Suns Draft Day 2014

[Shabazz]

That Raptors-Grizzlies trade didn't happen. It was just being discussed.

[ShelC]

Solid B draft. You can look back in 5 years and say...man we should've taken Rodney Hood and Gary Harris. But I think we did OK. Warren is going to score. That's a skill you need in the league. Will he be a starter or a bench guy?

Ennis is a pure point. What separates him from Marshall is he's a bit more athletic and quicker and isn't just an open court player. His stats really jump out in the half court and two man game, which means he's making the right decisions.

Bogdan could be the steal of the draft. Really. There, I said it.

[SDC]

I'm kind of holding off until I see Warren in action. He seems like he could either be the next Marion or the next Ceballos. Obviously I'd rather the former. #14 is a bit high for a guy that's just going to be a garbage buckets guy all his career. The big question regarding the draft is what are we doing with Bledsoe?

from everything i read, warren is NOTHING like marion.

[carey]

I hate the new Suns site, did anyone see and/or find the presser earlier today? I tried but couldn't find a damn link.

[carey]

from everything i read, warren is NOTHING like marion.

Ok, but that floater look eerily familiar and he runs the floor just like him. Supposedly hits the O-boards hard too. Guess we'll see.

[SDC]

[
from everything i read, warren is NOTHING like marion.

Ok, but that floater look eerily familiar and he runs the floor just like him. Supposedly hits the O-boards hard too. Guess we'll see.

marion cant handle the ball in the open court. and like most intelligent players, warren loves the euro step.

[Superbone]

I hate the new Suns site, did anyone see and/or find the presser earlier today? I tried but couldn't find a damn link.

It's on this page but the audio quality is terrible (nothing the first two minutes):

http://www.nba.com/suns/draft-2014

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[carey]

http://www.nba.com/suns/draft-2014

Anyone know how to contact the webmasters? I mean this is what we get from a website that has won awards for their design and coverage of the team? It's worse than a fucking cell phone video. I want to write in.

[Sunsfan4life]

Whats up boys...I was there last night and found a few other Suns fans. Happy to see we were represented.

Here are my thoughts...

T.J. Warren B+-Not to toot my own horn, but I nailed this from day 1. It makes a lot of sense and Mcdonagh's comments told you they wanted Warren. Before this pick I wanted Harris,Anderson or Warren. I was satisfied with it. The reaction from Suns fans there was good on this one.

Tyler Ennis C- Look there are people that get paid to break the draft picks down that like this pick a lot. There was just too many other guys on the board I would of took. Passing on Harris here hurt me..alot. I think he's going to be a great pro. Jay Bilas really likes Ennis and the one thing you keep hearing from everyone is how composed he is on the court. I thought for sure this pick was going to be dealt to Toronto, but it looks like we are keeping it. The other Suns fans I talked to this about hated this pick (for different reasons) Most wanted Kyle Anderson, but the other "NBA" Fans I discussed this with liked Ennis.

Bogdon Bodganovic- B+ I like this pick alot. The only reason it does not get an A is because I wanted Kyle Anderson instead and think we wiffed in him as did everyone else. Bogdon will contribute when he comes over...Fran Friscilla had nice things to say and all I hear on this kid is how much he loves basketball and how much he's improved. At this pick I had Anderson/Bogdon/Early as my unquestioned top 3 left. It was a real solid pick by Mcdonaugh and a guy I heard the Spurs really loved..just wish they could of gotten Anderson to.

Alec Brown- B+...I like Alec Brown alot. He is the guy I wanted here and he has the chance to devolpe into a stretch big. He shot the lights out at the combine and really had an awesome yr for Green Bay last yr. Had they made the tournament they could of made a run and he would of went a lot higher.

Overall: B. The only pick I didn't like was Ennis. This would of been an A- Had Harris or Anderson went here instead. The other three guys they took are all guys I wanted them to take given who was on the board. I think they're going to regret not taking Harris Over Ennis and everyone will regret Kyle Anderson falling to the Spurs, But I think T.J. Warren has a chance to be REALLY good and we'll see how quick they can get Bogdon over. Ennis does not have the tools some of the other PG's in this draft had, but its not like he can't play. They just passsed on better prospects IMO. Overall I'm happy they stayed away from the 3 landmined guys I had on my no draft list @14 and 18...Lavine,Hood,Young.

[EDC]

The crazy thing is their audio has been bad for years now. I just don't understand how they let that continue to happen.

[Sunsfan4life]

So, we have an inconsistent back up PF, our starter just opted out of his contract, our back up C is still a project, our starting C is barely quality starter material, and then we proceed to draft a PG, a SF and a SG, the latter to be kept overseas?

I know nothing about drafting, were they BPA over the existings frontcourt players at every slot?

The draft was paper thin @ PF past Randle/Gordon/Vonleh.
It just was...

I wished we would of traded up for one of them, but I thought it was a much deeper draft for Guards and 3's

[SwingMan]

You know what, Shabazz? Why don't you show me "every advanced statistic" that you speak of, then?

Frye had the second-best plus-minus on the team (3.6) behind Goran Dragic (4.0), according to NBA.com. Even more staggering is Frye’s Real Plus Minus. ESPN’s shiny new statistic ranks Frye ninth in the entire NBA with a 5.22 RPM — that puts him above two of the best power forwards in the game in Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Even when Frye wasn’t clicking, he was helping the Suns as a forever decoy.

Though the Suns employ two of the best pick-and-roll ballhandling scorers in Dragic and Bledsoe, it was Frye making big men focus more on recovering on the wings than making sure they’re stopping drivers on hedges and help.

According to Synergy Sports Technology, the Suns scored 0.88 points per possession on pick-and-roll drives, the third-best mark in the NBA.

Phoenix ranked second overall by scoring 1.16 points per possession when the ball went to the roll or pick-and-pop man — a lot of times that was Frye. On 24 percent of the Suns’ possession where the pick-and-roll play put the ball in the screener’s hands, a three-pointer was taken, and Phoenix shot 44 percent on 117 of such plays this season. Guess who was the main target?

Nearly half of Frye’s total shot attempts this year came above the three-point break. He took 89 three-point attempts out of the pick-and-roll and shot a ridiculous 46 percent on those plays. In total, he scored 1.18 points per possession out of pick-and-rolls. It’s probably a bigger shame that the Suns didn’t find the screeners all that often, as they only found attempts for the big men on 5 percent of their offensive possessions on the season.

http://valleyofthesuns.com/2014/05/05/c ... -pressure/

Best 5-man units in the NBA:

5. PHOENIX SUNS (+116)
Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, P.J. Tucker, Miles Plumlee, Channing Frye

Not many teams get after it on D like these workhorses, who allowed only 94.6 points per 100 possessions, while also scoring an impressive +12.6 net rating in the 32 games they have played together. If you said back in October that this quintet would be among the NBA's best, you were the only person to do so.

http://www.nba.com/hoop/the_nbas_dozen_ ... 04_08.html

Let's ask Frank Vogel what he thinks:

Phoenix Suns TV @SunsTV
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Pacers head coach Frank Vogel called the Dragic/Frye pick and roll "maybe the hardest to cover in the game." #SunsAtPacers

Or Goran Dragic (and Zach Lowe):

Dragic is quick to point out that the return of Frye — the team’s most vital spacing agent — has been central to Phoenix’s dramatic offensive improvements. “Last year he had some heart problems and couldn’t play with us, so when I played pick-and-roll I didn’t have that space guy,” he says. “This year, when we play pick-and-roll, Channing stretches the floor so I have room to operate; I can get inside the paint and make other plays for him and everybody else. He just gives us that spacing, and especially for me and Eric he makes things much easier because nobody can rotate from him.”

Nobody can rotate away from Frye; there are very few bigs in the league who can shoot from distance as well as he can.

Frye says the keys to their pick-and-roll success are quick recognition and smart decisions to create defensive stresses.

“Goran is an extremely prolific scorer and for me it’s about establishing that I’m going to set a good screen every single time and try to get my guy to get off Goran’s body,” Frye said. “If Goran’s guy goes under, it’s Goran’s job to be able to shoot that shot and my job to give him the space to shoot it in. If my guy stays on Goran, it’s my job to create space for myself to get an open shot. You know, I’ve got to assess this within milliseconds, but we’ve been good at it. Goran’s been aggressive and smart, while I’ve been pretty good at hitting the shots that I’ve been given and trying to make the right decisions.”

Frye takes more 3s than 2s, and his ability to drain those 3s is worth far more than just the handful of points that directly result from those baskets. It’s a constant threat that demands defensive attention and changes the defensive tactics in a way that opens up the interior for his attacking teammates. Frye’s proficient above-the-break shot is arguably the most important in the whole offense, and it obviously wasn’t there last year.

But this season, the Suns run a terrifying pick-and-pop that results in Frye threatening near the top of the arc and, as he says, puts the defense in a horrible predicament:

“If you have penetrators like Goran there’s no way the defense can stop the ball and get back to the shooter in time, especially with me because I’m almost 7 feet tall and have a pretty quick release,” Frye said. “It’s just a matter of who is doing what on the defense, and our offense making the decision from there.”

Frye has a gravitational pull that forces bigs away from the rim, creating attacking corridors for Dragic, who excels at “turning the corner,” attacking the basket, and making plays. In turn, Dragic’s attacking abilities create wide-open looks for Frye or other perimeter shooters. This symbiosis is the heart of the Suns’ offensive ecosystem, and it is by no means an accident.

Before the season, it was clear that Jeff Hornacek and the coaching staff really examined the roster and engineered schemes accordingly. Instead of being paralyzed by a “redundancy” at point guard, they created ways to make that a unique strength. Relative to the celebrity power of other teams, this team is less impressive, yet somehow the on-court cohesion far exceeds the sum of the parts. Now they feel like they can beat anybody in the league.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/how-t ... evolution/

Again, only part of the story - nevermind that he gives up more than he (decoys) gives us.

I hope Frye finds rolling green pastures - elsewhere.....

[SwingMan]

Pwned.

Yeah - half-truths really set the whole picture, don't they?

[Ring_Wanted]

I hate the new Suns site, did anyone see and/or find the presser earlier today? I tried but couldn't find a damn link.

I tried, but after a while just gave up. Horrible indeed.

[Ring_Wanted]

Whats up boys...I was there last night and found a few other Suns fans. Happy to see we were represented.

Here are my thoughts
...

Great post man. I am so jealous that you were at the draft.

My grade is exactly the same and exactly for the same reasons. I had Warren basically #1 on my realistic list, and every scenario I envisioned had the Suns getting him one way or another.

Anderson and Harris were not my alternative/additional targets but the value would have been there. I also wanted others before Ennis although this is a kid who seems to have the respect of everybody and actually covers a need at third guard.

I have to admin that I didn't pay a lot of attention to Bodganovic. My focus on international prospects was elsewhere, but at #27 this is the kind of pick that could become a steal down the road. Just by becoming a relevant player in Europe, which seems a safe bet, the value of Bodganovic easily increases way beyond #27.

[Ring_Wanted]

...were they BPA over the existings frontcourt players at every slot?

Payne, Nurkic, McGary and Capela were the only true frontcourt players available at #14. At #18 only McGary and Capela were available, and who knows what would have been of Warren. Atlanta would have made a lot of sense, Chicago/Denver-Boston maybe not so much but I don't know if I would have gambled on him lasting until #18. After #26, you just had the banger Stokes.

[virtual9mm]

I'm not qualified to grade the draft. All I know is what I see on DX or NBAdraft, and there's been studies showing that post-draft evaluations are quite off-the mark. The first real sign of player potential are the summer leagues, and that's more of a negative marker than anything else -- very few players who struggle in summer league make it in the NBA.

TJ Warren seems to have all-star potential (in the same, limited way as Ced) and has received little hype, so I'm cool with the pick. I think that the draft is a game of picking the best possible player passed over by the media hype machine, which I think affects GMs more than you might think.

Ennis I'm not so sure about, since he's not a penetrating point guard and the Suns are currently built around having two such guards. Especially if Bledsoe's on the way out, the Suns should replace him. That being said, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Bogdan ^ 2 seems like a potential Ginobili or Dragic, good move on a draft-and-stash.

[ShelC]

Long scouting report on Bodgan

http://upsidemotor.com/2014/07/01/scout ... um=twitter