Phx-Suns.Net

The Suns end week 1 with a 2-1 record after laying an egg at home against the Mavericks in their opener and then stomping the Blazers on a home-and-home series.

Last Week's Games

vs. Dallas Mavericks LOSS 111-95
vs. Portland Trailblazers WIN 110-92
@ Portland Trailblazers WIN 101-90

This Week's Games

Monday, November 2nd vs. Los Angeles Clippers 10:30PM EST
Wednesday, November 4th vs. Sacramento Kings 9:00PM EST
Friday, November 6h vs. Detroit Pistons 9:30PM EST
Sunday, November 8th @ Oklahoma City Thunder 7:00PM EST

Suns Stories

Markieff Morris proves key for Suns, must reduce fouls: LINK
Devin Booker prepares for longevity: LINK
Backcourt dominates as Suns beat Blazers again: LINK
The transcendent career timeline of Suns legend Steve Nash: LINK

Enjoy some Bledsoe highlights from Halloween.

[youtube][/youtube]

Bonus BK highlights!

[youtube][/youtube]

I'd be satisfied with a 2-2 week and a competitive game against OKC.

Clippers are gonig to be tough tonight. They have been rolling early. Pistons have looked good as well...

May catch a break on Weds and not have to face Boogie Cousins. He is questionable for the Kings next 2 games.

Those highlights were very entertaining. If Bledsoe played like that every night, he'd be a superstar in this league.

I don't know how serious it is, but this is why we haven't seen Booker.
https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/661365884032696321

This is kind of funny. The Vancouver Grizzlies nearly drafted and later nearly traded for Nash: LINK

But the Suns had a surplus of point guards with Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd and Nash. Prior to the 1998 draft, a proposed trade was on the table that would send Nash and Cliff Robinson to the Grizzlies in exchange for a package built around Bryant Reeves.

There were talks of adding in the draft pick that turned into Mike Bibby, but the Grizzlies ultimately balked at the trade because they didn’t want to part with Reeves, according to the source.

Suns have added a grading system to hold defenders accountable: LINK

Player development assistant Irving Roland tracks seven defensive categories for “minuses” of how each Suns player handled them and a percentage is figured based on the player's total possessions. Roland also tallies pass deflections and charges taken, but the percentage is based on correctly handling transition defense, help position, boxouts, blow-bys, jump-shot discipline, pick-and-roll defense and closeouts/contested shots.

Before becoming the Suns coach in 2013, Jeff Hornacek was part of a Utah staff that used a similar, but less detailed, system that is modeled after what most football teams do. Roland spent time with the Miami Dolphins staff to form how the Suns would execute it.

That would not have been a good trade for the Suns.

Mori Chu wrote:That would not have been a good trade for the Suns.

Exactly. That would have mean getting Reeves (and maybe Bibby) instead of Marion...

It would have meant Reeves and 1998 #2 instead of Garrity and 1999 #9.

Cap wrote:It would have meant Reeves and 1998 #2 instead of Garrity and 1999 #9.

Maybe we would have been smart enough to draft Dirk that high?

Or Pierce.

Or Vince Carter.

Or Tractor Traylor.

OK, serious question time.

If Alex Len could keep his FREAKING HANDS UP, how good could he be?

Would you rather have Steven Adams? Nerlens Noel? Or Rudy Gobert, instead of Alex?

Doubts are creeping in. Alex looked great in preseason, but has seemed rushed and unfocused these first four games. He will be eligible for an extension at the end of this season. What do we think he's worth? Because two of those guys are getting the max, and the other will get close to $12 or $13 I think.

OE32 wrote:OK, serious question time.

If Alex Len could keep his FREAKING HANDS UP, how good could he be?

Would you rather have Steven Adams? Nerlens Noel? Or Rudy Gobert, instead of Alex?

Doubts are creeping in. Alex looked great in preseason, but has seemed rushed and unfocused these first four games. He will be eligible for an extension at the end of this season. What do we think he's worth? Because two of those guys are getting the max, and the other will get close to $12 or $13 I think.

He has been dropping a lot of passes, but in his defense, half of those drops are passes at his feet. If he has to bend over that far to catch the pass, he isn't going to be very effective. We need better passers, and he needs to catch every pass that hits his hands.

He is getting 14M per easily if he hits RFA. Look around. Chandler, Valanciunas, Henson(!), Asik, RoLo.

I'd take Len before Adams, no doubt. If what you see is what you get, as in the three are limited on offense, Len comes third behind the other two. Noel looks like KG defensively, all over the court. Gobert is the new Mt Mutombo.

Len is huge, but the new NBA is evolving towards a faster, space driven game where strength to defend inside 1on1 is less important than quickness and versatility. Now, if besides that presence on D you can count on Len not being a liability on offense, things change as he has size advantage over Noel and Gobert. Just a mere reliable hook and midrange shot, but we are not there yet.

If Alex Len could keep his FREAKING HANDS UP, how good could he be?

Would you rather have Steven Adams? Nerlens Noel? Or Rudy Gobert, instead of Alex?

I'd rather have Len than Adams, but all the rest seem better than Len has shown so far. Noel and Gobert are far better defensively, and Len just seems awkward. He shows a lot of flashes, but he has really far to go.

I think Len will figure it out. I'm with Indy; I think our guards aren't looking for him and don't give it to him where/when he can be effective. Honestly, this falls on Hornacek too. I'm not saying Len has to shoot it everytime down the floor, but if we're in an offensive set, he needs to at least touch the ball 80% of the time he's on the floor.

I think Len's struggles are less about talent and skill, and more about how inefficient we are at running a halfcourt offense.

wpmiller42 wrote:I think Len's struggles are less about talent and skill, and more about how inefficient we are at running a halfcourt offense.

I'm not sure I agree, 100% at least.

Regardless of the coach and the 'PGs', Len still has a lot to learn on offense. His shot is too rushed. And in his supposed bread and butter, the post, too often he avoids contact in favor of a clearer path to the rim with an acrobatic move. Too tough to make those. He needs to be more direct and just use his size, but even when he does just that he is prone to spinning/pivoting to the wrong side, which is a trademark for big men who lack refined post fundamentals.

Ring_Wanted wrote:

wpmiller42 wrote:I think Len's struggles are less about talent and skill, and more about how inefficient we are at running a halfcourt offense.

I'm not sure I agree, 100% at least.

Regardless of the coach and the 'PGs', Len still has a lot to learn on offense. His shot is too rushed. And in his supposed bread and butter, the post, too often he avoids contact in favor of a clearer path to the rim with an acrobatic move. Too tough to make those. He needs to be more direct and just use his size, but even when he does just that he is prone to spinning/pivoting to the wrong side, which is a trademark for big men who lack refined post fundamentals.

His fundamentals just aren't there. It is interesting to hear a guy like Eddie Johnson break down his plays in real-time focusing on the fundamentals he is missing. Like using the wrong hand on spin moves under the basket to keep the defender away. Or, like Ring said, avoiding contact when you need the contact to help with the balance of the shot. And his clear hesitation on shooting when he gets the ball wide-open, facing the basket the free throw line. Honestly, that is almost always the best shot we are going to get in our offense. And he can hit them, when he doesn't hesitate.

I'm hoping that it's just a matter of time. He's shown flashes. It just all needs to come together.