Each week, The Republic spotlights a member of the Suns for a series of off-court questions. This week, the subject is former center and current Vice President of Player Programs Mark West.

Question: Have your responsibilities remained similar over your 10 years in the Suns’ front office?

Answer: It’s generally been the same, doing a lot of interacting with players and being a liaison between upstairs and the coaches, the players and the coaches, and the players and upstairs to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Q: Who needs the most buffering?

A: It shifts from time to time, depending on how the season is going or what situation is going on. Sometimes you have a player who is not getting the minutes he deserves or wants, so then it’s players and coaches. Sometimes we have a situation where the coach thinks the upstairs is not on the same page or trying to do too much. It shifts. The faces and names change, but the issues are always the same.

Q: What part of your job have you enjoyed most?

A: It’s always been interacting with players and trying to get them transitioned, particularly the younger players and rookies. Going from college players to pro athletes, they learn, is a lot more than just the game on the court. There are lifestyle changes they have to make, and I help them through that.

Q: You can’t have a 100 percent success rate, right?

A: I’ve got a pretty good batting average. I’m not ashamed of my game. For the most part, our staff does a good job. We don’t have any problems that are malicious with a guy having an attitude. It’s always something other than that, just not knowing or ignorance of certain situations. The toughest thing is when you have something with a player’s family member, like when Leandro Barbosa’s mother passed. Those are so personal and emotionally charged.

Q: Is it easy to stay away from the basketball side and coaching?

A: I do the player development, which encompasses trying to reach their potential in all different aspects. Part of that may be where I end up being a sounding board or a punching bag for one of them playing defense. I talk to the coaches about different things, particularly with the big guys. They don’t mind me putting in my two cents. I don’t want to travel like the coaches, but I dabble just enough to quench my thirst.

Q: How old are your kids now?

A: My oldest is 16, and my youngest is 13. Markus and Markyle, great Mark names.

Q: Are they athletes?

A: They are pretty good athletes. They play a lot of sports. They play a lot more Wii and video games than they do sports, but that’s changing. My oldest one is starting to like basketball quite a bit to the point that he’s starting to love it and have a passion for it. My youngest one is getting to that point also, but he’s still a little more game-crazy than sports-crazy.

Q: Are they tall?

A: No, they take after their mother. They’re smart like their mom.

Q: What is your favorite Suns memory?

A: One is beating the Lakers, finally, in a playoff series. I had no idea they had never beat them before. It was exciting for the city. And then the run to the (1993) Finals, when the city was electric and the camaraderie I had with players.

Q: Did you have any idea that you would work here 18 years later without another taste of the Finals?

A: I couldn’t have imagined. The year we went, you couldn’t have told me we weren’t going back the next year or the year after. You have to cherish that opportunity and put everything on the line and try to win it, because you never know when you’re going to get back. I thought we were a very good defensive team, but it was one defensive assignment that cost us. And that guy (Danny Ainge) goes and wins rings somewhere else. He did the instinctive thing. That’s why you train to go on what you’re supposed to do and not instincts to follow the ball. It happens all the time.

During his team’s 123-110 win at the U.S. Airways Center, Collins ran up and down the sideline with his players, jumped high in the air when a loose ball was up for grabs and poured out as much sweat as his players as his team improved to 13-19 with a 123-110 win over the Suns.

The frenetic pace of the game seemed to be quite conducive for Phoenix.

Veterans Steve Nash and Grant Hill might not have the speed or the young legs that litter the Sixers roster, but they have the advantage in an up-and-down contest in a much different way. To the likes of Jrue Holiday, Jodie Meeks and Evan Turner, the game was speedy both physically and mentally. For Nash and Hill, it is much slower in their minds. That is the advantage of being veterans. As quick as the contest may go up and down the floor, it always stays the same speed in their minds.

Last night, however, youth won out. The Sixers, despite being without Andre Iguodala (Achilles’ tendinitis), got significant contributions from all eight who played and handed the Suns their fourth straight loss.

“Needless to say, that was incredibly gratifying,” said Collins, smeared with perspiration following the win. “I’m not used to those kind of games. At halftime, I told our assistant coaches that I felt like I was a car going downhill without brakes. The Suns are so good at playing that game, I was concerned about us playing that way for 48 minutes.”

If the 76ers are forced into a shootout with teams, they usually have about as much of a chance of coming away with a win as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did when cornered in Bolivia.

Heading into the game, the Sixers were 0-11 when allowing more than 100 points and had been prone to giving away small leads in close games.

Both trends changed as Holiday turned in a stellar performance with 25 points and seven assists and Andres Nocioni, filling in for Iguodala, collected 22 points and 12 rebounds. Tje Sixers improved to 13-19 and 3-3 on this eight-game road trip.

Rookie Turner, who had been mired in a slump and accumulated some DNPs, had his best game of the season, scoring 23 points. His biggest basket of the game was a three-pointer from the left corner with the shot clock running down that gave the Sixers a 117-107 lead with 1 minute, 42 seconds remaining. He added another backbreaking jumper less than a minute later. After both, he smiled while skipping his way to the bench during timeouts.

“Coach came in at halftime and said that we weren’t really the type of team that should run with them, but we stayed with them,” said Holiday, who is averaging more than 21 points his last four games.

The Sixers did more than that. They lapped a team that usually doesn’t get lapped in high-scoring games. And they did it primarily because of their adolescent backcourt of Holiday and Turner.

“I was just looking for my own shot a little bit,” said Turner, who shot 9-for-12. “Sometimes I come into the game and second-guess on shots. I just kind of focused in a little bit. I saw the first one go in. There are so many possessions. We’ve been in a few games where it’s a halfcourt game, you only get a few possessions and you only get a few shots. A game like tonight really helped out all of us.”

Elton Brand added 16 points for the Sixers. Thaddeus Young had 15, Spencer Hawes collected 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Lou Williams, just back with the team after the birth of his daughter, chipped in 10.

Nash had 23 points and 15 assists for the Suns (13-17) and Vince Carter, seeing his first action in a Suns uniform since being acquired from Orlando, had 18 points and Hill added 17.

“He was aggressive and assertive the whole night,” Collins said of Turner. “The whole time he never ran away from the shot. He drove the ball, he got in the paint, he made a couple of pullups and he was good defensively. I don’t know if it’s the West Coast or maybe a freer style of basketball, but tonight he was fabulous.”

Collins, who has lived in the Phoenix area for many years now, won bragging rights over Gentry.

“This is my home and I come back in the summer and it’s going to be nice to come home,” Collins said. “Going back to [old hometown] Chicago wasn’t too friendly, we got beat by 45. So, thank God I got a win in one place.”

For more Sixers coverage, read the Daily News’ Sixers blog, Sixerville, at

http://go.philly.com/sixerville.

Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/BobCooney76.

During his team’s 123-110 win at the U.S. Airways Center, Collins ran up and down the sideline with his players, jumped high in the air when a loose ball was up for grabs and poured out as much sweat as his players as his team improved to 13-19 with a 123-110 win over the Suns.

The frenetic pace of the game seemed to be quite conducive for Phoenix.

Veterans Steve Nash and Grant Hill might not have the speed or the young legs that litter the Sixers roster, but they have the advantage in an up-and-down contest in a much different way. To the likes of Jrue Holiday, Jodie Meeks and Evan Turner, the game was speedy both physically and mentally. For Nash and Hill, it is much slower in their minds. That is the advantage of being veterans. As quick as the contest may go up and down the floor, it always stays the same speed in their minds.

Last night, however, youth won out. The Sixers, despite being without Andre Iguodala (Achilles’ tendinitis), got significant contributions from all eight who played and handed the Suns their fourth straight loss.

“Needless to say, that was incredibly gratifying,” said Collins, smeared with perspiration following the win. “I’m not used to those kind of games. At halftime, I told our assistant coaches that I felt like I was a car going downhill without brakes. The Suns are so good at playing that game, I was concerned about us playing that way for 48 minutes.”

If the 76ers are forced into a shootout with teams, they usually have about as much of a chance of coming away with a win as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did when cornered in Bolivia.

Heading into the game, the Sixers were 0-11 when allowing more than 100 points and had been prone to giving away small leads in close games.

Both trends changed as Holiday turned in a stellar performance with 25 points and seven assists and Andres Nocioni, filling in for Iguodala, collected 22 points and 12 rebounds. Tje Sixers improved to 13-19 and 3-3 on this eight-game road trip.

Rookie Turner, who had been mired in a slump and accumulated some DNPs, had his best game of the season, scoring 23 points. His biggest basket of the game was a three-pointer from the left corner with the shot clock running down that gave the Sixers a 117-107 lead with 1 minute, 42 seconds remaining. He added another backbreaking jumper less than a minute later. After both, he smiled while skipping his way to the bench during timeouts.

“Coach came in at halftime and said that we weren’t really the type of team that should run with them, but we stayed with them,” said Holiday, who is averaging more than 21 points his last four games.

The Sixers did more than that. They lapped a team that usually doesn’t get lapped in high-scoring games. And they did it primarily because of their adolescent backcourt of Holiday and Turner.

“I was just looking for my own shot a little bit,” said Turner, who shot 9-for-12. “Sometimes I come into the game and second-guess on shots. I just kind of focused in a little bit. I saw the first one go in. There are so many possessions. We’ve been in a few games where it’s a halfcourt game, you only get a few possessions and you only get a few shots. A game like tonight really helped out all of us.”

Elton Brand added 16 points for the Sixers. Thaddeus Young had 15, Spencer Hawes collected 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Lou Williams, just back with the team after the birth of his daughter, chipped in 10.

Nash had 23 points and 15 assists for the Suns (13-17) and Vince Carter, seeing his first action in a Suns uniform since being acquired from Orlando, had 18 points and Hill added 17.

“He was aggressive and assertive the whole night,” Collins said of Turner. “The whole time he never ran away from the shot. He drove the ball, he got in the paint, he made a couple of pullups and he was good defensively. I don’t know if it’s the West Coast or maybe a freer style of basketball, but tonight he was fabulous.”

Collins, who has lived in the Phoenix area for many years now, won bragging rights over Gentry.

“This is my home and I come back in the summer and it’s going to be nice to come home,” Collins said. “Going back to [old hometown] Chicago wasn’t too friendly, we got beat by 45. So, thank God I got a win in one place.”

For more Sixers coverage, read the Daily News’ Sixers blog, Sixerville, at

http://go.philly.com/sixerville.

Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/BobCooney76.

During his team’s 123-110 win at the U.S. Airways Center, Collins ran up and down the sideline with his players, jumped high in the air when a loose ball was up for grabs and poured out as much sweat as his players as his team improved to 13-19 with a 123-110 win over the Suns.

The frenetic pace of the game seemed to be quite conducive for Phoenix.

Veterans Steve Nash and Grant Hill might not have the speed or the young legs that litter the Sixers roster, but they have the advantage in an up-and-down contest in a much different way. To the likes of Jrue Holiday, Jodie Meeks and Evan Turner, the game was speedy both physically and mentally. For Nash and Hill, it is much slower in their minds. That is the advantage of being veterans. As quick as the contest may go up and down the floor, it always stays the same speed in their minds.

Last night, however, youth won out. The Sixers, despite being without Andre Iguodala (Achilles’ tendinitis), got significant contributions from all eight who played and handed the Suns their fourth straight loss.

“Needless to say, that was incredibly gratifying,” said Collins, smeared with perspiration following the win. “I’m not used to those kind of games. At halftime, I told our assistant coaches that I felt like I was a car going downhill without brakes. The Suns are so good at playing that game, I was concerned about us playing that way for 48 minutes.”

If the 76ers are forced into a shootout with teams, they usually have about as much of a chance of coming away with a win as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did when cornered in Bolivia.

Heading into the game, the Sixers were 0-11 when allowing more than 100 points and had been prone to giving away small leads in close games.

Both trends changed as Holiday turned in a stellar performance with 25 points and seven assists and Andres Nocioni, filling in for Iguodala, collected 22 points and 12 rebounds. Tje Sixers improved to 13-19 and 3-3 on this eight-game road trip.

Rookie Turner, who had been mired in a slump and accumulated some DNPs, had his best game of the season, scoring 23 points. His biggest basket of the game was a three-pointer from the left corner with the shot clock running down that gave the Sixers a 117-107 lead with 1 minute, 42 seconds remaining. He added another backbreaking jumper less than a minute later. After both, he smiled while skipping his way to the bench during timeouts.

“Coach came in at halftime and said that we weren’t really the type of team that should run with them, but we stayed with them,” said Holiday, who is averaging more than 21 points his last four games.

The Sixers did more than that. They lapped a team that usually doesn’t get lapped in high-scoring games. And they did it primarily because of their adolescent backcourt of Holiday and Turner.

“I was just looking for my own shot a little bit,” said Turner, who shot 9-for-12. “Sometimes I come into the game and second-guess on shots. I just kind of focused in a little bit. I saw the first one go in. There are so many possessions. We’ve been in a few games where it’s a halfcourt game, you only get a few possessions and you only get a few shots. A game like tonight really helped out all of us.”

Elton Brand added 16 points for the Sixers. Thaddeus Young had 15, Spencer Hawes collected 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Lou Williams, just back with the team after the birth of his daughter, chipped in 10.

Nash had 23 points and 15 assists for the Suns (13-17) and Vince Carter, seeing his first action in a Suns uniform since being acquired from Orlando, had 18 points and Hill added 17.

“He was aggressive and assertive the whole night,” Collins said of Turner. “The whole time he never ran away from the shot. He drove the ball, he got in the paint, he made a couple of pullups and he was good defensively. I don’t know if it’s the West Coast or maybe a freer style of basketball, but tonight he was fabulous.”

Collins, who has lived in the Phoenix area for many years now, won bragging rights over Gentry.

“This is my home and I come back in the summer and it’s going to be nice to come home,” Collins said. “Going back to [old hometown] Chicago wasn’t too friendly, we got beat by 45. So, thank God I got a win in one place.”

For more Sixers coverage, read the Daily News’ Sixers blog, Sixerville, at

http://go.philly.com/sixerville.

Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/BobCooney76.