Sports Radio Interviews

That Didn’t Last Long

On Monday morning the rumors came to fruition and the Phoenix Suns fired head coach Terry Porter.  They replaced him with assistant coach Alvin Gentry who’s been a head coach twice and this is his third time as an interim coach.  I never for one second thought that Terry Porter was the right hire for this squad.  The Suns are a veteran team and needed a coach to get them over the hump.  Similar to Larry Brown in Detroit a few years back.

The whole season for the Suns has been miserable.  Nash is unhappy, Amare is unhappy, the owner meddles way too much and not in a positive way, and they kept flip flopping their style of play.  Steve Kerr has to be held accountable too.  It seems like he’ll end up coaching this squad next season.

Interim Coach Alvin Gentry joined Gambo & Ash on KTAR in Phoenix to discuss his new role with the Suns.  He first talked about being an interim coach:

“This is my third time doing it.  It’s always tough guys cause I have the utmost respect for Terry. He worked extremely hard, and he tried every way he could to make this thing work and do what he thought was necessary for this team to improve.  It just didn’t work out and it happens sometimes. I’ve talked to Terry a couple of times, but it’s just unfortunate for him and his family.  I’m just going to try to look ahead and see what we can do to salvage the season.”

Gentry then talked about Amare and his role with the team, which could be moot as he may be traded by Thursday.

“We got to also find a way to allow him a situation where the floor is open, he’s rolling to the basket and finishing.  That’s what he’s done for us the last four years here and been really successful doing that.”

“I do think that when we’re talking about rotations, we can use Amare as a five some when we take Shaq out of the game.  That will give us the opportunity to open the floor a little bit more by playing a little bit smaller.  You know Matt Barnes as a four, or Jared Dudley, one of those guys that can space the floor a little bit more for us.”

Listen to Alvin Gentry on KTAR in Phoenix with Gambo & Ash

Gentry would be wise to get on Nash's got side.

Tags: Alvin Gentry, Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Kerr, Steve Nash, Terry Porter