Suns News: The Offseason (2016)

[Split T]

Do you think they do this s*** on purpose? When Ulis was drafted he was 5' 9" (5' 8.75") without shoes. An article yesterday had him listed as 5' 10". Today on Suns.com he is 5' 11". Very soon he i'll be 6' and he can just go ahead and start: http://www.nba.com/suns/blog/summerleag ... over-miami

It's been a rough go in terms of shooting for the fourth overall pick in Las Vegas, but Dragan Bender is finding out ways to score anyway thanks to Ulis. The 7-1 big man moved well when playing the two-man game with the 5-11 point guard, and found himself open as a result for a pair of three-pointers that were both assisted by Ulis.

He measured 5'10 with shoes at the combine. Not sure why they're calling him 5'11. He also had a 6'2 wingspan. His height is an issue, but not a huge one. The 149 lbs he measured in at could be if he can't add some weight. I'm not worried about him challenging shooters or getting posted up, but stopping penetration is where he will struggle. Unless he's getting in front of everyone and taking charges, I don't see how he keeps stronger guys out of the lane. However, I'm not too worried right now, currently he's a backup pg and will mostly go up against other backups. Offensively he's great. There will be an adjustment period to the size and skill of nba players, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him getting blocked often at first, but he learned how to score among the giants in college and I imagine he'll do it in the nba as well. His ball handling, court vision, and passing are ready to go from day 1.

[Shabazz]

Not a fair assumption or something any of us wanted, BUT assume we didn't want to trade Bledsoe at all, and were only willing to trade Knight after he played half a season and showed something, AND assume no trading of picks: How would you have used our picks with who was on the board at the time?

Cap asked me the same thing. I don't see the point of placing conditions and limitations on it.

But I'll give you the same answer:

4- Hield
13 - Valentine
28 - Diallo
34 - Bolomboy.

I know it doesn't mean a ton, but none of those guys (other than Diallo) have looked good in Summer League.

In the cases of 22 year olds Hield and Valentine, I think it actually does mean something.

[carey]

Suns want Dragan Bender to turn loose from the perimeter: http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /87112292/

Dragan Bender grabbed a couple green Gatorade cups of water and eased down into his seat on the bench with 3.2 seconds left in the first half Thursday against the Heat. He played 18:18 of the first 20 minutes and nearly 35 of the game’s 40 minutes.

That was by design, Summer Suns coach Dave Bjorkgren said. The 7-foot-1 18-year-old entered Thursday’s game averaging more than 30 minutes in the Summer League and barely left the court against the Heat for one reason: He needs the time.

“We just want him to get that experience,” Bjorkgren said. “We’ve played him at the 3, today we played him a lot more at the 4. We want to give him experience guarding different guys.”

Suns general manager Ryan McDonough has said he thinks Bender can eventually become an elite defender who can switch out on the perimeter with ease. Bender’s nowhere close to that yet, but twice on Thursday a smaller Heat guard tried to beat Bender one-on-one to the basket, and twice they failed.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Is there a formula to understand when the stadistics for Summer League are a valid indicator and when are not?

I read something about Ulis and his numbers, and next to it, something like, hey its just summer league, then I read about how another prospect or group of prospects are doing poorly, and next to it, a refutation containing the stat line of such player. Someone please, introduce me to how this standard works.

[Indy]

Not a fair assumption or something any of us wanted, BUT assume we didn't want to trade Bledsoe at all, and were only willing to trade Knight after he played half a season and showed something, AND assume no trading of picks: How would you have used our picks with who was on the board at the time?

Cap asked me the same thing. I don't see the point of placing conditions and limitations on it.

But I'll give you the same answer:

4- Hield
13 - Valentine
28 - Diallo
34 - Bolomboy.

I know it doesn't mean a ton, but none of those guys (other than Diallo) have looked good in Summer League.

In the cases of 22 year olds Hield and Valentine, I think it actually does mean something.

That is a fair point. And I know they are young, but if I weren't a Suns fan, I am not sure I would be talking much about Chriss or Bender based on Summer League play.

[Mori Chu]

Is there a formula to understand when the stadistics for Summer League are a valid indicator and when are not?

I read something about Ulis and his numbers, and next to it, something like, hey its just summer league, then I read about how another prospect or group of prospects are doing poorly, and next to it, a refutation containing the stat line of such player. Someone please, introduce me to how this standard works.

There's no real formula. I think some people would say the following:

- Bad stats are sometimes more meaningful than good ones, because if you do really well against weak SL players, it may not mean a lot; but if you can't even score any points or have any impact against these opponents, how are you going to succeed against real NBA opponents?

- Stats don't really translate to the NBA. Assists are a bit harder to come by, and defenses aren't the same since a lot of teams are doing various experiments. So if you are watching a PG and he gets only 3-4 assists, I don't think that means he can't pass. Or if a guy takes a lot of shots and gets a high score on low FG%, he probably wouldn't get the chance to shoot that much in a real game.

- The older / more experienced the player, the more you expect out of him in SL. An 18-year old kid? A rook from a Euro league? They're going to be adjusting a bunch, so that probably will affect their performance. A 4-year senior coming to the NBA? A guy who's not a rook but is a 2nd-3rd year player? Those guys ought to be able to show something in SL.

[Cap]

Not a fair assumption or something any of us wanted, BUT assume we didn't want to trade Bledsoe at all, and were only willing to trade Knight after he played half a season and showed something, AND assume no trading of picks: How would you have used our picks with who was on the board at the time?

Cap asked me the same thing. I don't see the point of placing conditions and limitations on it.

But I'll give you the same answer:

4- Hield
13 - Valentine
28 - Diallo
34 - Bolomboy.

I know it doesn't mean a ton, but none of those guys (other than Diallo) have looked good in Summer League.

In the cases of 22 year olds Hield and Valentine, I think it actually does mean something.

I haven't seen him play, but Hield's 18/6/3 stats don't look like chopped liver.

[ShelC]

SL games are organized chaos. You can't take much from the stats, so the eye-test is the best way to measure. Can this guy cut it physically? Can he knock down shots with a defender on him? Does he understand defensive concepts?

[Big Jake Little Jake]

If it makes you feel any better, I thought Valentine and Diallo looked pretty bad in the two games I saw them play. Especially Diallo.

Through 4 games Diallo is averaging 29 mpg, 10.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2 bpg, shooting 50% FG, 71% FT, and 0.75 turnovers per game.

I admit I only saw him in one game, but in that one game he seemed lost and ineffective. Guess he turned it around.

[INFORMER]

Not a fair assumption or something any of us wanted, BUT assume we didn't want to trade Bledsoe at all, and were only willing to trade Knight after he played half a season and showed something, AND assume no trading of picks: How would you have used our picks with who was on the board at the time?

Cap asked me the same thing. I don't see the point of placing conditions and limitations on it.

But I'll give you the same answer:

4- Hield
13 - Valentine
28 - Diallo
34 - Bolomboy.

I know it doesn't mean a ton, but none of those guys (other than Diallo) have looked good in Summer League.

In the cases of 22 year olds Hield and Valentine, I think it actually does mean something.

I haven't seen him play, but Hield's 18/6/3 stats don't look like chopped liver.

He hasn't shot the ball well.

[INFORMER]

I know it doesn't mean a ton, but none of those guys (other than Diallo) have looked good in Summer League.

In the cases of 22 year olds Hield and Valentine, I think it actually does mean something.

I know, I know, you hate seniors.

[INFORMER]

Not a fair assumption or something any of us wanted, BUT assume we didn't want to trade Bledsoe at all, and were only willing to trade Knight after he played half a season and showed something, AND assume no trading of picks: How would you have used our picks with who was on the board at the time?

Cap asked me the same thing. I don't see the point of placing conditions and limitations on it.

But I'll give you the same answer:

4- Hield
13 - Valentine
28 - Diallo
34 - Bolomboy.

I know it doesn't mean a ton, but none of those guys (other than Diallo) have looked good in Summer League.

20 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, 9-12 FGs, 1-1 3 PTs last night for Bolomboy.

[Shabazz]

I know it doesn't mean a ton, but none of those guys (other than Diallo) have looked good in Summer League.

In the cases of 22 year olds Hield and Valentine, I think it actually does mean something.

I know, I know, you hate seniors.

Nah. Just more suspicious of them and expect more out of them in Summer League than 18 year olds.

[carey]

https://twitter.com/Larrydn22/status/754883048835985412 Was there a minimum for games played? Because I think Booker was the best player I saw in the Summer League period.

[AmareIsGod]

https://twitter.com/Larrydn22/status/754883048835985412 Was there a minimum for games played? Because I think Booker was the best player I saw in the Summer League period.

3 games minimum. Ulis was all 2nd team.

[INFORMER]

Who made it ahead of Ulis? I'd say he is definitely deserving of first team honors.

[AmareIsGod]

Who made it ahead of Ulis? I'd say he is definitely deserving of first team honors.

Joining Tyus Jones on the Samsung All-NBA Summer League 2016 First Team are Jordan McRae (Cleveland), Bobby Portis (Chicago), Ben Simmons (Philadelphia) and Alan Williams (Phoenix).

Jaylen Brown (Boston), Thon Maker (Milwaukee), Kelly Oubre Jr. (Washington), Normal Powell (Toronto) and Tyler Ulis (Phoenix) round out the Second Team.

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/07/18/2016 ... :headlines

[ShelC]

That's utter bullshit! Tyler should've been 1st team, no question.

[Superbone]

Tyus Jones got MVP of the league.

[Cap]

That's utter bullshit! Tyler should've been 1st team, no question.

After last night, I can't complain about Ulis being beaten out by Tyus Jones.

As for Jordan McRae, I haven't seen him play, but he lead the league in scoring at 24.3 per game. He also put up 5.0 reb, 2.0 ast, 1.3 stl, 0.9 blk.