Suns coach Gentry admits to sounding like broken record
Jan 2, 2013, 8:50 PM | Updated: 8:51 pm
The Phoenix Suns return home Wednesday to face the Philadelphia 76ers trying to snap a six-game losing streak that dates back to December 22nd. The Suns have been competitive in most of the games, but the problem is they can’t find an answer down the stretch when the game is on the line.
“Once again, I sound like a broken record but we have to finish the games,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. “We played great in Indiana, we played great in Minnesota and we had a really great game going until the last nine minutes of the Oklahoma City game. We just gotta find a way to make the winning plays down the stretch.”
Including the six game skid, the Suns have lost 13 of 17 games. Wednesday at shootaround Gentry said he’s making a change to the starting lineup to hopefully find a spark.
“We’re going to try P.J. (Tucker) as a starter to see if energy-wise that gives us anything,” he said. “And then it gives us a guy like Shannon (Brown) coming off the bench that we can call plays for and try to see if we can keep the 2nd quarter going.”
A couple bright spots for the Suns could be that their six losses have come against teams with records of .500 or better, and they are 6-2 at home against teams with sub .500 marks.
“I mean we can sit here and talk about it but it’s just gotta be done,” Gentry said. “We played great and we get to a certain point and we have to finish the game. The only way you can do that is to make the big stop or come up with the big rebound or make the big basket.”
The fourth quarter continues to plague the Suns. They shoot just over 42 percent and average 22.4 points in the final 12 minutes, both of which are the team’s worst numbers through 48 minutes of play.
Tip Wednesday against the 76ers is slated for 7: 00 pm, with pregame coverage starting at 6:30pm on Arizona Sports 620.
