Suns sign Louis Amundson

[FArting]

Just got a text message saying Sports 620's John Gambodoro reports the Suns have signed Louis Amundson. He was with Philly last season.

 

[fordronken]

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/amundson_080813.html

Suns Sign Forward Louis Amundson

When the Suns’ front office personnel traveled to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League, there was more to their plans than just evaluating their team and dining on plentiful buffets.

One service that the summer league affords is the ability to watch other young players compete against one another. That service has paid dividends for the Suns, who signed forward Louis Amundson on Thursday, just weeks after scouting his talents in Sin City.

Amundson appeared in the summer league for the Golden State Warriors and totaled 6.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and one block a game in 17.6 minutes. But before earning the attention of Phoenix’s scouts there, the 6-9 forward out of UNLV already made a valuable impression despite limited action with the Philadelphia Sixers last season.

Although he totaled just 1.1 points, 0.8 rebounds and appeared in only 16 contests last year, he showed enough game in a playoff contest against Detroit to spark the attention of then-Detroit assistant coach Terry Porter.

“He’s a young man that plays extremely hard and plays with a great deal of physicality,” the new Suns head coach said. “He’s no-holds barred in terms of his aggressiveness, runs the floor well and can defend multiple positions.”

Porter also likes his ability to defend an array of different players. He believes that Admunson has the strength and the footwork to guard a center and the quickness to defend a power forward. And the second-year man concurs.

"I bring athleticism, toughness and a defensive mindset," Amundson said. "I’ve been told they want to go in that direction and add a little bit of depth in that area."

As the Suns move into the Terry Porter era, one can already see the emphasis being put on defense. The drafting of Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic, as well as the signings of Matt Barnes and Amundson, are a clear indication that Phoenix is re-focusing its efforts in that department.

“Offense is very important but these guys need to make a commitment on the defensive end and take a lot of pride in not allowing guys to score on us,” Porter said.

It was important to the front office that it filled the final pieces of the roster with players that brought a certain defensive prowess as well as certain other intangibles to the floor. President of Basketball Operations and GM Steve Kerr felt that Phoenix already had enough scorers and that he was looking for players that were tough, physical, aggressive, and played with an edge.

“We just felt like there was too big of a drop-off over the last couple of years when Steve (Nash) went out of the game and that we couldn’t always survive on just making jump shots,” Kerr said. “You have to be able mix it up, get offensive rebounds and make ‘dirt-worker plays,’ as Cotton Fitzsimmons used to say. You have to be able to draw charges and create extra possessions.”

Enter Admunson. Phoenix’s front office believes he is one of those players that embodies those characteristics and that Suns fans are certain to embrace him.

“He goes along those lines of that defensive tenacity theme that we’re putting together this summer,” Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin said. “He’s a good shotblocker, has an exceedingly high amount of energy and plays with that sort of abandon that we needed to bring to our team.”

But Kerr also believes that Amundson can contribute offensively, as well.

“He’s really versatile for a big man in that he can grab the ball off the board and lead a fast break. He’s similar to Boris in that he is a big man that can pass well.

“But he’s different from most bigs in that he can put it on the floor and make a play. He’s a guy who will face up and create something for others and not worry about scoring himself.”

The former Running Rebel first appeared on Griffin’s radar after dominating first-round pick Jason Smith during an individual workout just before the 2006 NBA Draft. Shortly after, he impressed Griffin once again at another individual workout in Los Angeles that featured the Celtics' Leon Powe.

Then, after garnering Rookie of the Year and All-League First Team honors in a standout 2006-07 season with the NBA’s D-League’s Colorado 14ers, Griffin became even more enticed once he learned of Porter’s mutual interest in Amundson.

“We paid close attention to him at the summer league in Las Vegas with the Golden State Warriors,” Griffin said. “He’s very active, the kind of guy you like to have coming off the bench to change the tempo of the game.”

The signing of Amundson was also a part of the Suns’ initiative to cultivate a roster infused with younger talent. As some of the more integral players on the club begin to age, Phoenix’s management hopes to develop some of its younger players, not only for a healthy balance on the roster between experience and youth, but also for the time in the future when the veteran players leave the franchise.

“This guy has potential,” Kerr said. “If we can develop him, then we have yet another good young asset.”

Amundson is one of a number of players that are reportedly chomping at the bit to start playing with his new teammates and get the season started.

"Playing with Steve Nash, Shaq and Amaré Stoudemire, you can’t ask for more than that," he said. "Those guys are great players, Hall of Famers. I can’t wait to get down here and get things started."

But before he went home to Colorado to gather his belongings and bring them back to the Valley of the Sun, he wanted Phoenix fans to do one thing.

"Look out for me," he said with a smile.

Based on all accounts of how hard he plays, that's one feat that Suns fans won't have to try too hard to accomplish.

 

[hafey]

The guy is athletic. That's for sure.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

The only thing that registers in my mind when I hear Amundson is Bill Simmons ranking of MVPs from earlier this year:

423. James Augustine
Our 2008 winner of the "Wait, Instead of Paying That Guy For the Season, Why Not Sign Rod Benson And Boost The Traffic To Your Team's Web Site?" Award, narrowly edging Casey Jacobsen, Louis Amundson and Maceo Baston.

 

[Shzm13]

Dpoy

 

[Mainstreet]

I'll give Kerr credit for adding energetic and aggressive players (Barnes, Lopez, Amundson) to the Suns roster. IMO last year's Suns frequently lacked energy. Now give me Dragic or Pargo to finish it off.

I must say Sean Marks represented the past to me so I glad the Suns moved on but I wish him the best.

 

[Irish]

After the Las Vegas games, Kerr said he was limpresseed with a few guys. In another thread I guessed wrong on who it was, but I remember that he played well a year ago. Here is Republic article:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/30203

Suns sign Amundson


The Suns signed power forward Louis Amundson to a veteran's minimum contract today.

Amundson, 6 feet 9 and 225 pounds, played in 16 games for Philadelphia last season and saw action in two playoff games. The 2006-07 all-NBA Development League first-team selection and Rookie of the Year latched on with the 76ers in 2007 after making his NBA debut with one game as a Utah Jazz player.

Amundson, a 25-year-old who went undrafted out of UNLV in 2006, is a high-energy defender in keeping with the theme that prompted the Suns to draft Robin Lopez in the first round.

The two-year deal will pay him $711,517 for the coming season with a team option for the 2009-10 season. It is not known whether the first season is fully guaranteed.

Amundson's signing gives the Suns 12 players under contract for the upcoming season, leaving one spot vacant. The Suns hope that Goran Dragic comes to a buyout agreement with his Spanish club, Tau Ceramica, to fill the final spot. The Suns plan to stay at the minimum roster with 13 players.

The Suns have held an interest in Amundson since he came out of college. It helped his cause to join the Suns that he had a career game (eight points, 11 rebounds, four blocks) against Detroit, where Terry Porter was coaching, in 2007. He also got action in two playoff games against the Pistons this year (2.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 5.0 minutes per game).

A year ago Amundson did well in the Rocky Mountain Review

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Louis-Amundson-550/

All-Summer League: Second Team
July 24, 2007
No one who played in the Summer League or Rocky Mountain ***** may have more misleading numbers than Amundson. Not only did he play hurt in 7 of his 8 games, but he also saw limited minutes in most of Philadelphia’s contests. Amundson is the type of workhorse player that quickly grabs attention in a Summer League setting, translating his aggressiveness into production.

On the offensive end, Amundson works hard for everything he gets. He fights for position on the block, and never gives up on offensive rebounds. Amundson’s rebounding numbers aren’t representative of his impact on the glass, since he tips numerous misses to teammates and grabs essentially every loose ball even remotely in his area. Though his jumper isn’t terribly consistent, it can be a weapon when he has time and space. Most of Amundson’s baskets this week came from dunks and layups off of posts up, fast breaks, and pick and rolls. Amundson finishes quite a few tip dunks, since he runs the floor so hard behind the initial break.

Amundson is dynamite at using pump fakes when he faces resistance around the rim, and protects the ball with his body to get to the line. Amundson appeared to have turned things around from the line early in the Summer League, but quickly reverted back to his inconsistent nature. The only positive on that front is that his shot appears to have much more touch, and that is something that wasn’t true about his stroke from the line in the past.

Defensively, Amundson goes after every shot that goes up in his vicinity. Though he doesn’t always get the block, he does a sound job of altering shots without fouling. In back to the basket situations, Amundson doesn’t give up any easy buckets, fronting his man and using leverage to take away passing angles. One of the things that made Amundson an effective defender this week was his competitiveness. Amundson is not afraid to get dunked on, and didn’t back down from anyone in any situation.

It is hard not to enjoy watching Amundson play, as he does all the little things to help his team win. Take his screen setting ability for example; Amundson gets low and wide when setting screens, making it easy for his teammates to rub their man off and turn the corner. While things like that won’t show up in the boxscore, they are the things that made Amundson’s performances in Vegas and Salt Lake City so impressive. Amundson was easily the hardest working player in the Summer League, and he did his best work on a sprained ankle that caused him to miss an entire game. His production while injured is a telling example of type of player he is.

In Las Vegas this summer, he averaged 5.4 rpg in just 17.6 minutes for a 0.307 per minute rate which is excellant. Robin was taken for the Select team and had 0.279 per minute.

 

[arwillan]

i wonder if we have any minutes for him as he is technically our 5th big (behind diaw, amare, shaq, and lopez).

 

[Irish]

i wonder if we have any minutes for him as he is technically our 5th big (behind diaw, amare, shaq, and lopez).

Who knows? Clearly the 12th/13th guy can't expect to play much. But unlike under D'Antoni, Kerr is loading up on young, athletic, defense oriented guys who might help in certain situations.

What kind of situations? If the Suns decide to go to a full court press, he might be helpful as in that none of their current bigs are well suited to the press.

 

[sLapzsHaQ]

Depth. At last.

 

[arwillan]

Who knows? Clearly the 12th/13th guy can't expect to play much. But unlike under D'Antoni, Kerr is loading up on young, athletic, defense oriented guys who might help in certain situations.

What kind of situations? If the Suns decide to go to a full court press, he might be helpful as in that none of their current bigs are well suited to the press.

maybe they picked him up as sort of a safety net. We all know shaq has injury issues, as does amare at times. Maybe lopez isn't really ready to contribute yet, in which case we'll be thanking our lucky stars that we picked this guy up.

 

[Irish]

maybe they picked him up as sort of a safety net. We all know shaq has injury issues, as does amare at times. Maybe lopez isn't really ready to contribute yet, in which case we'll be thanking our lucky stars that we picked this guy up.

Another element is that Boris has a tendency toward passivity. When fired up he's awfully good, but it comes and goes. Have a very high energy guy behind him might get Diaw's attention - "give 100% or Louis will steal your minutes".

 

[AceP]

Nash, Bell, Hill, Amare, Shaq
+
Dragic or ?, Barbosa, Barnes, Diaw, Lopez

Make it 10. 10 is good, but a real deep team does utilize 12 players.

Some of our veterans must be preserved in regular season. Hill must not play more than 25m and, Shaq under 30m. Kerr talked about limit Nash to 30m, too. All 3 of them would rest 10-15 games, maybe 20+ for Shaq.

We hope Dragic and Lopez developing well to make immediate impact, but they r rookies, there is no certainty ...

DJ Strawberry, Tucker, Amundson, they all might receive a number of minutes in early season. If they perform well, they may even break into the 10.

 

[Goldfield]

Sounds like exactly the kind of player you would want coming off the bench, and for practice.

Between this guy & Lopez, we have much more size & toughness up front.

Love it.

 

[shazaam6]

Amundson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXIK8aeuXuw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAdp1SQ7J9c&feature=related

 

[shazaam6]

Louis Amundson Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr7Qvg_z0ro

 

[Mainstreet]

Great videos on Amundson. On a side note, are the Suns the only team that does not update it's roster?

http://www.nba.com/suns/roster/

They still have Pike, Giricek, Marks and Linton Johnson on the roster.

 

[Andrew]

I have no clue who this guy is...

 

[LV-Suns]

I have no clue who this guy is...

Do you have to keep asking the same question for every single addition?

Well, this is how you get to learn.

 

[arwillan]

I have no clue who this guy is...

he's a lot like joakim noah but he's actually got some offensive game.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAdp1SQ7J9c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXIK8aeuXuw&feature=related

 

[HooverDam]

I have no clue who this guy is...

Google and Youtube are your friends.

 

[Irish]

The Texas Tech video suggests he is very active and can certainly jump.

I wondered why Amundson played so little with the Sixers. It may have been a numbers game. The Sixers had some highly drafted young bigs backing up Dalembert and Reggie Evens:

Jason Smith 7'0" 240 14.6 minutes 4.5 ppg, 45.5% 3.0 rpg
Thad Young 6'8 220 21.9 minutes 10.2 ppg 48% and 4.5 rpg (mostly PF since Iggy played 39.5 minutes a game

 

[Andrew]

Sorry I don't follow college or Euro ball so I had no clue who this guy was or Dragic until people post youtube videos here of them.

 

[mojorizen7]

Sorry I don't follow college or Euro ball so I had no clue who this guy was or Dragic until people post youtube videos here of them.

Don't worry Andrew, many here pretend to know more than they actually do.
Armed with google.

 

[dodie53]

so,
Diaw will be a SF now?