Suns turn to 'Smush' for assistance

[azdad1978]

Parker signed to 10-day deal to aid at guard

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 20, 2005 12:00 AM

William "Smush" Parker has gone back and forth this month as quickly as those playground games he was in as a kid in Queens, N.Y.

In the span of 16 days, Parker went from playing for the NBA champs to busing around small Southern towns with a last-place minor league team to signing with the Suns on Wednesday.

After a misstep took out two point guards at Tuesday's practice, the Suns signed Parker to a 10-day contract and moved Leandro Barbosa to the injured list.



Suns Director of Player Personnel David Griffin watched Parker, 6 foot 4 and 180 pounds, record 24 points and 10 assists Monday in a game with the National Basketball Development League's Florida Flame.

He had six points, four assists and six turnovers in 16 minutes on Wednesday night in the Suns' 88-79 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

"He's fun to watch and fun to play with if you're an athlete," Griffin said. "All of his gifts fit our game. All of his weaknesses are hidden by our style of play. The style Mike (D'Antoni) has put in is easy to scout for because all you're asking kids to do is what they do best."

Parker, who arrived during the middle of Phoenix's morning shootaround Wednesday after flying in from Columbus, Ga., was not worried about learning the offense.

"I've been limited to the things I could do on certain teams," he said. "This is just a freelance offense. This is the kind of basketball I like to play. This is the kind of basketball I grew up playing."

Parker, 23, is maturing into his talent, highlighted by his ball handling.

He played only one year in high school, one season at the College of Southern Idaho and one season at Fordham before coming to the NBA undrafted in 2002.

D'Antoni expects Parker to help run sets but mainly stick to his forte and push the pace.

Parker uses his length to defend passing lanes, Griffin said, so the Suns hope he can generate fast breaks, too.

Barbosa sprained his left ankle Tuesday when he stepped on Steve Nash's foot, tweaking Nash's back in the process. Barbosa will be out at least a week.

Parker could sign one more 10-day deal with the Suns before they would have to waive him or sign him for the season.

He started 18 games for Cleveland in 2002-03 and played in 66 overall, averaging 6.2 points and 2.5 assists. He spent last season in Greece after Atlanta cut him in camp. He worked back to the NBA this season with Detroit, playing sparingly in 11 games.

The Pistons cut him Jan. 4, six days before his deal would have been guaranteed for the season.



"It's a wonderful opportunity," Parker said.

"I'm glad to be here. I just hope I can make an immediate impact. I will make an immediate impact. I'm just here to push the ball."


http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0120sunsside0120.html

 

[elindholm]

Parker could sign one more 10-day deal with the Suns before they would have to waive him or sign him for the season.

I thougth the rule was that a team could sign a player to three consecutive ten-day contracts, not two. Did they change it a few years ago?

 

[Islington]

Parker could sign one more 10-day deal with the Suns before they would have to waive him or sign him for the season.

I thougth the rule was that a team could sign a player to three consecutive ten-day contracts, not two. Did they change it a few years ago?

I'm pretty sure it's only been two consecutive ten-days contracts.

 

[Chaplin]

Parker could sign one more 10-day deal with the Suns before they would have to waive him or sign him for the season.

I thougth the rule was that a team could sign a player to three consecutive ten-day contracts, not two. Did they change it a few years ago?

I don't remember it ever being three consecutive contracts... I also thought it was always two...

 

[elindholm]

Well, shows what I know.

And special thanks to both of you for quoting my typo ("thougth").

 

[Errntknght]

From what he says I'm inclined to like Parker - I screwed up my VCR so I didn't get see him play against Memphis! If he D's up okay and pushes the ball D'Antoni may play him - which bodes well for Nash, and, hence for the whole team.

Assuming that coach Mikey will continue to employ Barbosa that makes four subs that he will use. He could use CJ when he wants to minimize mistakes and throw in Barbosa when more offense is needed. It may be a major benefit to Leandro to not have to worry about playing PG - he can relax and get into the flow of the offense plus give more thought and effort to his defense. The kid could flower - he can score in bunches when he gets rolling, as we've seen in a few games. He'll also be more valuable on the break if he doesn't have to be the primary ball handler - he's got great speed as long as he doesn't have to dribble more than once.

Unfortunately, I have little confidence in D'Antoni being bright enough to do that - after watching Barbosa all this time he still hadn't figured out he wasn't a PG, for crying out loud. And he continues to refuse to play Amare and Hunter together even though the team nearly always does well when they're on the floor at the same time. I mean four games where he's got the perfect opportunity to give it a shot and he blows it every time. Either he's a dunce or he's hiding Hunter as best he can to minimize the chances that other teams will come after him next summer.