Training camp scrimmage

[BC867]

After the scrimmage (which was a small sample size) I cannot see Zoran beating out Archie for minutes. Archie, with all his faults, is still a much better defender. He also can get to the rim with ease. The only area that Zoran has over Archie is outside shooting, and Zoran is not stellar in that category.

I think Zoran is this year's Christmas.

Except Zoran has a tie-in with Goran.

Christmas didn't have his New Years on the roster.

I believe this team obsession with "brothers" is going to have repercussions, which will affect the better brother negatively. Anytime you join good and mediocre, it lifts the mediocre up and drags the good down.

I will say, though, that if it happens after Goran re-signs, it might have served a purpose.

 

[Mainstreet]

That was not my experience. It was smooth for me. But yes, the volume was messed up (way quiet!). For one of the camp video interviews with EJ, the mic was off and you could barely hear what he said.

What's funny, I paused the video at halftime to take a break and when I came back, it play perfectly thereafter. I must have had a bad feed initially. I never had a problem with volume except for when it was buffering.

 

[Mainstreet]

Okay, clear proof that I don't speak the same language as most of the people here. I asked you to basically do what I did, give that number that was at the extreme range if everything went well for us this season. Not the number of wins you think we'll have or the range of wins you think we'll have but the absolute most we could have. IOW, Dragic playing a whole season like he did for two months last year instead of the fairly average player he was the rest of the year. And Plumlee playing like he did the first two months not like he did once exhaustion and injuries caught up to him. And so on.

Now, I have no problem with you saying that 50 is the absolute most we could possibly win if things went well for us. And I have no complaints about the 45 wins as the minimum number of wins we could have if we stayed healthy, it's your opinion. But giving a range of 5 games for the absolute best and absolute worst this team can do suggests you have a firm grasp of their potential. I don't feel that I have that firm of a grasp so my range is 50 to 64 and for some reason, a lot of people have a problem with that. And not even the "we disagree" kind of problem but the "you're being silly or that's ridiculous or you're a coward" kind of problem. Go figure.

Steve

I have no problem with giving a low and and high number of win projection for the Suns. The minimum of 50 wins seems realistic to me. The high end number of 64 wins sounds a bit high but I'd probably go as high as 60. It's just a range, no big deal. If I were to guess a specific number I would guess 54 wins. It's in my range.

 

[mojorizen7]

Alot of optimism up in here. No surprise. I could see this team winning 60 games too. It's geared to do that. My thing is and always will be...what can this team do in the playoffs? Play hard and overachieve. Still not impressed. This team will get beat up.

Maybe i should just fall in line and enjoy the regular season like everyone else.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I have no problem with giving a low and and high number of win projection for the Suns. The minimum of 50 wins seems realistic to me. The high end number of 64 wins sounds a bit high but I'd probably go as high as 60. It's just a range, no big deal. If I were to guess a specific number I would guess 54 wins. It's in my range.

64 sounds a bit high to me too but not by much and since we were just taking wild guesses I saw no need to quibble over a couple of games. Mid 50's is my expectation too. I might go up or down as the preseason games unfold but given our roster, it looks about right to me.

Steve

 

[SirStefan32]

Alot of optimism up in here. No surprise. I could see this team winning 60 games too. It's geared to do that. My thing is and always will be...what can this team do in the playoffs? Play hard and overachieve. Still not impressed. This team will get beat up.

Maybe i should just fall in line and enjoy the regular season like everyone else.

Honestly, I am with you, but the Suns haven't been to playoffs for so long that I will take just making playoffs.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Alot of optimism up in here. No surprise. I could see this team winning 60 games too. It's geared to do that. My thing is and always will be...what can this team do in the playoffs? Play hard and overachieve. Still not impressed. This team will get beat up.

Maybe i should just fall in line and enjoy the regular season like everyone else.

You're probably right. This team doesn't appear to have the balance to succeed in the postseason but you have to start somewhere. We could have done it the Detroit way, they're like the flip side of us. They have size, post presence, rebounding, everything we lack. They might even be a better playoff team than us right now but they'll be lucky to play .500 ball during the season. Quality guards are more abundant than quality bigs so maybe they'll get there quicker. We'll see.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

Alot of optimism up in here. No surprise. I could see this team winning 60 games too. It's geared to do that. My thing is and always will be...what can this team do in the playoffs? Play hard and overachieve. Still not impressed. This team will get beat up.

Maybe i should just fall in line and enjoy the regular season like everyone else.

Yes, drink the kool aid with us. Especially when the season hasn't started, why not be optimistic. There is enough time to be dejected if things go south.

 

[Mainstreet]

Paul Coro @paulcoro · 2h 2 hours ago

Tuesday's #Suns practice will air on NBATV starting at 11 a.m. (AZ time). @kray1 & @realgranthill33 host it in a belated G-Hill b-day party.

Unfortunately I will likely miss it.

https://twitter.com/paulcoro

 

[FutureSuperstar]

Unfortunately I will likely miss it.

https://twitter.com/paulcoro

Is this normal (practices on TV?)? I don't remember ever seeing an NBA practice live on TV ... Hopefully it's online somewhere, like on Suns.com, later on .

On the optimism in this thread - I'm loving it ... The Suns, at least from last year anyway and training camp so far, have an AMAZING culture of hard work and selfless basketball. That is unique.

One play from the scrimmage that I remember is after Len lost focus and let Plumlee drive by him, he was chewed at (or at least seemed to be) by Gerald Green and I think Tucker. IT even patted Len on the back for wrapping up Plumlee, instead of just giving him a layup ... No big deal, you say? Perhaps you think IT/Green were taking this a bit too seriously?

I think the example above shows perfectly the high expectations the Suns set for themselves - Other teams around the league in a scrimmage in front of their fans would have let a play like that slide thinking "it's no big deal" - But championship teams desire to play mistake-free basketball, no matter the environment. They always play "serious" - In practice, in the film room, in how they carry themselves - There is no such thing as "too serious" when it comes down to playing hard and being the best player you can be ...

THAT was the Suns' strength last year I felt - Just relentless focus and team play for 48 minutes a game - That starts in practice and it's all from the culture set by the coaching staff and players ... THAT is why I think 60 wins for this team is attainable - The whole is greater than the sum of the parts when the chemistry / culture of an organization is as good as it is on the Suns

 

[SirStefan32]

Is this normal (practices on TV?)? I don't remember ever seeing an NBA practice live on TV ... Hopefully it's online somewhere, like on Suns.com, later on .

On the optimism in this thread - I'm loving it ... The Suns, at least from last year anyway and training camp so far, have an AMAZING culture of hard work and selfless basketball. That is unique.

One play from the scrimmage that I remember is after Len lost focus and let Plumlee drive by him, he was chewed at (or at least seemed to be) by Gerald Green and I think Tucker. IT even patted Len on the back for wrapping up Plumlee, instead of just giving him a layup ... No big deal, you say? Perhaps you think IT/Green were taking this a bit too seriously?

I think the example above shows perfectly the high expectations the Suns set for themselves - Other teams around the league in a scrimmage in front of their fans would have let a play like that slide thinking "it's no big deal" - But championship teams desire to play mistake-free basketball, no matter the environment. They always play "serious" - In practice, in the film room, in how they carry themselves - There is no such thing as "too serious" when it comes down to playing hard and being the best player you can be ...

THAT was the Suns' strength last year I felt - Just relentless focus and team play for 48 minutes a game - That starts in practice and it's all from the culture set by the coaching staff and players ... THAT is why I think 60 wins for this team is attainable - The whole is greater than the sum of the parts when the chemistry / culture of an organization is as good as it is on the Suns

In my opinion, that's veterans doing what veterans are supposed to do when a youngster makes a mistake. Frankly, I'd like to see PJ's fire in Bledsoe and Dragic.

 

[Mainstreet]

Is this normal (practices on TV?)? I don't remember ever seeing an NBA practice live on TV ... Hopefully it's online somewhere, like on Suns.com, later on .

On the optimism in this thread - I'm loving it ... The Suns, at least from last year anyway and training camp so far, have an AMAZING culture of hard work and selfless basketball. That is unique.

One play from the scrimmage that I remember is after Len lost focus and let Plumlee drive by him, he was chewed at (or at least seemed to be) by Gerald Green and I think Tucker. IT even patted Len on the back for wrapping up Plumlee, instead of just giving him a layup ... No big deal, you say? Perhaps you think IT/Green were taking this a bit too seriously?

I think the example above shows perfectly the high expectations the Suns set for themselves - Other teams around the league in a scrimmage in front of their fans would have let a play like that slide thinking "it's no big deal" - But championship teams desire to play mistake-free basketball, no matter the environment. They always play "serious" - In practice, in the film room, in how they carry themselves - There is no such thing as "too serious" when it comes down to playing hard and being the best player you can be ...

THAT was the Suns' strength last year I felt - Just relentless focus and team play for 48 minutes a game - That starts in practice and it's all from the culture set by the coaching staff and players ... THAT is why I think 60 wins for this team is attainable - The whole is greater than the sum of the parts when the chemistry / culture of an organization is as good as it is on the Suns

The same for me. I have never seen an NBA practice televised on NBATV. I hope to catch it at the link below or perhaps later on NBATV.

I like the way the Suns focus on practice. As I'm sure you know, most of the players came in for voluntary practice.

http://www.nba.com/suns/training-camp-2014

 

[Chaplin]

The same for me. I have never seen an NBA practice televised on NBATV. I hope to catch it at the link below or perhaps later on NBATV.

I like the way the Suns focus on practice. As I'm sure you know, most of the players came in for voluntary practice.

http://www.nba.com/suns/training-camp-2014

A few years ago they did a show on NBA TV where they took one team and televised a typical day in training camp. It wasn't a traditional "practice", but pretty close.

 

[Chaz]

Zoran is likely on the roster as a favor to Goran.
He is NOT an NBA player. Even in Europe, he is not a star.

If he continues to work on his release her can be a competent NBA player. He has more physical talent than Bowen ever had for the Spurs. If he has his brothers work ethic he could be a valuable sub.

 

[Superbone]

It's called Real Training Camp. NBATV has been featuring this show for a number of years now. It's on tomorrow at 11:00 am AZ/PDT on NBATV and it lasts 2 and a half hours. I believe it's live and then they'll package a 1 hour version for repeats. I even remember watching one back in the Nash days.

Main, you don't have DVR capability?

 

[marios13]

My thoughts on this scrimmage are pretty much the same as everyone else said.

EB looked great, IT looked great, Shavlik was doing everything.
And everyone else pretty much did what they were expected to do.
Except the Dragic brothers - Goran sucked and Zoran sucked

I am pretty sure Goran was the guy on the floor who had less to prove than anyone else and why risk an injury in a scrimmage.

And what I have heard of Zoran that he is still waking up at 4 am every day because he has not adjusted his internal clock - biorhythm yet.

I am from Slovenia and I watched a lot of our national games and Zoran will be a positive factor in games if he is given the chance. He has a knack to get to the ball and if he gets on fire he is pretty much Gerald Green of course without the high flying dunks ... I am saying you should not dismiss his contributions to the team so soon.

My thoughts on the season ahead is that if they execute Hornachecks plan of being the no.1 pace team they will have over 50 wins. By the 4th quarter the other teams guards will be dying
especially if Suns guards keep the pressure on them in defense and are rotated often to keep fresh.

 

[Mainstreet]

Main, you don't have DVR capability?

Sadly I only have a DVD player and DirecTV wants me to sign a new 2 year contract to add new equipment which includes a DVR. I'm just tired of giving in to the the man.

 

[BC867]

Sadly I only have a DVD player and DirecTV wants me to sign a new 2 year contract to add new equipment which includes a DVR. I'm just tired of giving in to the the man.

And, in terms of movies, with a DVR, you are limited to what the networks are showing any particular night.

 

[AzStevenCal]

And, in terms of movies, with a DVR, you are limited to what the networks are showing any particular night.

Mis-type or am I missing your point? In my world, a DVR means I am NOT limited to what the networks are showing any particular night. Or at least it used to. Now, I have no signal, broadcast or cable/satellite so I pick my poison from the streaming services.

Steve

 

[BC867]

Mis-type or am I missing your point? In my world, a DVR means I am NOT limited to what the networks are showing any particular night. Or at least it used to. Now, I have no signal, broadcast or cable/satellite so I pick my poison from the streaming services.

Steve

When I last had DVR, we could choose to download whatever Cox Cable was showing. Not like Netflix (at the time), where we could have any movie from their vast choice over the past 70 years -- whether Rebel Without A Cause or the latest movies going to video, which I had reserved while they were still in theatres.

 

[BC867]

Thomas to Goodwin to Green alley oop

Check out this 3-man alley-oop.

Whether watching the video or reading the narrative, it is exiting.

The question is are Thomas and Goodwin and Green going to be on the floor at the same time in our two- or three-Point Guard rotation?

http://www.nba.com/suns/blog/three-man-alley-oop-highlights-suns-practice

 

[AzStevenCal]

Check out this 3-man alley-oop.

Whether watching the video or reading the narrative, it is exiting.

The question is are Thomas and Goodwin and Green going to be on the floor at the same time in our two- or three-Point Guard rotation?

http://www.nba.com/suns/blog/three-man-alley-oop-highlights-suns-practice

That's one of those plays you just hope to see in a real game, and with this group, it will probably happen. As for lineups, I suspect Jeff will try a lot of combinations the first few months.

Steve

 

[BC867]

As for lineups, I suspect Jeff will try a lot of combinations the first few months.

Steve

Timely thoughts, Steve. Here's how the Suns are presenting it.

http://www.nba.com/suns/gallery/suns-could-feature-some-most-unique-lineups-nba-history

 

[BC867]

"I don't care if it's five point guards."

Today, on AzCentral.com/Az Republic, Horny was quoted as saying, "We're going to go with the best group out there. I don't care if it's five point guards."

That is either exaggeration, a joke or close to serious.

Obviously, the reference is to offensive sets. What about defense? The five smallest guys on the team are not going to defend against two power players, two wings and a point guard on a traditional team. And no other team is going to put their five smallest guys on the court.

I hope Jeff is not turning into another Mike D'Antoni, who used to make jokes to the Press about playing defense. Jeff is already close to an SSOL offense mindset, except for rotating players in and out vs. D'Antoni's hardly using the bench.

It sounds like we are going to be the Harlem Globetrotters of the NBA. Except our opponents are not going to be the Washington Generals.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Today, on AzCentral.com/Az Republic, Horny was quoted as saying, "We're going to go with the best group out there. I don't care if it's five point guards."

That is either exaggeration, a joke or close to serious.

Obviously, the reference is to offensive sets. What about defense? The five smallest guys on the team are not going to defend against two power players, two wings and a point guard on a traditional team. And no other team is going to put their five smallest guys on the court.

I hope Jeff is not turning into another Mike D'Antoni, who used to make jokes to the Press about playing defense. Jeff is already close to an SSOL offense mindset, except for rotating players in and out vs. D'Antoni's hardly using the bench.

It sounds like we are going to be the Harlem Globetrotters of the NBA. Except our opponents are not going to be the Washington Generals.

I think it was frustration over the play of some of the guys, most notably Plumlee. But I won't be shocked to see lineups such as Bledsoe, Dragic, IT, Marcus, Markieff or Bledsoe, Dragic, IT, Green, Plumlee or or Dragic, Bledsoe, IT, Green, Markieff although the lineup I'd like to see (just once, probably) is IT, Dragic, Bledsoe, Green and Goodwin.

Steve