NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v SUNS

May 27, 2005

Jim Jackson

Joe Johnson

Steve Nash

Amar'e Stoudemire

STEVE NASH: No, I think everybody is even keel. I think everyone is ready to go. We just have to play a little bit better.

STEVE NASH: Obviously it would be nice. We got ourselves back in the game. I don't think it was the end of the world, but you want to have a good game, and a good start is a product of your game.

STEVE NASH: A lot of it is just them making great plays. Not much that we can change or do on some of the plays they made. So you have got to tip your hat to them on some of that stuff.

STEVE NASH: Yeah, the effort is there, for sure. We have played hard. I think other than the first two minutes of Game 1 when we were just sort of getting over the last series, no, the effort is there.

STEVE NASH: I suppose. I don't think that's the case here, though.

STEVE NASH: I think our team is ready to go. I don't think it matters that we are down 0-2. I don't think it matters where we're playing. I think our team is just ready to go.

STEVE NASH: I think he adds a lot of depth to us, first of all, but the other thing is he's just a terrific player. So I don't know how he will feel, at his best or near his best. He's a terrific player and adds a lot to our team.

STEVE NASH: Well, the crowd didn't score any buckets to us, so we couldn't expect them to score too much for us on the road either.

STEVE NASH: Obviously it will help me, give me a rest a little bit, take some of the responsibility off my shoulders. But I think it just helps everyone. The depth is so important having that extra guy, especially a guy of his caliber.

STEVE NASH: All we can do is keep trying, keep trying to do the best we can. We're going to give ourselves a chance and see if we're good enough. If we're not, we're not. We feel every bit as confident going into this game as going into Game 1.

JIM JACKSON: Fast break here or there, layup here or there, offensive rebound instead of losing by three, maybe we win by two.

JIM JACKSON: It's been a bad predicament, going back to the Dallas series. Of that first game every game we played we are down at the end of the first quarter. That's not a good predicament to be in because you're always scraping to fight back to get back into the game. If you are spotting a team five or six points, against a team like San Antonio, you can't do that.

JIM JACKSON: I think it's plays that hurt us before that lead up to that. Yes, in the fourth quarter, yes, they did score, but some plays that happened in the third quarter that could have been avoided to get -- instead of that 7-point lead we could have been up 10 or 12. So it's a combination not only in the fourth, but mistakes that you make earlier in the game.

JIM JACKSON: Yeah, I got my bench pass, I still kept it in my back pocket, I never gave it up.

AMARE STOUDEMIRE: I think we have got to come up stronger, more aggressive on the offensive end and defensive. I think in the first quarter they get a lot of loose balls and we got a tendency to turn the ball over. I think we come out a little too up for the game. We have got to calm down a little bit, less turnovers and play better defense, we'll be in good shape.

AMARE STOUDEMIRE: Well, I think we scored the ball well in the fourth. They do a better job, they had the better shots. Have to do a better job defensively in the fourth. Close them out.

AMARE STOUDEMIRE: We just went over different strategies and watched game film to see what we're doing wrong in the fourth quarter. We have got a good understanding of what we were doing wrong out there and we're ready to roll.

AMARE STOUDEMIRE: We just got to go and play as hard as we can.

AMARE STOUDEMIRE: Not too loose to the point where we turn the ball over. We have got to protect the ball, protect every possession. That's our main focus right now.

AMARE STOUDEMIRE: Not really. I think they deserve it. As a team we've got to come out and show them that we're playing Phoenix Suns basketball and we have got to do our best job.

JOE JOHNSON: It was good, ready to practice.

JOE JOHNSON: It was good. I feel better.

JOE JOHNSON: Yeah.

JOE JOHNSON: No, no adjustments. I just went to the doctor, got the stitches taken out, I have dissolved stitches. Ready to play.

JOE JOHNSON: I am very anxious. Just ready to get back out there and get in the rhythm with the guys, go down there and try and steal a Game 3.

JOE JOHNSON: I think it's going to help him out a lot because he hasn't gotten a lot of rest. He's playing 40-plus minutes. It's kind of tough on him. He's having a great post-season, and he's been holding it down for us.

JOE JOHNSON: Yeah, that gives him a lot more rest. We can come out and try and jump on them quicker.

JOE JOHNSON: No. Just going out and playing. I am not worried about my face.

JOE JOHNSON: No, I don't think it will affect it. I am going to come out and play like I have always played. Nothing is going to change if you have a mask on.

JOE JOHNSON: No, I don't feel any pressure at all. Whatever the results may be, then that's that.

JOE JOHNSON: I am just coming back doing what I was doing before I left. It is no biggy.

JOE JOHNSON: I think it will. Steve (Nash), he's taken what the defense gives him and they gave him 24 shots, so he has to take them. We just got -- I think we just got to buckle up a little bit more on the defensive end.

JOE JOHNSON: Just bring my energy. I don't think it is one specific thing. It's a few. It is just me coming out and playing and just playing hard.