NBA On TNT Notes: Phoenix and Shaq Just Might Work Out
Magic Johnson on how the Phoenix Suns are adjusting with Shaquille O’Neal: “In the beginning, there was a ‘feeling-out’ process. Steve Nash didn’t know how to play with (Shaquille O’Neal) and Shaq didn’t know how to play with Steve Nash. What you are starting to see now is the team has adjusted to Shaq being down-low also being a great man to start the fast break on defense…I think in the beginning Phoenix was trying to slow it down and force feed Shaq, that’s not their game. Now they are letting the game come to Shaq in a natural manner and it’s working right now.”
Smith on how Shaquille O’Neal can fit into the Suns’ system: “When it is all said and done, (the Suns) are going to have to figure out how to get Shaq (O’Neal) the ball in the half-court offense. He is something you can utilize and he hasn’t been properly utilized. He’s rebounding, diving on the floor but he’s not scoring.”
Magic Johnson on the Washington Wizards: “Give Antawn Jamison a lot of credit because he’s played some great basketball and he’s provided some great leadership. (Wizards head coach) Eddie Jordan has done a terrific job as well. What you’ve seen is guys (have) stepped up. When guys get hurt, the guys on the bench have taken advantage of the opportunity to play more minutes and have come through.”
Barkley on the Eastern Conference: “Boston, Detroit and Cleveland are clearly the three best teams in the East (Conference).
Ernie Johnson: “You left out Orlando again.”
Barkley: “(Orlando) don’t have enough, they’re too young. They need another outside shooter and they’ve got to speed the tempo of the game up.”
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Game 1: Cleveland Cavaliers (99) @ Washington Wizards (101)
Announcers: Marv Albert, Reggie Miller and Mike Fratello with Cheryl Miller reporting
Fratello on Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown and Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan: “(Mike Brown and Eddie Jordan) deserve a lot of credit for having their teams in the playoff race. Talk about games missed (by both teams)…yet both teams are in the playoffs. These coaches have done a great job of keeping the franchises afloat in the race while not having the full complement of players.”
TNT’s Cheryl Miller interviewed Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown after the first quarter.
Brown on Cavaliers guard Sasha Pavlovic’s increased playing time after coming back from injury: “We don’t have a lot of time. It’s like when you’re younger and your father throws you in the pool and tells you to sink or swim. That’s what we’re doing with Sasha (Pavlovic).”
Cheryl Miller: “He’s swimming right now.”
Brown: “He’s doing the backstroke.”
TNT’s Cheryl Miller interviewed injured Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas during the second quarter.
Arenas on his injury and when he would like to come back: “I’m practicing, I’m running and jumping. I was going to play tonight and make a big entrance but at the last minute the doctors pulled me out. They want me to finish the season and not tick-tack with games.”
Arenas on how the Wizards have played despite his absence: “Mentally, they are strong. If someone would’ve said at the beginning of the season that I would miss 60-some games, Caron (Butler) would miss 20 (games) and we’re still in sixth spot (in the Eastern Conference) you would have said ‘no.’ This team fought hard and they play together.”
Halftime
Smith on the difference between the Warriors and the Suns: “The one thing that (makes) Golden State different than Phoenix is that Phoenix can play different ways. They can play a pick-and-roll; they can throw it inside to Amare (Stoudemire), now they can throw it in to Shaq. There isn’t another way for Golden State to play other than up-and-down. They don’t have any other option on the offensive end.”
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Miller on the Cavaliers re-adjusting their style with the addition of Ben Wallace: “It’s hard to play Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao together because in pick-and-roll situations you can really rotate slowly to them and know that they are slow offensively. They need Zydrunas (Ilgauskas) back healthy so they can be successful.”
Fratello on Cavaliers guard Devin Brown: “Devin Brown has given (Cavaliers head coach) Mike Brown some real good minutes on the floor. (Mike Brown) has a lot of confidence in this young man and he’s going to have a tough decision to make when everyone comes back healthy who winds up getting the minutes come playoff time.”
Miller on the Wizards getting healthy down the stretch: “Even though the Wizards didn’t make any trades, it’s almost going to be like they did because they’ll get all players back healthy…Gilbert Arenas and Etan Thomas.”
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Game 2: Golden State Warriors (115) @ Phoenix Suns (123)
Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins with Craig Sager reporting
Collins on Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis: “Monta Ellis is one of the best mid-range players in the NBA, a lot like Richard Hamilton.”
Collins on Warriors guard Baron Davis: “Last year (Baron Davis) missed 19 games and even when he played he was not healthy. This year he has played in all the games. He is the leader of this team; he’s what makes this team go.”
Collins on the maturity of the Warriors since last season: “One of the big things I’ve seen with Golden State this year is, they still pick up some technical (fouls), but last year they were more volatile, more emotional. They appear to have that under control. (Warriors head coach) Don Nelson gives a lot of credit to Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson for their leadership and them being captains has really been a big part of their success this season.”
TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Warriors guard Baron Davis after the second quarter.
Davis on the Warriors’ strategy against the Suns: “We’ve got to keep attacking, when (Shaq O’Neal) is out on the floor, we’ve got to attack him. When he’s not out there, we know they don’t have another shot-blocker so we attack the basket. That’s been our goal from the time we set foot on this court and that’s what we have to do to win.”
Halftime
Magic Johnson on the Warriors style of play: “When you think about Golden State, they are about mismatches. That’s what they do, they find the mismatch and decide that’s where they are going to throw the ball at the three-point line and let that guy take his man off the dribble.”
Barkley on the Warriors: “(The Warriors) are a fun team to watch, they’re exciting. They played against Dallas, fluked up and won that series (in the 2007 Playoffs). This (style of play) is fun for the rookie league up in New York, it’s great for the playground and it’s fun and exciting.”
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Collins on the impact Shaquille O’Neal will have in the playoffs for the Suns: “If (the playoffs) started today, (the Suns) would have to play against the San Antonio Spurs. Do you think they could beat the Spurs without Shaquille O’Neal to go against (Spurs center) Tim Duncan and that front line? We’ve already seen the affects Shaq has against Tim Duncan and the Spurs.”
Collins on the Suns’ recent improved play: “Their (recent win) against San Antonio really gave (the Suns) some swagger when they were really struggling (at home).”
TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Suns guard Steve Nash after the game.
Nash on what Shaquille O’Neal brings to the Suns: “(Shaquille O’Neal has) obviously given us a lot of depth and versatility. He’s given us the opportunity to play a different way, we can go to him low in the post and we can also guard the basket like we’ve never been able to before. It’s going to take us time; we’re still in a ‘training camp’ mode right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson
Barkley: “Hey Ernie, are you and Earvin (Magic Johnson) related?”
Ernie Johnson: “Yes, we don’t make a big deal about it but everyone knows it.”
Barkley: “People always ask us if you’re black or not, (Ernie).”
Magic Johnson: “Yeah, in every barbershop they ask us.”
Barkley on the strength of the West: “The problem everybody in the West has is that if you aren’t one of the top four teams, you have no chance because no team in the West can win three straight series against those top echelon teams.”
Magic Johnson on the Suns incorporating Shaquille O’Neal: “When you’ve been playing one style for the last five, six years, its hard now to figure out how to incorporate (Shaquille O’Neal) and Coach D’Antoni still has to play the style that he likes. They are trying to figure out how to get him in there.”
Barkley on the Suns needing to play like the Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar era Lakers: “I think the Suns should call Magic Johnson and say, ‘How did you guys play with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?’ The Suns are going to have to play like the Lakers did with Magic, they are going to have to run. (If the Lakers didn’t) have a fastbreak, they gave the ball to Kareem. It should be easy, (the Suns should say), ‘If we have a fastbreak let’s take it, if we don’t we give the ball to Shaq’. This ain’t brain surgery. Trust me, I’ve been in the game a long time and we don’t have a lot of guys who could be brain surgeons.”
Ernie Johnson: “I know it isn’t brain surgery, it’s more like rocket science.”
Barkley on Sacramento Kings head coach Reggie Theus: “(Reggie Theus) has done a fantastic job out there in Sacramento.”
Magic Johnson: “If Reggie (Theus) could get some more talent…that Sacramento team could be good.”
TNT’s David Aldridge sat down with New Orleans Hornets forward Chris “Birdman” Andersen to discuss his return to the NBA after a two-year suspension.
Andersen on what led him down the path of drug abuse: “I hit an all time low. At the time, my mother and I, we had stopped talking and me and my father weren’t speaking as well. I had a girl at the time and things didn’t work out so we split up. Hurricane Katrina had a big affect on it. Everything was just coming from every which way on me and I just felt kinda like alone.”
Andersen on his response to being suspended: “My heart dropped because I knew that something I dreamt about so long as a kid and as a young man, that I was about to lose that and there was nothing I can do about it.”
Andersen on his return to the NBA: “I don’t really talk about it too much anymore. I just want to go out and prove to everybody that did say that I wouldn’t accomplish this, I want to prove them wrong.”
Barkley on Chris Andersen’s return to the Hornets: “I had a brother who was a druggie…I’m proud of my brother, he turned his life around…I’m really pulling for Chris Andersen, I think he’s a nice kid…I’m not sure they should bring him back to this team right now. (The Hornets) are in a playoff push and I don’t understand why you would put a guy who has had issues in a pressure situation like the playoffs. It’s great to have him back on the team, it’s great to have him back in the league, but I think (the Hornets) say, ‘Hey Chris, we want you back but this is a pressure situation.’ I think they should wait and bring him back next year.”
Magic Johnson on Andersen’s return: “The thing (players) worry about is, the rotation is set, they know their minutes, they know when they are going to get in they are going to get into the flow of the game. Now, where does Chris (Andersen) fit in this? The guys are saying, ‘Wait a minute, is he coming to take some of my minutes?’ Or, ‘Does he deserve to be here and does he deserve to get some minutes?’ A lot of guys do not want him to come in and get any minutes because they are going to feel that he hasn’t earned those minutes or even maybe a spot on the team right now because they are in a playoff push.”
Smith: “I think there’s external pressures (Chris Andersen’s) going to have to deal with whether he’s on a playoff team or on a bottom team, hopefully he can conquer those issues first. As a basketball player, being out two years is the biggest issue because he wasn’t a great player, he was a marginal player. He was a guy who could’ve had a career, but he wasn’t a great basketball player, he had moments….Now the game has changed and the team is better…so now he has all these issues to deal with as a basketball player. Those are also pressures that he has to learn to deal with because (he’s) not as good as he was two years ago.”
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