Summer League 2015

[JCSunsfan]

If only they could add someone like Tyson Chandler.

I am absolutely flabbergasted at your positivity-ness over the Chandler signing. You aren't usually like this.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns should have considered moving back in the first round when Harrell dropped. He reminds me a bit of Danny Fortson for better or worse. Forgive me Zarko.

 

[Errntknght]

The general consensus is that the Suns need to get stronger inside because we're getting killed on the boards on most nights. There must be some team stats to back this up, a +/- for team rebounds...

The Suns ranked 25th in net total rebounds with -178, 23rd in net offensive rebounds at -54. It would have been quite a bit worse if we didn't have guards and SFs who rebounded well for their positions. Depending on them does cut into our fast break opportunities.

 

[elindholm]

I am absolutely flabbergasted at your positivity-ness over the Chandler signing. You aren't usually like this.

I just call them like I see them. This looks like an excellent move to me.

 

[sunsfan88]

The Suns should have considered moving back in the first round when Harrell dropped. He reminds me a bit of Danny Fortson for better or worse. Forgive me Zarko.

I think the Warriors pick would have been attainable at the end there.

 

[sunsfan88]

Very true. It seems the Rockets have a knack for finding big men. Harrell was an absolute steal in the second round. Not only that, but the Rockets get Dekker in the first round. I was not a huge Dekker fan but if they get Harrell in the second round there is no downside. The Suns need to watch the Rockets waiver wire later on or work a trade (like with the Cleveland pick) to snatch one of those big men.

I watched the first half of the game just now and I thought the same thing about Harrell. I swear the Suns just never pay any attention to guy's strength.

Not just Harrell, but the Rockets also signed 6'10 PF Christian Wood immediately after the draft was over. Wood was considered maybe the best UDFA prospect after the draft and he was certainly expected by most to get drafted.

https://twitter.com/NBADraft/status/609730751152660480

 

[Mainstreet]

Not just Harrell, but the Rockets also signed 6'10 PF Christian Wood immediately after the draft was over. Wood was considered maybe the best UDFA prospect after the draft and he was certainly expected by most to get drafted.

https://twitter.com/NBADraft/status/609730751152660480

It's interesting Wood would sign with the Rockets with all their big men. He would seem to be the type player the Suns would go after, very versatile. I don't see how the Rockets can keep all their big men but there are reasons why big men are attracted and scouted to play for the Rockets

One of the problems I think the Suns have when evaluating big men, they are always looking for big men who can hit the outside shot. This eliminates a lot of players who can bang inside and rebound. It almost reminds me of when D'Antoni coached the Suns. He only wanted to play big men who can shoot from outside. The Suns need to be more open minded when it comes to drafting more raw inside players. I'm not sure if the Suns would ever draft a player like Paul Milsap and develop him into the player he is today with a nice mid-range shot.

The Suns signing Tyson Chandler is a nice change of pace but the Suns need to start looking for more raw big men in the draft who have a strong physical presence and who can rebound. Although this subject gets a lot of emphasis by fans, the Suns do need to change their mentality about being tougher. I hope Tyson Chandler is the start.

 

[Phrazbit]

It's interesting Wood would sign with the Rockets with all their big men. He would seem to be the type player the Suns would go after, very versatile. I don't see how the Rockets can keep all their big men but there are reasons why big men are attracted and scouted to play for the Rockets

One of the problems I think the Suns have when evaluating big men, they are always looking for big men who can hit the outside shot. This eliminates a lot of players who can bang inside and rebound. It almost reminds me of when D'Antoni coached the Suns. He only wanted to play big men who can shoot from outside. The Suns need to be more open minded when it comes to drafting more raw inside players. I'm not sure if the Suns would ever draft a player like Paul Milsap and develop him into the player he is today with a nice mid-range shot.

The Suns signing Tyson Chandler is a nice change of pace but the Suns need to start looking for more raw big men in the draft who have a strong physical presence and who can rebound. Although this subject gets a lot of emphasis by fans, the Suns do need to change their mentality about being tougher. I hope Tyson Chandler is the start.

Len did not have an outside shot when drafted, he didn't even have a midrange game.

 

[iRobot]

https://twitter.com/codetwerk/status/620815299676274689

 

[Mainstreet]

Len did not have an outside shot when drafted, he didn't even have a midrange game.

Actually I thought Len had a decent touch from outside when the Suns drafted him. Maybe his stats do not reflect this but his stroke from outside look fairly natural. However, now it seems to have disappeared. Maybe his outside shooting is getting pushed to the rear with an emerging inside game. I think the Suns looked at Len as a player that can have a versatile game including an outside shot. I never looked to him as strictly an inside player.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Willie Cauley-Stein seems to be looking as good or better than Okafor or Towns in SL. Too bad we could not have gotten him. His per/36 number put him at almost 5 blocks and 24 ppg. His rebound #s are not that great though.

 

[FArting]

Jazz vs Suns game will be on NBA TV at 4:30pm

 

[sunsfan88]

Actually I thought Len had a decent touch from outside when the Suns drafted him. Maybe his stats do not reflect this but his stroke from outside look fairly natural. However, now it seems to have disappeared. Maybe his outside shooting is getting pushed to the rear with an emerging inside game. I think the Suns looked at Len as a player that can have a versatile game including an outside shot. I never looked to him as strictly an inside player.

Funny that you mention it because I read somewhere the Suns are trying to get him to shoot 3s, would not surprising if the Suns tried to convert Len into a stretch 5 or something.

 

[Errntknght]

Len said in a fairly recent interview that he is practicing 3 pt shots. I think he shot 3 last season and made 1. It didn't sound like the Suns were pressing him to do it.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Len said in a fairly recent interview that he is practicing 3 pt shots. I think he shot 3 last season and made 1. It didn't sound like the Suns were pressing him to do it.

One of the Suns assistant coaches said something about wanting everyone to be able to shoot from everywhere. I do think they are pushing him to improve his shooting. I do not think they are pushing him to become any kind of 3 point specialist.,

 

[Mainstreet]

Suns win summer league game today against the Jazz.

Here is a link to the stats. It looks like Booker and Warren had the best games although Len had 14 rebounds to go along with 8 points.

http://www.nba.com/games/20150714/PHXUTA/gameinfo.html

 

[FutureSuperstar]

Len looked much better in this game physically I think. Like I said after the 1st game, his play in the 1st game was overrated - I thought he was a step slow at times and his #'s just looked really good because he was fed easy dunks.

I feel the complete opposite about this game - His #'s don't look as good, but he moved much better - running the floor, protecting the rim, rebounding, etc. He clearly just needed to get into a rhythm because his agility looked great in this game.

Offensively tonight, he was alright. Again #'s look bad, but I saw better things from him offensively in this game than the 1st game. He was posted up about the same # of times, but in this game - He was basically double and tripled teamed every time he touched it. He did a good job passing out of the double teams I thought, which led to a few hockey assists for him. No, he did not dominate in the post, but when you have 2-3 guys around, just pass the ball around. Don't try to be the hero and Len didn't try to be tonight.

I know I called out the ignorance of the announcers in the 1st game and then I was called out for being too biased to Len ... But C'Mon - The announcers in this game were unbearable hating on Len (Perhaps I overreacted to the 1st game guys', but it was laughable tonight). All I have to cite is one example below:

In the 3rd Q I think, Len got a post up from Mike James establishing good positioning around the basket. He was quickly double teamed, so he passed the ball back out to James. Len attempts to re-post (as he should), but James drives to the basket instead (The side Len is on), so Len is forced to flirt to the perimeter to make room for him. Then James passes him the ball 20 feet away from the basket w/ 1 second left on the shot clock. Len did everything right on this play, drawing the double team and even attempting a hard re-post which James ignored. He did nothing wrong and you can't argue differently. What followed was a 1-2 minute rant from the announcers criticizing Len's feel for the game, basically calling him out for just being a "big body" and not loving the game, and saying he should have punished the defender, etc, etc. Ridiculous. The hate was unbearable in this game for Len throughout; They wanted to rip him no matter what he did.

Len is my favorite player obviously, so I wanted to put this out there. The above is exactly what happened - no bias to it at all, except all the biased hate from the announcers, specifically Seth Davis ...

 

[ProdigalSun]

Devin Booker played really well this game. He has such a nice shooting stroke and hit a couple 3's today. He plays within himself and looks really comfortable and in control out on the court which is pretty impressive given how young he is. I don't know about being the next Klay Thompson or whatever but I think he will be a solid player in this league

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Suns are the 8th seed for the LVSL tournament and will play tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:00 PM. Unfortunately it is at the Cox Pavilion, so I doubt that it will be shown on NBA TV...

 

[JCSunsfan]

Booker's movements are cat-like, smooth. Even when he jumps he seems to land softly.

 

[Mainstreet]

Some scheduling information.

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/621159670170845184

 

[Russ Smith]

I loved Harrell in college but I'm not sure he's going to stick this year in Houston. He really needs a jumpshot, he's struggling getting his shot off against bigger NBA players. He's drawing fouls but not making the FT's, looks like he might need a year to develop his game.

He's much further along but similar to Cliff Alexander, great athlete but undersized 4 with no face up game.

 

[sunsfan88]

I loved Harrell in college but I'm not sure he's going to stick this year in Houston. He really needs a jumpshot, he's struggling getting his shot off against bigger NBA players. He's drawing fouls but not making the FT's, looks like he might need a year to develop his game.

He's much further along but similar to Cliff Alexander, great athlete but undersized 4 with no face up game.

He reminds me of a poor man's Kenneth Faried. Faried has more offensive game but Harrell right now just playing with a ton of energy on both sides of the basketball. He's not "skilled" yet. But if he can keep up the energy, he should find a roster spot in the NBA eventually with his size.

 

[Mainstreet]

If no one wants Harrell I will extend an invitation for him to become a Sun... I so wish I had the power.

I would definitely stick him on the D-League squad and try to improve his overall game. If he can rebound and play defense there has to be a place in the NBA for him.

 

[Mainstreet]

Sorry ArizonaSportsFan for duplicating your post about scheduling. For some reason I failed to see it.