jagu
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Would love to see more from this guy in a Suns uniform. Any chance?
Odds of Wesley Johnson Staying ?
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Errntknght
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Who knows... he could look at the Suns as the team that gave him his opportunity to play or he could regard us as the team that declined to pick up his option.
elindholm
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I'll say 1 in 5. He still can't really do anything except shoot, so his best prospect is to become a Wesley Person-type role player. A team with greater fundamental strengths would be a better fit for him.
Not very impressive at 40% from 2 and 34% from 3.
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I think that might be less revealing than looking at his stats since being given regular playing time. I don't know what those numbers are but he didn't seem to be too consistent until he starting getting significant minutes.
Also, stats aside, he has a nice stroke, a shooter's mentality and good length so there's no reason to not expect good numbers from him over time.
Steve
Good point. Hopefully he gets consistent pt for the rest of the season so we can find out.
He's shooting 44% and 42% after the AS break.
JCSunsfan
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His defense and passing are also very good. In the Minny overtime win he had a huge impact at the end of the game without scoring. He was always in the passing lanes making deflections and had key rebounds. He was playing defense on Rubio most of that time and pretty much shut him down. To say that all he can do is shoot is not accurate. In fact, his weaknesses would be that he is not a good ball handler and he does not do well creating off the dribble. In the rest of his game, right now, he is better than Jared Dudley.
He also plays team ball, he is not the black hole that Shannon Brown or Beasley is. He is more athletic than Dudley. To me, he has some huge upside and these last few games have really boosted his confidence. He has as much promise as most players we would draft. So, as long as his price is reasonable, he is exactly the kind of player we ought to bring back.
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Phrazbit
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To be fair, Rubio gets shut down by everyone. He will probably get better, but he has been horrible. He is probably one of the worst starters in the entire league this season.
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I think the chances of Wesley Johnson staying with the Suns are fairly good if they offer him a competitive salary. The Suns have given him a chance to play and develop his skills when the Timberwolves likely had given up on him. There is no guarantee he will meld well with another team. I would think a sense of loyalty may come into play if he feels the Suns have restarted his career.
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He's a really good defender too. I think he has the potential to a Thabo Sefolosha lite.
I think the Suns also gave him some time to focus on his family with his two new twins, which is also why he did get much playing time. I can see him coming back on a less year deal like Dudley's and we trading Dudley for a late round first or in a bigger deal.
Folster
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I don't see how a player can't take one offseason and dramatically improve something like ballhandling. I can understand shooting being hard to improve because of the mental component. Marion was unable to significantly improve his ballhandling and the combination of that and his unorthodox shot kept him from becoming a truly elite player.
elindholm
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Seems to me that if it were that easy, everyone would do it, but I'll admit I don't know.
I hope we draft an ace wing player this summer and maybe start next year with Dragic - rookie - Tucker/Wes, not sure what works best, but I hope we give him a reasonable contract so he's in the rotation. Dudley is tradeable. Send him to Boston if that's where he wants to be. Get a rookie back, they have good scouts over there.
LOL watching the Hawks game I can't help thinking of the gay elf defence Korver plays. Like the hustle and toughness of Dragic going to the hoop.
LOL watching the Hawks game I can't help thinking of the gay elf defence Korver plays. Like the hustle and toughness of Dragic going to the hoop.
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Errntknght
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Everyone is talking about WJ being a good defender - I guess Hunter started it. I just don't see it. Yeah, he has the physical potential but not the right mindset at this point. He doesn't stay in front of his man that well and he doesn't deny the ball. He does a fair job of helping but he stands around in 'no mans land' quite a bit - he doesn't look lost but he's not aware of all thats happening either. Small lapses getting back and picking up his man in transition. Tucker, Dragic and Dudley are all better defenders than Johnson and I wouldn't rate him above Marshall at this point.
Errntknght
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I don't why you think it could be straightforward for anyone to improve dramatically at almost anything they've been doing for a while. There's a mental component to everything - the mind goes numb going through the number of reps needed to make any progress at all. The worst of it is that you have to practice what you're not good at while most of us tend to practice what we are already best at because its somewhat fun. They would probably have to have a coach of some kind otherwise they may just polish their mistakes, supposing they do get around to practicing what they are not good at.
JCSunsfan
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I have been watching quite closely, and I havent seen this. I have seen him quite active. He has definitely been a better defender that last 3 games and my eyes have been on WJ almost exclusively.
CardsSunsDbacks
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Not sure I would mention Dudley in the same breath as Dragic or Tucker when it comes to defensive ability. Dudley hustles and I like that, but he is very overrated when it comes to defensive talent.
Errntknght
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Maybe we were looking for different things. I rewatched some game sections after reading the plaudits he'd gotten, looking for superior defense but what I saw was ordinary. I saw activity in the form of him chasing his man around screens but in the end he didn't deny him the ball. I didn't see him strongly contesting shots. The one good defensive play I saw him make was tipping the ball away from a dribbler around midcourt wo fouling (Atl. game).
Errntknght
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Dudley used to be a better defender than he has been of late. Now and then he still cranks it up a notch or two but its not day in and day out. Tucker gets the tough defensive assignments and I think Dudley doesn't mind.
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Wesley has made some excellent defensive plays but I don't see him as a good defender yet. I see no reason he can't become a great defender, he has the quickness, the length and good hands but I don't think he's all that used to playing man defense.
Steve
Steve
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jagu
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Wesley Johnson left Korver wide open a few times on D. Still he isn't braindead on defense like Michael Beasley. His length will cause problems as well.
Errntknght
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Why don't you and JC note the times of some of excellent defensive plays and post them in this thread. I'll do the same for things like I mentioned. Heck we could drag this debate out for weeks! Actually, we're not very far apart but I would be more than happy to see WJ making some first rate plays.
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Actually, I didn't think we were at odds at all here, I was really disagreeing with the claims that he was a good defender. I do believe he's made some good individual plays but that doesn't make him a good defender. I just deleted my last recording so I'll have to wait for his next defensive play to chime in.
Steve
Errntknght
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Jagu,
Beas did some good defensive work in the game we upset the Lakers but that was not typical, of course. I think he is almost braindead if left to his own devices on defense but if he is given specific instructions he's capable of carrying them out. Corey Blount was similar - he could screw up defending a pick and roll in any number of ways but tell him to play someone tight, denying as much as possible, and he'd be great. Sadly, coach Skiles never figured that out and kept getting exasperated, benching Blount for weeks and missing opportunities when Corey's strengths could have been utilized. (I disliked Skiles intensely and I used to hope that Corey would send him into an apoplectic fit.)
Beas did some good defensive work in the game we upset the Lakers but that was not typical, of course. I think he is almost braindead if left to his own devices on defense but if he is given specific instructions he's capable of carrying them out. Corey Blount was similar - he could screw up defending a pick and roll in any number of ways but tell him to play someone tight, denying as much as possible, and he'd be great. Sadly, coach Skiles never figured that out and kept getting exasperated, benching Blount for weeks and missing opportunities when Corey's strengths could have been utilized. (I disliked Skiles intensely and I used to hope that Corey would send him into an apoplectic fit.)
