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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v LAKERS

May 29, 2010

Alvin Gentry

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Game Six

L.A. Â– 111
Phoenix - 103

COACH GENTRY: I guess first of all, I'd just like to say, I'd like that congratulate the Lakers. They've had a phenomenal year. They played a great series. I mean, what can you say about Kobe? I don't know if there's words.
There's an intense game going on and you almost have to laugh at what he does. I mean, I thought we played great defense on him. He just made tough shot after tough shot.
You know, I wish them well. Obviously, we'll be pulling hard for them. They're a Western Conference team. We have this in that case of losing to the champs quite a bit when we get this far. Hopefully they'll win another one for the west.

Q. You're disappointed you lost the game. Talk about what you told your players in the locker room after this game and what you have accomplished this season?
COACH GENTRY: I just told them to me, you know, it's been the most enjoyable year of my coaching career. It was fun pause we had really high-character guys. We had great leadership, when you think about what Steve and Grant and Amar'e brought to the table. I was real proud of where Amar'e has come. He has worked hard to get better defensively, worked hard to become a better teammate. He's worked hard on his game.
Steve has become a great leader. More vocal than he's been in the past. Grant, just lead by example of what he's done. We have great guys that are willing to be led. I think in order to be a great team, you have to have leaders, but you have to have guys that are willing to be led. I told them I appreciate everything they've done. We played extremely hard. We played extremely hard tonight. We couldn't quite get over the hump. Every time we got it close, Kobe made an incredibly tough shot that was well-defended. For that there is no answer.
You have to give them credit. They came in here, understood the urgency of the game. I thought it was a well-played series, I really did.

Q. What appeared to be looks like a sweep in the beginning, you turned I it around and inspired your players to make it a true series. What are your most proud of your team tonight?
COACH GENTRY : Well, I just think we still believe that we would win the game tonight, go to L.A., have a chance to win and go to the NBA Finals. I think we're a very confident bunch.
I think the thing we talked about all year is we'll lose as a team, we'll win as a team, but we have to stay together. I think there was a chemistry that developed with this team that was a real positive thing.
You can see that there's games where the starters didn't play, and the bench didn't play very much at all. But it was easy to do that because we had such great guys. I mean, I really have not been around a team like this that had the chemistry not in my 22 years in the league.

Q. You mentioned sometimes you can only laugh when you see Kobe doing what he's doing. Seems like you were literally laughing when he hit that shot.
COACH GENTRY: We guarded him. I thought Grant was going to block the shot. That was a fall-away three-pointer with a hand in your face, off balance. You know, that's who he is. That really is who he is.

Q. Looked like he might have said something to you.
COACH GENTRY: I said, Good defense to Grant. Said, Not quite good enough.
You know, it was a well-played series. The one thing that I said to our guys, and I said this today even at shoot-around, we should enjoy this. We're in a situation where we're playing a game that means an awful lot. You know, contrary to what anybody thinks, we earned our way here. We beat a really good Portland team that was decimated by injuries, but played hard and very difficult. We beat a very good San Antonio team that we've had a lot of difficulty getting over the hump. Then I thought we were very competitive in this series. We happened to run into a team that was the world champs and is going to have an opportunity to win another one.
I think rather than have any negatives, and I told our guys, There is no negatives to anything that happened to us in the last month. This is a really good thing. We gave it our all. I think I would be really disappointed if we didn't play extremely hard and was very competitive. We did. We happened to play a team, they were just better than we were in this series. You have to give them credit.
But for us, it's still going to be a real positive. I refuse to have anything be negative about the season.

Q. For some clarification, on the shot that Kobe hit, did he nudge you first or did he say something to you?
COACH GENTRY: No, he just patted me. Hey, I've known him all his life, since he was about 16 years old. I've always been a big fan of is. He knows that. I always thought he was the best player in basketball. He didn't do anything in this series against us to make me think otherwise. As a matter of fact, he probably solidified my thought process as to he's the best basketball player right now.

Q. You think he is the best player, even better than Jordan, is that correct?
COACH GENTRY: I'm not going to get into that. I might have to work for the Bobcats someday. I'm not saying that, no (laughter).
I'm saying at this time right now he's the best player in basketball. And I don't think it's even close.

Q. Your thoughts on Ron Artest's impact in this game, and the second quarter when the Lakers winning that 14 to 4 blew it open?
COACH GENTRY: Ron played great. He shot the ball extremely well. As I said, you have to make a decision when Kobe is on the floor. Sometimes you have to leave guys open. Once again, you have to give Ron credit. Did a great job, stepped up and made shots. That's the way we played him the whole series.
You're going to have to either leave Kobe in a one-on-one situation, which is not a good idea, or leave somebody open in the rotations to try to make shots. We chose to leave Ron. He stepped up and made shots. You know, you have to give him credit. He did a very good job.
But you have to pick your poison. You can't leave Kobe on an island one-on-one. We chose to try to get the ball out of his hand. We played a lot more man defense tonight. They shot the ball so well in the first half, you know, going 8 for 14 from 3, we were forced to just play man and tried to Gordon them.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

End of FastScripts

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