* Suns coach Mike D’Antoni joined Burnsy a day after the Suns’ biggest win of the Shaq era. Coach thinks the Suns’ improved D’ and overall play is a testament to Shaq getting more comfortable and the rest of his teammates getting comfortable with the fact “that they have a force in the middle.” Coach also talked about Shaq’s two shining moments versus San Antonio: his swan dive into the third row and his rebuttal of Tim Duncan. On the latter point, D’Antoni compared Duncan’s actions to a strategy that Michael Jordan used to employ on Joe Dumars to “soften him up.” As for whether Coach’s technical in the fourth quarter was a strategy to inspire his team to go on a 14-2 run to close the game, D’Antoni said “he wishes (he) were that smart.”

* Steve Kerr also joined Burnsy to talk about the Suns’ big win, and how the talk of the “disastrous” Shaq trade may have been quelled (for a moment at least): “I knew it was premature for everyone to say (the Shaq deal) was a disaster, just like it’s premature, now, to say it’s a success based on a win over the Spurs.” Kerr also talked about the disaster that is U of A basketball, which is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first^t time since Steve Kerr was a freshman at that fine institution. (Sidebar: Henry Lopez was celebrating his 15^th year with KTAR back then.) That’s old. Speaking of old, Lute Olson is welcome to return to the bench according to Kerr, although he did express sympathy for Kevin O’Neill, given “all he’s been through, with the Lute stuff, and all the injuries.” I also feel for Mr. O’Neill: He lives in Tucson!!!

* Speaking of Tucson, maybe for the first time ever, two big stories broke from Phoenix’s neighbor to the south. One was the return of RJ, who got off to a rough Cactus League start against the Rockies. Burnsy doesn’t read much into Johnson’s first start, nor does he think the D-Backs need RJ to get to the playoffs. Advancing in the playoffs, however, may be a different story. And the other major story, of course, was Lute Olson’s pending return to the Wildcats. Watching U of A play this season must have given Mr. Olsen his fair share of white hair. Nevermind.

* And Burnsy also weighed in on the Suns-Spurs showdown. Ironically enough, are the Spurs now a better match-up for the Suns? And in the ultimate irony, will the Suns slow-down style be enough to keep up with some of the teams that they will play before getting to San Antonio in the later rounds of the playoffs? We may find out on Thursday, when the Suns host the Warriors.