The fact that anyone in from the Suns felt that planning to hire a few guys to help the team's players run practice drills was newsworthy is absolutely pathetic. I understand that the Phoenix Suns are for all intents and purposes a farm team for the serious NBA organizations, and in that role, it is important that the Suns develop the young guys, misfits and castaways that the front office has assembled. But this is the NBA. If your players have a desire to get better, they're expected to have all the resources they could ask for at their disposal. And they do. I'm pretty sure they helped Jared Dudley improve every facet of his game over the last 3 years. JD is a better 3-pointer shooter, a better spot-up shooter, a better playmaker, a better ball handler, and a better athlete than he was when he got to Phoenix. He can take the ball off the dribble, get right near the foul line and hit a pull-up jumper or kick it out to the wing if his defender comes to help. The Suns' staff of coaches is perfectly fine from a player development standpoint.
There is this T-Shirt that I saw a while ago, with the phrase, "Somewhere, someone is practicing. And when you meet, he will beat you." I also remember Grant Hill saying that Michael Beasley was the toughest guy in the league to defend 1-on-1. As this article points out, the person who used the Phoenix Suns facilities the most this off-season was Grant Hill. Grant Hill is a Clipper. So when Michael Beasley comes out this season and shows he's the same old player he's always been, who a bunch of other teams have given up on before this season, and the Suns' FO will try to sell this idea that this is a work in progress but the point is we're developing talent for the long haul…
Also, the Channing Frye bashing is dumb. He was brought here to be a back-up forward who had the ability to contribute in a smaller lineup. The fact that he is playing all these minutes now means that he has to play in some roles that he's not optimally suited to play. And ya know what? He's filled most of those roles really well. He's was our best rebounder last season; he was our strongest low-post defender. He didn't shoot well from the outside on a consistent basis, but that alone doesn't make him mentally soft. Over the last three years, during the team's highest points and lowest points, Channing Frye has hit as many game-winning shots as anyone else. He did this multiple nights in a row on multiple occasions. He plays harder than most players, and despite not being the strongest guy, he battles quite well. So like I said, the Channing Frye bashing is dumb.
