Update on Wednesday big man workouts

[fordronken]

http://blogs.eastvalleytribune.com/view.php?blogId=39

Big Men in town
Jerry Brown
The Suns worked out several big men Wednesday including Elton Brown, last year's NBDL rebounding champ in Colorado, former Washington Wizard Michael Ruffin and ex-Sun Zarko Cabarkapa.

All of them will return today and be joined by veteran Vitaly Potapenko, who missed his flight Wednesday. The Suns like Potapenko’s size and strength and he has a better scoring touch than Ruffin – who is a smart player and defender but doesn’t bring much offensively.

There is still a chance the Suns will stick with last year’s duo of big men and bring back Pat Burke to join Sean Marks. But whoever wins the derby, there probably won’t be much playing time to come with the prize. And if P.J. Brown decides to play and become a Sun, they will just be keeping a seat warm.

The 17th overall pick by Phoenix in the 2003 draft, Cabarkapa has had several injury problems during a disappointing career and missed all of 2006-07 with Golden State following back surgery. The Warriors didn’t bring him back and now he's hoping the team he requested to leave in 2004 will take a chance on him as a sporadic bench player.

"It just feels great to be able to play basketball again. Last season was such a tough thing," Cabarkapa said. "I would love to come back here if it's possible. I wanted a chance to show them that I'm healthy again."

 

[slinslin]

Ruffin – who is a smart player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIzDsYHZvDU

riiight

 

[Griffin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIzDsYHZvDU

riiight

I thought of the same thing when I read that.

 

[elindholm]

LOL, I had forgotten about that play! Best play of the season, hands down. I love Jefferies's body language after the shot goes down.

It's pretty sad when Cabarkapa is one of the better choices left on the table. What's his health status supposed to be, anyway?

 

[Mainstreet]

I still think Zarko if healthy has NBA talent (unlike Skita). Unfortunately after the Fortson incident his attitude waned. IMO, he took the wrong road and just kept going. I hope the Suns seriously give him another look.

 

[azirish]

I still think Zarko if healthy has NBA talent (unlike Skita). Unfortunately after the Fortson incident his attitude waned. IMO, he took the wrong road and just kept going. I hope the Suns seriously give him another look.

Zarko's problems were as much psychological as physical with the Suns. It is not clear if he was ever healthy with GS. In any case, he's just an "old" rookie from an expierence standpoint.

 

[Bufalay]

Ruffin majored in chemical engineering...engineers are stupid.

 

[BC867]

Ruffin majored in chemical engineering...engineers are stupid.

Wasn't Michael Ruffin related to David Ruffin, who shared lead singing duties with the Temptations . . . and who made a power play (unsuccessfully) to change the name of that Motown supergroup to David Ruffin and the Temptations?

And whose body was rolled out of a moving car by the mob?

Hmmm.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Wasn't Michael Ruffin related to David Ruffin, who shared lead singing duties with the Temptations . . . and who made a power play (unsuccessfully) to change the name of that Motown supergroup to David Ruffin and the Temptations?

And whose body was rolled out of a moving car by the mob?

Hmmm.

What the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Purple, because ice cream has no bones!

 

[JCSunsfan]

Zarko's problems were as much psychological as physical with the Suns. It is not clear if he was ever healthy with GS. In any case, he's just an "old" rookie from an expierence standpoint.

Zarko is a poor man's TT (really poor). Doesn't rebound well, doesn't play D well.

Doesn't do some of the things we need most.

 

[BC867]

What the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

Absolutely nothing. 'Just felt like giving a light moment to a conversation, as though we were sitting around sharing serious opinions.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

 

[devilalum]

Ruffin majored in chemical engineering...engineers are stupid.

Maybe he's just got a low basketball IQ?

 

[azirish]

Maybe he's just got a low basketball IQ?

Football scouts use a special test to determine types of intelligence. I would think it might be relevant to basketball as well.

A key to sports intelligence is the ability to process an incredible amount of information instantaneously and make the right decision. Classic IQ tests are great at measuring problem solving skills, but can actually hinder athletes by slowing reaction time:

Where am I?

Where are my teammates?

What are the defenders doing?

Who is open?

Does he have a good shot?

Am I open?

Is this a good shot for me?

Can I get the ball to a guy who can hit the shot?

Does he see me and will he be ready?

It goes on and on. Nash has two MVP's because he does it so well. How does he do on tests? I couldn't care less.

 

[elindholm]

Classic IQ tests are great at measuring problem solving skills, but can actually hinder athletes by slowing reaction time:

What? There is absolutely zero evidence that high performance on a standard IQ test is correlated with slower reaction times. It's counterintuitive even to suggest that such a relationship might exist.

 

[azirish]

What? There is absolutely zero evidence that high performance on a standard IQ test is correlated with slower reaction times. It's counterintuitive even to suggest that such a relationship might exist.

IQ measures a particular form of problem solving. Having a high IQ does not preclude having a form of superquck pattern recognition, but the skills are just radically different. IQ tests look at the ability to work out problems in step by step, analyze options, etc. and integrate the information in a solution. The difficulty is that using this skill takes time.

Some great athletes have high IQ's, but it is not their IQ skills that make them great. It is not uncommon for coaches to complain about players "thinking too much" rather than having the process become automatic. The problem is that everyone tends to use the skills they are most comfortable with and so people with high IQ's tend to depend on those skills.

 

[elindholm]

IQ measures a particular form of problem solving.

Among other things.

Having a high IQ does not preclude having a form of superquck pattern recognition, but the skills are just radically different.

I agree that they are different, but they are probably correlated.

IQ tests look at the ability to work out problems in step by step, analyze options, etc. and integrate the information in a solution. The difficulty is that using this skill takes time.

When's the last time you took an IQ test? Mensa exams don't count; those aren't IQ tests at all.

Some great athletes have high IQ's, but it is not their IQ skills that make them great.

That's true, but you could say that for any profession, for example: Some brain surgeons have high IQs, but it is not their IQ skills that make them great.

It is not uncommon for coaches to complain about players "thinking too much" rather than having the process become automatic.

Which means only that the players have not learned either how to trust their instincts or to teach themselves how to make the process automatic. High IQ is not at fault.

The problem is that everyone tends to use the skills they are most comfortable with and so people with high IQ's tend to depend on those skills.

Guess they aren't so smart then, huh? Being able to learn the skills demanded by a particular situation is a different kind of intelligence from that measured by IQ tests, surely, but it's incorrect to suggest that they are negatively correlated.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

There is zero direct relation between IQ and reaction time. Completely separate parts of the brain.

 

[Mainstreet]

There is zero direct relation between IQ and reaction time. Completely separate parts of the brain.

Perhaps your right. I'm not a student of the brain. However, I think Steve Nash is a great example of how IQ and reaction time can be combined. I think Steve anticipates the game so well that it improves his reaction time. IMO Steve sees plays developing before they happen.

 

[Errntknght]

There is zero direct relation between IQ and reaction time. Completely separate parts of the brain.

Actually recent work on the brain indicates that processing speed is correlated fairly strongly between different parts of the brain. (Also, processing can be sped up by mental exercises.) Of course, the brain doesn't have just one reaction time - it has two quite different reaction times that I'm aware of. One comes into play with truly 'instinctive' reactions to immediate threats - blinking, warding off a blow, or jumping away from a nearby snake. This is much faster than reaction time that requires processing by the higher level of the brain because a more complex kind of recognition is needed.

Sometimes you're aware of this time difference - you have the feeling that you moved to avoid something before you saw it. You didn't, of course, but in the 15 milliseconds or so the cerebral cortex was recognizing what the eyes were reporting the 'reptilian' section of the brain had you in motion.