Stories from a trip to Media Day for the Phoenix Suns.Terry Porter is getting ready to begin training camp with the Suns for the first time, and had plenty to say to reporters about the upcoming season. He didn't hit the podium as some of the players did, and instead chose to hang out informally crowded by the press, comfortably answering questions for almost 20 minutes. Here are some of the highlights of his comments, asked by various members of the press in attendance.
Q: Does this training camp gain added significance because [the team] has played that certain style for so long, and you've got to kind of ween them into playing something a little different? As unconventional as it was?
Terry Porter: Yeah, but I think they were moving towards that last year in the second half when they got Shaq. I mean, I don't think they quite played the style they had played before Shaq because of the fact that they had [Shawn Marion] and they had the guys that could really space the floor. So, from that standpoint, I think they were slowly making that adjustment last year. But it will be an adjustment for these guys because it won't be a situation where it wasn't many sets. Now they may have had a lot of pick-and-rolls, I don't know if that was [Mike D'Antoni's] different sets, but there will be more traditional types of sets.
And we won't play, as far as from a shot selection standpoint, shots won't go up as quickly as they did with Mike. [Laughs] I'm not a big believer of uh, jacking the ball up as quickly as possible. I think it's important that we do, you know, push the ball if we have an opportunity early in the offense, definitely take advantage of it because a lot of times ... if you have a shot early in the shot clock, that may be the best shot you're going to get. But if you don't have it, then we're really going to try to work the possession a little bit more and try to take advantage of some of our match-ups.
Q: How much better of a coach are you going to be with Steve Nash as your play maker?
TP: Steve Nash, Amare, Shaq ... my coaching skills have already gone up! [laughs] Well, I played the position, so it's important you have a point guard and that you're on the same page, and when [we] look at the game we kind of view it the same way. It's going to be great to be able to work with him, and I think we're going to hit it off right away, easy.
Q: How much better can Amare get, defensively?
TP:Well, I think the sky's the limit for him, really. When you think about being a defensive big guy in this league, he can run, he can jump, he's a great athlete. So I think he has that [talent], just on paper. Now it's just a matter of getting the reps, getting the feel, getting the angles down, and making sure that he's in the right spots. I think that's very important, and I don't know if he's done that a lot in the past. I think that's an area that he knows he has to get some growth going forward, and as far as this franchise going forward, our success is going to rely on that.
Q: From your experience, as a player under different coaches, watching how they coach and manage teams, what have you taken from it? Not so much Xs and Os, but things like discipline, things like that. What did you see work when you were a player?
TP: Well, I think just from a players' standpoint, a coach has got to be honest with his players. I know players may not like it, but I think honesty is the best. You gotta be a straight shooter, and let 'em know that, hey, you're trying to do things that are going to put them in the right spot at times, that will help them be successful.
Q: How deep do you think the rotation will be, what are you comfortable with?
TP: It's hard to say, I think nine, ten, I mean it would be tough at times to try to play 10 guys. I think nine is doable to some degree. But we can go pretty deep. That's the one thing, this summer, through free agency and the draft, we were able to get some pieces to put on our bench that really gave us a better opportunity and a deeper bench.
Q: Do you think you'll still go small at times? Do you like small lineups?
TP: I'm not a big "small" guy, I don't like that much [laughs]. It can work, but I think with us, we have an opportunity with two big guys, seven-footers that really can cause havoc at both ends of the floor.
Q: Are you still going to have some excitement and high energy in your offense?
TP: (Deadpans) So winning's not good enough, you've got to have excitement too? [laughs] You'd rather lose by scoring 110 than win by scoring 80 points? No, no, I just think that Mike's style was totally different, you know, get it up the floor, shoot it quickly.
