Suns News: Week 10 12/29-1/4

[Ring_Wanted]

To me the key of the 3PG lineup is that Tucker plays PF. Depending on the opposite team you might not even need Kieff to score, allowing a Tucker-Len/Plumlee 4-5 combo, which is not that undermanned, above all if Bledsoe has his predatory mode on.

[Shabazz]

Ennis Highlights:

[youtube][/youtube]

[Superbone]

Ennis' stroke is already miles better than Archie's.

[Mori Chu]

Archie seems like he's probably a lost cause at this point, no? I mean what exactly is the path for him to get minutes and contribute at this point?

[OE32]

Archie seems like he's probably a lost cause at this point, no? I mean what exactly is the path for him to get minutes and contribute at this point?

It's funny, because after the Sacto game at the end of last year, I thought he had a bright future ahead. But every game I've seen him play since then has indicated a lack of progress. Still can't shoot, defend, handle, or pass. A quick first step is not enough.

We should keep in mind, though, that he's still just 20 - 2 years younger than our more recently drafted 2 guard, Bogdanovic.

[Shabazz]

We should keep in mind, though, that he's still just 20 - 2 years younger than our more recently drafted 2 guard, Bogdanovic.

Yup. That's the key. He's younger than Warren and the same age as Ennis. I've actually liked the way he's played in his garbage time minutes. It's not like he's gotten much of an opportunity to show what he can do this year.

[INFORMER]

A couple of Suns articles this morning. One over at Hardwood Paroxysm about needing all 3 PGs: LINK

I love this line:

For some reason, Pelicans coach Monty Williams felt Dante Cunningham would suffice at the three, offering the Suns a glimpse into how effective their defense might be against stagnant offenses.

[INFORMER]

Archie seems like he's probably a lost cause at this point, no? I mean what exactly is the path for him to get minutes and contribute at this point?

It's funny, because after the Sacto game at the end of last year, I thought he had a bright future ahead.

The 29-pointer!

[JCSunsfan]

The funny thing is, Alex is actually very good at avoiding fouls. He used to make a lot of silly ones, but with minutes, those have gone way down. Now, he's just involved at the end of a lot of plays, so he gets fouls.

He makes such a big difference to our defense. I'm ecstatic with his progress. Alex may even have the potential to be elite offensively as well as defensively. He's probably the most valuable single piece we have.

Hard to disagree with any of this which is totally shocking to myself. Maybe Dragic is more valuable imho. People say Tucker is the heart of the team.... maybe, but then Dragic is the soul. I hope he doesn't get traded. This from a guy that wasn't too keen on bringing him back from Houston until I saw the price tag. He's won me over as a fierce competitor & a guy that just delivers.

.

This "heart of the team" stuff is a distraction. Not long ago Jared Dudley was considered the HOTT and got traded--the team improved significantly. Not saying he was bad, just not as essential as it appeared.

[JCSunsfan]

I seem to recall us talking about Dragic years before he was taken by any NBA team. I don't know if that was just us talking or us talking about the Suns talking. Wasn't Dragic in Europe playing pro ball years before the Suns?

No. He was completely off the grid, but a Kerr favorite.

[Mori Chu]

Still can't shoot, defend, handle, or pass. A quick first step is not enough.

But other than that, he's great!!

We should keep in mind, though, that he's still just 20 - 2 years younger than our more recently drafted 2 guard, Bogdanovic.

This is true. This kind of thing is my biggest problem with the NBA-NCAA relationship. Archie should be getting quality minutes in the NCAA helping a good college team. After 3-4 years in college, he'd be much more prepared to be in the NBA. As it is right now, he's sitting around and not doing much. How is he supposed to develop and get better? Who exactly is it helping to have this guy sit around at the end of an NBA roster?

Somebody will probably counter and say that a lot of guys like Len could be ready after just 1 year in college. Well, Len did jack squat in his first year in the NBA, and he's barely ready now. If he'd been forced to play 2-3 years of college, next year would be his rookie season, which I think would be just fine. He'd be showing up right when he's just about ready to make an impact.

[OE32]

This is true. This kind of thing is my biggest problem with the NBA-NCAA relationship. Archie should be getting quality minutes in the NCAA helping a good college team. After 3-4 years in college, he'd be much more prepared to be in the NBA. As it is right now, he's sitting around and not doing much. How is he supposed to develop and get better? Who exactly is it helping to have this guy sit around at the end of an NBA roster?

Somebody will probably counter and say that a lot of guys like Len could be ready after just 1 year in college. Well, Len did jack squat in his first year in the NBA, and he's barely ready now. If he'd been forced to play 2-3 years of college, next year would be his rookie season, which I think would be just fine. He'd be showing up right when he's just about ready to make an impact.

Can't help but consider what would difference it would make if the NCAA would allow players to be paid.

Also, thinking about the CBA - the reason the Suns can afford to stash Archie on their roster for years is because they know they'll control his rights for so long. If the draft gave teams less protection on their players, maybe teams would be less willing to draft guys that can't play yet.

What would be even better is if we had a system that allowed players to be drafted and paid while playing college ball, which is of course is impossible under NCAA rules. But interesting to think about.

[Mori Chu]

Right, I think we need some kind of compromise where we are allowed to draft a player after 1-2 years, but he is allowed to finish more of his NCAA eligibility after that if the NBA team wants him to. I might actually start watching NCAA basketball games again if that happened. As it is, I'm not going to attach myself to a team that will turn over all of its good players every year.

[Danimal]

This "heart of the team" stuff is a distraction. Not long ago Jared Dudley was considered the HOTT and got traded--the team improved significantly. Not saying he was bad, just not as essential as it appeared.[/quote]


Agreed. I don't like people putting too much emphasis on this as we are not a playoff team. Talking about this kind of stuff makes sense if you are a consistent playoff team trying to tinker to move up.

[Danimal]

On the topic of our rookie & sophomore development strategy: Part of me wishes they would take the young guys they know they wont play and play them a tone together in the D league together and then bring them back after the trade deadline when the roster of settled. It would give them a chance to play minutes and therefore develop and also if we are in young asset accumulation mode, it helps to show off what they can actually do. I worry what we are doing is like a used car syndrome. If after a two years a guy has just sat on the bench for two years like Goodwin, he has very little trade value since outside of summer league he isn't seen on any form of court. So we end up playing a middle of the road team and only injecting in guys if they can make an immediate impact, otherwise we aren't being overly innovative in our player development.

[LazarusLong]

Interesting take on the Suns. Essentially said Phoenix took a step sideways while other teams in the Western Conference took a step or two forward. Also, the three PG system, while productive on paper, has really impacted Dragic's game.

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/12/26/phoeni ... ndamentals

[Ring_Wanted]

I agree with both points.

[carey]

Interesting take on the Suns. Essentially said Phoenix took a step sideways while other teams in the Western Conference took a step or two forward. Also, the three PG system, while productive on paper, has really impacted Dragic's game.

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/12/26/phoeni ... ndamentals

We discussed that article last week if you want to catch up it starts here: LINK

[Mori Chu]

Carey got carey'd again!

[carey]

Carey got carey'd again!

Nah, I didn't post it, but people should use search function a little bit more often.