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Via the Suns' official twitter account comes news that big man Robin Lopez will miss 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery on a broken bone in his left foot. With a certain Diesel setting up shop in Cleveland, Lopez figured to be in the mix for the Suns' starting center gig, although that's probably bad news for Suns fans.
As John Hollinger's handy PER projections point out, Lopez figures to be a below average player this year, in large part because of his surprising struggles rebounding the ball. This might be a case of a small sample size, but last year Lopez had the worst defensive rebounding rate of all centers last year, and one of the worst offensive rebounding rates - not exactly what you want out of a hustle/defender type.
Sorry Suns fans - the long and painful decline from the Seven Seconds Or Less Era looks to continue in the desert.
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Gee
I can’t say how I see Robin Lopez’ injury contributing to the decline from the 7SOL.
Channing Frye had already been designated as the starter ahead of Lopez b/c Frye spreads the floor and puts more fire power in the rotation.
Lopez, while mobile, is the antithesis to run and gun. The Suns this season aren’t declining from the 7SOL. They are returning to it.
What losing Robin means is that the Suns will have to score even more points b/c they won’t have a defensive big to come in off the bench
Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @phoenixstan
by Seth Pollack on Oct 6, 2009 11:17 AM EDT reply actions
Frye Isn't Good Either
It was supposed to be more a statement about them relying on guys like Frye and Lopez. Frye is another below average player. He can’t rebound either. He has a decent mid-range jumper, but counting on him and Lopez as your two primary centers is a pretty dramatic decline from playing Amare or even Shaq there.
If the Suns really do go back to 7SOL, they’ll go small and play Amare at the 5, although he doesn’t like playing there. Earl Clark could possibly fill the Marion role as an undersized 4. A Nash, Barbosa, Richardson, Clark, Amare lineup would be awfully hard to guard, at least in theory. But I don’t think they’ll do that enough because they don’t want to annoy Amare – so they’ll be left playing guys like Frye and Lopez who aren’t that valuable and get rid of all the mismatches a 7SOL lineup would create.
by Matt O'Brien on Oct 6, 2009 12:32 PM EDT reply actions
Perhaps
and by no means am I saying the Suns are going to be a good team but they will be fast and w/ Frye will spread the floor which is going to open things up for Amare and Richardson
W/o Lopez of course they aren’t going to stop anybody in the paint and are going to get killed on the glass.
With Lopez they aren’t going to stop anybody in the pain and are going to get killed on the glass.
I don’t like 7SOL personally, but as long as Nash and Amare are healthy the Suns are going to put up points. Losing Lopez isn’t going to change that.
Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @phoenixstan
by Seth Pollack on Oct 6, 2009 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions
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