A place for fans of the Phoenix Suns
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This might be the most accurate and reasonable take out there.In2ition wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2019 11:09 amhttp://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-d ... enix-suns/
C+
He said the suns told him each summer to go expand his game, he’d come back and they’d just want him to set screens and rebound.In2ition wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 6:57 amMcDonough strikes again. He started with the same coaching staff as TJ and Devin. I guess they would be further along too? Sounds like someone who is trying to find a scapeGOAT for his shortcomings as an NBA player. Although, in his defense I thought it was a mistake to being in Chandler. It could have stunted his growth. His biggest weakness was his terrible hands though. Is he blaming the Suns for not being able to catch?
“I did learn how to run around and set good screens and work on my rebounding. That’s really it,” Len said with a laugh.
He doesn’t blame the coaches for his lack of development because he knows the front office put a lot of pressure on the staff to win immediately when the infrastructure just wasn’t in place to be as competitive as the Suns possibly could be. So while the coaches’ plans for Len included expanding his game, he felt like there wasn’t an emphasis on letting players develop because of the pressure to win.
Len’s role in Phoenix was to be a traditional big man — the majority of his buckets would come off screen-and-rolls, putbacks and the occasional midrange shot. What he showed this past season in Atlanta was a version of Len the league hadn’t seen, and he believes if he was drafted into a situation like the Hawks have where player development is the focus, his career would have been in a different place.
“I would have been way ahead of where I’m at right now, like that’s not even crazy to say,” Len said. “I feel like with the two years that I’ve been in Atlanta, I’m already so much better. Just looking at where I was last summer to now, it’s just crazy how much better I’ve gotten. I’m able to do stuff that I’ve never been able to do in my career. I’m doing ballhandling drills, I’m getting shots up. I’m just a better well-rounded player with things I never had the chance to do. I was never asked to do the things I’m doing now when I was in Phoenix.”
Some thoughts.Wormwood wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2019 11:53 amLet's be honest; pretty much the only people who thought the Suns had a good offseason are Suns fans. Pretty much all the pundits reactions can be summed up as:
Here's my best case / worst case / median case scenarios for the Suns this year.
Best Case: Rubio's passing opens everything up for the team, giving lots of wide open looks to Saric, Oubre, Cam Johnson, Bridges, Kaminsky, Ty Jerome, etc. Jerome and Johnson prove to be dead eye three point shooters, and Bridges improves greatly. When Rubio is off the court, Jerome and Booker split duties, and additional spacing from the PG position makes it even better on offense. Booker takes a step up on defense because he doesn't have to spend all his energy on offense with Rubio there. Ayton is able to string together more really solid defensive stretches using his length, speed, strength, and improved footwork to be an above average defender. Oubre, Bridges, and Rubio are a nightmare lineup on defense for other teams, generating a lot of tipped balls and fast breaks. Everyone improves as hoped for, and they "click" together in a way no one quite saw coming. SUns win almost 50 games, and squeak into the playoffs.
Worst Case: Opposing teams sag off of Rubio, double on Booker or Ayton. Rubio isn't able to capitalize on wide open shots, (i.e. shoots like he did last year), and because of the constant doubling he can't really get the ball to Ayton any better than our PGs did last year. The result is Rubio being only a marginal improvement over Melton. Ayton and Booker don't step up on defense, and Saric / Kaminsky provide neither defense nor rebounding. Oubre slacks off when he's not playing for a contract, and Bridges isn't getting enough open looks to improve his 3 point shot. Johnson and Jerome prove to be absolutely hopeless on defense, and their lack of athleticism means they don't find way to get off shots either. As a result, defense is as bad (or worse) than last year, and the offense turns right back into Booker playing hero ball because Rubio is useless, Ayton is always double teamed, and the other guys aren't hitting enough 3's to clear things out. In short, we're as bad as last year, but maybe even worse without the defensive efforts of Holmes and the offensive efficiency (3 point shooting) of TJ Warren. Suns shut Booker and others down after the all star break, and hope that they can address some of these issues with the draft and $17M in cap space. They end up with 23 wins, and the second worst record in the league again. Suns realize RUbio / Saric / Kaminsky pieces are all bad fits, and they're right back where they started: mostly cap locked, 6th pick in the draft, with guys we can't pay for people to take off our hands.
Median Case: Rubio gets the team a few more open looks, but is mostly dared to shoot the ball (and fails to put it in). Team frequently struggles to move the ball as a result of Rubio being unable to hit the three. Booker improves a little on defense, but not much. Suns defense and rebounding, which starts with our PFs and Cs, remains pretty bad except for when Baynes is on the court (and when he is, the offense really suffers). Ty Jerome sees a little time, but most of it goes to Tyler Johnson, who remains a $20 sub-replacement player, who plays at a mid-tier back up level as he pretty much always has. There are moments when it clicks, moments when it rains threes, but far more where matador defense, bad rebounding and hero ball on offense make you want to murder your TV. Still, it's a noticeable improvement from last year, and we end up right where Vegas thinks we will: 28 wins and last in the west.
Len saying he would have been a lot better on another team. I call ass.
You have to admit our development staff has sucked for a long time. He has the best year of his career in ATL, scored over 11 ppg in the same minutes he got here, and shot better than everyone on our team from 3 besides TJ Warren and Daniels.
I watched, and you are right. There were multiple times where the right play was to hit him in the corner wide open, but they either didn't see him and took much tougher shots instead or couldn't get it to him.bajanguy008 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 1:29 pmDid anyone watch Team USA scrimmage ?
I just checked a 13min highlights vid and Mikal seemed to get decent run but he was hardly involved in any of the plays I saw
Dave King thought the same thing, but when he delved into the numbers he noted on the Solar Panel podcast this morning that he actually took a dip across the board, besides 3s.Indy wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 1:34 pmYou have to admit our development staff has sucked for a long time. He has the best year of his career in ATL, scored over 11 ppg in the same minutes he got here, and shot better than everyone on our team from 3 besides TJ Warren and Daniels.
Then I would disagree with Dave. I would rather have a guy give me the stat line Len did last year than the one two years ago.In2ition wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 3:01 pmDave King thought the same thing, but when he delved into the numbers he noted on the Solar Panel podcast this morning that he actually took a dip across the board, besides 3s.Indy wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 1:34 pmYou have to admit our development staff has sucked for a long time. He has the best year of his career in ATL, scored over 11 ppg in the same minutes he got here, and shot better than everyone on our team from 3 besides TJ Warren and Daniels.
Code: Select all
Season Tm G GS MP FGA FG% 3PA 3P% 2PA 2P% eFG% FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2017-18 PHO 69 13 20.2 5.5 .566 0.0 .333 5.4 .568 .567 3.3 .684 2.5 5.0 7.5 1.2 0.4 0.9 1.1 2.3 8.5
2018-19 ATL 77 31 20.1 8.4 .494 2.6 .363 5.8 .554 .551 2.8 .648 2.1 3.5 5.5 1.1 0.4 0.9 1.3 2.6 11.1
Ok UnderstoodIn2ition wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 2:59 pmI watched, and you are right. There were multiple times where the right play was to hit him in the corner wide open, but they either didn't see him and took much tougher shots instead or couldn't get it to him.bajanguy008 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 1:29 pmDid anyone watch Team USA scrimmage ?
I just checked a 13min highlights vid and Mikal seemed to get decent run but he was hardly involved in any of the plays I saw
His defense when they went at him was very good though, so they tried to stay away from him. At least that's how it felt.