Suns News Week 8 (12/5 - 12/11)

[ShelC]

Book had his HS jersey retired today

[specialsauce]

In the process of walking to the podium, he pulled his other hamstring and is out 10-14 months

[Superbone]

I say rest him. No need to aggravate it now. He's not helping us as is. I'd rather give his minutes to Lee right now.

[ShelC]

I'd rest all of our starters and win with the reserves like the Spurs used to do.

[Superbone]

I'd rest all of our starters and win with the reserves like the Spurs used to do.

And like OKC did to us last year. Yeah, sure. Let's trot out Okogie, Landale, Lee, Wainright, and Saric. I'm sure they can take yesterday's Pelican squad.

[specialsauce]

I'd rest all of our starters and win with the reserves like the Spurs used to do.

And like OKC did to us last year. Yeah, sure. Let's trot out Okogie, Landale, Lee, Wainright, and Saric. I'm sure they can take yesterday's Pelican squad.

Not if they play Landale , terrible take

Swap Biz and it’s in the bag

[Superbone]

I'd rest all of our starters and win with the reserves like the Spurs used to do.

And like OKC did to us last year. Yeah, sure. Let's trot out Okogie, Landale, Lee, Wainright, and Saric. I'm sure they can take yesterday's Pelican squad.

Not if they play Landale , terrible take

Swap Biz and it’s in the bag

[specialsauce]

I'd rest all of our starters and win with the reserves like the Spurs used to do.

And like OKC did to us last year. Yeah, sure. Let's trot out Okogie, Landale, Lee, Wainright, and Saric. I'm sure they can take yesterday's Pelican squad.

Not if they play Landale , terrible take

Swap Biz and it’s in the bag

Dude totally spot on

I know

[Superbone]

I'd rest all of our starters and win with the reserves like the Spurs used to do.

And like OKC did to us last year. Yeah, sure. Let's trot out Okogie, Landale, Lee, Wainright, and Saric. I'm sure they can take yesterday's Pelican squad.

Not if they play Landale , terrible take

Swap Biz and it’s in the bag

Dude totally spot on

You’re a god, ‘Bone.

Awe!

[The Bobster]

RIP Paul Silas.

Silas played for the Suns from 1969-70 to 1971-72 and was a great rebounder and defender and also one of the best leaders you could ever hope for.

Silas was a member of the 1974 and 1976 Boston champions and the 1979 Seattle champions. He was also President of the NBA Players Association from 1974 to 1980, leading them through the NBA/ABA merger and into the infancy of free agency.

[Superbone]

RIP Paul Silas.

Silas played for the Suns from 1969-70 to 1971-72 and was a great rebounder and defender and also one of the best leaders you could ever hope for.

Silas was a member of the 1974 and 1976 Boston champions and the 1979 Seattle champions. He was also President of the NBA Players Association from 1974 to 1980, leading them through the NBA/ABA merger and into the infancy of free agency.

Yep, sad. And condolences to his son, coach of the Rockets, and their family.

[JeremyG]

Silas was also an assistant coach (lead assistant?) for the Suns in the '90s.

[LazarusLong]

Paul Silas is #8 in career rebounds for the Suns.
He had the first, third and seventh best seasons re: rebounds per game.

Suns engineered a great trade, sending an oafish Gary Gregor to the Hawks straight up for Silas.
Silas was stuck behind Zelmo Beaty and Bill Bridges in Atlanta (two very good players), so the Hawks found him expendable.
Besides his stellar time with the Suns, Silas won NBA title rings as a member of the Celtics and the Supersonics.
He played 16 year in the NBA.
Gregor last 4 1/2 years in the NBA, and a year and half in the ABA.

[SunsRIt]

A question for Bobster and Lazarus Long: What type of player was Kareem? Was he more finesse or power? I know he had the sky hook, but what else did he have in his arsenal? How was his defense? I was around when he played, but don’t remember anything about his game.

[LazarusLong]

Kareem was an incredibly smart big man.
Remember that, after he dominated college basketball his first year, the NCAA outlawed the dunk.
So he perfected the skyhook and other subtle post moves, and still remained dominant.
He was very fast and athletic, dabbling in martial arts and yoga to remain flexible and in game shape.
He wasn't as strong at Wilt, but then, nobody was or is.
He could score on anybody.
For comparison, Kareem averaged 31.8 points, 15.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 17 games versus Wilt. Chamberlain averaged 17.6 rebounds, 16.3 points and 3.8 assists in those games.

A more interesting matchup was Kareem vs. Artis Gilmore:
Kareem - 36.3 mpg, 21.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 3.8 apg on 53.6% FG, 70.9% FT
Artis - 36.3 mpg, 19.4 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 3.1 apg on 57.6% FG, 75.0% FT
(I once interviewed former journeyman NBA/ABA center Roger Brown, who played against Wilt and Artis. He said Artis was closest thing to Wilt in terms of strength and athleticism. That's why I used the comparison.)

[Split T]

Was Kareem fluid enough that had he come around today he may have developed more like Wemby is developing?

[LazarusLong]

Was Kareem fluid enough that had he come around today he may have developed more like Wemby is developing?

Maybe.

Wemby still is all potential. What sort of competition has he faced?

Kareem/Alcindor played in college when the good players competed through their senior year (usually).
That included Elvin Hayes, Bob Lanier, and Artis Gilmore.
Big men were more finished products when drafted then.

[In2ition]

College basketball was arguably a higher level back when players didn't leave early, but I'm not exactly sure that it's the same level as the professional leagues in Europe and where Wemby is playing now. I think we can keep in mind that the college players that stayed in school longer, still happened into '88 when the USA lost to the USSR and I think we can agree that the Euro leagues, talent and skill is much higher today than 34 yrs ago, right?

[Split T]

Was Kareem fluid enough that had he come around today he may have developed more like Wemby is developing?

Maybe.

Wemby still is all potential. What sort of competition has he faced?

Kareem/Alcindor played in college when the good players competed through their senior year (usually).
That included Elvin Hayes, Bob Lanier, and Artis Gilmore.
Big men were more finished products when drafted then.

I wouldn’t say he’s all potential…there’s very real skills that he has. Sure he’s got a lot to prove and I wasn’t trying to make a statement about one being better. I was just trying to envision what Kareem might look like in a modern game and wondered if he could play more like Wemby. Obviously he didn’t have the shooting skills of Wemby, but had he developed today, I think it’s more likely he would’ve worked on that stuff. Could he have handled on the perimeter and attacked off the dribble the same way Wemby does?

Wemby is also one of those super unique players and I’ve thought, maybe we have seen something like him before in Kareem. Just in a different era that focused on different things in his development.

[Shabazz]

Not sure if this was posted yet. Is KJ a hall of famer.

https://statitudes.substack.com/p/is-ke ... l-of-famer