Alvin Gentry still can’t put identity on Suns

As a team who has struggled with injuries, a tight
schedule and has 20 losses, coach Alvin Gentry still
doesn’t know how to label the Suns.

“We’re half way through, and I don’t know if I know
exactly what we are,” Gentry told Arizona Sports 620’s
Burns and Gambo. “We’ve got very smart players, and we’ve
got enough players. I don’t think we’re an elite team, but
I also don’t think we’re a team where our record is right
now. I say that, but at the end of the day you are who you
are. And our record says that we’ve lost 20 games right
now and won 14, and I guess that’s what the disappointing
thing is to me.”

This comes after a devastating loss to the Golden State
Warriors on Wednesday, which hit a nerve with Gentry.

“I was really disappointed because it’s just such an
important game to us, and it was hard to believe that we
approached it that way,” Gentry said. “It was actually the
most disappointing loss we’ve had this season by far.”

In the press conference after the loss, Gentry used
‘disgusted’ to describe how he felt about the way they
played and how they didn’t use the game to end the first
half of the season on a positive note.

The Suns didn’t have control for much of the game as they
gave up 39 points in the first quarter and worked their
way back to take the lead late in the fourth but not by
much. Golden State’s Monta Ellis scored with :01 left in
the game to win 106-104.

Gentry thought the game would have been different because
of the Suns riding on a two-game winning streak.

“I just feel like we had a little momentum built up,”
Gentry said. “We’ve had a lot of success against Golden
State here; I think they’ve lost the last 13 here. It was
a game that could put us closer to .500, and then I
thought it would give us momentum because we do play 8 out
of 10 home games when the break is over.”

Gentry said he won’t let the team forget about the loss,
and they’ll look to fix their issues — with playing well
on a consistent basis — when they return from the break.

“We’ll play a couple of really good games, and you’ll
think, ‘oh we’re about to turn the corner, this is
something that’s going to be good,'” Gentry said. “And
then we’ll take a step backwards, and I think that’s been
the most frustrating thing this year because I think we
have shown that we can do that, we just have to do it on a
consistent basis.”

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