Suns News: The Offseason (2016)

[Ring_Wanted]

When players become stars we tend to focus on what they can't do as opposed to what they can do.

Very true, and indeed often overlooked.

Westbrook is a jerk though, at least that's the vibe you get from some interviews and such.

[TOO]

When players become stars we tend to focus on what they can't do as opposed to what they can do.

Very true, and indeed often overlooked.

Westbrook is a jerk though, at least that's the vibe you get from some interviews and such.

This could be said about A LOT of pro athletes. Only seems a few get vilified for it. Westbrook is one, which is odd, because Durant had more than his share of problems with the OKC media and nobody ever holds that against him.

[Shabazz]

I think some are letting their personal feelings about Westbrook affect their evaluation of him. He's a monster and I'd take him everyday and put the right pieces around him.

Yup. The world loves Curry, who himself takes terrible shots and over dribbles all the time, but it's ok, because he's Steph. Westbrook is somehow made out to be this terrible teammate who only cares about himself, it's stupid.

I agree with the overall point but not the reasoning. Westbrook's shot selection does deserve some scrutiny when he's one of the worst high-volume 3 point shooters ever. Curry, on the other hand is probably the best ever. If you make 30 footers at a 45% clip, they're not bad shots.

[Ring_Wanted]

Curry can do whatever he wants as long as his %s remaing unheard of at the given volume and as his teammates also get involved.

[O_Gardino]

I think some are letting their personal feelings about Westbrook affect their evaluation of him. He's a monster and I'd take him everyday and put the right pieces around him.

I agree that Westbrook is a top talent in the NBA, and that my dislike of him certainly colors my view.

But I also think it is very hard to build a contender around that one guy who has to touch the ball on every possession. We saw the same thing with Nash (who I loved), where we never really had a team with balanced offense. Guys who could create their own shot didn't want to stay, and guys who stayed got used to just waiting for the ball. I think Westbrook's personality and approach to the game amplifies that.

When players become stars we tend to focus on what they can't do as opposed to what they can do.

Very true, and indeed often overlooked.

Westbrook is a jerk though, at least that's the vibe you get from some interviews and such.

This could be said about A LOT of pro athletes. Only seems a few get vilified for it. Westbrook is one, which is odd, because Durant had more than his share of problems with the OKC media and nobody ever holds that against him.

TOO, I don't know of anything Durant did wrong in OKC, but I don't doubt that lots of people are jerks. My problem with Westbrook is that I've read an article where he was asked about his style of play and his shot selection. His response was that the only ally he has on the court is the basketball. Everybody is looking out for themselves and he needs to look out for himself on the court, too. Just him and the rock.

That was years ago. Maybe he has matured. But that impression stuck with me.

[O_Gardino]

I think some are letting their personal feelings about Westbrook affect their evaluation of him. He's a monster and I'd take him everyday and put the right pieces around him.

When players become stars we tend to focus on what they can't do as opposed to what they can do. Westbrook isn't perfect, he turns the ball over a lot and shoots way too many 3's, but he's impossible to guard in transition and driving to the hoop. He's not a pure point, but 10 assists a game can't be ignored. He's definitely in the mold of marbury or Steve Francis, but he's the Jordan of scoring point guards. Marbury is Jerry stackhouse.

Isaiah Thomas (The old Piston) is the Jordan of scoring point guards!

[Split T]

I think some are letting their personal feelings about Westbrook affect their evaluation of him. He's a monster and I'd take him everyday and put the right pieces around him.

When players become stars we tend to focus on what they can't do as opposed to what they can do. Westbrook isn't perfect, he turns the ball over a lot and shoots way too many 3's, but he's impossible to guard in transition and driving to the hoop. He's not a pure point, but 10 assists a game can't be ignored. He's definitely in the mold of marbury or Steve Francis, but he's the Jordan of scoring point guards. Marbury is Jerry stackhouse.

Isaiah Thomas (The old Piston) is the Jordan of scoring point guards!

I've never thought of him as a scoring point guard. I'm too young to have seen him play, but from what I've read, he seemed more Chris Paul than Russell Westbrook. But I wouldn't know.

[In2ition]

He was definitely a scoring pg, but he could also pass. He wasn't close the physical specimen that Westbrook is, but he was quicker than snot and as skilled as they come,

[carey]

TOO, I don't know of anything Durant did wrong in OKC, but I don't doubt that lots of people are jerks. My problem with Westbrook is that I've read an article where he was asked about his style of play and his shot selection. His response was that the only ally he has on the court is the basketball. Everybody is looking out for themselves and he needs to look out for himself on the court, too. Just him and the rock.

That was years ago. Maybe he has matured. But that impression stuck with me.

So, this is a bit old, but I figured I would link it here in case people haven't read it. There is a reason I have a problem with both Durant & Westbrook. Though I understand both have done a lot for their community and it is unfair for me to expect them to be perfect all the time. However, I think the Thunder created their own monster, so to speak. They babied them and coddled them to a degree rarely seen for professional athletes. I'll quote some of my issues with them below but you should read the entire thing. It's an old article at Grantland: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-r ... rts-media/

“Durant at the All-Star Game said, ‘The media’s not our friends,’” Tramel explained. “Well, he’s right. Nobody on a serious journalism level pretends to be. But with the Thunder, there’s not even an acquaintance. There’s no relationship.”

It was a gripe I heard again and again from the Thunder press corps. Nobody held a grudge against Durant or Westbrook. They knew the locker-room scrums would produce a poor harvest. What frustrated the press corps was that the players — especially Durant and Westbrook — remained largely out of reach. While complying with the league’s minimum standards for access, the Thunder carefully proscribed their availability. As Bob Barry Jr. put it, “We can never be mad at people we never have access to.”

Barry is local royalty: the sports anchor at the NBC affiliate, a host on the Thunder’s flagship radio station, and the son of the “voice of the Sooners.” Yet even he has a hard time securing one-on-one interviews. “I’ve made 100 requests over two years,” Barry told me. “I say, ‘Give me anybody, anybody for five minutes. The no. 15 guy on the roster. The trainer. The chaplain.’ They always have a smile on their face when they say, ‘I’ll run it up the flagpole.’ But you never hear back.” Before the season, the team offered him seven minutes each with Perry Jones and Serge Ibaka.

I asked Mayberry, the Oklahoman beat writer, how many one-on-ones he gets with Durant and Westbrook in a given year.

“Zero,” Mayberry said.

His last interview with Durant was 10 months ago, after Durant won the MVP. Mayberry got another one with Durant before the 2013-14 season. The last time he remembered interviewing Westbrook one-on-one was in 2012, when Westbrook signed with Jordan Brand.

“When it comes to getting a one-on-one interview, it would be easier to get access to the leader of ISIS,” said Fox Sports’s Andrew Gilman.

The ’80s golden age of access is long gone. LeBron James and Steph Curry aren’t sitting on folding chairs in their arena pressrooms, waiting to be downloaded of their deepest thoughts. Local writers have to find other ways to connect. After Durant’s outburst, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne advised reporters to approach players outside the scrum and establish something like a human rapport.

But in the Thunder locker room, there’s a watchfulness that prevents all but the most formal interactions. Reporters said that nearly every time they approach a player, even with tape recorders holstered, a Thunder PR rep sidles up to listen. “If you have a conversation with a player about parenting, someone is going to be standing right there hovering and trying to steer it whichever way they think it should go,” Mayberry said. “That’s the kind of culture they’ve created here. No one has a personal relationship with any of these guys.”

Compare that with the Suns and how a guy like Dave King (who is not a reporter, he has a day job) can get one-on-one interviews with McDonough, Watson and even players.

Tramel said he likes Tumbleson and Thunder GM Sam Presti. He sees the media strategy as a simple calculation. “They got a plan,” Tramel said.

“What the Thunder’s doing is, within league policies, ‘Let’s make everything as good as it can be for the players.’” The team can use the available procedural measures to all but eliminate the inconvenience of dealing with the media. “[Players] will want to come here, they’ll want to stay. We don’t have a beach. We don’t have Hollywood. But we sure can make things easy on them.”

I guess it's a damn shame it didn't work then.

[carey]

[youtube][/youtube]

Bender interview. Sounds like he just gave Dudley the number. He wanted 7 or 17 but couldn't have them.

[carey]

[youtube][/youtube]

And here is Chriss.

[carey]

[youtube][/youtube]

And lastly, here is Ulis.

[EDC]

Kinda surprised that he can't wear 7. I thought we didn't retire numbers.

I could have sworn that was the case but then there was the Grant Hill and Alvin Adams thing. Hrmm.

[Split T]

Kinda surprised that he can't wear 7. I thought we didn't retire numbers.

I could have sworn that was the case but then there was the Grant Hill and Alvin Adams thing. Hrmm.

Hill got permission from Alvin Adams. According to wikipedia, 5,6,7,9,13,24,33,42, and 44 are retired.

[Indy]

I like all of the new guys. I hope they turn out to be great players because their personalities seem like great fits.

Also, I know it isn't an easy job, but man those questions...

[EDC]

Not 34?

Must be an oversight on wikipedia.

Oops that was embarrassing.

[Split T]

Not 34?

Must be an oversight on wikipedia.

34 might be an oversight, two players did wear it after barkley though.

[Cap]

[youtube][/youtube]

Bender interview. Sounds like he just gave Dudley the number. He wanted 7 or 17 but couldn't have them.

Should've taken the 10K. Duds can afford it.

[EDC]

Not 34?

Must be an oversight on wikipedia.

34 might be an oversight, two players did wear it after barkley though.

Damn. Didn't edit it in time. I realized it like 15 seconds after posting.

Edit: Thanks for covering up my embarrassment Split T.

[Indy]

[youtube][/youtube]

Bender interview. Sounds like he just gave Dudley the number. He wanted 7 or 17 but couldn't have them.

Should've taken the 10K. Duds can afford it.

Wouldn't it count as income, and then be taxed nationally and locally? In the end, what is 5k to a kid that just came into millions?