Thinking About Q

[George O'Brien]

Except for ColoradoSun, there isn't much support for trading Q. Most Suns fans love his toughness and he played well during the season though not so well in the playoffs. But, I think that what Q does over the summer will have big impact on how the Suns play next season.

The most important thing he should do is work on his three point shooting. JJ went from being a poor three point shooter to the league's best by shooting 500 shots a day last summer. Q needs to do the same thing. At 35.8% for three, he's not in the top 50 when it comes to percentage. Korver tied him for most made, but with 73 fewer attempts

The second big area for Q is to become a better ball handler. In particular, I think the Suns would bring back his low post game if he became adept at making interior passes and passing out of the double team.

Third, Q needs to work on his defensive footwork. He is a better defender than he was with the Clippers, but Q needs to improve a lot more for the Suns to become a serious defensive team. The Suns can afford to have Nash just play the passing lanes, but the rest of the guys have to make up for it with lock down style. This means both Amare and Q have to improve a lot.

The encouraging thing about Q is that he has a great attitude and a reputation for being a hard worker. If he focuses this summer, he could make a huge difference next season.

 

[asudevil83]

i love Q's toughness and attitude....but do not like his role on this team. over the course of the season Q became entirely 1 dimensional, whether that be on his own accord or Coach D's. he relied on his points entirely through the 3. 60% of his shots came from outside that line, and 57% of his points came from there also.

he went from a guy who used the 3 as part of an arsenal, to using a three has his ONLY shot. he's become a "chucker" in the course of summer. during his last season with the clips only 30% of his shots were threes.....now its 60%.

when he wasnt hitting his shot, he was essentially useless. he's not a great defender, so keeping him on the floor as a defensive presence isnt advantagious to us when his shot isnt falling, so the only thing he was good for while in a shooting slump is rebounding.

Q also doesnt know how to create points for himself when he isnt shooting well. he only took 182 free throws this year, averaging 2.3 per game.

granted....when he was stroking it, he was a great guy to have on the floor. he would go in stretches of being on fire.

he needs to work on adding another dimension to his offense. he needs to find what worked so well in LA and use it with the suns.....so when the 3 isnt falling he has something else to work with. only then will he be worth the contract we dished out to him.

 

[Jay Cardinal]

Q

If he had the mid-range jumper, he would be much more dificult to defend. All he needs is a quick head fake, two dribbles, and a wide open 15-20 footer. He becomes much more difficult to guard once this is established.

I'm not sure Q will ever be a great ballhanldler/distributer. I'd be happy if he can improve taking it to the hoop and finishing.

 

[azsouthendzone]

I would support trading him. Bring in someone with toughness and some defense like Artest. Q didnt even play in the playoffs so what is his worth?

 

[F-Dog]

I thought Q did a good job on his defense this year--he really turned himself into a valuable player on that end of the floor. In the Spurs series in particular, Q was the only Suns player who could guard Ginobili at all.

Q's offense is what let the team down--the only way he was helping the team all year was his three-point shooting, which deserted him at exactly the wrong time. His post-up and mid-range game turned out to be totally useless--he was too inefficient and too slow with the ball to be a worthwhile option, even to exploit mismatches.


That's what I want to see him working on this summer--improving his post game and mid-range game to the point where he can force Jason Terry or Robert Horry to guard somebody else or get off the court. I would have him posting up Barbosa for an hour every day, trying to get position to catch the ball and score quickly, and spend another hour driving for pull-up jumpers and floaters, against Amare or whatever Suns PF happened to be available...

 

[George O'Brien]

I do think Q could improve his three point stroke. JJ did it and JJ started out as a terrible three point shooter. But as for the rest, I agree that Q has to expand his game.

 

[coloradosun]

Again this is just my impression of the offense, but it is predicated on facing up your defender and Richardson does not have the best skills at taking his opponent off the dribble. Q's role this season was at the arch when all along we expected him to be effective as a post up player. When you don't even use your center as a post up option then why would you use a SG guard to do the same.

Q's ball handling will have to improve, I don't think that he has that much room for improvement from 3pt. range. He does not have the pure stroke like JJ, his shot is more mechanical.

Again I don't hate Q, I just think that there are better shooters out there if that is his role in the offense. I do think Barbosa has a chance of being a better 3pt shooter than Q, if we can just get him to spot up.

 

[Cheesebeef]

thinking about q even more - you know - Q was pretty dissappointing in the playoffs and had two just HORRENDOUS game vesus the Spurs - but just how bad was he for all 5 games of that series? In the middle 3 games, he scored 18, 13 and 14 points - all while playing somewhat adequate defense. I think people all over him because of his ghost-like performance in game 5 - but at least the guy showed some life in 3 of the 4 games, scoring above his average in one of the games and beging 1 and 2 points off his average in two others.

What exactly do people expect from Q is the question I'd like to see answered - he's not a superstar - but it seems like everyone for some reason is expecting his to play like one. He's a role player - that's pretty much it - but a good role player who hopefully will get better as he gets more playoff experience.

 

[coloradosun]

With 600 attempts from the arch, his role seems to be an outside threat.

 

[Errntknght]

I'm going to assume that D'Antoni's statement about Amare becoming a 'point' center means something. The way the team played this year Amare'd have few passing options so it follows that coach Mikey is envisioning a lot more movement off the ball. It doesn't make much sense to confine Amare to a low post position so he should be doing his passing from the high post.

I think Q fits into this kind of scheme as a cutter/slasher - he's fairly quick and he finishes pretty well at the hoop. And he his man can't drag behind and clog the middle after Q cuts through because he's a threat at long range. Happily, that's also true of JJ and Marion - our other prime candidates for cutting/slashing.

I can see Q's post up ability working out better in this kind of a scheme - he starts a cut thru then curls in the middle and posts up, naturally taking a position where Amare can pass him the ball. The normal isolation post up maneuver is easy to see coming and the defense has time to set itself up - as several people noted during the season the Suns rarely got it to work even when they had the mismatch they hoped for. Here it's an option off a standard play and is much more the quick hitting type post up that F-Dog was talking about. Work this post up right and you can do it right in the middle of the lane because you're not going to dawdle around for three seconds.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I agree Errntknight.

I think Q has a lot of value to this team, especially if the offense revolves around Amare. The best part is, if he doesn't produce next season, we can trade him easily since his contract if pretty reasonable (although I think there is a kicker in there).

 

[HooverDam]

I would support trading him. Bring in someone with toughness and some defense like Artest. Q didnt even play in the playoffs so what is his worth?

Neither did Artest

If he had the mid-range jumper, he would be much more dificult to defend. All he needs is a quick head fake, two dribbles, and a wide open 15-20 footer. He becomes much more difficult to guard once this is established.

Quoted for truth! I like Q, he desperately needs to improve his mid range game though. Also, he needs to just generally work on his D, especially since he sometimes get matched against bigger SF's.

 

[cly2tw]

People who give Q a hard time here miss one important point. Q played a completely different style back in Clipperland. As effective as the Suns offense has been this year, its use of Q is 1-dimentional.

I agree with everybody that he needs to improve his midrange game, but he is the second best around the hoop next to Amare. And one of his crossover then dunk has been part of the NBA commercial all season long.

Defensively, he is the best on the team at taking charge for offensive fouls. This means he has the defensive smart. With determination, and a bit increased strength I can imagine him becoming an Artest-kind of defensive player. He has both the athletic and the mental components for that without the headcase.

In one word, he can be a really crucial part of our team with a little more work and an expanded offensive scheme DA promised us for the next.

 

[elindholm]

All of this talk about "what Richardson needs to work on" assumes that he's still capable of improving. What is the evidence of that? If you adjust for minutes played, his numbers have been pretty much the same throughout his career. He fought nagging injuries in '02-'03, so that year was down, but his statistics this season were pretty much identical to what he put up in '03-'04, his last year with the Clippers.

I like Richardson fine, but he's 25 years old, already on his second contract, and in a comfortable role on a good team. I think this is what we get.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

He fought nagging injuries in '02-'03, so that year was down, but his statistics this season were pretty much identical to what he put up in '03-'04, his last year with the Clippers.

Of course, he has gotten his numbers in completely different ways throughout his career. First as a sub, then as a starter - then his role was completely redefined with the Suns and he still put up the same numbers.

I think that Q has a lot to improve on, and I think he will. It isn't like we are talking about him redefining himself, just adding things here and there. He is a young guy, and a strong competitor - I don't see why he wouldn't add anything.

 

[cly2tw]

Of course, he has gotten his numbers in completely different ways throughout his career. First as a sub, then as a starter - then his role was completely redefined with the Suns and he still put up the same numbers.

I think that Q has a lot to improve on, and I think he will. It isn't like we are talking about him redefining himself, just adding things here and there. He is a young guy, and a strong competitor - I don't see why he wouldn't add anything.

Exactly.

Besides, as his former coach Dunleavy said once as the live commentator of a Suns game, he wished that Q played defense for him like he was doing it in that game. With the mentality of pepping up individual stats on the Clippers' team, Q was not practising the skills best suited for a team oriented game of the Suns. But he caught up quite well for that background. That's where we set our hope for his further development along this line. He seems to be willing. Although how much midrange game he can add on is unsure, particularly he might not have many opportunities to practise it on court, but I think defensive improvement is not that difficult to achieve as long as you are willing and smart and have the physical tools.

 

[Goldfield]

I think the Suns need to use his post-up game more. He would also benefit greatly if he added a nice 18-16 foot midrange shot so he could give a pump fake from the 3 and get an easy jumper...

If he is gunna be used as a spot up 3 point shooter than there are much cheaper role players that can do that job.

He will never be a shut down defender, but he isnt a "bad" defender either. He also is the best on the team at drawing charges.

 

[elindholm]

I'm not so sure Richardson's role was "completely redefined." Yes, he took twice as many threes last year as he did in '03-'04, but even in '03-'04 he took a lot, about a third of his total attempts. His threes were about a third of his total attempts in the two years before that as well.

I didn't watch every Clippers game, but in the ones I watched, it didn't seem that he posted up much -- they have Brand, after all, and they also want to leave room for Maggette to drive. Richardson got to the free-throw line slightly more often in his last Clipper year, but it was a small difference, so that leads me to believe that he didn't spend much more time posting or driving.

And actually, our perception that Richardson was awful during the playoffs turns out to be contradicted by the numbers. His three-point accuracy was higher in every series than it was in the regular season, and his two-point accuracy was higher in every series except against Dallas, where it was only a little bit under. Particularly against the Spurs, he didn't get as many attempts and his overall involvement in the offense was down, but this isn'ta big surprise against a "good defensive team."

Maybe he'll become a much better player in the next few years and maybe he won't, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[cepstrum]

I'm not so sure Richardson's role was "completely redefined." Yes, he took twice as many threes last year as he did in '03-'04, but even in '03-'04 he took a lot, about a third of his total attempts. His threes were about a third of his total attempts in the two years before that as well.

Yes but this year his threes were 61.5% of his total attempts and he took fewer total attempts this year than last year (13.2 to 16.4). To me it seems like he is taking considerably more threes and doing considerably less of something else. I didn't watch too many clippers games so Im not sure what his role on that team was but judging from the stats his role has certainly been redifined and he has handled it pretty well.

 

[JPlay]

Q had a bad playoff run, but against San Antonio a lot of the Suns were looking bad. Everyone here is so quick to forget that he was a vital part of the Suns re-invention this year. This guy made so many clutch shots and plays throughout the season that I lost count. Not to mention that he's a great rebounder for a guard and he helped change the mentality and gave this team some great energy. I wished he would have kept shooting that three instead of losing confidence in it. He needs to keep shooting, cuz eventually he'll find his stroke.

He doesn't need to be traded, but he still needs to develop his game more. Mid range jumper, post game and defense. He's still a very young player and when he's ON, the Suns are virtually unbeatable.

 

[coloradosun]

I think the Suns need to use his post-up game more. He would also benefit greatly if he added a nice 18-16 foot midrange shot so he could give a pump fake from the 3 and get an easy jumper...

If he is gunna be used as a spot up 3 point shooter than there are much cheaper role players that can do that job.

He will never be a shut down defender, but he isnt a "bad" defender either. He also is the best on the team at drawing charges.

If he is going to matched up against the other teams SF, he is not going to be a very effective post up player.

I think that Q relies on the 3 because he is not athletic as the others in the lineup to create his own shots, and that is where others get there mid range shots. I can't remember Q ever dunking on a drive through the lane, I just don't see him as a strong finisher when he gets to the hoop either.

He is an effective defender because he is willing to take a charge, something that the other Suns are not likely to do. Again I think there are other players out there willing to do the same.

 

[Chaplin]

I think that Q relies on the 3 because he is not athletic as the others in the lineup to create his own shots, and that is where others get there mid range shots. I can't remember Q ever dunking on a drive through the lane, I just don't see him as a strong finisher when he gets to the hoop either.

Um, he did it in teh Spurs series, especially the game where he had 18 points (Game 4?).

 

[sunsfn]

The problem with Q is the money!!

Q can be a good 6th man and play tough and do very well.

The suns need another taller athlete to start, and not sure a PF from the draft is that person with the way this team wants to run. If they do draft a PF he will not be a starter and I think we need a big man to start to improve this team.

If the suns have a chance to get Hakim Warrick in this draft I think he would be Ideal for this team. No one knows at this point if Warrick will be a star or ?.
nbadraft has him at #24 now going to Houston.

If Warrick can come for the rookie minimum and produce that would be great, however, if the suns can not get him and have to find themselves someone like Swift, they will have to pay the money and be over the cap, this is why the contract that Q has puts them into a difficult situation. The money they are paying Q, along with the coming contract to JJ and Amare is going to hamper this team to improve with a free agent big man.

Of course if they are over the cap, that means MLE and that may not be enough to get the player they need to make this team any improved from last year.

I am not sure that Hunter can improve enough in one year (if he comes back) to put this team in the championship game.

The only other solution is to trade Q.

OKAY..........fire away.........

 

[Chaplin]

It is worthless placing blame on Q's contract when you can just as well come up with the same arguement about Nash and Shawn's contracts.

 

[sunsfn]

It is worthless placing blame on Q's contract when you can just as well come up with the same arguement about Nash and Shawn's contracts.

I do not think so.........Nash and Shawn are worth a "WHOLE LOT" more to this team than Q.
You can not replace Nash, and would have a hard time replacing Shawn.

I could replace Q PDQ for the same or less money.....Iguodala to start! (to late)

Probably Swift for the same money, DeMarr Johnson, Jon Barry, probably Bobby Simmons, Raja Bell had an excellent year with Utah.

I think Q is a 6th man, and those names are off the top of my head without looking at the free agents.