Ryan McDonough

[ASUCHRIS]

I wouldnt call it a blank slate. In one year all that remains of the team he inherited is the Morri, Tucker and Dragic. Had the Suns won two more games and slithered into the playoffs he probably would have won exec of the year. The Scola and Dudley trades were absolute heists. The product was exponentially better on the court, the team still has a ton of cap flexibility.

I cannot give him any grade for his drafts so far, it will be a year or two before those judgements can be made. But its hard to not be impressed by the trades he has made, and his working of the roster's assets and cap space.

Agree with all of this, we were in one of the worst positions of any team in the NBA, and now we're somewhere in the middle after one year. McD deserves a ton of credit, and while he has made mistakes, the good far outweighs the bad so far.

 

[Phrazbit]

This is one of the silliest threads I've been a part of...

Now he is a bad negotiator because he seemed somewhat disinterested in a random interview during a baseball game?

I mean... come on... this is just inane.

 

[JCSunsfan]

:

This is one of the silliest threads I've been a part of...

Now he is a bad negotiator because he seemed somewhat disinterested in a random interview during a baseball game?

I mean... come on... this is just inane.

Totally agree.

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't mind the conversation though in a period where not much is going on.

 

[SirStefan32]

Where, pray tell, has he not negotiated with strength. He has won every trade he made. Every player he has signed has been for a bargain. He is not giving in to Bledsoe.

Strength is in the results, not the show.

Exactly!

 

[overseascardfan]

I was hoping for that, but LA could just outright sign Bledsoe next summer without giving up Randle.

They could but there will be other teams pursuing him so they may not get him unless they trade for him on the basis of him agreeing to a contract extension in place.

 

[Mainstreet]

If McDonough can pull a rabbit out of the hat with Bledsoe, he deserves to be executive of the year.

 

[Superbone]

Yeah, I'm not expecting to get much for Bledsoe if/when he leaves.

 

[sunsfan88]

Public speaking isn't for everyone. But I don't think that affects his GM duties.

 

[Phoenix219]

Yeah, I'm not expecting to get much for Bledsoe if/when he leaves.

I'm guessing QO and gone - I'd surprised if we get *anything* for him at this point.

Addition by subtraction, I hope - his defense is over rated anyways...

 

[Phrazbit]

I'm guessing QO and gone - I'd surprised if we get *anything* for him at this point.

Addition by subtraction, I hope - his defense is over rated anyways...

A hard claim to make. The stats make a pretty clear case that he is a force defensively.

 

[sunsfan88]

I'm guessing QO and gone - I'd surprised if we get *anything* for him at this point.

Addition by subtraction, I hope - his defense is over rated anyways...

Agreed. He is certainly a very good defender but his D isn't as good as its been hyped up when coming to PHX from LA.

From 12:20 of this video highlights just few of his many defensive weaknesses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VohhomZgwMw#t=740

Despite all that, like I said earlier, he's still a very good defender but not as good as I was expecting considering all the hype about his defense last summer.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Agreed. He is certainly a very good defender but his D isn't as good as its been hyped up when coming to PHX from LA.

From 12:20 of this video highlights just few of his many defensive weaknesses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VohhomZgwMw#t=740

Despite all that, like I said earlier, he's still a very good defender but not as good as I was expecting considering all the hype about his defense last summer.

IMO it's much better than hyped. Finding a clip or two or ten means nothing to me. I'll believe my eyes, the stats and the hype in this case. The Chicago Bulls are a great defensive team. Do you remember all those games they won last year 96 - 0? Neither do I. Great rebounders don't grab every board, great shooters don't make every shot and great defenders don't shut down every play.

And Bledsoe isn't your typical "great" defender. His strength is using up the shot clock an a number of possessions each game. He'll play average or slightly above average D for a few minutes and then he'll bear down on the ball handler and eat up most of the shot clock. He doesn't get a lot of steals, he's not flashy but he makes our overall defense look great on those amped-up possessions. This kind of defense frustrates the big men on the other team (because they are effectively removed from the offense when the ball handler is turned and forced to restart the play) and it wears down the ball handler.

Steve

 

[SirStefan32]

I think Bledsoe's issue on defense is simply conditioning and lack of experience. He plays very good defense, but he gets tired so he takes an occasional play or two off. I can live with someone playing good D 90-95% of the time. He'll get better as he gets used to playing real minutes.

Sometimes he makes a mistake in rotation/ help defense, but that's to be expected at his age/ level of experience.

 

[BC867]

I think Bledsoe's issue on defense is simply conditioning and lack of experience. He plays very good defense, but he gets tired so he takes an occasional play or two off.

Simply conditioning and lack of experience? Part of his conditioning and lack of experience and why he wears down is that he is a young guy playing on bad wheels.

Sometimes he makes a mistake in rotation/ help defense, but that's to be expected at his age/ level of experience.

At his age? His knees have aged a lot quicker than his chronological age.

Issues on defense, bad conditioning, lack of experience, gets tired, mistakes in rotation/help defense.

There is no need to alibi success. Only failure.

I am sorry, but I just can't share your optimism when you yourself list so many negatives about him.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Simply conditioning and lack of experience? Part of his conditioning and lack of experience and why he wears down is that he is a young guy playing on bad wheels.


At his age? His knees have aged a lot quicker than his chronological age.

Issues on defense, bad conditioning, lack of experience, gets tired, mistakes in rotation/help defense.

There is no need to alibi success. Only failure.

I am sorry, but I just can't share your optimism when you yourself list so many negatives about him.

I know you're going to point to history, as in games missed, but do you have any facts to back this claim. It's my understanding that he's just had one serious injury to his knee. The repair did not hold and they went back in and fixed it a different way by removing a small portion of his meniscus. There have been no reports about damage to the knees beyond this issue. Usually when this kind of injury becomes serious you hear about it but I've heard nothing to suggest he has a deteriorating condition.

Steve

 

[SirStefan32]

Simply conditioning and lack of experience? Part of his conditioning and lack of experience and why he wears down is that he is a young guy playing on bad wheels.


At his age? His knees have aged a lot quicker than his chronological age.

Issues on defense, bad conditioning, lack of experience, gets tired, mistakes in rotation/help defense.

There is no need to alibi success. Only failure.

I am sorry, but I just can't share your optimism when you yourself list so many negatives about him.

Ah, but there is a difference between fair criticism and reaching for straws. Bledsoe didn't play in college for very long, he was a backup in LA for 3 years, playing around 22, 11, and 20 minutes per game, and missing half a season due to injury.

Last year, he went from averaging less than 20 minutes per game for 3 years (mostly off the bench) to being a starter playing over 30 minutes per game.
That is a big change, and not something that will be seamless. Plumlee is another good example of this- it was obvious that after 3 month, he was burned out. It takes a while to adjust to a drastic change in minutes.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to have many "negatives" about a player, but still be objective when presented with unfair criticism.

 

[SirStefan32]

I know you're going to point to history, as in games missed, but do you have any facts to back this claim. It's my understanding that he's just had one serious injury to his knee. The repair did not hold and they went back in and fixed it a different way by removing a small portion of his meniscus. There have been no reports about damage to the knees beyond this issue. Usually when this kind of injury becomes serious you hear about it but I've heard nothing to suggest he has a deteriorating condition.

Steve

Well, his history suggests he'll play a full season, and then miss half the next season due to injury. Until he connects two seasons with no injury, his history is a big concern. Keep in mind that ANY kind of a knee injury (same applies to ankle injuries, etc) is more serious and worrisome for players with low basketball IQ and crazy athleticism.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Well, his history suggests he'll play a full season, and then miss half the next season due to injury. Until he connects two seasons with no injury, his history is a big concern. Keep in mind that ANY kind of a knee injury (same applies to ankle injuries, etc) is more serious and worrisome for players with low basketball IQ and crazy athleticism.

It depends on the kind of injury but sure, players like Bledsoe excel in large part due to their athleticism. Age and injury are especially hard on that kind of player. My point though is that this second injury looks to be more a continuation of the first one rather than a new problem.

Steve

 

[SirStefan32]

It depends on the kind of injury but sure, players like Bledsoe excel in large part due to their athleticism. Age and injury are especially hard on that kind of player. My point though is that this second injury looks to be more a continuation of the first one rather than a new problem.

Steve

It certainly appears that way, but it is still a concern. I'd be more concerned if the two injuries were on different knees, but that doesn't mean that two surgeries on the same knee (even if the second one is a continuation of the first one) aren't worrisome.

 

[Sci Fi]

A hard claim to make. The stats make a pretty clear case that he is a force defensively.

lol. If those are the stats you used to "predict" the Suns would win less than 20 games last year, please show your work. Go ahead. I'm waiting.

Eric Bledsoe is a loser. Ship his ass out of here!

 

[Chaplin]

lol. If those are the stats you used to "predict" the Suns would win less than 20 games last year, please show your work. Go ahead. I'm waiting.

Eric Bledsoe is a loser. Ship his ass out of here!

Eric Bledsoe is a loser? I'm pretty indifferent about him staying or not, but how did you come to that brilliant assessment? I don't think he's a loser, maybe dumb for buying into the crap that Rich Paul is selling, but not a loser.

 

[Sci Fi]

Eric Bledsoe is a loser? I'm pretty indifferent about him staying or not, but how did you come to that brilliant assessment? I don't think he's a loser, maybe dumb for buying into the crap that Rich Paul is selling, but not a loser.

I used the same thought process I used last year when I was the only person here who saw the potential of this team. I think of it as wisdom, gained after after many years of mistakes. It's the same thought process used to see that Goran Dragic could be a top 5 point guard when everyone else thought he sucked.

Make no mistake, Eric Bledsoe is a LOSER. Book it. Here's hoping the Wolves want to "rid" themselves of Rubio.

 

[Chaplin]

Wait. So you're saying that while Bledsoe is a loser, Rubio is not?

 

[Sci Fi]

Go look at some stats dude.

The Wolves were better with Rubio on the court last year than Love. Nothing really new.

Now go look at Bledsoe's stats without Dragic. Team stats. Kind of important.