Plumlee might be another Mcdonough steal

[WuRaider]

McD - 2014 GM of the Year

 

[overseascardfan]

Plumlee is exactly what his draft report indicated, he is an athletic big man with raw offensive skills (offense has been dunks and left handed hook). Has defensive skills because of his leaping ability and size but I want to see how he would handle a Dwight Howard, especially when Enes Kanter's strength was a problem for him.

I am definitely pleasantly surprised that he has nailed down the starting C spot and even bigger kudos to McDonough for stealing him from IND. He obviously wasn't going to get minutes playing behind Hibbert so the trade was a really good break for him.

 

[Mainstreet]

Plumlee's hook shot is money. If he develops a consistent mid-range shot, he will be hard to defend. That Tim Duncan like bank shot was impressive.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Plumlee is exactly what his draft report indicated, he is an athletic big man with raw offensive skills (offense has been dunks and left handed hook). Has defensive skills because of his leaping ability and size but I want to see how he would handle a Dwight Howard, especially when Enes Kanter's strength was a problem for him.

I am definitely pleasantly surprised that he has nailed down the starting C spot and even bigger kudos to McDonough for stealing him from IND. He obviously wasn't going to get minutes playing behind Hibbert so the trade was a really good break for him.

For what reason? I'm not sure what Plumlee is just yet but I don't think how he performs against arguably the best center in the league is going to tell us all that much. I look at him standing next to the bigs on other teams and I find it hard to believe that he gets called a 7 footer. I know he measured 6-11 3/4 but I have to believe he was wearing padded shoes that day. I don't think he has the length or the girth to play center regularly against the top tier centers and I think it's probably a bit unrealistic to measure him against that group. He's been a steal so far but I'm not expecting stardom from him.

Steve

 

[JCSunsfan]

If only we had drafted MCW. Can you imagine that?

BTW, at this point we are better off without Gortat even without the pick. Clearing out all the minute grabbers has really allowed development. Part of the Suns problem over the last few years has been too many mediocre players.

If all you have is mediocre players, you are still better off with less of them. At least a player gets time to develop.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

For what reason? I'm not sure what Plumlee is just yet but I don't think how he performs against arguably the best center in the league is going to tell us all that much. I look at him standing next to the bigs on other teams and I find it hard to believe that he gets called a 7 footer. I know he measured 6-11 3/4 but I have to believe he was wearing padded shoes that day. I don't think he has the length or the girth to play center regularly against the top tier centers and I think it's probably a bit unrealistic to measure him against that group. He's been a steal so far but I'm not expecting stardom from him.

Steve

He did measure in at 6'10.5" w/o shoes on so the 6'11.75" w/ shoes on sounds at least close to right.

 

[overseascardfan]

For what reason? I'm not sure what Plumlee is just yet but I don't think how he performs against arguably the best center in the league is going to tell us all that much. I look at him standing next to the bigs on other teams and I find it hard to believe that he gets called a 7 footer. I know he measured 6-11 3/4 but I have to believe he was wearing padded shoes that day. I don't think he has the length or the girth to play center regularly against the top tier centers and I think it's probably a bit unrealistic to measure him against that group. He's been a steal so far but I'm not expecting stardom from him.

Steve

Well considering Howard is listed at 6'11 265 and you have Joakim Noah who is one of the best C's in the league listed at 6'11 232, Plumlee is listed at 6'11 255 so I think he can play C in this league with his size and athleticism. He is pretty well built, he isn't a bean pole. If he can average close to a double-double and play the defense he has shown the last couple of games he will be an above average C in this league.

 

[elindholm]

Size isn't a problem with Plumlee.

 

[Gaddabout]

Size isn't a problem with Plumlee.

I'll be curious to see how he handles Howard, Duncan or Marc Gasol, to see if he gets into foul trouble. He's only surrendered two fouls in 76 minutes, which is remarkable for a guy with 6 blocked shots. Lopez and Kanter shot a combined 36 percent against him -- and Kanter took 22 shots. That's also remarkable to me (more Kanter, less Lopez).

 

[SirStefan32]

Size isn't a problem with Plumlee.

I agree. He looks big enough, but I think some people are confusing his lack of stamina with his size. I THINK he is just not used to playing this many minutes, and he keeps running out of gas, which makes it appear that he is getting pushed around and not able to hold his own against big Cs.

The kid plays with a lot of energy, and I really think that people don't quite understand how physically demanding the league is. As he gets used to playing 30+ minutes per game, he is not going to be running out of gas in the second half.

I am not 100% sure about this, but I really think the kid is just running out of gas because he is not used to managing this many minutes.

On a side note- I am actually rather impressed with his footwork as well. He had a couple of really nice moves. Still very raw offensively, but his footwork is definitely much better than I expected. How good he becomes will depend on his work ethic.

 

[slinslin]

Too bad he passed on McLemore which was obvious and Michael Carter-Williams which was not obvious.

 

[KloD]

I agree. He looks big enough, but I think some people are confusing his lack of stamina with his size. I THINK he is just not used to playing this many minutes, and he keeps running out of gas, which makes it appear that he is getting pushed around and not able to hold his own against big Cs.

The kid plays with a lot of energy, and I really think that people don't quite understand how physically demanding the league is. As he gets used to playing 30+ minutes per game, he is not going to be running out of gas in the second half.

I am not 100% sure about this, but I really think the kid is just running out of gas because he is not used to managing this many minutes.

On a side note- I am actually rather impressed with his footwork as well. He had a couple of really nice moves. Still very raw offensively, but his footwork is definitely much better than I expected. How good he becomes will depend on his work ethic.

I believe that to be the case. He goes at 100 mile a min. all the time. He needs to learn how to conserve his energy at times in order to play starter minutes. I've got a lot of hope for this kid. Bledsoe is credited for leading the Suns last win, but if not for Plumlee's defense they wouldn't have been in it to pull out the win. He altered many shots and though Utah's bigs had their moments, they were definitely limited. I'm sure he'll hit the wall sooner than later, but the promise is there and at worst I believe he will be a good 2nd unit center/PF. Great trade by McD to get him on the roster.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'll be curious to see how he handles Howard, Duncan or Marc Gasol, to see if he gets into foul trouble. He's only surrendered two fouls in 76 minutes, which is remarkable for a guy with 6 blocked shots. Lopez and Kanter shot a combined 36 percent against him -- and Kanter took 22 shots. That's also remarkable to me (more Kanter, less Lopez).

I didn't realize Kanter was 8-22. I would have guessed he would have shot better somewhere near .500. However, Favors did a number on the Suns with 14 points and 17 rebounds shooting 6-12. Plumlee didn't get much help rebounding from the Suns frontline so I am more than pleased with his performance.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I didn't realize Kanter was 8-22. I would have guessed he would have shot better somewhere near .500. However, Favors did a number on the Suns with 14 points and 17 rebounds shooting 6-12. Plumlee didn't get much help rebounding from the Suns frontline so I am more than pleased with his performance.

I have no complaints about Plumlee's performance against Utah. Favors and Kanter are a tough matchup for any team and Miles didn't get much help down there. I saw several times where he'd be covering one of the bigs and the other would be wide open so he'd have to switch to him as the guy went to the basket. It ended up looking like they were scoring on Miles but it was Frye or someone else that had really dropped the ball.

Steve

 

[Errntknght]

We wouldn't have won either game without Plumlee. It looks like getting rid of Marcin was not enough to guarantee us a very bad record. I thought Miles might develop into a decent PF/C over a couple of years but right out of the box he's already there - who'd have thunk it? Cripes, if our trainers work one of their miracles on Okafor soon we will be right in the middle of the pack. There's also Len to worry about but it looks like that's going to take some time.

 

[JCSunsfan]

We wouldn't have won either game without Plumlee. It looks like getting rid of Marcin was not enough to guarantee us a very bad record. I thought Miles might develop into a decent PF/C over a couple of years but right out of the box he's already there - who'd have thunk it? Cripes, if our trainers work one of their miracles on Okafor soon we will be right in the middle of the pack. There's also Len to worry about but it looks like that's going to take some time.

If we can get Okafor healthy, we deal him ASAP. He is 31 and would clog up the rebuilding effort just like Scola.

 

[Stronso]

I agree. He looks big enough, but I think some people are confusing his lack of stamina with his size. I THINK he is just not used to playing this many minutes, and he keeps running out of gas, which makes it appear that he is getting pushed around and not able to hold his own against big Cs.

The kid plays with a lot of energy, and I really think that people don't quite understand how physically demanding the league is. As he gets used to playing 30+ minutes per game, he is not going to be running out of gas in the second half.

I am not 100% sure about this, but I really think the kid is just running out of gas because he is not used to managing this many minutes.

On a side note- I am actually rather impressed with his footwork as well. He had a couple of really nice moves. Still very raw offensively, but his footwork is definitely much better than I expected. How good he becomes will depend on his work ethic.

I completely agree. He has some really nice foot work and some nice moves. The baby hook is a nice shot...would love to see him establish a sky hook ala Kareem.

His endurance needs to be brought up but I am pleasantly surprised

 

[SirStefan32]

I completely agree. He has some really nice foot work and some nice moves. The baby hook is a nice shot...would love to see him establish a sky hook ala Kareem.

His endurance needs to be brought up but I am pleasantly surprised

He got himself in foul trouble in the first quarter tonight. I am very curious to see how he plays late in the game tonight now that he had to sit down after 5 minutes of play.

I agree about him continuing to work on that hook shot. It already looks great, and if he keeps working on it, he will be unstoppable.

 

[Errntknght]

If we can get Okafor healthy, we deal him ASAP. He is 31 and would clog up the rebuilding effort just like Scola.

ASAP for sure but his 14+ million contract is a nearly immoveable object. The Suns may have to buy him out to find a buyer or waive him...

 

[SirStefan32]

ASAP for sure but his 14+ million contract is a nearly immoveable object. The Suns may have to buy him out to find a buyer or waive him...

Hm, I would think an expiring $14M contract would be easier to move. Great way to create cap room- trade for a $14M expiring contract. I guess we'll see, but I really think $14M expiring contract should be easy to move.

 

[Errntknght]

I suppose if the Suns were willing to take back longer term bad contracts it might be fairly easy. I don't think McD would be happy with that. Pretty clearly he was okay with eating the contract...

 

[elindholm]

I guess we'll see, but I really think $14M expiring contract should be easy to move.

Not for anything the Suns would want to take on.

 

[Phrazbit]

Yeah, you need to remember, if we're moving a 14 mil expiring that means we're taking ~14 mil in salary back. The guys making that kind of money AND whos teams would be fine to give them away for nothing but salary relief... they are not the types of players we want.

Unless some star goes on the market and the Suns decide to cash in some chips early (something like Okafor, a few of our firsts) then I doubt Okafor gets moved.

As for Plumlee... rough night tonight. Seems we can hold off on engraving his MVP trophy, but his Most Improved award should be shipping shortly.

 

[Suns_fan69]

http://www.nba.com/suns/video/channels/top_plays/2013/11/03/20131103-block-of-the-night.nba

Didn't watch the game last night but Plumlee had quite the block. The slow motion replay shows the quick recognition and his quick feet. Seriously, he covered a lot of ground there in a split second.

 

[jbeecham]

http://www.nba.com/suns/video/channels/top_plays/2013/11/03/20131103-block-of-the-night.nba

Didn't watch the game last night but Plumlee had quite the block. The slow motion replay shows the quick recognition and his quick feet. Seriously, he covered a lot of ground there in a split second.

He got hit with 2 fouls early and had to sit. The block was nice, but he lost some aggressiveness overall. It seemed like every time he tried to elevate for a rebound or tip-in, the Thunder would undercut him and the refs would let it go. The Thunder seemed to undercut our airborne players a few times with no whistles.