Dan Majerle reacts to Phoenix Suns comeback win over the Kings

Dan Majerle reacts to Phoenix Suns comeback win over the Kings

sports theater. This is Wolf and Luke. And if you couldn’t tell by the extremely on then music that we have played, Thunder Dan Marley Suns legend is joining us on the phone. Hello, Dan. How are you doing, Dan? Hello. We got you. Got me. All right. Hey, Dan. It’s Kellen filling in for Luke Leinsky. Wolf is here as always. How you doing, sir? I’m great. How are you guys? We’re doing great. So good. Danny, appreciate you, man. Uh, how much crap did you guys give Amari for missing that shot? Let’s start there. Amari couldn’t make free throws when he was playing. I said they should have had uh they should had Nash down there or something and threw him an alioop and let him dunk it. The way he was looking, I’m sure he’s in good enough shape to get up there and dunk it. But yeah, that was a lot of pressure for a guy who’s been retired and have to step up and make a free throw. If they ask you to take the shot, are you taking a three? Taking a free throw? Just going to go with a layup? What are you doing? I’m taking the fifth, baby. Yeah, I ain’t doing any of that. Danny, it was amazing because I had two I had two thoughts watching Amari shoot that free throw. Number one, man, he’s jacked. He’s in the gym. This guy This guy looked like a left tackle. That was number one. And number two, I was like, “Okay, Marley is not going to give him one bit of breathing room after missing that shot.” I’m sure you ripped him up a little bit, didn’t you? I gave him a little shot, but uh yeah, but you can tell he doesn’t spend a whole lot of time shooting. He’s in that, like you said, gym and lifting and he looks good. He looks good. Yes, he does. Dan, what did you make of the team’s performance last night? A lot of resolve there in the second half. Yeah, you know, I loved it. You know, the first half was a little rough, but I and I talked about last year how it just wasn’t enjoyable watching the Suns play because there wasn’t a whole lot of competition and no fight. And you can just see in this team that they’re going to play hard. There really are. And that first half they didn’t make shots. Sacramento was hot. Uh then they just stayed the course. They continued to uh you know crash the boards, came out in the second half. Book got hot. Uh Dylan Brooks started making shots and they cooled off the uh the Kings a little bit there in the second half and they came back and won the game which was you know what the NBA is. So um I’m excited to watch this team grow. I think they got some really good pieces. They have a superstar in Booker obviously. Um I’m anxious to watch Jaylen play. I think he’s going to be a really good um complimentary piece to Devin. And then uh with Dylan and the rest of the guys, I’m waiting to see who’s going to step up. Probably Dunn is going to be that X factor guys who are going to come in and and just bring a lot of energy and and play the role. Danny, I know that it was just one game, of course, and you can’t build a church on one game. Yet, at the same time, they showed some style of play that I really liked. What what did you see in terms of schematically what the Suns were doing on the floor? Well, I liked it because they, you know, they I think they can do a lot of different things. Uh, you know, started switching a little bit more in the second half. They got a lot of like sized guys who can play defense and guard different people, but I just think it’s the tenacity. I mean, picking up full court a lot of the times. Um, you know, the best teams that I’ve ever played on, uh, were guys who had a superstar, but then they had guys who really defined the role and really got into the role and was excited to play it. And that’s where I see this team going. I mean, Booker’s going to be the scoreer. Uh, Green’s going to be in score and then we just got to wait and see who’s going to fill. And you know that I talk about the 92 93 team all the time and it probably gets boring, but it was such a good team because not only were we talented, but we had guys that really had defined roles and got into the rule the roles and loved it. The pace that you mentioned, I think that a lot of it again, they were switching more on defense. They were they were doing a couple of things differently with their physicality. They upped it. Sacramento decreased it. But when they were switching and they were getting stops, they were running and attacking the basket before anyone was really even there. And that’s what Jordan really wanted to see this team do for sure. Yeah. You know that. And also too, did you notice how many offensive rebounds they had? The Suns were absolutely all over the offensive glass as well. The style of play turning over their opponent, of course, turning over. Do we have Danny now? Dan, hello. Hello. Good. You guys on budget cuts or what? Yeah, it’s something like that. You know how it is around here. Thank you for being patient with us, sir. Really appreciate it. When you have a superstar like Wolf there, he he gets all the money. You got to cut other places. I hear you knock the first to go. I’m here on the minimum, Dan. I’m just trying to fill in my role. You know, you were talking about roles. Get all the money you can, pal. You were talking about roles. We’ve all got a role to fill. I’m trying to fill mine here, Dan. I want to ask you about Dylan Brooks. You talk about one game and and putting an impression. How much in your in your experience and back in your day playing, did it help to have a guy on your team who wasn’t going to get pushed around and maybe punched up a weight class with the guy that he was talking to in Demar D. Frozen specifically. Yeah, I mean it it helps. I mean I I you know refer back to Danny A who’s one of my best friends and I love him to death, but I hated playing against him, but I loved having him as a teammate because he’s going to be the one the guy that did all the the little things and pissed everybody off and got guys off their game. And I see Dylan Brooks doing that. And you know what I liked about it is he didn’t start shooting the ball well, but he really came on and uh didn’t let that bother him and he played hard defensively, but kept on taking good shots and finally started making some shots. So, I think he’s going to be a big part of of this identity for the Suns and it takes a lot of the pressure off of of Booker and these other guys that he can do that and guard different areas and kind of be the bad guy. Danny, what did you see from Ryan Dunn? Ryan Dunn is one of my favorite players, but I want to get your take on Ryan Dunn. Yeah, I love Ryan Dunn. You know, he got he uh actually got the Marley Hustle Award last year. Oh, yeah. That’s right. Yeah. He kind of reminds me a little bit of myself when I came in the league. I, you know, I wasn’t a big three-point shooter when I first, you know, my first four or five years in the league. I was, and I talked about this on the on the broadcast last night with Eddie, is I had to find a place to to to be able to play as a rookie. And we had guys like Eddie Johnson and Kevin Johnson and and uh you know, Horny and and uh and Tom Chambers. the only way I was going to get playing time as a rookie is to play defense, rebound, and just play my butt off. And that’s what I see Ryan Dunn doing. I just love his intensity going to the boards. Um, how he picks up defensively. Uh, just plays extremely hard and as he continues to work on that shot, I think he’s going to be a hell of a player. Dan, it’s been a while since we’ve seen the Suns have a true interior presence down low. We only got to see Mark Williams for about 24 minutes in this game, but he he was everywhere and it felt like he was impacting this game. What did you see out of what he brought to the game? Yeah, he’s he’s going to be huge. I know as a defender, you can always uh feel better when you have a backline guy back there able to block shots. So, you’re able to get up there and be more forceful, make guys drive, take away airspace, knowing that if the guy does get around you, there’s going to be somebody back there who can not only block shots, but intimidate and change shots. So, that’s a big thing. And then the rookie from Duke, uh uh if he he, you know, he continues to learn from that, that’s going to be huge. But, it’s always big when you have a a guy like that. uh on the back line, it can support you defensively because you know when you’re out there playing hard defense, you don’t have to worry about getting blown by. There’s somebody back there to help you. You know, they were playing with such pace and tempo and playing really intense on the defensive end of the floor. Is this sustainable going forward, Danny? Oh, yeah. I think so. I I don’t I don’t understand why you can’t play hard for, you know, 27 and 30 minutes. Guys aren’t going to get a bunch of minutes. I mean, guys like Booker and those guys are going to play a lot of minutes, but uh if you’re in there, it’s just there’s no reason you can’t play hard for every minute you’re on the floor. Uh give it all you got. These guys are young. Um and that’s a fun place. That’s a fun way to play. I’ve never even knew how to play if I wasn’t playing hard. I didn’t enjoy it the game if I wasn’t playing hard. So, uh get play your ass off and and get after it. Dan, thank you so much for joining the program. I know you said you’re not going to take the shot, but if they talk you into it for some reason, we’ll be rooting you on. Okay. I’m going to need it. Thanks, fellas. Suns legend Dan Marley joining the program. Thanks for watching Wolf and Luke. Tap to see more and click the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports.

Phoenix Suns legend Dan Majerle joined Wolf & Luke to discuss the team’s comeback win over the Sacramento Kings on the opening night of the NBA season. Kellan Olson fills in for Luke.

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