Alan Williams

[Mainstreet]

Unbelievable.

The Suns win.

Ulis with the shot at the buzzer. He was due.

Final: Suns 109- Celtics 106

 

[AzStevenCal]

Bledsoe trying to sell the elbow... no.

I don't think there's much doubt that Smart through that elbow, unfortunately there didn't appear to be a shot that showed it all the way to contact. All you could see was the start of move so they couldn't presume what we all know really happened. Bledsoe was caught by surprise and went straight to the ground on it, no time or way to invent contact IMO.

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't think there's much doubt that Smart through that elbow, unfortunately there didn't appear to be a shot that showed it all the way to contact. All you could see was the start of move so they couldn't presume what we all know really happened. Bledsoe was caught by surprise and went straight to the ground on it, no time or way to invent contact IMO.

I thought Bledsoe was trying to sell contact although I didn't see much. Anyway, throwing an elbow is cause at least for a technical.

I'm not sure if we are agreeing or disagreeing.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I thought Bledsoe was trying to sell contact although I didn't see much. Anyway, throwing an elbow is cause at least for a technical.

I'm not sure if we are agreeing or disagreeing.

I re-watched it several times and I really don't think there was any acting on Eric's part at all. I don't think he even saw the elbow, just got knocked down by it. But when you watch the replay, you can see Smart bring his bent elbow back towards Bledsoe but the angle doesn't allow you to know for sure that it made contact.

IMO that lack of certainly is the only reason it wasn't called in review, as it was missed in real time and there was no absolute video proof that it was anything other than a normal basketball move. So, right decision by the refs, but it's still a cheap shot by one of the ultimate cheap shot artists in the game today.

 

[slinslin]

It must be pointed out that Alan Williams is older than Alex Len. If we could transfer Williams spirit into Lens body we would have an allstar.

 

[JCSunsfan]

It must be pointed out that Alan Williams is older than Alex Len. If we could transfer Williams spirit into Lens body we would have an allstar.

Williams body is not horrible. It is Barkley-Esque. Low center of gravity, big backside. It makes him hard to push around.

 

[Mainstreet]

I re-watched it several times and I really don't think there was any acting on Eric's part at all. I don't think he even saw the elbow, just got knocked down by it. But when you watch the replay, you can see Smart bring his bent elbow back towards Bledsoe but the angle doesn't allow you to know for sure that it made contact.

IMO that lack of certainly is the only reason it wasn't called in review, as it was missed in real time and there was no absolute video proof that it was anything other than a normal basketball move. So, right decision by the refs, but it's still a cheap shot by one of the ultimate cheap shot artists in the game today.

I will take your word for it because I only got to see it once or perhaps twice. If an elbow is thrown, even if it does not connect, I thought it was grounds for a technical. IMO, something should have been called. It was a still a cheap shot as you say.

 

[elindholm]

It must be pointed out that Alan Williams is older than Alex Len. If we could transfer Williams spirit into Lens body we would have an allstar.

I don't understand that comment. Len's body is clumsy and sluggish, at least by the standards of NBA players. There's a lot more to having an NBA body than just size and build.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Alan Williams in March:

26.1 mpg, 13.4 pts, 10.7 rebs, 1.4 blks, .528% shooting, .667% ft

His per/36 #s for the season:
18.1, 14.7, 2.3

He is something that most NBA players never become. Consistent. You know exactly what you are going to get from him night in and out.

We must keep Williams this summer. Len's status should not be a factor in that decision.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Alan Williams in March:

26.1 mpg, 13.4 pts, 10.7 rebs, 1.4 blks, .528% shooting, .667% ft

His per/36 #s for the season:
18.1, 14.7, 2.3

He is something that most NBA players never become. Consistent. You know exactly what you are going to get from him night in and out.

We must keep Williams this summer. Len's status should not be a factor in that decision.

I think the decision has mostly been made, Len will be allowed to walk. Williams is an easy call IMO so it comes down to Chandler or Alex. The front office has stated that we offered Chandler the choice of a trade or sitting for the remainder of the season and he chose to stay and sit. It makes no sense that we'd do that if we were just going to trade him over the summer.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I think it would be a mistake to keep Chandler over Len, unless the price for Len is just silly.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think it would be a mistake to keep Chandler over Len, unless the price for Len is just silly.

I really don't know. But I can't make sense out of what we've done other than to believe we're keeping Chandler. We went to him and told him that he could choose between being traded or sitting out the remainder of the season. Why would we do such a thing if we were going to just trade him anyway when the season ends?

 

[slinslin]

I think the decision has mostly been made, Len will be allowed to walk. Williams is an easy call IMO so it comes down to Chandler or Alex. The front office has stated that we offered Chandler the choice of a trade or sitting for the remainder of the season and he chose to stay and sit. It makes no sense that we'd do that if we were just going to trade him over the summer.

lol why did we offer him the option to trade him in the middle of the season then?

Why are we playing and starting Len if we decided to let him walk?

Letting Len move would be stupid. Letting Robin Lopez go was not a good move and Robin Lopez was much worse than Len.

 

[slinslin]

I don't understand that comment. Len's body is clumsy and sluggish, at least by the standards of NBA players. There's a lot more to having an NBA body than just size and build.

He is also by far our best defensive player.

 

[AzStevenCal]

He is also by far our best defensive player.

I don't know if that's true. First off, rebounding is usually considered part of defense and he's clearly the weakest rebounder of the three. And secondly, there's more to defense at the 5 than rim protection. He has been our best rim protector but between frequent fouls and falling for every fake, I don't know how you can just write him in as our best defender let alone calling it "by far"?

 

[slinslin]

I don't know if that's true. First off, rebounding is usually considered part of defense and he's clearly the weakest rebounder of the three. And secondly, there's more to defense at the 5 than rim protection. He has been our best rim protector but between frequent fouls and falling for every fake, I don't know how you can just write him in as our best defender let alone calling it "by far"?

What? Len is a good rebounder and averaging more than 12 per 36 and he is ranking as one of the best rim protectors in the entire league.

Williams and Chandler are slightly better rebounders but Len is tied in defensive winshares and only behind PJ Tucker in Defensive Box Plus Minus.

 

[hcsilla]

Letting Robin Lopez go was not a good move.

The Suns did not let Lopez go, he simply refused to talk about an extension.

 

[slinslin]

They could have matched the offer sheet from New Orleans, so yes they let him go. He did not talk about an extension because there was no way the Suns would offer him more in an extension than what he could get on the open market as a restricted FA.

Expect TJ Warren to do the same thing. Extensions on rookie deals are rare unless max or massive overpayment.

 

[AzStevenCal]

What? Len is a good rebounder and averaging more than 12 per 36 and he is ranking as one of the best rim protectors in the entire league.

Williams and Chandler are slightly better but Len is tied in defensive winshares and only behind PJ Tucker in Defensive Box Plus Minus.

Yeah, you pretty much just ignored my points.

He's not a bad rebounder but the other two are quite a bit better than he is. I just checked BRef and from what I can see, it's close but he's not tied, he trails Bledsoe, Tucker and Chandler in defensive win shares. And how important is DBPM on a team that is notoriously weak on defense?

 

[AzStevenCal]

They could have matched the offer sheet from New Orleans, so yes they let him go. He did not talk about an extension because there was no way the Suns would offer him more in an extension than what he could get on the open market as a restricted FA.

Expect TJ Warren to do the same thing. Extensions on rookie deals are very rare unless max.

I thought it had to do with both centers expecting to start?

 

[slinslin]

Even if Lopez did not want to sit on the bench another year the Suns should still have matched it is not like Gortat was a world beater and Lopez outplayed him the following season in New Orleans.

The point is Lopez was restricted. He had no choice in this.

 

[hcsilla]

They could have matched the offer sheet from New Orleans, so yes they let him go. He did not talk about an extension because there was no way the Suns would offer him more in an extension than what he could get on the open market as a restricted FA.

It was not about who offering him more.

He simply refused to even negotiate anything with the Suns, because he did not want play here anymore. So decision was mady by Lopez, not by the Suns FO.

 

[hcsilla]

Even if Lopez did not want to sit on the bench another year the Suns should still have matched it is not like Gortat was a world beater and Lopez outplayed him the following season in New Orleans.

The point is Lopez was restricted. He had no choice in this.

He did have a choice, he simply could have taken the 1-year qualifying offer.

BTW, it was not an offer sheet, it was a sign-and-trade to New Orleans.

 

[slinslin]

He did have a choice, he simply could have taken the 1-year qualifying offer.

BTW, it was not an offer sheet, it was a sign-and-trade to New Orleans.

Nobody takes the 1 year qualifying offer. The sign and trade was just semantics.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Will Alan Williams get a shocking offer this summer? If he were 3 inches taller I would say yes.