Gani Lawal

[jlove]

Currently in the 4th qtr w 6 minutes left on NBA TV

 

[jlove]

Game replay from 5 Dec 10. Gani ends up with 7 pts, 7 rbds, 2 blocks in 15 minutes

 

[Errntknght]

Thanks much for the info, jlove. Here are his stats for the season, in case anyone is interested.
Team g gs mpg fg% 3p% ft% off def rpg apg spg bpg to pf ppg
IWA 8 0 21.8 .500 .000 0.586 1.8 4.6 6.4 0.0 0.1 0.8 1.88 3.62 12.0

 

[JCSunsfan]

Thanks much for the info, jlove. Here are his stats for the season, in case anyone is interested.
Team g gs mpg fg% 3p% ft% off def rpg apg spg bpg to pf ppg
IWA 8 0 21.8 .500 .000 0.586 1.8 4.6 6.4 0.0 0.1 0.8 1.88 3.62 12.0

Not exactly burning it up, is he.

 

[Mainstreet]

Perhaps Lawal can be as good as Alton Ford.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Perhaps Lawal can be as good as Alton Ford.

Alton Ford would have been a star in this league if his hands weren't attached to his elbows. Lawal has good length to go with some natural ability and now it's just a matter of how hard he's willing to work, assuming he has it upstairs also. But, he was a late 2nd round pick for a reason.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

Alton Ford would have been a star in this league if his hands weren't attached to his elbows. Lawal has good length to go with some natural ability and now it's just a matter of how hard he's willing to work, assuming he has it upstairs also. But, he was a late 2nd round pick for a reason.

Steve

I was being a bit sarcastic. It seems most of the Suns fans back then thought Ford was better than he was. I fear the same for Lawal.

 

[Chaplin]

My question is why he's only getting 21 minutes a game? I would think he'd be getting a lot of minutes unless he's always in foul trouble, which is possible.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I was being a bit sarcastic. It seems most of the Suns fans back then thought Ford was better than he was. I fear the same for Lawal.

Oh, I knew what you meant. With so few chances to draft the past several years it's understandable how so many of us pinned our hopes to this guy. Personally, I have high hopes for him but low expectations. Realistically, he will go the way of most late 2nd rounders but until he completely flops I'll cling desperately to my unrealistic hopes. We're low on options here.

Steve

 

[Chaplin]

Oh, I knew what you meant. With so few chances to draft the past several years it's understandable how so many of us pinned our hopes to this guy. Personally, I have high hopes for him but low expectations. Realistically, he will go the way of most late 2nd rounders but until he completely flops I'll cling desperately to my unrealistic hopes. We're low on options here.

Steve

Who exactly has pinned their hopes on Lawal? I'm a fan of his, but I don't expect him to become Dennis Rodman.

 

[Trifecta]

Who exactly has pinned their hopes on Lawal? I'm a fan of his, but I don't expect him to become Dennis Rodman.

I personally had hopes that the reason the Suns decided not to bring in a real PF this offseason, and let Lou walk, was because they were convinced Lawal would be a contributor so there wasnt a need for Lou or anyone else. Little did I know that it was because our front office just doesn't have a clue.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Who exactly has pinned their hopes on Lawal? I'm a fan of his, but I don't expect him to become Dennis Rodman.

Apparently, everybody but you. Well, everybody but you and all the others that felt/feel the way that you do. Seriously, I think I was talking about me and the nameless others that also hoped he'd turn out to be a diamond in the rough. I'm not sure any of us had expectations but there was enough post draft buzz here to suggest I wasn't alone in "hoping" that Lawal would emerge as a player.

Steve

 

[Chaplin]

Apparently, everybody but you. Well, everybody but you and all the others that felt/feel the way that you do. Seriously, I think I was talking about me and the nameless others that also hoped he'd turn out to be a diamond in the rough. I'm not sure any of us had expectations but there was enough post draft buzz here to suggest I wasn't alone in "hoping" that Lawal would emerge as a player.

Steve

He still could, so I'm not sure why you want to write him off so fast. But he's no savior, even if he was tearing up the D-League.

 

[Errntknght]

If you dig a little deeper you'll see that Gani isn't doing badly. The team he's playing for is the Iowa Energy and they are doing very well with a record of 8 - 1. Their roster is: C 7'0 - 260; C 6'11 - 245; F/C 6'10 - 225; Gani F 6'9 - 235; F 6'7 - 220; G/F 6'5 - 200; along with 3 guards.
C 6'11-245 starts at C; F/C 6'10 starts at PF but plays slightly less minutes than Gani - he also gets fewer rebounds per min and scores less per min than Gani. In fact, measured per minute Gani is the teams best rebounder and a close second in scoring.

It would probably be better for him if he got more PT but at least he's battling guys bigger than him in practice. Having to fight for playing time is not a bad thing either.

 

[AzStevenCal]

He still could, so I'm not sure why you want to write him off so fast. But he's no savior, even if he was tearing up the D-League.

I'm not sure where you're getting this. I certainly haven't written him off. I remain hopeful but I recognize the odds are long. Long odds pay off every now and then I want to see this guy get every chance to pay off for us.

Steve

 

[Errntknght]

I confess to having fairly high expectations for Gani after watching him play in the summer league - and I still have them. The D-league may well be the best thing for him at this point but if I'd been coaching the team I'd have installed him as the PF for the second unit in place of Amundson from the get go and let the chips fall where they may. If things went reasonably well, by playoff time we'd have something resembling a genuine PF. IMO, the only reason not to do that would be if Clark was playing much better than we've ever seen him do.

My philosophy is that you start the year by looking at what you need for the playoffs and you set to work immediately toward that end - especially in terms of player development. If you lose a few extra games early in the season you'll probably win more down the stretch to balance them out.

 

[Mainstreet]

If you dig a little deeper you'll see that Gani isn't doing badly. The team he's playing for is the Iowa Energy and they are doing very well with a record of 8 - 1. Their roster is: C 7'0 - 260; C 6'11 - 245; F/C 6'10 - 225; Gani F 6'9 - 235; F 6'7 - 220; G/F 6'5 - 200; along with 3 guards.
C 6'11-245 starts at C; F/C 6'10 starts at PF but plays slightly less minutes than Gani - he also gets fewer rebounds per min and scores less per min than Gani. In fact, measured per minute Gani is the teams best rebounder and a close second in scoring.

It would probably be better for him if he got more PT but at least he's battling guys bigger than him in practice. Having to fight for playing time is not a bad thing either.

If they're available maybe the Suns should be bringing in some of Lawal's teammates. Just joking, sort of. The Suns definitely need to trade for another big man.

 

[JCSunsfan]

He still could, so I'm not sure why you want to write him off so fast. But he's no savior, even if he was tearing up the D-League.

Even when you scratch a lottery ticket, you have a little hope that you might strike gold.

 

[sunsfan88]

He's active today.

 

[Errntknght]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Lawal's 2 minutes against the Piston's. He look fit and agile with good lift in smothering Ben Gordon's shot (Frye was called for a foul on the play). He got called for a foul being over aggressive pushing Monroe out the lane but he pushed almost to the sideline. Hey, reining in aggression is a whole lot easier than trying to light a fire under someone. He held his ground okay around the backboard though he never had a legit chance at grabbing a rebound. His other defensive play started good - he jumped out nicely defending the P&R and made the dribbler pick up the ball but he didn't immediately dash back toward his man rolling to the hoop. Dragic prevented the pass but still 2 other defenders were drawn in a bit more than they would have if he hadn't wasted that second. He started making a drive to the hoop but kicked the ball out for a perimeter shot when he didn't get past his defender.

So nothing remarkable but the team would be better off with him playing PF instead of one of our wings. I admit Grant Hill would do better immediately but wearing him out against much bigger players is a fool's errand. Against a big team like Sacramento or the Lakers I'd take Gani for a quarter or so.

 

[BC867]

So nothing remarkable but the team would be better off with him playing PF instead of one of our wings. I admit Grant Hill would do better immediately but wearing him out against much bigger players is a fool's errand. Against a big team like Sacramento or the Lakers I'd take Gani for a quarter or so.

Especially following the meltdown in our last game (19-to-2 to blow a 14 point lead), what do we have to lose?

 

[jagu]

Especially following the meltdown in our last game (19-to-2 to blow a 14 point lead), what do we have to lose?

Plus freaking Minus, that's what..

 

[BC867]

Plus freaking Minus, that's what..

Enough people have questioned the importance of that stat for individuals.

How about WON-LOST percent being more important than +/-, following a 19-2 run by the opposition to turn a WIN into a LOSS?

Something has to change.

Edit: 'Sorry, I didn't realize you were being facetious about the +/_.

 

[leclerc]

1. Let's start Nash, Duds, Hill, Frye, Gortat.
2. Put Thunder Dan on The Dragon again, wake him up.
3. Dragon, Vince, Childress, Gani Lawal and Lopez as the solar subs.

 

[jagu]

He's active today.

Not anymore...