The Phx Suns have a real center

[desertdawg]

Career numbers 2 games in a row. And he's just getting started. Sparks the team, plays hard, and the crowd goes nuts. A star is born, everybody was sleeping on this cat, he can ball. All Star material, can't wait to see him against the Lakers. I don't think we will beat LA or nothing, I just want to see the new Suns center battling it out with Gasol.

 

[jagu]

Career numbers 2 games in a row. And he's just getting started. Sparks the team, plays hard, and the crowd goes nuts. A star is born, everybody was sleeping on this cat, he can ball. All Star material, can't wait to see him against the Lakers. I don't think we will beat LA or nothing, I just want to see the new Suns center battling it out with Gasol.

Now if we have a bigger PF to go along side Gortat!!

 

[Chaplin]

Frye, Lopez and Gortat all had really good games.

 

[BC867]

Frye, Lopez and Gortat all had really good games.

Yes, indeed. Our frontcourt comprised four of our top five scorers for the game. I never thought I'd live to see this day.

Gortat........25 points (with 11 eleven rebounds)
Hill.............16 points
Carter.........12 points
Frye...........11 points (with 8 rebounds)
Lopez.........10 points (would you believe 6 rebounds)
Nash ..........10 points (with 15 assists)
Dudley..........9 points

 

[sunsfan88]

You forgot...(chuckles)....3 blocks for Frye.

 

[mojorizen7]

I was down with letting Stoudemire go under the circumstances, but could you imagine Gortat and him in the frontcourt.

I can imagine.
Its too bad getting a guy like Gortat to play next to Amare was so low on the priority list the last 6 years. Instead we were fed nothing but shooters,slashers and defenseless scorers for the most part. Bringing in Shaq was a nice attempt,except Shaq demanded the ball and that doesn't work in Nashball + Amare.

A feisty,physical bigman who doesn't care if he doesn't get his shots....a novel concept in PHX. Protect the basket,protect Amare,and just let the offensive part of his game come to him.
I wonder....where would this team be if Nash were the one to go and not Amare.....with Gortat underneath....?.....It wouldn't be Sunsball i guess so nevermind

The KT aquisition was the last time(IMO) that our basketball people were thinking straight in terms of elevating this offensive-driven system into something with substance. Unfortunately those same people shat it away prematurely in favor of $$$ and mortaging the future.

 

[mojorizen7]

Yes, indeed. Our frontcourt comprised four of our top five scorers for the game. I never thought I'd live to see this day.

Gortat........25 points (with 11 eleven rebounds)
Hill.............16 points
Carter.........12 points
Frye...........11 points (with 8 rebounds)
Lopez.........10 points (would you believe 6 rebounds)
Nash ..........10 points (with 15 assists)
Dudley..........9 points

Very cool.

 

[JCSunsfan]

You forgot...(chuckles)....3 blocks for Frye.

Yep. The more production we can get from these guys the better. I am glad Gentry is sticking with Lopez. If he can start to produce 10 and 6 or so, even eventually coming off the bench, that is huge. A center that produces 10 and 6 can bring back alot in trade too.

BTW, anyone notice that Amare is a league leader in blocks this year?

 

[jagu]

BTW, anyone notice that Amare is a league leader in blocks this year?

Yeap, he is trying a lot harder to block shots this year than past, especially against guards who are driving for layups. He comes up from behind the primary defender and rejects them.

 

[Chaplin]

Yeap, he is trying a lot harder to block shots this year than past, especially against guards who are driving for layups. He comes up from behind the primary defender and rejects them.

Come on. He's always been a good shot blocker. In fact, that's the only defensive attribute he's ever been good at.

 

[jagu]

Come on. He's always been a good shot blocker. In fact, that's the only defensive attribute he's ever been good at.

I didn't say he was bad at it? I remember back before the injury, he used to fly higher to get those blocks. I didn't think he was as aggressive last year in blocking shots compared to this year. This is from mere observation, I don't know the numbers.

 

[Chaplin]

I remember in almost all our discussions about how poor Amare was at defense, someone would always post: "Well, at least he's a good shot blocker."

 

[Cheesebeef]

man, if this team still had amare... they'd be legit contenders with a legit big man next to him.

 

[Covert Rain]

Gortat is looking better all the time. By the way He has also thrown down the gauntlet to the Suns. He said that he is confident the team will eventually start him. The ball is in the Suns court now in terms of not pissing him off.

 

[joshstmarie]

Its funny to see how suns fans flip flop so fast. Pretty sure the gortat trade was a bust a couple of weeks ago.

And I just dont get the channing frye hate. Dude has had 7 games of 3+ blocks and 17 multi block games.

 

[desertdawg]

Its funny to see how suns fans flip flop so fast. Pretty sure the gortat trade was a bust a couple of weeks ago.

And I just dont get the channing frye hate. Dude has had 7 games of 3+ blocks and 17 multi block games.

LOL I was crackin on the Polish layup too. He couldn't make a layup there for a minute, and we had never witnessed the Hammer dunk and all of its awesomeness. Carter was brought just to help seal the deal (IMO) and is playing very well for the Suns. Trade does look a lot better now.

As far as Frye goes, folks will probably always flip flop on him because his game is usually really good or really bad. Frye is a local guy too, when he is hot he can throw daggers.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Its funny to see how suns fans flip flop so fast. Pretty sure the gortat trade was a bust a couple of weeks ago.

And I just dont get the channing frye hate. Dude has had 7 games of 3+ blocks and 17 multi block games.

I think most posters were disgusted with the status and chemistry of the team. I doubt many at all would have wanted to undo that trade.

The gripes would have been the failure to resign Amare. Probably the failure to resign Amundson. But the big gripe would have been the panic signings last summer of Childress and Warrick. Childress is still a problem. We are paying him way too much to be a deep bench player.

 

[Covert Rain]

I think most posters were disgusted with the status and chemistry of the team. I doubt many at all would have wanted to undo that trade.

Exactly. I think most people were being patient with Gortat. There were some a few detractors but I didn't see a mass # of people hating on Gortat. My entire thing since the trade was give him the same opportunity to start that crappy Lopez has been given to see what he can do. It just so happens Gortat has managed somehow to improve even without starting.

This guy has never started and never been given the opportunity to be a teams main center. You have to give him time to develop and I am a bit surprised at the strides he has made over the last couple weeks.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Its funny to see how suns fans flip flop so fast. Pretty sure the gortat trade was a bust a couple of weeks ago.

And I just dont get the channing frye hate. Dude has had 7 games of 3+ blocks and 17 multi block games.

Not by me it wasn't. I've liked that trade from the moment I heard the details. Granted, I like it a lot better now after Gortat is showing real promise but I was thrilled just to be able to unload Hedo without paying too much of a premium. The only thing I'm flipping on is that for the first time in a while I see some hope for this group.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

Not by me it wasn't. I've liked that trade from the moment I heard the details. Granted, I like it a lot better now after Gortat is showing real promise but I was thrilled just to be able to unload Hedo without paying too much of a premium. The only thing I'm flipping on is that for the first time in a while I see some hope for this group.

Steve

+1

Now the next contract the Suns need to move is Childress without paying a premium. I do like Childress but I'm not sure what Sarver was thinking when he acquired him. He was significant investment without much planning.

 

[jagu]

Not by me it wasn't. I've liked that trade from the moment I heard the details. Granted, I like it a lot better now after Gortat is showing real promise but I was thrilled just to be able to unload Hedo without paying too much of a premium. The only thing I'm flipping on is that for the first time in a while I see some hope for this group.

Steve

This. I was happy at whatever we got back, even if it was Justin Beiber. Dumping that contract was a great move because he had BUST written all over him after watching him try to incorporate himself in the offense and defense. J-Rich was a loss but heck to get a starting caliber center with defense is a rare thing. Especially for Suns fans. This trade is a win-win no matter what.

 

[BC867]

Not by me it wasn't. I've liked that trade from the moment I heard the details. Granted, I like it a lot better now after Gortat is showing real promise but I was thrilled just to be able to unload Hedo without paying too much of a premium. The only thing I'm flipping on is that for the first time in a while I see some hope for this group.

Steve

Yup. As other posters, I was ecstatic that we would no longer tie up the Power Forward spot with an oversized Wing, forcing Frye to continue playing Center and Hill spending time at Power Forward. I even felt good that we were putting Hedo out of his misery.

Despite a slow start from Gortat, I expected that his presence would greatly help our Center and Power Forward positions.

His becoming the most consistent producer on the team (aside from Nash) so quickly is just icing on the cake.

My next moment of jubilation will be when Marcin convinces Alvin Gentry to "take down the dang fence" surrounding the starting Center position and give it to the person who deserves it. The team deserves it.

 

[Chaplin]

Yup. As other posters, I was ecstatic that we would no longer tie up the Power Forward spot with an oversized Wing, forcing Frye to continue playing Center and Hill spending time at Power Forward. I even felt good that we were putting Hedo out of his misery.

Despite a slow start from Gortat, I expected that his presence would greatly help our Center and Power Forward positions.

His becoming the most consistent producer on the team (aside from Nash) so quickly is just icing on the cake.

My next moment of jubilation will be when Marcin convinces Alvin Gentry to "take down the dang fence" surrounding the starting Center position and give it to the person who deserves it. The team deserves it.

They are winning when Gortat plays well. He doesn't have to start for us to do that. You think starting is some kind of badge of honor. It isn't. Finishing is what counts. Maybe I'll put that in my signature.

 

[Mainstreet]

They are winning when Gortat plays well. He doesn't have to start for us to do that. You think starting is some kind of badge of honor. It isn't. Finishing is what counts. Maybe I'll put that in my signature.

BC867 finally has found a big man (Gortat) he likes and he wants him starting.

What I look at, if Lopez continues to develop, the Suns will have two quality centers or a trading piece in Lopez they can use to acquire a PF/C. It is all good.

In an article by Paul Coro dated January 30th, 2011 Gortat seems to understand the situation better than some fans. See link below.

Suns center Marcin Gortat after Friday's win on teammates Robin Lopez and Nash: "Robin is a young guy and I can only imagine what he has in his head right now. He's in a tough situation. He's just got to stay positive and keep working and don't get frustrated. He's going to score and I'm going to score because of one guy (Nash). This guy is going to make a blind guy look good in basketball. There's nobody else who passes the ball better in the league right now."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...suns-zabian-dowdell-injured-goran-dragic.html

 

[sunsfan88]

At least Gortat is giving Nash credit.

But every game I watch, the more it seems like Carter does not want to be in PHX. The only guys he talks to are the ones that came in the trade with him and Dudley. Other than that he just stands there looking pissed.