Game Day: Nuggets (5-4) @ Suns (4-4), Sat 11/14/15

[OE32]

I'm pretty stoked that it looks as though Archie's playing himself into the rotation. Still has turnover problems, but if he's hitting the 3 at a respectable clip and he's staying aggressive defensively, he'll make it in this league, and that's a big boost to our prospects.

I didn't think Alex looked that bad against the Clips, but his offense is fugly right now. He's still a great rebounder and rim protector, but we're all expecting more from him. A guy that size has to be capable offensively to get significant time in the league today. Still hopeful he turns it around.

[Mori Chu]

The Price injury may be a blessing in disguise, despite how well Price was playing. Goodwin needs some minutes to show us what he's got.

Len's offense so far this year has been super awkward. It looks like his jumper has regressed; he used to be decent at those 15-footers when open, but so far this year he seems to clank every single one. And when he's close to the basket, he doesn't seem to be using his height and strength. He just tries to go around his man, extending sideways rather than vertically. So he often gets bumped off balance or blocked or just misses an awkward shot. He needs to go straight up, use jump hooks or little flip shots over his man.

[Nodack]

I wonder how much the Chandler sighting has effected Len. I was totally sold on Len being the starter this year but, he has looked horrible so far. He seems healthy. He just looks awkward and seems to rush everything up. They seem to feed him the ball at times trying to get him going but, he either fumbles the pass or just forces up a bad shot. Don't think he's in a good mental place right now.

Bledsoe has taken a lot of grief from Suns fans as a horrible guard but, he has been kicking ass. Maybe he read our posts.

I am likeing Leuer in place of Morris. He plays smart team ball. Weems and Teletovíc haven't shown me anything yet. Jefferson? I was like, who's this guy? Being up by 30 allows you to play the entire bench and that was nice. Somebody complained about our bad 4th quarter? Lol

[da_suns_fan]

The Price injury may be a blessing in disguise, despite how well Price was playing. Goodwin needs some minutes to show us what he's got.

Len's offense so far this year has been super awkward. It looks like his jumper has regressed; he used to be decent at those 15-footers when open, but so far this year he seems to clank every single one. And when he's close to the basket, he doesn't seem to be using his height and strength. He just tries to go around his man, extending sideways rather than vertically. So he often gets bumped off balance or blocked or just misses an awkward shot. He needs to go straight up, use jump hooks or little flip shots over his man.

He's a big white stiff and will be lucky to be in the league in five years.

[da_suns_fan]

What's even better than watching the Suns win in wire-to-wire dominating fashion?

Doing it without Keef.

This.

[Nodack]

I thought his game was improving and looked like a solid starter last year. Len was on my list as the top Sun NOT to trade. He was hitting shots and defending well. I am not ready to put a fork in Len yet by any stretch of the imagination. He regressed about 2 1/2 years over the summer for some reason and that is a concern but, a big white stiff on his way out the door? I don't agree at all.

[Cap]

That's All-Star in the WEST numbers.

Let's not get carried away. Those are numbers from a three-game stretch, two of which matched him up against Austin Rivers and Emmanuel Mudiay (and the third of which had the Suns getting soundly thumped). 28 points on 68% shooting are numbers Bleds is not likely to sustain for very long.

[Sunsfan4life]

I think he's struggling adjusting to his body. He is playing heavy out there. It's almost like everytime he gets the ball he is trying to muscle his way to the rim when in his best stretches last yr he was at his best when he was more active and just looked more nimble.

[Superbone]

Somebody mentioned it before, but Weems appears to be this season's Childress.

Yeah, that's a real shame. Before the season began, a few Suns insiders were predicting he'd become a crowd favorite. How far wrong they have been so far.

[Superbone]

I'm pretty stoked that it looks as though Archie's playing himself into the rotation. Still has turnover problems, but if he's hitting the 3 at a respectable clip and he's staying aggressive defensively, he'll make it in this league, and that's a big boost to our prospects.

I didn't think Alex looked that bad against the Clips, but his offense is fugly right now. He's still a great rebounder and rim protector, but we're all expecting more from him. A guy that size has to be capable offensively to get significant time in the league today. Still hopeful he turns it around.

Yes, very pleased about Archie's contribution. He has taken a big leap and has been very patient along the way getting here. He had the play of the night last night for anybody that missed it:

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2015/ ... er-nuggets

Len still hasn't figured out how tall and strong he is. He's avoiding contact. He needs to be aggressive taking the ball to the hoop. Right now he's falling away and taking tough shots.

[Superbone]

I thought his game was improving and looked like a solid starter last year. Len was on my list as the top Sun NOT to trade. He was hitting shots and defending well. I am not ready to put a fork in Len yet by any stretch of the imagination. He regressed about 2 1/2 years over the summer for some reason and that is a concern but, a big white stiff on his way out the door? I don't agree at all.

Of course not. Some people have no patience. Remember how long it took Robin Lopez to become effective? Big men take longer and Len is a perfect example.

[Shabazz]

Somebody mentioned it before, but Weems appears to be this season's Childress.

Yeah, that's a real shame. Before the season began, a few Suns insiders were predicting he'd become a crowd favorite. How far wrong they have been so far.

I really liked the signing at the time and he looked very good in preseason. I can't deny he's looked awful so far and he's got no one to blame but himself for being out of the rotation.

The difference between his signing and the Childress signing is that Weems is on a short, low-dollar contract so if he doesn't pan out, no big deal.

[ShelC]

Weems was low-risk, high reward. He's still a freak athlete with some NBA skills. Childress had nothing going for him except that Babby used to be his agent.

I think if we had more a running PG, he could be a Gerald Green type.

[pickle]

i feel like len's problem is not his bulk or strength or lack thereof. i don't think he'll ever be that kind of bruising center of yesteryear, even if he bulked up to 300 lbs. his legs are way too long and his center of gravity is way to high. he doesn't look to me like someone who could sit tight on his defender's body and block him off with his bulk for that clean entry pass. read this article on how detroit is managing drummond, in which they quoted tyson chandler, of all people, saying that when he was with the bulls they didn't really develop himself and eddy curry properly, lamenting that the development should emphasize their strengths rather than mold them in some traditional notion of how big men should play. i think this makes sense. if i were the suns development staff, i would try to get len to learn how to catch the ball in traffic and develop that pick and roll game as a primary weapon, once people fear his roll to the paint, then he can develop the 15 footer and maybe expand it to about 20 feet, to perfect the pick and pop. once he has some go to moves to enforce his effectiveness, then we can talk about the low block. right now he just doesn't have that type game. incidentally i think the same of AD. he's really just not a low post threat other than being able to launch some off-balance runners/jumpers/side hooks based on talent and those octopus arms (i mean that in a good way). of course AD and len are not in the same ball park in terms of talent, but they do share some of that rangy body type.

[Mori Chu]

Good post, pickle. I agree that the Suns should work on his strengths and not try to make him into something he's not.

[TOO]

I dont care if Len ever becomes an offensive threat, I just want him to rebound at a high rate on both ends, and deter as many shots possible on defense. He can get his looks on offensive rebounds and the occasional lob play when the defense starts to forget about him.

[virtual9mm]

Great post, Pickle. I like the idea of turning Len into Tyson Chandler with a jumper. It seems to fit him.

I don't think that it is the signing that is throwing him off -- Len did great in preseason. I wonder if his ankles are bothering him.

[pickle]

i feel like the way the league is going it's tougher to carry a player who can't at least produce some facet of offense. even if deandre jordan has no range outside of 3 feet, he's still another dimension to their offense when you can drive into traffic and always just dump the ball in the air and hope that he would get up there for the alley-oop. the few games i've watched, len bothers people with his length, not so much his mobility, and his leaping ability is not overwhelming and he doesn't have the bulk or the reputation with the refs to just bowl people over on an alley-oop either. i mention pick and roll because with his length he could literally start picking up the ball from the free throw line, take one step, and still dunk the ball. but if we expect him to jump 24 inches in the air, he either needs to overextend or will have a weaker balance once in the air to produce a positive result. i do like though that he doesn't need to jump high to bother shots on the defensive end though. even if he hasn't blocked a lot of shots this year, i feel like he can be very disruptive if he could just be disciplined with positioning.

[djy2j]

Somebody mentioned it before, but Weems appears to be this season's Childress.

Yeah, that's a real shame. Before the season began, a few Suns insiders were predicting he'd become a crowd favorite. How far wrong they have been so far.

He's a deadeye shooter. Unfortunately his target is the middle of the front iron. Never misses it.

[Xylus]

I had tickets to this game, upper row of the lower bowl, pretty good seats. I recently moved to Dallas, TX, so I gave the tickets to a good friend of mine. He got there and they upgraded him to courtside! He sent me a picture to prove it, he was sitting right behind the basket. Pretty cool for him, but my jealousy is real.