2009 NBA Summer League round-up: Phoenix Suns
July 23rd, 2009
– Kaspars Berzins: Kaspars is a tall Latvian, but he’s not Andris Biedrins. He’s a fine outside shooter for a seven-footer, but he’s not Dirk Nowitzki. And he’s a good athlete, but he’s not Chris Andersen. Mainly, he’s a tall jump shooter who avoids contact and doesn’t play much defence. In the fine tradition of teams drafting tall foreigners in the second round despite their unsuitability for the physical NBA game, being 7’3 would probably have gotten Berzins drafted. But a mere seven-foot? Pah. – Josh Carter: Carter is a decently-sized wingman out of Texas A&M, who is primarily a jump shooter. He’s a good jump shooter at that. But he’s not a really good jump shooter. And that’s why he wasn’t drafted. (Even then, being a really good jump shooter is not a guarantee you’ll be drafted. Anthony Morrow wasn’t, after all. But it worked out all right for him in the end. If Carter gets his jump shot to that standard, he’ll have a chance as well.) – Earl Clark: I saw a lot of Louisville last year, because they played in a lot of games, because they were good. And Earl Clark is a large part of why that was. He should have been taken ahead of Terrence Williams, given that he’s younger, bigger, and won’t struggle to score as much. But he will struggle a bit; the jump shot’s not good and nor is the free throw stroke, he’s not much use off the ball at the moment, and he barely posts up. Still, a lot of this was true of Boris Diaw once, and he turned out all right. I’ll push this comparison for a while yet. – Geary Claxton: Claxton is one of those rare beasts, a 6’5 man with forward […]
Phoenix Suns: Good enough to be good, but not good enough to be good enough
January 20th, 2009
I hated the appointment of Steve Kerr as the Phoenix Suns General Manager. Hated it. I loved Steve Kerr as a player even if I did miss his best years, but I didn’t like his writing much, and he ruined my entire NBA Live 2006 experience with his insistence that Kirk Hinrich was in some way like Steve Nash. (They’re both white and keep their dribble alive when circling the baseline. Identical!) Why would a man whose take on the NBA was limited to the games he was commentating on suddenly be qualified to run an NBA franchise, short as he seemed on experience, the CBA know-how, and the depth of knowledge base that was surely required for such a position? How much can you learn about the prognosis of thousands of potential NBA basketball players worldwide when sitting alongside Marv Albert? I hated the entire idea. Similarly, I hated the Shaquille O’Neal trade when it happened. The Phoenix Suns’ style of play under Mike D’Antoni wasn’t really getting anywhere, but was the answer really to trade for a player who commits your team to a life of halfcourt play, yet who isn’t effective enough any more to build an offence around? And why would a team that had recently gifted away Rajon Rondo and Rudy Fernandez for immediate financial savings now be so willing to take on the huge contract of a declining player, committing them for the foreseeable future to the luxury tax that they had been so desperately trying to avoid? It was all the eggs in one basket, and the basket wasn’t worth it. However, as I am wont to do, I have since backtracked on both opinions. Acquiring Shaq has not affected the Suns’ ability to acquire talent, as I feared it might. No longer […]
