Chaparkabra looked good last night!! :)

[Yuma]

He didn't do anything really spectacular, but played good minutes and wasn't abused when he played defense!! Right now I would say he is above Casey Jacobson in the rotation off the bench!! He looks good shooting the three!! I like how he tried to drive to the hole. You could tell he wanted to throw one down in a big way!! He also knew when he got the ball stolen that one time that he should have shot it. He has good BB knowledge. I think I am going to enjoy watching this guy play!

 

[Mike Olbinski]

I like him, and I liked how the announcers talked about him for awhile...was pretty cool.

Mike

 

[SirStefan32]

How about Zarko leading that fast break, and a no- look pass? That was sweet. He's a good player.

 

[JS22]

He had a few "rookie moments" though. But that should be expected. It seems like he might have alot of talent waiting to come out, its just a matter of giving him some time to adjust.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'll take Zarko's rookie moments over Googs drfopping the ball in front of the baket any day of the week. This kid's got talent - he got some huge offensive boards, ran the floor well and basicaly just looks like a basketball player. Give this kid a couple years and we are going to have two 6-10 stars with him and Amare - can you imagine the Suns - the Suns - with two players at 6-10 or taller who can both ball and have two different sets of skills? Also -the more I see Little Jake, the more I like him - he hits those shots at the top of the key and goes strong to the hoop - he throws it down which is nice. The guy gets zero respect from the refs, but once we have another body in there - he will be a very valuable player on this club.

 

[SirStefan32]

I just hope that the coaching staff doesn't put too much pressure on him. He needs to develop slowly, and giving him too much responsibility could hurt him. I'd like to see him play 15 minutes a game this year, backing up Marion and Stoudemire.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I think we can probably afford more than 15 minutes, especially if Voshkul and Stoudamire keep getting into foul trouble (and chances are, at least one of them will be in each game). Im thinking more like 25 mins per game.

He's got the talent, and the IQ, and the quicker he adjusts to the NBA game, the better the Suns will do this season. I'd much rather see Zarko in then Googs at this point.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Originally posted by Suns_fan69
I think we can probably afford more than 15 minutes, especially if Voshkul and Stoudamire keep getting into foul trouble (and chances are, at least one of them will be in each game). Im thinking more like 25 mins per game.

He's got the talent, and the IQ, and the quicker he adjusts to the NBA game, the better the Suns will do this season. I'd much rather see Zarko in then Googs at this point.

I'd much rather see ME at this point than Googs - at least when I would scredw up there would be entertainment value to it.

 

[jbeecham]

I'd also like to say that I really didn't mind when we had Marbury, JJ/Penny, Marion, Zarko & Amare on the floor. It looked like a pretty good lineup. It didn't really look like small ball at all. I wouldn't mind seeing that lineup more even though Voshkul played very well (just stop getting called for illegal screens).

The thing that probably pissed me off the most was that for the first 5 minutes the refs let the teams play physical and held their whistles (Suns were up 16-2) and then a timeout was called and Popovich has some words with the officials and then all the fouls started getting called against the Suns. How can you start a game and let the teams play and then start calling things you were letting go before?

 

[newfan101]

I thought he looked very good too despite the rookie mistakes and turnovers. However, is it me, or did he look closer to 6 8" than 6 11"?

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Originally posted by cheesebeef
Also -the more I see Little Jake, the more I like him - he hits those shots at the top of the key and goes strong to the hoop - he throws it down which is nice. The guy gets zero respect from the refs, but once we have another body in there - he will be a very valuable player on this club.

Yeah, I think the value of little jake is something that is rarely brought up, because I think he is pretty serviceable at center. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time, especially for putbacks. Now if he can learn not to get the moving picks, and to not box out in someone's face, like he always does with duncan, I think he'll be fine.

 

[scotsman13]

i thought that zarko looked very good and i think you will see him a great deal more then 15 minutes a game. they game amare 31 mins a game last year and amare was just 20 and didnt have anytype of internations experance. while zarko has that experance and is 22. look for him to get around 25 minutes a game. over the summer he looked really good.

 

[CardsFan88]

I too thought zarko looked VERY GOOD.

He won't win ROY with carmelo and lebron, but 3rd or 4th is definitely in reach

He has the basketball IQ and seems to not have the deer in the headlights look in him. Some players never get those two things right, so for a rookie it is impressive.

But I did see some coverage breakdowns with him...but that can be attributed more to the change to nba rules/suns schemes, and 1st game of the year than to inexperience.

He was rebounding good, and if he couldn't rebound it, he was tipping the ball back out Played good defense, not great, but good. Boxed out duncan pretty well. Contested every shot his opponent threw up, and looked like he might get to some of those sometime down the road. He also is quick, knows how to play the running game, and can already do it decently at worst.

Leading that fast break made me smile.

He showed his quickness by running as fast or faster than others down the floor and you could tell he wasn't burning it. Unfortunately when you watched big jake or googs, they lumbered down the floor slower than everyone else and they WERE burnin it.

Pretty good passer imo.

One play he lost the ball in the corner, and then just started dribbling with it as he recovered which is kinda rare for a 6'11 guy....Although I think he is more like 6'9-6'9'1/2

Had a few rookie mistakes, a few 'new team' lack of chemistry mistakes, but at the same time show some "veteran savy"

Pretty good shot, although I saw him miss a few. It seemed his free throws were effortless.

I really think the suns got a great find.

The suns have a lack of size, so if you are going to throw in an undersized player, zarko is a much better fit than googs.

Like someone said above amare played 31 min a game. And you know what, he would have played 42 or so, but he was in foul trouble every game. whenever he wasn't in foul trouble is when he had his ~40 minute games.

Zarko had four fouls last night, but he doesn't look foul prone like amare.

Zarko will get consistent 25-30 minutes a game imo if he doesn't get into foul trouble.

If its the ONE thing I can criticize about amare is his penchant for getting into foul trouble. He had 10 points 7 rebounds in 21 minutes. If he could have stayed in he could have gotten over double those numbers.

Did anyone here the tnt commentators state -----are we going to see trybanski. Frank said---We're in trouble if you do...this made me laugh..

 

[Chaplin]

I think Carmelo pretty much has the fast track on ROY, but I also think that Z could give Lebron a run for his money for #2.

 

[scotsman13]

talking about height. one thing that i saw last night that one time at the free throw line when jake was standing next to duncan is that jake looked taller then duncan. that may have been by an inch but at worst jake is the same size as duncan.

as far as zarkos height i saw him over the summer from petty close and he was at least a couple inches on joe johnson. and looked to be the same height as Tskitishvili with denver. and maybe a little taller then lampe with new york.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Originally posted by Chaplin
I think Carmelo pretty much has the fast track on ROY, but I also think that Z could give Lebron a run for his money for #2.

I love the Lebron James "backlash".

You guys that are all down on James will be eating your words in about 3 months.

 

[Yuma]

Did you see the pregame special on TNT where Magic told Lebron it was OK that he doesn't have a good jump shot yet? Lebron was shaking his head yes in agreement with Magic as he was saying it!! Not saying the guy sucks, but he is overrated for not having a servicable jumper.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Yuma
Did you see the pregame special on TNT where Magic told Lebron it was OK that he doesn't have a good jump shot yet? Lebron was shaking his head yes in agreement with Magic as he was saying it!! Not saying the guy sucks, but he is overrated for not having a servicable jumper.

Jason Kidd still doesn't have a serviceable jumper, and he's generally regarded as one of the best players in the NBA. IMO what makes James special is his passing. I really think within the next year or two he will be averaging over 7 assists per game while pulling down 5-6 rebounds.

He just needs to learn to shoot better and play defense.

Joe Mama

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

i'm not so sure about the zarko love fest yet guys. he didn't look lost out there last night, which was nice for a rookie, and he exhibited some pretty good ballskills for a guy 6'10+, but i don't recall him hitting a shot (other than his FTs, which were smooth), and i remember quite a few turnovers. he gets position nicely to rebound, but he's not always strong enough to hold onto the boards. his leading the break was very nice. seemed natural for him. having someone who can rebound and immediately breakout is sumpin' we haven't had since charles (not that Z is gonna ever approach that).

he's got talent, that was evident, but now, if he's gonna get minutes, he's got to perform. and that performance needs to be better than last night. but love away folks . . .

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

oh, and stick a fork in googs. he's DONE.

i can't believe that anyone, INCLUDING GOOGS, thinks he can still ball.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Ouchie-Z-Clown
i'm not so sure about the zarko love fest yet guys. he didn't look lost out there last night, which was nice for a rookie, and he exhibited some pretty good ballskills for a guy 6'10+, but i don't recall him hitting a shot (other than his FTs, which were smooth), and i remember quite a few turnovers. he gets position nicely to rebound, but he's not always strong enough to hold onto the boards. his leading the break was very nice. seemed natural for him. having someone who can rebound and immediately breakout is sumpin' we haven't had since charles (not that Z is gonna ever approach that).

he's got talent, that was evident, but now, if he's gonna get minutes, he's got to perform. and that performance needs to be better than last night. but love away folks . . .

Z's first freaking make as a Sun was a 3, so I'm not too worried about his shooting yet.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Z's first freaking make as a Sun was a 3, so I'm not too worried about his shooting yet.

don't get me wrong, i'm not hating. i just don't think i saw enough of anything to get all tingly about yet.

(and i missed his first 3)

 

[elindholm]

The turnovers and fouls were a problem. Certainly he'll have to do a great deal better in those departments, and quickly, in order to help the Suns much this year.

But it was his first NBA game, after all, and in an unusually high-profile setting. I imagine he'll improve automatically once he settles down.

 

[Chaplin]

Besides, my comment was more or less directed to the fact that I think that Lebron is overrated, not that Z is this star player.

 

[Errntknght]

Zarko's defensive mistakes were mostly mental not ugly body mechanics, which means they can be overcome with practice. Thats good news because it looks like he's going to get a lot of playing time with Googs, Trybanski and Williams being the rest of our backup bigs. (Though, I'm not convinced Googs is toast... he's moving reasonably well and he could settle into decent form yet. Yeah, he's not a speed merchant but thats hardly news.) As I said before I'm happy that Frank doesn't have too many big men to work with because he's going to be forced to depend on Voskuhl - looks like that started paying dividends already.

They showed a zone with Z playing the middle man a la Garnett and that might work out pretty well... hope they keep working on it. Come to think of it, Z should make a good middle man against a zone as well... I didn't see any outstanding passing on his part last night but he kept his cool fairly well under pressure and thats good start.