going to have to be more committed on the other end in order to get the wins. There are teams in this league that score and don’t guard, and very few win. There’s a couple that do because they have unbelievable fire power. I think for us it is our advantage with the personnel for us to run, yet at the same time we’re going to have to be a little bit more committed to running back on the other end and stopping the ball and giving help and we’re not going to be a great defensive team, but we can’t be towards the bottom. We have to be a bend, but don’t break defensive team. I think if we can combine the fact of offensively put up the type of numbers we going to put up and playing defense at a higher level than I think we’ll give ourselves a better shot to win.”
Mike D’Antoni:
Scott: “Coming back like that in the first half and going into half time with the lead, is that the kind of thing that shows you that this team is really starting to gel together?”
Mike: “Yea, because I thought we came out flat and we Steve (Nash) had a little bit of a shoulder issue. His shooting was off and we just weren’t sharp. We just kind of rolled into them, we just kind of picked it up. It is the kind of makings of a good team, we have to do that. I’m not happy we didn’t come out sharp, but we righted the ship and got it done, which is important on the road especially.”
Steve Nash:
Scott: “Talk about going into half-time with the lead after being down most of the first half.”
Steve: “I think we did a good just hanging in there. We didn’t play very well to start the game and we were sluggish, but we really hung in there and got ourselves some stops. We started to get a rhythm offensively, got the lead at the half and went on a nice run to start the second half and that’s kind of where we renewed ourselves.”
Shaquille O’Neal:
Scott: “Shaq, I know you’ve only played the Nets once this year, but what do you notice about this Nets team without a Jason Kidd on the floor?”
Shaq: “Different, it’s unusual. It’s just the last two games, in the last arenas, it’s been different. It was different for me going to Philadelphia without Iverson. It’s different coming here without Jason Kidd and TJ sitting on the sideline. Hopefully they’ll get it together and hopefully they can still make a run for that eighth spot.”
Scott: “How much fun are you having playing basketball right now?”
Shaq: “It’s cool. I’m on a team that I have a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things. I’m not really asked to do much. You know, Amare is really our go-to guy and he’s playing fabulous, he’s putting up MVP-type numbers. Everybody else is just asked to play roles and that’s fine with me at the timber age of 36.”
Amare Stoudemire:
Scott: “With a team like this, you guys are putting up a ton of points, how fun is it to play basketball right now?”
Amare: “It’s a lot of fun. That’s what this game is all about. You really have got to enjoy the time while you’re playing. Most guys play only like five, six years so that’s why you really have to enjoy your time now. When you’re winning, it’s a lot of fun, you feel really good about it.”
Scott: “Do you think you can rip a net down with your bare hands?”
Amare: “(Laughs) No. He goes from ripping down backboards to nets.”
Scott: “Have you ever seen a net come down like that?”
Amare: “No, I haven’t.”
Scott: “Guys run up there before the game, hang on it sometimes, but then again, Shaq’s a different kind of person.”
Amare: “He’s a different beast. The guys huge, man. He’s a massive beast.”
Vince Carter:
Scott: “What is this Suns team like with Shaq on it now?”
Vince: “They’re pretty good. They just made a good team a little better. Especially when they shoot the free throws as well as they did. I lost a lot of money betting Shaq. (Laughs)”
(The following interviews are archived from “Scott Stanchak Exclusives” on ScottStanchak.com)
