Preseason: Suns at Rockets 10-13-14

[elindholm]

I agree. Miles is over thinking it instead of just letting the game come to him. He was a beast when he first came to the Suns. He was playing loose and having fun. Now it seems he's putting too much pressure on himself.

Or defenses have figured him out.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Or defenses have figured him out.

There wasn't much to figure out. Prevent a deep post catch and keep him off the boards and you've pretty much contained him. Despite all his fancy footwork he still isn't proficient enough with any of his moves to really put pressure on the defense.

That said, as long as he still dives hard to the rim on the pick and rolls to draw defenders he can still be a very effective piece of the offense like Chandler was for his respective teams.

 

[Errntknght]

I think NativeAZ is probably right... I hope he's right because thats a fixable problem. Another possibility is that he just doesn't enjoy playing basketball very much any more, now that he's experienced what a grind an NBA season is - and the next one comes right on the heels of the last one. That would be hard to fix.

 

[Superbone]

Another possibility is that he just doesn't enjoy playing basketball very much any more, now that he's experienced what a grind an NBA season is - and the next one comes right on the heels of the last one. That would be hard to fix.

That's quite a leap there!

 

[Errntknght]

That's quite a leap there!

Yes it is but I've have experienced that kind of thing myself. In Jr. high and high school I quite enjoyed playing tennis so my senior year I joined the tennis team. I don't know how long the season was but I didn't last it - after about ten weeks of daily practices I didn't ever want to see another tennis ball again. It was five years before I picked up a racquet. I didn't lose my zest for other sports despite playing them at a similar level of organization but tennis just wasn't fun if I had to work at it.

 

[Chaplin]

Yes it is but I've have experienced that kind of thing myself. In Jr. high and high school I quite enjoyed playing tennis so my senior year I joined the tennis team. I don't know how long the season was but I didn't last it - after about ten weeks of daily practices I didn't ever want to see another tennis ball again. It was five years before I picked up a racquet. I didn't lose my zest for other sports despite playing them at a similar level of organization but tennis just wasn't fun if I had to work at it.

Except you weren't getting paid millions of dollars. Probably makes a difference.

 

[Mainstreet]

Suns waive Joe Jackson, Casey Prather and Jamil Wilson giving the Suns a 16 man roster. It looks like the Suns will give Earl Barron a closer look. IMO, he looks better than Shavlik Randolph.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/235195/Suns-Release-Joe-Jackson-Casey-Prather-Jamil-Wilson

 

[Covert Rain]

Suns waive Joe Jackson, Casey Prather and Jamil Wilson giving the Suns a 16 man roster. It looks like the Suns will give Earl Barron a closer look. IMO, he looks better than Shavlik Randolph.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/235195/Suns-Release-Joe-Jackson-Casey-Prather-Jamil-Wilson

No shockers there.

 

[FutureSuperstar]

Suns waive Joe Jackson, Casey Prather and Jamil Wilson giving the Suns a 16 man roster. It looks like the Suns will give Earl Barron a closer look. IMO, he looks better than Shavlik Randolph.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/235195/Suns-Release-Joe-Jackson-Casey-Prather-Jamil-Wilson

Like I said before Zoran was signed, I think the Suns need more than Plumlee-Len-Randolph at center (So I was hoping the 15th guy signed would be a big) . Basically, because if 1 of Len/Plumlee are hurt, the options at center dwindle significantly and I'm not sure Randolph can be counted on for a lot of minutes.

With 15 guaranteed guys right now, obviously Barron will probably get cut ... But I just feel keeping him (or any other veteran center) AND Randolph is necessary injury insurance if Len/Plumlee goes down. Unfortunately, to allow that to happen, the Suns would need to make a trade, which probably won't happen (and might not even be worth it ... Ideally Zoran would have never been signed ...)

 

[Errntknght]

Suns waive Joe Jackson, Casey Prather and Jamil Wilson giving the Suns a 16 man roster. It looks like the Suns will give Earl Barron a closer look. IMO, he looks better than Shavlik Randolph.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/235195/Suns-Release-Joe-Jackson-Casey-Prather-Jamil-Wilson

I agree that Barron has looked better than Shavlik but Barron has played well for short stints before - with us and the Knicks - and then he disappeared so I have my doubts about his good play being representative of what he'll do if we keep him around. The other thing is that Randolph has played good defense and while he hasn't gotten many boards, historically, he's a somewhat better rebounder than Barron. I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much as they have a couple more weeks to decide...

 

[Mainstreet]

Like I said before Zoran was signed, I think the Suns need more than Plumlee-Len-Randolph at center (So I was hoping the 15th guy signed would be a big) . Basically, because if 1 of Len/Plumlee are hurt, the options at center dwindle significantly and I'm not sure Randolph can be counted on for a lot of minutes.

With 15 guaranteed guys right now, obviously Barron will probably get cut ... But I just feel keeping him (or any other veteran center) AND Randolph is necessary injury insurance if Len/Plumlee goes down. Unfortunately, to allow that to happen, the Suns would need to make a trade, which probably won't happen (and might not even be worth it ... Ideally Zoran would have never been signed ...)

I think we can agree on this. Plumlee has been a huge disappointment so far, Randolph is at best a third center and Len, well he can't stay healthy. The Suns do not have anyone who can bang at the CF position against bigger opponents.

 

[sunsfan88]

I wish we had Jusif Nurkic instead of Tyler Ennis right now. Not cause Ennis sucks but because of the obvious #millionPGs

 

[Errntknght]

With the benefit of hindsight we should probably have drafted Nurkic instead of TJ... it would be painful as the devil to give him up but man-o-man, do we need 280 lbs of healthy muscle. (Thats not a typo, he's listed at 280.)

 

[AzStevenCal]

With the benefit of hindsight we should probably have drafted Nurkic instead of TJ... it would be painful as the devil to give him up but man-o-man, do we need 280 lbs of healthy muscle. (Thats not a typo, he's listed at 280.)

Or kept Warren and traded our next pick and our 2015 1st (or the Minny pick) to move up the two spots it would have taken to get him. Oh well, hindsight. He is one of the bigs that I mentioned several times but I wouldn't have expected him to be gone by our 18th pick.

We could really use Nurkic but I still think Warren might end up being the best player in this class.

Steve

 

[JS22]

Dragic should have taken time off. And his new contract should ban him from playing in international competition.

He's looked tired this preseason. Worried about what he'll look like in Feb, March, April.