nowagimp
Registered User
aaron brooks was taken at #26, the kid is a rocket and shoots well. Watching him against the jazz when alston was out, he was amazing for his first taste of the playoffs.
Coach Mike is starting to feel the heat
- Thread starter DeAnna
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aaron brooks was taken at #26, the kid is a rocket and shoots well. Watching him against the jazz when alston was out, he was amazing for his first taste of the playoffs.
Clearly the Suns rookies are going to live or die based on how their shooting develops this summer. From what I've read, they shoot well in practice, but have not been able to carry it over to the games.
I'm convinced that a failure to hit shots during the game this is due to guys rushing their shots. They need to learn how to make up fakes when guys are rushing at them and they make sure they focus on their form when shooting. I don't get the feeling they practice under game type conditions.
I'm convinced that a failure to hit shots during the game this is due to guys rushing their shots. They need to learn how to make up fakes when guys are rushing at them and they make sure they focus on their form when shooting. I don't get the feeling they practice under game type conditions.
I don't believe Tucker is fast enough or tall enough to get his shot off against anyone in the NBA. He is a 6'5" guy. EJ says he is really 6'4". He isn't quick enough to get that shot off against NBA 2s and he isn't tall enough for NBA 3s. That is why he can do so well in the D-League but struggles for a roster spot in the NBA.
nowagimp
Registered User
DJ's mechanics need work, he just does not reproduce his shot motions. I like his athleticism, but that shot is not going to get better by playing more minutes in games. He needs to spend major time this offseason(and maybe next) with phil weber, like JJ did. I remember JJ, he was a basketcase in games, took him 2 years of off seasons to fix it.
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I've never been able to figure out why some guys seem to learn to shoot and others never do. JJ and Raja are guys who took a while to learn to shoot, while other guys like Casey came to the NBA with repas as shooters and never "get it".
Obviously Tucker's size means he has to learn to do things that would not be necessary if he was five inches taller. But he's not really much shorter than Raja and is far morth athletic, so IMHO size is not as important as focus on getting the mechanics right and how to keep concentration.
nowagimp
Registered User
Most of these guys never learned to be a shooter before coming into the NBA, so no mechanics. Tucker was a guy who scored in the lane in college, he wasnt a shooter. Shot mechanics are learned muscle memory, starting with aligning the feet, then reproducing the shot motions. Not every good shooter shoots with the same motions, but they must use highly reproducible motions. DJ has sloppy motions, they are not reproducible, but he might be able to change that with some work. He could be a very good bench player if he learns to pick up his dribble and shoot with a smooth quick reproducible motion. I think this is what the suns see in him, but he is a project that is better worked on in the off season, not in games.
OP
OP
DeAnna
Just A Face in The Crowd
At least Shaq vouched for him:
I’ve been around a lot of guys, a lot of coaches, and he is the right guy,” Shaquille O’Neal said. “He is an excellent, excellent man. He has a great rapport with the players. ...
“There are a lot of teams that have never gotten over the hump. ... I think Mike D is the guy for the job. Luckily I’ve been on four championship teams with some great Hall of Fame coaches. I’ve got to put Mike D in that category.
“It’s never the coach. It’s always the players.”
I’ve been around a lot of guys, a lot of coaches, and he is the right guy,” Shaquille O’Neal said. “He is an excellent, excellent man. He has a great rapport with the players. ...
“There are a lot of teams that have never gotten over the hump. ... I think Mike D is the guy for the job. Luckily I’ve been on four championship teams with some great Hall of Fame coaches. I’ve got to put Mike D in that category.
“It’s never the coach. It’s always the players.”
cobbler
Registered
Unless your Stan VanGundy, Pat Riley, or Benedict Arnold Phil Jackson!!!!
Just give him time... he just hasn't found the bus to throw D'Antoni under yet. Count on it!
TucsonDevil
Good to be back!
Chap, I don't disagree with your statement. Please reread my position on D'Antoni and his bench. Because he fails to play and develop a bench, I believe it leads to other problems in his system. I don't believe DJ can step right in and play 30 min and dominate the floor defensively. HOWEVER, wouldn't it have been nice had he been given 5-7 min during the season to establish his confidence and develop his defense. IF that had been the case, when LB let's Parker/Manu/Finley go by him like a matador (see games 1-3), DJ could have come in for a few to settle LB. That is the case trying to be made.
Yeah, right now DJ is not the type of guy I would want thrown in there... unless of course the others are playing awful and there is no downside. But even then would be a very short on-court stint (end of half to try and prevent an easy score, ala game 3 when TP just ran up the gut of the defense for a layup - he is a much better option in that situation than Nash).
Ok, but that's six out of 36 or so players taken after our first pick. What about the teams that took the other 30 players? I agree our draft decisions had been very questionable, but at the same time, it's not easy to guess correctly what player will work out when you pick so late. Also, we didn't exactly reach to get Tucker; that was about the right spot to draft him.
Of course I don't agree with selling the picks either, but that's a different discussion.
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You need to have a bench to play a bench.
Skinner: Career journeyman. He did manage 13 minutes a game this season. Has a 1.33 eff rating in the playoffs (which is terrible for those of you that don't know, which would encompass the majority of this board)
Marks: Career practice body. Fills role well.
Piatkowski: Probably the worst defender on the team, which is saying a lot.
Tucker: Bust of a draft pick that can't shoot.
DJ: Second round pick who can't shoot and shouldn't be on any NBA playoff roster.
TucsonDevil
Good to be back!
Chris,
Look closely at that bench - some of those players were raved about by Coach D'Antoni himself.
To say that D'Antoni gives his guys a try isn't being honest. When Marcus would have a good game, D'Antoni would give him 2-3 more games with decreasing minutes... Look at what he gives Diaw? Has Diaw been a consistent performer? Nope, but for some reason he keeps getting a shot, but Marcus wouldn't.
BUT a bench's value is not just PPG, RPG, etc... IT ALSO helps give the starters a rest during the regular season - especially against sub par teams. That type of rotation then provides fresher legs for the post season. This is a big value of a bench.... but please, keep ignoring it.
Also, Who in the world is making a case for Pike? BTW, who was the GM that signed him anyways?
Look closely at that bench - some of those players were raved about by Coach D'Antoni himself.
To say that D'Antoni gives his guys a try isn't being honest. When Marcus would have a good game, D'Antoni would give him 2-3 more games with decreasing minutes... Look at what he gives Diaw? Has Diaw been a consistent performer? Nope, but for some reason he keeps getting a shot, but Marcus wouldn't.
BUT a bench's value is not just PPG, RPG, etc... IT ALSO helps give the starters a rest during the regular season - especially against sub par teams. That type of rotation then provides fresher legs for the post season. This is a big value of a bench.... but please, keep ignoring it.
Also, Who in the world is making a case for Pike? BTW, who was the GM that signed him anyways?
nowagimp
Registered User
Strawberry would 1st, get eaten up on the screens, second be the guy the spurs wouldnt guard at all. When the ball is passed to him Pop would have them deny all the passing lanes to other players and make him shoot his 1-8 jumper that he has displayed this year. Make no mistake about it, DJ would be attacked on each and every possession and get all the rookie calls, get whistled for every contact an get no calls himself. I am suprised that suns fans, who watched JJ develop, seem to think DJ would mature during this season. JJ had so much more developed skill than DJ when he arrived, and yet it took YEARS for JJ to mature into a productive NBA player. For all the deifying of Pops on this board, you'd think suns fans would understand that he attacks the weakest link repeatedly, and that link on offense would be DJ or skinner, force them to make the (bad) pass or shoot with no passing lane open and the clock winding down. This is why these guys dont play and why JVG laughs at the fans criticism of DA "not using his bench". In the playoffs, you are only as good as your weakest link, so put that link out on the floor at your and your teams peril.
It has already been shown that our starters played fewer minutes during the regular season that most of the other playoff teams, so that is not a valid point.
Diaw is a 9 million dollar a year player. He is going to keep getting chances regardless who coaches this team. That is why I say there is no player accountability in the NBA.
The NFL has it right on non guaranteed contracts. Unfortunately the NBA has it right on rookie deals. Neither system is perfect but I would take the NFLs, especially in light of this craptastic roster.
The NFL has it right on non guaranteed contracts. Unfortunately the NBA has it right on rookie deals. Neither system is perfect but I would take the NFLs, especially in light of this craptastic roster.
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If it weren't for the LT implications, think how good the Suns would be positioned now keeping KT, James Jones and their two first round picks. Also KT (and maybe even Marion) would have been off the books next season. I think the Suns still even have a sizeable TE to work with after the season. All Sarver had to do was bite the bullet for one season of LT.
nowagimp
Registered User
Or Kerr could have been something other than a yes man and told sarver that one year of biting the bullet would have led to a much better future. But yes men get paid and visionaries get axed so Kerr knew what to do ... suck up to sarver.
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If D'Antoni goes down Kerr should be leading the exit parade. Sarver of course controlled the purse strings so he has unclean hands going clear back to not signing Joe Johnson to an extension when he could be kept for 55 million. D'Antoni has faults about bench rotation but a lot of his faults can be attributed to not being stocked with usable talent. I believe BC would have taken care of D'Antoni's backside but he saw the light and left.
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he didn't see the light and left, he was pushed out by Sarver who low-balled his ass as well on a contract extension even though in back to back years he had completely revamped this team AND dealt with crushing losses of JJ (due to Sarver's penny pinching ways a summer earlier) and Amare's injury.
