Big Jake Ready To Rebound

[jbeecham]

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/tsakalidis_030717.html

Suns center working hard to improve
Big Jake Ready to Rebound

By Dustin Krugel, Suns.com
Posted: July 17, 2003

After an injury-riddled 2002-03 campaign, Jake Tsakalidis is making up for lost time by working out vigorously in what was supposed to be his offseason.

The Suns' center is one of 14 players participating in this week’s Rookie/Free Agent Camp and he recently completed three weeks of intense training with Athlete’s Performance in Los Angeles.

“I think he’s really benefiting from the fact that he is working twice a day and that he is working with the people at Athlete’s Performance,” Suns assistant coach Marc Iavaroni said. “He’s got a lot of confidence and I’m really glad he took the initiative to do that. He’s had a really good attitude. This is really a big year for our team and his contribution is going to be key to that.”

Tsakalidis appeared primed to have a breakout year this past season after finishing the 2001-02 season strong when he averaged 13.7 points and 7.2 rebounds the final 11 games. Back problems that eventually needed surgery, however, limited him to a career-low 33 games (27 starts) instead.

When Big Jake finally returned to the active roster on March 13, the Suns were in the midst of a playoff race with Houston and he saw action in just 10 more contests, and did not play in any of the Suns’ six playoff games.

The biggest knock so far in Tsakalidis’ young career has been his lack of quickness. At 7-2, 290-pounds he’s not expected to be a ballerina on the court, of course, but Suns assistant coach Mike D’Antoni said he has still made strides in that area.

“That’s what he needs and if he gets that, we could see another player,” D’Antoni said. “This is (only July) and you’re excited about your team, and you can talk to us in December it might be a different story. But you can see he looks faster.”

Iavaroni agreed the extra work has already started to pay dividends.

“He’s made the decision to be intimidating and he’s hitting people, and I like that,” he said. “With his size, the more aggressive he is, staying out of foul trouble is key. But the more aggressive, the more impact he makes on the opponent.”

After Phoenix wraps up camp Thursday morning, Tsakalidis and the “Summer Suns” will play six games in the Reebok Rocky Mountain ***** (July 18-26), but his busy schedule won’t stop there. The Suns’ 2000 first-round draft pick (25th overall) will then travel to Sweden next month to play in the European Championships for the Greek National Team.

“I just want to play games,” said Tsakalidis, who averaged 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds in 16.5 minutes in 2002-03. “I think it’s a good idea because after the summer leagues everyone goes on vacations and then in September you have to go, go, go (in informal workouts).

“I know if I play with the national team I will be able to practice and play games. It will be easier for me to stay in better shape. I just want to get into the best shape before training camp (in October).”

With a strong performance in the summer leagues and no new injuries, Tsakalidis will again compete for a starting role. He’s started 113 of 157 games played in his NBA career.

“No question. (The starting center position is) wide open and it always has been,” Iavaroni admitted. “I know he was a big contributor to our success before he got injured and we made adjustments without him. But I’ve always considered him and I know the organization has always considered him part of the future.”

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[BMF]

sounds promising

 

[Errntknght]

More aggressive is good as long as it's properly channeled... it would be fun to see Big Jake get his money's worth on a foul once in a while but I sure don't want to see him aggressively switching onto guards and chasing them around the perimeter the way LIttle Jake has started doing - apparently to the delight of Frankie. Better he should learn how to hold his ground around the basket - then going aggressively for the rebound, as long as it's not over someone's back.
Similarly, it would be nice to see him aggressively putting the ball in the basket but it's more importatnt the he learn to keep the ball up high so he doesn't get stripped so easily on his way.

 

[sunsfn]

The biggest hope any of us should have about big Jake is that little FJ plans to play him!!!

 

[scotsman13]

paul w., cotton f., danny a., and scott s. all of these coaches has run smallball or skillball on with the suns, why? because we have other players that give better effort and help win games then the big stiffs that we have had on the team. if big jake can play i know that FJ will put him in the game but if FJ and the team doesnt believe that Jake can add something to the team or against the team they are playing then dont plan on seeing him. can you honestly say that you can see big jake guarding some of the smaller quicker centers in the nba? if having big jake in the game blocks up the middle so that amare cant take it to the hole, should he get time? come on people give FJ come credit for having a great deal more basketball knowledge then any of us fans heck he may have more basketball knowledge then all of us on this board put together.

 

[Chaplin]

I hate that lame argument about how Jake's presence might "clog" the lane and hinder Amare. That's a load. Nobody in LA is worried about Karl Malone clogging up the lane for Shaq. Or Chris Webber for Divac. Or Nowitzki for LaFrentz. It's a big court, and dozens of basketball plays are designed to utilize two big men.

 

[SweetD]

Originally posted by scotsman13
paul w., cotton f., danny a., and scott s. all of these coaches has run smallball or skillball on with the suns, why? because we have other players that give better effort and help win games then the big stiffs that we have had on the team. if big jake can play i know that FJ will put him in the game but if FJ and the team doesnt believe that Jake can add something to the team or against the team they are playing then dont plan on seeing him. can you honestly say that you can see big jake guarding some of the smaller quicker centers in the nba? if having big jake in the game blocks up the middle so that amare cant take it to the hole, should he get time? come on people give FJ come credit for having a great deal more basketball knowledge then any of us fans heck he may have more basketball knowledge then all of us on this board put together.

It would have been nice to see Big Jake in againest Robinson or Duncan, instead of are small C getting bitch slapped up and down the court. Maybe Jake was not heath enough, but this year there is no excuse to not use a 7ft againest another 7ft other than Dirk.

 

[scotsman13]

hehe but those cases are differant then amare and big jake. amare take the ball to the hole all most everytime he gettings if someone is waiting there for him it makes it harder for him to score. the person waiting for him could easily be the person that is guarding big jake. jake doesnt have the range to pull someone away from the basket and if you watched the games last year most of the time that amare got the ball he had 2 or 3 people on him the minute that he got the ball. amare doesnt have the range that malone, or dirk has away from the basket. and duncan would have gone around big jake like he was standing still. last year i was at the rocky mountian reeve (yes i will be there tomorrow night) and i can tell you that when you sit courtside the court isnt nearly as big as it looks on TV or in a big place like awa in person.

personally i hope that big jake comes out and becames an allstar heck even a top ten center would be great but if he doesnt do that then dont bitch at FJ because big jake is a stiff or only a good back up bigman. bitch at the fact that a great center only comes along every 10 to 20 years.

 

[SweetD]

Originally posted by scotsman13
i can tell you that when you sit courtside the court isnt nearly as big as it looks on TV or in a big place like awa in person.

Maybe the NBA should change the rules to 4 on 4 to make more room.

 

[minercon]

Anyone with a pea for a brain can figure this out....they need him against Shaq and Malone who will rule the West....he just needs to get down the court slightly faster. I doubt Voshkul and Williams will be able to hold their own against that Malone bashing machine...who will knock harder and tougher this coming year.

 

[elindholm]

i can tell you that when you sit courtside the court isnt nearly as big as it looks on TV or in a big place like awa in person.

Uh, isn't it the same size as the millions of other regulation basketball courts we've all been on throughout our lives?

 

[slinslin]

He definately looks like he is in much better shape, lost some pounds and put up some muscles.

This has to be Big Jake's season. He will play for greece in europe as well so he should be in the best shape of his life when the season starts.

Since the finals are over I watched some games I have on tape and Big Jake looked pretty good in some of those before the back surgery.

 

[Goldfield]

Originally posted by Chaplin
I hate that lame argument about how Jake's presence might "clog" the lane and hinder Amare. That's a load.

Thank you...

 

[scotsman13]

yes elindholm it is the same size but most of us have not been on that court with a bunch of pro bball players, their size does make a differance as far as the court looks and how people move around on it. if you have 9 other guys all within 10 feet of the basket then it is very hard to get through them and dunk on them.


all i hear from people is why doesnt marion take it to the hoop, i want to see _____ getting to the line more. well folks to be able to move around the court you have to have some people that can pull the other player away from the basket. if your powerforward is going to be taking it the basket then you need to to make sure that he isnt going to get a charge everytime because everyone else is sitting under the basket. the suns need to get a balanced team out on the court.

also who cares about the lakers? this suns team isnt going to win it this year. their time will come in 3 or 4 more years.

 

[Goldfield]

Does anyone remember how good Big Jakes "D" is against the Mailman? He plays damn good against him...

 

[BALLERMANIA2]

i do have confidence that big jake will be better this season. i feel that he has a lot to prove and with the new conditoning and working out, he will be solid. i really think the worst thing for the suns is not to give him a REAL oppotunity to show what he can do. the nba is very limited with servicable centers and even more limited with those 7 feet or better. i say keep him and let him grow and give him opportunity. i think that small ball has help hinder his growth and honestly, unless he becomes dominating, fj wont play him. also, i do agree that he would have helped against the spurs. i got tired of seeing joe johnson guard malik rose and penny guard david robinson. you gotta think that even a slow jake would have been better. we are in the west where there are plenty of big guys and small ball wont get you close to a championship. plus, if we dont get a coach who knows anything about adjustments, we will see the devastation of zarko under shaq replays on sportscenter. as much as i hate to say it, i can already see lineups of pg- steph, sg-joe or penny, sf- marion, pf-zarko, c-amare. that will probably be a good scoring lineup, but ask the mavs, you have to defend in this league and you have to defend the frontcourt especially.

 

[jbeecham]

If Amare & Jake are both in the low post then we should have the ability to get lots of easy baskets. Amare has worked hard on passing out of double teams, so when Jake's man comes over to help he can dump the ball to the wide open Tsakalidis for a dunk(of course Jake has to catch the damn ball). After a few of those plays, Jake's man will have to stay with him and it will open the floor up more for Amare.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Chaplin
I hate that lame argument about how Jake's presence might "clog" the lane and hinder Amare. That's a load. Nobody in LA is worried about Karl Malone clogging up the lane for Shaq. Or Chris Webber for Divac. Or Nowitzki for LaFrentz. It's a big court, and dozens of basketball plays are designed to utilize two big men.

Apples and oranges. Neither Big Jake nor Amare Stoudemire has shown they can consistently hit a shot more than 4 or 5 ft. from the basket. With all of those other tandems you mentioned both of the players had better range than Jake or Amare. Of those six other players only Shaquille O'Neal struggles as much as the Suns two players away from the basket. Chris Webber, Dirk Nowitzki, and Raef LaFrentz are all excellent shooters with great range.

Defensively Big Jake and Amare Stoudemire are a nice duo because they can both take up space and block shots. On offense however if either one of them steps outside to make room for the other, both defenders can just hang out down low. There's no reason to follow either of those guys outside. The same thing happens when you have Bo Outlaw and Amare Stoudemire in the frontcourt. We saw it all season long last year.

Even if he hasn't developed a decent midrange shot if you put Amare Stoudemire on the court with four other players who can shoot he will dunk on the other team all night long. Either that or the other players will have a lot of open shots to knock down.

Joe Mama

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
Apples and oranges. Neither Big Jake nor Amare Stoudemire has shown they can consistently hit a shot more than 4 or 5 ft. from the basket. With all of those other tandems you mentioned both of the players had better range than Jake or Amare. Of those six other players only Shaquille O'Neal struggles as much as the Suns two players away from the basket. Chris Webber, Dirk Nowitzki, and Raef LaFrentz are all excellent shooters with great range.

Defensively Big Jake and Amare Stoudemire are a nice duo because they can both take up space and block shots. On offense however if either one of them steps outside to make room for the other, both defenders can just hang out down low. There's no reason to follow either of those guys outside. The same thing happens when you have Bo Outlaw and Amare Stoudemire in the frontcourt. We saw it all season long last year.

Even if he hasn't developed a decent midrange shot if you put Amare Stoudemire on the court with four other players who can shoot he will dunk on the other team all night long. Either that or the other players will have a lot of open shots to knock down.

Joe Mama

So what exactly are you saying? I was basically saying that I take no stock in the "Big Jake will prevent Amare from using space under the basket" argument. That's all it was. I certainly wasn't comparing our duo to those others on a talent-by-talent basis.

 

[fordronken]

Originally posted by BEERZ
Does anyone remember how good Big Jakes "D" is against the Mailman? He plays damn good against him...

Good thing the Lakers don't have a big center for him to guard.

 

[elindholm]

Good thing the Lakers don't have a big center for him to guard.

Heh!

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Chaplin
So what exactly are you saying? I was basically saying that I take no stock in the "Big Jake will prevent Amare from using space under the basket" argument. That's all it was. I certainly wasn't comparing our duo to those others on a talent-by-talent basis.

No, you said you didn't buy into that "lame" argument that Big Jake clogs the lane for Amare Stoudemire. You said nobody in Los Angeles, Sacramento, or Dallas is worried about the same thing happening with their frontcourt duos. You are right, but that's like comparing apples and oranges. If either Amare Stoudemire or especially Big Jake could consistently hit in midrange jump shot like each of those other players can nobody would make that "lame" argument.

That's what I was saying.

Joe Mama