2012 Suns voluntary workouts

[Griffin]

I thought it would be interesting to monitor who shows up for the annual pre-training camp voluntary workouts and when. So far more than half the team showed up the first week with Scola due to arrive this weekend and Gortat and Frye understandably absent. Beasley is supposedly due to arrive "soon".

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/171626


Jared Dudley - present (first week)
Goran Dragic - present (first week)
Wesley Johnson - present (first week)
Sebastian Telfair - present (first week)
Markieff Morris - present (first week)
Kendall Marshall - present (first week)
PJ Tucker - present (first week)

Luis Scola - played in Olympics, scheduled to arrive this weekend
Marcin Gortat - just wrapped up Eurobasket qualification
Channing Frye - in Phoenix, rehabbing

Michael Beasley - ?
Shannon Brown - ?
Jermaine O'Neal - ?

 

[dziki]

Marcin avaraged 21 pts and 11.5 rbs, 2 bs and 1.5 as in 8 games while playing for Poland. Some of his stats:

62 % FG, 75.5 % Ft, 2 off rbs, 9.6 def rbs per game, almost 1 turnover per game.

He was 4th best scorer during whole qualification tournament, 2nd best rebounder, 2nd best blocker. 6 double-doubles, 2nd best scorer by FG percentage.

All of that in 33 min per game.

Of course the level of rivalry wasn`t really high (Belgium x2, Switzerland x2, Finland x2, Albania x2) but still i believe that this season will be good for him.

 

[slinslin]

Zaza Pachulia put up 19/8 on average against that competition.. those teams he played are not even ranked NCAA quality.

By the way the article linked cleary states in the same sentence Scola is mentioned that Beasley is expected to be there soon, so I have no idea why you single him out here.

 

[Griffin]

By the way the article linked cleary states in the same sentence Scola is mentioned that Beasley is expected to be there soon, so I have no idea why you single him out here.

I didn't single him out, I put him in the list of players who haven't showed up yet along with Brown and O'Neal. We know why Gortat, Scola and Frye aren't participating yet so they are listed separately.

I don't know what Coro means by "soon" since training camp begins soon as well.

 

[JoRain]

Zaza Pachulia put up 19/8 on average against that competition. those teams he played are not even ranked NCAA quality.

not exactly true. Georgia was playing against Bosnia, Latvia, Netherlands and Romania. Romania and Netherlands are weaker, but Netherlands still managed to beat Georgia. Bosnia has Teletovic who signed with Nets and Latvia, without Biedrins is talented but extremely young team with former Sun Devil Kuksiks and Spurs second round pick Bertans in the line up. Poland had an easier group, but they still got beat by Finland and Belgium, so competition is quite good. not that many NCAA teams would succeed there.

 

[Mainstreet]

There is an article by Paul Coro at azcentral dated 9-8-12 which walks us through the Suns rebuilding process again. It's a good refresher if nothing else. However, it contains some interesting comments. Here are a few that stuck out to me. See link below.

The Suns had chances to trade for point guards on draft day but passed, partly because of their affinity for top draft pick Kendall Marshall (who e-mailed Suns brass with his desire to join the team).

There was some internal push for Raymond Felton, but Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver favored Dragic, just as he pushed for Luis Scola, via an amnesty waiver that came the day after New Orleans matched Gordon's offer sheet.

"We always said we wouldn't trade Robin unless we got a first-round draft choice," Babby said.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...-plan-coming-full-circle-under-lon-babby.html

 

[Griffin]

There is an article by Paul Coro at azcentral dated 9-8-12 which walks us through the Suns rebuilding process again. It's a good refresher if nothing else. However, it contains some interesting comments. Here are a few that stuck out to me.

This quote bothers me a little:

"Had we played an entire season to get a No. 2 (overall, where Beasley went in 2008) and a No. 4 (where Johnson went in 2010), that would've depended on the bounces of lottery balls and you could never be sure what you're getting," Babby said. "At least we have the pedigree of those picks. Hopefully, their talent ultimately vindicates where they were picked."

What difference does it make where Beasley and Johnson were drafted? The fact that both have failed to live up to where they were drafted is exactly why the Suns were able to acquire them relatively cheaply.

By the same logic, they could have also signed Felton, Milicic and Morrison and had a whole starting five of former top-5 draft picks.

 

[Mainstreet]

This quote bothers me a little:

What difference does it make where Beasley and Johnson were drafted? The fact that both have failed to live up to where they were drafted is exactly why the Suns were able to acquire them relatively cheaply.

By the same logic, they could have also signed Felton, Milicic and Morrison and had a whole starting five of former top-5 draft picks.

Of course this is spin for the less educated fan.

However, I still think Beasley and Johnson have a chance to be better in the right system. It's a modest gamble on the Suns part. IMO, Felton is a functional PG if he is playing in the right system like he was with DA in NY. He might be the best of the bunch. Maybe the Suns are hoping for the same with Beasley and Johnson.

 

[KloD]

Of course this is spin for the less educated fan.

However, I still think Beasley and Johnson have a chance to be better in the right system. It's a modest gamble on the Suns part. IMO, Felton is a functional PG if he is playing in the right system like he was with DA in NY. He might be the best of the bunch. Maybe the Suns are hoping for the same with Beasley and Johnson.

JMO, but Felton sucks and would have been aweful with the Suns. While it's essentially the same system DA had in NY, we don't have Amare who had a monster season the time Felton was in NY. I'm very happy he's not here.

 

[KloD]

However, I still think Beasley and Johnson have a chance to be better in the right system.

My fear with these two is they will both be playing the majority of their minutes out of position. Beasley plays best as a 4 and Johnson a 3. I feel like the Suns have a great opportunity to get more out of these two, but are making the same mistakes Minn. made with them. I like the Scola deal more so for his trade worth next summer, but I don't like that he will be taking minutes away from developing the young guys. I don't agree with tanking for tanking sake, but I don't have a problem losing while allowing the team to grow as a unit with the young guys on the floor.

 

[Mainstreet]

JMO, but Felton sucks and would have been aweful with the Suns. While it's essentially the same system DA had in NY, we don't have Amare who had a monster season the time Felton was in NY. I'm very happy he's not here.

No doubt Felton needs the horses to go with him. Still he is a very serviceable PG. I'm not saying he would have been the best choice for the Suns.

 

[gordon]

Zaza Pachulia put up 19/8 on average against that competition..

Zaza also averaged 3.8 tpg(!) and 0.2 bpg.

those teams he played are not even ranked NCAA quality.

ignorant or a WUM?

Georgia was playing against Bosnia, Latvia, Netherlands and Romania. [...]Poland had an easier group [...]

Finland is better than any team in Georgia's group and Belgium is on the same level as Georgia or Latvia.

 

[JoRain]

Finland is better than any team in Georgia's group and Belgium is on the same level as Georgia or Latvia.

Actually Finland isn't. Finland and Belgium are pretty similar level teams and both are weaker than Latvia and Georgia. Latvia hasn't missed European championships in ages, though at the moment they are in transition, and Georgia has one of the best teams in years while Finland is largely one man's team and Belgium had to hire half of its team in Africa to even get to this level.
I'm not sure Poland would even qualify if they had to play Georgia's group. though they still would be favorites.

 

[Phrazbit]

This quote bothers me a little:

What difference does it make where Beasley and Johnson were drafted? The fact that both have failed to live up to where they were drafted is exactly why the Suns were able to acquire them relatively cheaply.

By the same logic, they could have also signed Felton, Milicic and Morrison and had a whole starting five of former top-5 draft picks.

That is rather humorous. For the Suns brass to say "in the draft you never know what you're getting" while discussing the merits of bringing in Beasley and Johnson. Basically accidentally stating that bringing in these kinds of players skips the suspense of an unpredictable pick because you already know they're a world class bust.

 

[Cheesebeef]

This quote bothers me a little:

What difference does it make where Beasley and Johnson were drafted? The fact that both have failed to live up to where they were drafted is exactly why the Suns were able to acquire them relatively cheaply.

By the same logic, they could have also signed Felton, Milicic and Morrison and had a whole starting five of former top-5 draft picks.

yeah... that quote is pretty ridiculous to me. According to that logic, we should have signed Oden too. Can you imagine the pedigree then?!

 

[Griffin]

According to last Coro report, Scola has arrived and joined voluntary workouts. No word on Brown, but Coro reports that Gortat, Beasley and O'Neal are the only Suns players not to have come through Phoenix this month.

Beasley will supposedly arrive late this week. O'Neal is nowhere to be seen.

Training camp starts in two weeks.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2012/09/14/20120914phoenix-suns-roll-call.html

 

[elindholm]

Beasley will supposedly arrive late this week. O'Neal is nowhere to be seen.

I'm surprised about Beasley, since he waxed so poetic about wanting to turn his career around, but O'Neal was to be expected. I assume he's injured again, or has changed his mind about wanting to play at all.

 

[Chaplin]

I'm surprised about Beasley, since he waxed so poetic about wanting to turn his career around, but O'Neal was to be expected. I assume he's injured again, or has changed his mind about wanting to play at all.

Article says that Beasley has been in L.A. working out with Norm Nixon and has consistently been the best player in semi-pro pickup games.

 

[KloD]

I'm surprised about Beasley, since he waxed so poetic about wanting to turn his career around, but O'Neal was to be expected. I assume he's injured again, or has changed his mind about wanting to play at all.

Come now, we don't know what their tardy excuse is. I'm sure they will both be in town soon and joining the rest of the team.

 

[Chaplin]

There's a new video on suns.com of voluntary workouts and Beasley is already there. The last shot has he and Dragic sitting down on the bench and talking.

http://www.nba.com/suns/video/voluntary-workouts

 

[Budden]

I'm surprised about Beasley, since he waxed so poetic about wanting to turn his career around, but O'Neal was to be expected. I assume he's injured again, or has changed his mind about wanting to play at all.

It shouldn't really be surprising. When a fat person says, "I want to get thin, I'm going on a diet and finally getting into shape!" you don't get surprised when you see him in six months and he's actually put on weight.

It's not easy to live up to your potential in the NBA. It takes extremely hard work, unwavering focus, and dedication. And more important than starting off strong is continuing to have that motivation months and months after you start trying to seriously improve.

To me, the Suns are the "New Years Resolution" team. It seems like everyone on this team is "finally gonna quit smoking, once and for all." But all this Hardawayan talk of "this is the season" is meaningless.

 

[elindholm]

It shouldn't really be surprising. When a fat person says, "I want to get thin, I'm going on a diet and finally getting into shape!" you don't get surprised when you see him in six months and he's actually put on weight.

But I would be surprised if he blew off a Weight Watchers meeting he was getting paid millions of dollars to attend.

It's not easy to live up to your potential in the NBA.

Or in any other profession.

 

[devilalum]

But I would be surprised if he blew off a Weight Watchers meeting he was getting paid millions of dollars to attend.



Or in any other profession.

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[CardsSunsDbacks]

These are called voluntary workouts for a reason and assuming that someone is being lazy or isn't trying to improve because they weren't at a voluntary workout is ridiculous. It would probably be a good idea to at least have facts about what someone is doing before assuming the worst.

 

[Phrazbit]

Article says that Beasley has been in L.A. working out with Norm Nixon and has consistently been the best player in semi-pro pickup games.

Wow, he is schooling some washouts on the boardwalk... impressive!

He has been doing this routine for years, remember last year when he dropped a bajillion points in some Rucker Park game and it was on ESPN? Street ball is not the thing Beasley needs to be doing to expand his game, that style of play feeds into all his bad habits.