http://www.nba.com/suns/news/summerleague_wrapup_080720.html
You must be registered for see imagesTucker showed that he can score both in the paint and on the perimeter.
Daniel Banks/Suns.com
Posted: Jul 21 2008 12:03AM
By Stefan Swiat, Suns.com
Posted: July 20, 2008
Las Vegas is not exactly a city for the faint-hearted. People come from all over the world to try their luck and put themselves on the line. Well, the NBA Summer League was no different, with the vast majority of players involved vying for jobs that are few and far in between.
The Phoenix Suns brought 12 players with them to Vegas, with only Alando Tucker, DJ Strawberry and Robin Lopez under contract. Made up of players who have either just recently graduated college or have played a season or two in Europe, the Suns finished the week 2-3.
Their latest victory came on Sunday as the Suns powered past the Wizards, 88-69, despite playing without the services of Lopez. While the Suns rookie was occupied with his duties with the US Select Team, Tucker poured in 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Strawberry kicked in 20. Former Princeton Tiger Judson Wallace totaled 15 points on 3-of-7 shooting from downtown, while also leading Phoenix with nine rebounds.
The Suns coaching staff and front office said good-bye to the players, praising their professionalism and work ethic for fighting their way through two-a-day practices and five games in six days. In the end, the coaching staff was pleased with their results and upbeat about their younger players’ performances.
“We lost one game by one, another game by three and another game by five,” assistant coach Dan Majerle said. "So we were in every game, played hard and it was overall very successful."
Tucker led the team in scoring and finished fourth in the summer league in that category by posting 21.6 points a game. He accomplished that feat in roughly 28 minutes a game, shooting a whopping 57 percent from the field.
“Tuck got better and better as the week went on and although he needs to get in better shape, he showed what he can do with his scoring ability,” Majerle said.
Strawberry was second on the club in scoring at 18 points a game, finishing 15th overall in the league.
“DJ got a lot of work at the point guard position, did a good job of handling pressure and making sure that guys were in the right position,” Majerle stated. “Both Alando and DJ have been here before, know how hard they have to work to get better and both of them are doing it.”
Lopez, who played so well that he was invited to become a member of the US Select Team, will spend the next few days scrimmaging against the US Senior National Team in preparation for the Olympics in Beijing. The No. 15 overall pick averaged 14 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the week.
“He is so much better than I thought,” Suns Summer League Head Coach Igor Kokoscov said. ”He has a good personality, is a great kid, very open and very coachable because he listens.
“You can’t coach size and he has the size, quickness and athleticism, so he’s going to get better. He has a good chance to be a special player.”
Ring of Honor member Dan Majerle concurs with that assessment.
“Robin is good that’s why we picked him so high,” he said. “He’s big, athletic, long and offensively he’s a lot better than we thought he was.
“He does a good job in the post, he can go either way with his hands and is just one of those guys that is eager to learn and does what you ask him to do,” he added. “Bill Cartwright, Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) and Amaré (Stoudemire) are all going to be working with him, so he’s going to have guys who can really teach him a lot, especially offensively.”
But while the coaching staff has noted the efforts of those three players’ this past week, the coaches also believe they have a lot of work left to accomplish.
“They all need to get into basketball shape and work on their games,” Majerle explained. “They have a long way to go and they know that, but they’ve already put in a lot of time so I expect them to take a couple of days off and get back in the gym.”
Coach Kokoscov echoed Majerle’s sentiments.
“They have to work on every part of their games,” he said. “They need to get better-conditioned, stronger, execute better on offense and defense and individually get better.”
In order for the Suns to make another run into the playoffs, the Suns are counting on their younger players to make progress over the summer months. With a veteran-laden team, fresh legs in the rotation could only prove beneficial for a club looking to deepen its bench and rest its starters.
But unlike Vegas, where people look for instant gratification, the growth of the Suns’ youth movement is going to take some time. And the coaching staff is well aware of that.
“Developing young players takes time and it’s not going to happen in one week or in one practice,” Kokoscov said. “We have to be patient because they are going to make mistakes and we’re going to have to live with those mistakes.
“But if you believe in young players and believe that they can reach their potential, then you have to be patient with them and let them learn from their mistakes.” Based on what they showed in Vegas, it is a bet worth making.
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