More photos » Matt York - AP

7 days ago: Phoenix Suns forward Grant Hill speaks with the media after basketball practice Tuesday, May 11, 2010 in Phoenix. The Suns will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals beginning May 17th. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Yes. We are STILL talking about practice and will be for three more days. Wow.

Gentry gave the "Big Four" the day off today. Nash, Hill, Amare and JRich all were instructed to stay home and relax. Steve showed up anyway and got some shots in. Jarron Collins sat out practice as well, but was in getting treatment.

The rest of the guys went hard for about an hour, with Robin looking better than yesterday according to Gentry, although there was some talk of another "blow up" of some kind. With all the pent up intensity, he might just rip Andrew Bynum's arm off in Game 1 and snack on it while they stop the game to mop up the blood.

Maybe the only thing I heard today that was a bit surprising was Coach Gentry saying that the Lakers won't try and slow the game down like the Blazers and Spurs. He thinks they want to play up-tempo, as well. He's the only person I've heard say that, but, of course, he's the only person who matters.

As usually the case, there's some funny quotes in there from Alvin, especially when asked by a TV reporter to compare himself to Phil Jackson.

Audio: Gentry practice 051310

Goran and Jared talked to the media as well, but since I heard from Jared yesterday and didn't feel the need to hear him answer the same questions again, I skipped that. Here's a bit of Goran talking about how the Lakers defend the three-point line.

Audio: Goran practice 051310

I am working on my stats and game plan-type article. Honestly, there's not too much jumping off the page for this one. The season series between these two team is pretty meaningless. The first two games in LA were early in the season on back-to-backs. The game the Suns won was without Artest and the game the Lakers won was without Frye (thanks to his punching Earl Watson in the back of the head).

I am focused mainly on the playoff results from both teams. I should have that done on Friday. Speaking of Friday...

Channing Live Chat is on!

We should be good to go around noon or 12:30 PST tomorrow. As always with these things, the timing will be a bit fuzzy.

The rest of the WCF schedule was released. Here it is:

Game              Date                            Location                         Local Phoenix Time   TV/Radio

Game 1           Mon., May 17             Phoenix at L.A. Lakers          6:00PM           TNT/ESPN Radio

Game 2           Wed., May 19             Phoenix at L.A. Lakers          6:00PM           TNT/ESPN Radio

Game 3           Sun., May 23              L.A. Lakers at Phoenix          5:30PM           TNT/ESPN Radio

Game 4           Tue., May 25              L.A. Lakers at Phoenix          6:00PM           TNT/ESPN Radio

Game 5*          Thu., May 27              Phoenix at L.A. Lakers          6:00PM           TNT/ESPN Radio

Game 6*          Sat., May 29               L.A. Lakers at Phoenix          5:30PM           TNT/ESPN Radio

Game 7*          Mon., May 31             Phoenix at L.A. Lakers          6:00PM           TNT/ESPN Radio

Link Dump:

• Suns Spot | Western Conference Finals Preview
  Someone should let Bill Plaschke over at the Los Angeles Times know that the Suns are a completely different team than the Utah Jazz. Mr. Paschke claims the Suns have no chance at beating the Lakers.
• Dudley Ready To Take On The Lakers | ESPN Video - ESPN
  Jared Dudley talks about facing the Lakers and his JMZ website
• Lakers vs. Suns: A battle of diametrically opposed optimism | Silver Screen and Roll
  What's more, the Suns are filled with a confidence even the Lakers can't match. They just exorcised an entire era's worth of demons, and did so in commanding fashion. The Spurs were Phoenix's nemisis, responsible for the failure and downfall of the Seven Second or Less era. Now, SSOL is reborn and the Spurs have been consumed in the ashes. You don't finally climb to the top of your own personal Mount Everest without thinking that anything is possible afterwards.
• Phoenix Suns assistant Dan Majerle talks about Philadelphia 76ers job
  He said he received no indication that an offer was coming. "I have no idea," Majerle said. "I know they're interviewing a lot of people. I think they're meeting with as many people as they can and I was just glad to be able to go through the process. It's just one step at a time and we'll see.
• Phoenix Suns must stretch out the Los Angeles Lakers' length
  "It's going to be one of those type of games where stats may not show in the rebounding column," Stoudemire said, "but keeping other guys off the boards, face-guarding and boxing them out will let my teammates come in and collectively rebound. "If we rebound as a team, we're in good shape."
• The Official Phoenix Suns Blog » Blog Archive » A Tale of Two Cities
  There is no love lost between the Suns and Lakers, but what about between the cities they call home? Let’s take a fun, light-hearted look at how Phoenix and Los Angeles match up for the Western Conference Finals.
• Forum Blue And Gold
  One statistical area that the Lakers can exploit is the Suns porous defensive rebounding. The Suns are the 2nd worst defensive rebounding team in the league with a defensive rebound rate of 70.8. Only the Warriors are worse, and the Lakers are 9th at 74.4. However, the Suns are comparable to the Lakers in offensive rebounding, 27.7 for the Lakers and 27.6 for the Suns. Thus, it is key for us to get offensive rebounds and tip ins, mostly for the points, but also because this will prevent the Suns from getting out in transition for easy scores.
• KTAR.com - Burns: The house that is the Phoenix Suns
  That's how it is with Mike D'Antoni and the Suns. Yeah…he built the house. But Alvin Gentry is the contractor who came in, knocked down the walls, tore out the shag carpet and made the house the home it is today.