Suns News: 2019 Off-Season

[Superbone]

Tough start to the season other than the Grizzlies. We had better win opening night against the Kings.

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

https://theathletic.com/1117980/2019/08 ... rontcourt/

Some info on Cheick Diallo:

What is Diallo’s underrated skill? How about the area of his game that requires the most improvement — aka the aspect for which teammates will need to most compensate?

He’s unbelievably efficient on those little one-handed push shots from 5-10 feet away from the basket. I would say that might be his best offensive skill at this point. He has really nice touch on those shots, and he knows how to take his time and hit them over taller defenders. Even though he’s a pretty good shot-blocker, Diallo doesn’t necessarily have the greatest leaping ability around the basket. He makes up for that by using his long arms and dropping in those little shots when teams least expect it. He can hit them from around the free-throw line or on the baseline. It’s his overall defensive awareness. When Cheick is playing well, he’s really fun to watch. He brings a ton of energy to the floor, and he encourages everybody else to run the way he does. But when his defense is bad, it’s really bad. He gets lost in pick-and-roll when teams bring him out to the perimeter, he has trouble predicting what ballhandlers will do when they come at him and he gets in foul trouble often because of those mental mistakes.

It sounds like Diallo has a terrific personality. How do you envision him fitting in Phoenix’s locker room, which includes a lot of young players mixed with high-character veterans?

Everybody in the Pelicans locker room loved Diallo. He’s one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and he’s always in a good mood. What they loved about him the most was the fact that he always put the work in to improve and he always took the job seriously — even if he gets a little goofy at times. It’s always good to have a guy like that on the bench that brings positive energy to the locker room and enjoys putting a smile on the face of all his teammates. I expect him to become a fan favorite pretty early in his Suns career, and it’ll only be a matter of time before they start throwing up the “Wakanda Forever” sign (from the movie Black Panther) like Diallo does after all his dunks.

[In2ition]

Does “draft schedule” mean “subject to change”?

Yes, this isn't the final schedule.

[ShelC]

Tough opponents but a solid stretch of home games to start the season.

[Indy]

Cool. One national TV game. Against Zion and New Orleans.

Let's hope the build up of last year's #1 vs this year's #1 isn't as lopsided as it seems.

[Superbone]

Cool. One national TV game. Against Zion and New Orleans.

Let's hope the build up of last year's #1 vs this year's #1 isn't as lopsided as it seems.

Which way? Zion hasn't played an NBA game yet.

[Indy]

Cool. One national TV game. Against Zion and New Orleans.

Let's hope the build up of last year's #1 vs this year's #1 isn't as lopsided as it seems.

Which way? Zion hasn't played an NBA game yet.

Sure. But every GM in the league would trade any of their last 5 first round picks for him. He is as much of a sure superstar as you can get in the draft. And nearly every center in the league ate up Ayton last year. I hope he takes the kind of leap he needs to this summer and shows why he should be a #1 pick instead of a guy that couldn't compete for 1st or 2nd place rookie of the year honors.

[SDC]

sign iso joe for the backup point guard role!

[Flagrant Fowl]

Few things make me question one's ability to understand the NBA game more than someone pining for old men who played well in a 3-on-3 half court game.

[ShelC]

Some Ayton highlights from JCraw's summer league up in Seattle. Basically a glorified YMCA game but he looks a little leaner to me and is showing off some nice post moves. Also hit a 3, tho his form was a little flat. I know a few people want to see him develop a face up/dribble drive game but I want him emulating Ewing and Duncan. He's got that physique and touch to be that kind of player. Turnaround baseline jumpers ala Ewing, faceup 14-16 footers and drop steps ala Timmy.





A different angle on that 3

[O_Gardino]

McDonough 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?

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.

Some of that is probably because the suns didn’t think he improved enough to showcase anything else in his game, but it doesn’t sound like the suns played much of an active role in his development process. The article says he is working out 5 days a week with the hawks development staff this summer. Sounds like he was mostly on his own in Phoenix.

I never liked the Len pick and never thought he was much more than a decent backup, but it does seem that we mishandled him. He shot 41% from 3 after the all star break last year on over 4 attempts per game. We should have developed him into a modern 5 that could space the floor.

We wanted him to be Rudy Gobert, Atlanta is developing him more into a Marc Gasol.

I remember a couple of seasons when we would iso him at 15 feet and ask him to create. Turnover or missed shot every time. But I 100% believe that the Suns weren't developing him. We just fire our training staff and didn't bother to replace them. That's our commitment to player development.

[O_Gardino]

He's inefficient though.

[In2ition]

He's inefficient though.

Yeah, that weird narrative and belief needs to be buried and burned. It hasn't been true for 2 seasons now.

[Superbone]

Ayton looks to be in good shape in Seattle. And have we been saying his name wrong all this time? This guy was calling him "A - tawn".

[bajanguy008]

Man the League is tough
Well gotta earn our way back to respectability, nobody said it will be easy. Navigating those first few games in Oct will be interesting
https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1160992857123147776

[JeremyG]

9 of our first 12 games are at home. Gotta start off well!

[The Bobster]

Ex-Sun Sebastian Telfair was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for illegal gun possession -

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/273 ... ars-prison

[JeremyG]

[ShelC]

Ha that's pretty good!