It's Official: Marks Is A Sun

[F-Dog]

Well I think he'll be a bust for whoever is dumb enough to draft him high so it doesen't mather either way for me. Next year's draft is supposed to be loaded with good big men so who else?

Lots of potential names to salivate over. We'll have to wait and see who pans out.

Right now, I'm expecting the Suns to draft around 10th, where they'll decide to pass up Glen "Big Baby" Davis for some career role player (or only slightly better, another small, like Rudy Fernandez or Mbah a Moute). The Suns have a tradition of doing something on draft day that pisses me off the rest of the summer--if it weren't for the Cabarkapa draft, they'd be riding at least a six-year streak with me.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

All I gotta say is I hope Kerr's gut instinct is correct.

As for the 10th or 11th man off the bench, it's not a bad signing. Certainly an upgrade from Grant and Sitka.

 

[TRW]

"Tall Skinny Kiwi" would fit.

I was laughing at the dunk he almost killed himself on!

I think it's a joke of a signing, but for a 11th or 12th man, who cares? If he gets on the court much that will be a bad thing.

LOL

 

[mribnik]

Lots of potential names to salivate over. We'll have to wait and see who pans out.

Right now, I'm expecting the Suns to draft around 10th, where they'll decide to pass up Glen "Big Baby" Davis for some career role player (or only slightly better, another small, like Rudy Fernandez or Mbah a Moute). The Suns have a tradition of doing something on draft day that pisses me off the rest of the summer--if it weren't for the Cabarkapa draft, they'd be riding at least a six-year streak with me.

I was personally not very impressed with Glen Davis last year. I also don't think he'd be able to run with the Suns for more than 5 minutes. I forgot which game it was in the tournament, but he was completely exhausted (maybe against UCLA) because they were running up and down the floor. His mouth was wide open, tongue hanging out, and I think he actually requested to sit out.

 

[Nasser22]

"Tall Skinny Kiwi" would fit.

I was laughing at the dunk he almost killed himself on!

I think it's a joke of a signing, but for a 11th or 12th man, who cares? If he gets on the court much that will be a bad thing.

LOL

Yeah, that dunk was funny.


I liked Glen Davis a lot in the tourney but I agree with you, mribnik.

 

[F-Dog]

I was personally not very impressed with Glen Davis last year. I also don't think he'd be able to run with the Suns for more than 5 minutes. I forgot which game it was in the tournament, but he was completely exhausted (maybe against UCLA) because they were running up and down the floor. His mouth was wide open, tongue hanging out, and I think he actually requested to sit out.

Davis was the best big man at the McDonald's game the year he came out of HS, and he just finished leading his team to the Final Four at LSU--the kid really knows how to play. Plus, I get the feeling there's a tremendous athlete in there somewhere, if he can lose that last 60 or 80 pounds and get himself into basketball shape.

Supposedly, the UCLA game spurred Davis to lose 40 pounds just this summer. If he keeps that weight off, he should have no problem trailing the Suns' fast break.

I guess the more I see of him, the more he looks like the new and improved Oliver Miller. And as a Suns fan, I'm always looking for that long-term solution at center...

 

[George O'Brien]

Davis was the best big man at the McDonald's game the year he came out of HS, and he just finished leading his team to the Final Four at LSU--the kid really knows how to play. Plus, I get the feeling there's a tremendous athlete in there somewhere, if he can lose that last 60 or 80 pounds and get himself into basketball shape.

Supposedly, the UCLA game spurred Davis to lose 40 pounds just this summer. If he keeps that weight off, he should have no problem trailing the Suns' fast break.

I guess the more I see of him, the more he looks like the new and improved Oliver Miller. And as a Suns fan, I'm always looking for that long-term solution at center...

I read the same thing. Of course, I'm always worried about a guy with a weight problem becoming the next O Miller.

Back to Marks, the video suggests that Marks has pretty good form on his shot. It doesn't say why he didn't play more.

 

[Nasser22]

Hey how tall is Glen Davis? I thought he was really short for a center but I may be wrong.


All the Spurs fan said about Marks was this:

The guy isnt that bad IMO. He just didnt get any playing time in San Antonio. He can spread out the floor very well for a big man and he actually has some athleticism. The problem is, he wont play a lick. Thats what you get when you play for Championship quality teams...

Eh.. not much help. He could make some shots and spread the floor like he said. Marks could be a nice back-up for about 8 minutes per game.

 

[boisesuns]

Marks might be good to come in with about 5 mins left in the half, giving Amare that time plus the half to be rested and ready.

 

[George O'Brien]

Marks might be good to come in with about 5 mins left in the half, giving Amare that time plus the half to be rested and ready.

Generally D'Antoni likes to rest his starters between the quarters and have the starters (or finishers) on the floor the last few minutes. That being said, Marks is has at least a shot at that 5 to 6 minutes before and after quarter break depending mostly on how well Jones does.

 

[Errntknght]

Marks is going to have to earn any minutes outside of garbage time. As long as Amare, Diaw and KT are all healthy they can easily cover the 96 mpg available at PF and C - they only have to average 32 mpg each to do that. The good news for Marks is that, if all three are healthy, there figures to be a sizeable amount of GT.

If the ave. GT = 3 mpg, then Boris = 36, Amare = 31 and KT = 26 covers the games.

 

[George O'Brien]

I suspect the Suns will be more aggressive on defense than the past two years, so I think there will be a number of games where the inside positions will need more than Amare, KT, and Boris. My preference is to play Marion strictly at SF, which would mean that Jones or Marks COULD get some minutes in games where foul issues come up.

None the less, in most games I suspect D'Antoni will stay with the eight man rotation which won't include Marks or Jones.

 

[Nasser22]

Jones should get some minutes. I think he could really produce and is too good to be kept on the bench. They can't keep throwing Marion out there for over 40 minutes per game and still espect him to last all year. I can see Jones getting close to 12 mpg.

 

[Errntknght]

George, "I suspect the Suns will be more aggressive on defense than the past two years, so I think there will be a number of games where the inside positions will need more than Amare, KT, and Boris. My preference is to play Marion strictly at SF, which would mean that Jones or Marks COULD get some minutes in games where foul issues come up."

James Jones at PF? He has trouble handling stronger SFs. Hopefully, he's working on his lower body strength but I doubt he'll ever be able to play much time at PF. The best place for JJ is defending a SF who isn't a big threat to score because he can then use his talent for helping out.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Suns a little more aggressive on defense this year but only because of Marcus Banks. Surely, no one is expecting Pike or Marks to help out in that regard.

 

[jenna2891]

I can see Jones getting close to 12 mpg.

and at least 20 on the freeway.

 

[George O'Brien]

I agree Jones needs to get stronger (a common theme when it comes to Suns players not named Amare or KT). None the less, I thought Jones showed some promise on the defensive end inside late last season after being strictly an SF with the Pacers.

By the way, I expect to see Bell at SF backing up Marion. With Bell you lose rebounding, but gain three point shooting and creates more minutes for Barbosa and Banks at guard.

 

[Nasser22]

James Jones can shoot well(won't be a liability there), rebound, defend and is bigger than Raja Bell. I don't see him spending time on the bench until the playoffs when D'Antoni likes having a smaller rotation. They should use this depth to their advantage and rest some of their starters that they need for the playoffs. Marion, Nash and Bell logged in too many minutes for them last year and you have to be careful with Amare.

Funny, Jenna...

 

[arthurracoon]

and at least 20 on the freeway.

 

[Errntknght]

George, >>I agree Jones needs to get stronger (a common theme when it comes to Suns players not named Amare or KT). None the less, I thought Jones showed some promise on the defensive end inside late last season after being strictly an SF with the Pacers.

By the way, I expect to see Bell at SF backing up Marion. With Bell you lose rebounding, but gain three point shooting and creates more minutes for Barbosa and Banks at guard.<<

I'd be interested what you are basing that on as I don't remember seeing Jones defending at PF at all last year, assuming that's what you meant by playing inside at the defensive end - and before you explicitly talked about JJ at PF.

I ran over to 82games.com to see what they had in the 5-man line up section. I guess he did play a little at PF as they have 1 such line up in which he got 35 minutes total. Other than that he was at SF for a total of 938 minutes.

They also have Bell at SF for 762 minutes - somewhat more than I would have guessed. In any case, your prediction that he'll back up at SF some next year is just a prediction he'll continue what he has been doing.

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm not sure the 5 man rotation numbers would tell you what you think it does. Jones started several games along with Marion. Jones and Marion were on the court fairly often with either Diaw or TT at center. Are you assuming Jones was defending the SF in all the times that configuration was on the court?

 

[Errntknght]

No, I'm not assuming that - I already said I never saw him playing PF - and I did watch all the games. Of course, I didn't watch JJ all the time but if he'd been guarding a PF consistently while Shawn was guarding a SF, its hard to imagine I wouldn't notice it. You're the one claiming you observed JJ playing PF so why not just rattle off some games where you saw him doing it?

What you can conclude from the 82games data is that for 938 minutes JJ was on the floor with two players who are known to play PF/C and for only 35 minutes was he on the floor with only one other player in that category. That 35 minute lineup was House, Barbosa, Bell, JJ & Diaw - so it was likely just finishing up blowout games though some might have been very early in the year when D'A was substituting House, Barbosa and Diaw as a unit. Neither strengthens your case.

 

[F-Dog]

Hey how tall is Glen Davis? I thought he was really short for a center but I may be wrong.

About 6'8", I guess. I believe he's about as long as Carlos Boozer.

Oliver Miller wasn't much taller, but he had that condor wingspan...Davis would have to make up the difference with timing and an improved vertical.

 

[Joe Mama]

No, I'm not assuming that - I already said I never saw him playing PF - and I did watch all the games. Of course, I didn't watch JJ all the time but if he'd been guarding a PF consistently while Shawn was guarding a SF, its hard to imagine I wouldn't notice it. You're the one claiming you observed JJ playing PF so why not just rattle off some games where you saw him doing it?

What you can conclude from the 82games data is that for 938 minutes JJ was on the floor with two players who are known to play PF/C and for only 35 minutes was he on the floor with only one other player in that category. That 35 minute lineup was House, Barbosa, Bell, JJ & Diaw - so it was likely just finishing up blowout games though some might have been very early in the year when D'A was substituting House, Barbosa and Diaw as a unit. Neither strengthens your case.

I can't remember specific games. In fact I can't even remember specific series, but I do seem to remember James Jones trying to guard power forwards in the playoffs. Of course the keyword in that last sentence is "trying". I know my memory is bad on this one.

Joe