What Q Has to Do

[George O'Brien]

For all of our discussion of what the Suns need to do this summer to get better (better defense and another big is the main focus), I think it is easy to ignore how important it is for Q to improve his three point shooting percentage.

With the Suns having so many offensive threats, someone will be open almost every play. Often this would be Q because he was erratic with his three point shooting, which was only 35.8%. I see no reason why he can't improve that a lot.

Last summer, JJ shot 500 three pointers a day and it helped. JJ went from shooting 30.5% for three in 2003-04 to 47.8% in 2004-05. There is no reason to think that Q can't get his three point shooting over 40% considering how many open looks he gets. If he could get close to 45%, the impact would be enormous.

How much difference would it make? Last season Q shot 35.8% for 3, averaging 14.9 ppg. Same shots at 45% for three and he averages over 17 ppg. Actually, the impact could be greater because he would force teams to stretch their defenses, open other players, and giving him more chances to fake and drive the basket.

Improved three point shooting by Q would radically alter how teams try to defense the Suns. When added to already great three point shooting JJ, Nash, and JJax; the Suns could simply overwhelm any team that tries to pack the paint against them. As Amare learns to pass out of the double teams...

 

[Mainstreet]

IMO, Q needs to be willing to be a 6th man off the bench and play primarily as a SG. Also he would really give the Suns a lift coming off the bench and pose more matchup problems for the other teams in this role.

It's hard to project how this team will look next year as they really need to add some big men at the 4/5 positions and I believe at the backup PG position. Perhaps they will keep the same starting lineup, but I think Q is made for the 6th man role and Marion needs to play SF again. If the Suns were bigger inside this would also give our outside shooters better looks at the basket on offense and better size to play defense.

 

[Biclops]

One thing that Q needs to do that JJ has done so well is to shoot off the dribble

I believe it was Bill Walton who said it ( I was surprised when I acutually agreed to something he said) but Q needs to learn to take one step dribble then stop and shoot

JJ is capable of taking one dribble to make his defender open some space and take a jump shot

Q is only a spot up shooter right now but being able to to dribble and then shoot would greatly improve his overall game

Another thing... shoot alot of 3's

That is my 2cents

 

[George O'Brien]

One thing that Q needs to do that JJ has done so well is to shoot off the dribble

I believe it was Bill Walton who said it ( I was surprised when I acutually agreed to something he said) but Q needs to learn to take one step dribble then stop and shoot

JJ is capable of taking one dribble to make his defender open some space and take a jump shot

Q is only a spot up shooter right now but being able to to dribble and then shoot would greatly improve his overall game

Another thing... shoot alot of 3's

That is my 2cents

It is curious how many players have a hard time with the stop and pop mid range shot. Some of it is that they aren't taught how to do it in college. However, a strong mid range game is a huge plus and I agree Q needs to work on it.

 

[elindholm]

The only problem is, I think that if a typical NBA wingman could build up that skill from nothing just by "working on it" for a summer, everyone would do it. My guess is that it's considerably more difficult than that.

 

[Biclops]

The only problem is, I think that if a typical NBA wingman could build up that skill from nothing just by "working on it" for a summer, everyone would do it. My guess is that it's considerably more difficult than that.

I agree that it is hard to build up a new skill in one summer. But I expect some improvement since they are PROFESSIONAL nba basketball player. Considering Q is a very hard worker, I expect improvement from his game and become a much more important player for the Suns team

I also hope that Q can become more effective simply by the coaches knowing how to better utilize him. Everyone knows Q is a great post up player but has gone away from that last season to open up down low for Stoudamire. But since D'Antoni has hinted that Amare might play "point center" it might be time to allow Q to post some of the smaller player and expand his game

 

[elindholm]

But I expect some improvement since they are PROFESSIONAL nba basketball player.

You can expect it all you want, but the unfortunate reality is that it's very unusual for someone of Richardson's talent level (modest, by NBA standards) and age (25) to improve significantly between his fifth and sixth seasons.

Considering Q is a very hard worker

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but what is the evidence of this? Did he have a reputation for being a hard worker while with the Clippers? Not that I remember. I don't think he's a blow-off, but he doesn't strike me as a particularly hard worker by NBA standards.

Everyone knows Q is a great post up player

I'm not sure we know that. Richardson posted up often for the Clippers, but it bears mentioning that the Clippers were a terrible team without a lot of weapons. Is Richardson in the post a better option than Nash creating off the dribble, Stoudemire at the elbow, Johnson driving into the lane, or even Marion on the wing? I kind of doubt it.

I think Richardson is fine, and the Suns have done well to secure a decent role player on a reasonable contract. But I don't think that higher expectations for him are justified.

 

[devilalum]

Q is one of the best 5th options in the league why does he need to improve so much?

He's got his warts but his contract could be a lot worse and he does his job. Trading him probably wouldn't net any great prize in return.

One thing that might motivate him to work during the off season is his desire to start. If anybody gets bumped from the starting lignup it would be him.

 

[sunsfn]

I really think that Q has a problem dribbling the ball.

He looses it easy and does not do well at all in traffic. It seems strange at his size that he is not a better dribbler.

 

[PhxGametime]

I agree with Eric...

Johnson's difference was 1. Nash and 2. from what I remember the years prior, he had a hard time, catching and shooting - he'd always dribbled once, etc.

Q, from what I read, really worked on his jumper last summer and it's not as easy to improve your shooting PCT each year...

IMO working on what Wesley Person worked on while here, was working on putting the ball on floor a step or two, after defender flies by. I saw glimpses of it every once a while but he needs to improve on that. Late in the season and early on, we saw some penetration but some of the time, was low PCT shots.

I really like Q though and he's even showed a few tear drop's every once awhile and that would really help as well.


With Hunter likely gone, Q is going to have-to start regardless who the team Drafts or signs as FA - whoever the team gets, will replace Hunter, not a starter?

 

[George O'Brien]

I really think that Q has a problem dribbling the ball.

He looses it easy and does not do well at all in traffic. It seems strange at his size that he is not a better dribbler.

I agree he does not have great handles. That puts all the more on him to develop more consistency on his three point shot.

BTW, I think there is good reason to believe Q will improve his three point shooting. There is nothing wrong with his stroke, he just needs to work on consistency. By contrast, I don't think all the practice in the world would ever make Shawn a consistent outside shooter due to how flat his trajectory is.

 

[Mainstreet]

I agree he does not have great handles. That puts all the more on him to develop more consistency on his three point shot.

BTW, I think there is good reason to believe Q will improve his three point shooting. There is nothing wrong with his stroke, he just needs to work on consistency. By contrast, I don't think all the practice in the world would ever make Shawn a consistent outside shooter due to how flat his trajectory is.

I don't think anything happened to Shawn's 3-point shooting or Q's except they lost confidence in trying to score inside and this carried over to their outside shooting. Shawn and Q have trouble scoring without the fastbreak and the open looks (and drives) it gives. When San Antonio shutdown Marion and Q inside, they were more effective in contesting their outside shooting. These are the same two players that helped carry the Suns all season. The Suns, however, need to be able to generate offense on the inside (not just Amare) to keep defenses honest when it becomes a half court game. The Suns also need more height on the inside on defense to rebound as evidenced by the continuous second shots the opposing teams were getting.

I really think Q would blossom even more off the bench if the Suns were able to get another inside starting player and move Q to the 6th man role. IMO Shawn needs to get back to SF. I simply don't believe the Suns matched up well with San Antonio offensively or defensively because of lack of height and an an effective bench in the half court game.

 

[George O'Brien]

I don't think anything happened to Shawn's 3-point shooting or Q's except they lost confidence in trying to score inside and this carried over to their outside shooting. Shawn and Q have trouble scoring without the fastbreak and the open looks (and drives) it gives. When San Antonio shutdown Marion and Q inside, they were more effective in contesting their outside shooting. These are the same two players that helped carry the Suns all season. The Suns, however, need to be able to generate offense on the inside (not just Amare) to keep defenses honest when it becomes a half court game. The Suns also need more height on the inside on defense to rebound as evidenced by the continuous second shots the opposing teams were getting.

I really think Q would blossom even more off the bench if the Suns were able to get another inside starting player and move Q to the 6th man role. IMO Shawn needs to get back to SF. I simply don't believe the Suns matched up well with San Antonio offensively or defensively because of lack of height and an an effective bench in the half court game.

I think the Suns throught Q would be their sixth man when they signed him. The team evolved in a different way when it became clear that they were simply much more effective with their speed lineup than with any of the bigs they had. My guess is that the Suns will try to get one or two big guys, but they will still start their small lineup in most games because very few teams can stop them.

 

[az1965]

Another thing Q needs to work on is his free throw shooting. As far as I remember, he was 1 of 2 most of the times and he didn't get too many opportunities due to staying around and shooting 3 pts.

 

[HooverDam]

Another thing Q needs to work on is his free throw shooting. As far as I remember, he was 1 of 2 most of the times and he didn't get too many opportunities due to staying around and shooting 3 pts.

You are right, he shot 63% in the playoffs. He shot about 73% during the regular season, thats not acceptable (to me) from a guy his size who is supposed to be a shooter. He needs to be in the 80s at least.

Q needs to work on: Mid range game, ball handling, free throws, 3 point consistency, and expanding his defensive game beyond taking charges.*

*Note, that sounds like Im complaining and dont like Q, but I love him. He is a hard worker and I love his heart, I think he can be a good player in this league.

 

[RJ May]

I agree with Eric...

Johnson's difference was 1. Nash and 2. from what I remember the years prior, he had a hard time, catching and shooting - he'd always dribbled once, etc.

?

I'm convinced that JJ's problem was his lack of confidence. You don't improve skills over night and this guy did that right after Marbury was traded. His shooting(midrange and 3pt) improved over a SUMMER and hopefully Q's can as well.

 

[JPlay]

I think Shawn needs to work more on his 3 point shooting.

Q needs to work on his 3 point shooting and mid-range game as well as post moves and defense.

JJ needs to work on his passing and take his defense to the next level.

Amare needs to improve that jumper to where he doesn't miss and work on passing out of the double team.

Nash needs to work on defense, fighting through screens.

 

[coloradosun]

You are right, he shot 63% in the playoffs. He shot about 73% during the regular season, thats not acceptable (to me) from a guy his size who is supposed to be a shooter. He needs to be in the 80s at least.

Q needs to work on: Mid range game, ball handling, free throws, 3 point consistency, and expanding his defensive game beyond taking charges.*

If a guy only shoots 63% and 73% respectively from the FT line, it shouts out that he is not a pure shooter. I think the way the offense was designed around talents, the SF became the 3pt shooter. If that is the case I would rather have JJ become the SF and find another guy to become the slasher at SG. In a perfect lineup Q and JJ could be interchangeable but JJ skills are superior to Q's.

Your list of things to work on are too large for an NBA player.

 

[elindholm]

If a guy only shoots 63% and 73% respectively from the FT line, it shouts out that he is not a pure shooter.

Yes, well put.

> If that is the case I would rather have JJ become the SF and find another guy to become the slasher at SG.

I'm telling you, Marion and Richardson for Bryant and Medvedenko.

> Your list of things to work on are too large for an NBA player.

Especially one who's already 25. If he were 20 or 21 it would be a different story.

 

[coloradosun]

I still like Portland as a trading partner. It sounds like Hunter is pricing himself out the Suns plans. If so

Marion and Q

for

Ratliff and Anderson and #35

Hunter signs with Portland
SAR signs with Phoenix
Phoenix drafts Petro @#21 and Diener @#35. Keep Petro in Europe for a season or two.

 

[Joe Mama]

I still like Portland as a trading partner. It sounds like Hunter is pricing himself out the Suns plans. If so

Marion and Q

for

Ratliff and Anderson and #35

Hunter signs with Portland
SAR signs with Phoenix
Phoenix drafts Petro @#21 and Diener @#35. Keep Petro in Europe for a season or two.

That might possibly be the worst Shawn Marion deal I've seen yet Yuck!

Joe

 

[Dustbuster]

I definitely agree. Q will probably marginally improve, but essentially, what you see is what you get. He may adapt more to our system, but in respect to actual strides in improvement, I think they will be marginal.

Part of the problem was that Q was always a luxury. He was never a player that actually fit a need, but was signed with essentially the same theory that the Suns often take with the draft - take the best player available at your slot. The Suns money was best spent on Q (although I would have liked to see them go after Ginobli more aggressively). He still has much more trade value than most of the big men who received bloated contracts last year. And it is obvious that starting the best five players as a concept worked well for the Suns, and may serve them well in the future as well. But Q really serves best as a sixth man, and he will become increasingly expensive for that role in the future. Most of the time there was little to no drop-off by plugging in JJax in the starting lineup when Q missed games, besides the damage to our depth. But JJax is a much more efficient scorer, a better passer, and at least a smarter defender, if not actually better.

And then the playoffs...the playoffs allowed teams to prepare better (and they were better teams to begin with), and when JJ went down it really allowed teams to key on Q, and he did not respond well. The single dimension of his game was exposed, and particularly by the Spurs, exposed badly. They were even putting TD on him to give him a break on defense.

Q does bring some nice intangibles, but some of those vanished in the playoffs (his swagger, for example). I hope that he will allow these failings to serve as a springboard to really work harder on his games and his weaknesses, but as coloradosun has ably pointed out, he needs too many things to become a complete player at this stage in his career. More things than he can actually add to his game.

The bottom line is that Q is actually a very able player for a fifth option...if he was actually playing a position we needed for us. But the combination of his flaws plus the fact that he is not actually plugging a real hole for us probably means that Q will not serve out his entire current contract with us. Will he get traded this offseason? Unlikely, unless it was a deal that we just couldn't pass up. But I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Q moved either near the deadline or during the next offseason.

 

[Chaplin]

Personally, I think most everyone on this board sells him short. He is definitely our 5th option, but he's probably the best offensive clutch player on the team.

Everyone gets down on him because of his poor playoff performance, but it WAS his first in his career, after a year with a team that actually won games--also a first in his career. It's easy to be down on the guy and place blame, but come on, most players who are considered expendable after a single year aren't even close to matching the talent of Quentin Richardson.

 

[George O'Brien]

I thought Q showed major improvement on the defensive side of the ball. He has a good ways to go, but he had a terrible reputation coming out of Clipperland.

Will Q improve his shooting percentage. I think there is a very good chance. The NBA has a long history of guys who were not very good shooters when they came up but became good later on. James Worthy for example was not much of a shooter when he first started and became very good later in his career. I suspect that the list of guys who ended up as great outside shooters who began as great shooters pales compered to ones who started as poor outside shooters and later became very good.

Obviously there is a much longer list of guys who started bad and stayed that way. For Q, his ability to remain a starter will depend heavily on his ability to hit open jumpers at a high percentage.

 

[fordronken]

Personally, I think most everyone on this board sells him short. He is definitely our 5th option, but he's probably the best offensive clutch player on the team.

Everyone gets down on him because of his poor playoff performance, but it WAS his first in his career, after a year with a team that actually won games--also a first in his career. It's easy to be down on the guy and place blame, but come on, most players who are considered expendable after a single year aren't even close to matching the talent of Quentin Richardson.

I'm sorry, but you can't call someone our most clutch player because he hit a few big shots in the regular season then vanished in the playoffs. A clutch player plays his best when it's the most important time. I would argue that Nash or Amare are more clutch, or more accurately, that by next year, Amare will likely be the most clutch on the team.