SB Nation - Alando Tucker

Preview: Kings at Suns

Ziller — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:30:14 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

THE OPPONENT

The Suns are 14-5. The only good thing about that, for Kings fans, is that the Suns were at one point 14-3, which means the Suns have lost two straight. One loss came at the hands of ... New York (guh), an embarrassing blow-out defeat in which Danilo Gallinari lashed out at the creation of MTV's new hit Jersey Shore. The other loss came at Cleveland, which is a bit more understandable. Actually, it's completely understandable. Cleveland is pretty incredible.

Steve Nash refuses to obey human physiology, and Alvin Gentry's gambit (that getting back up to speed would improve the offense more than starting Channing Frye would hurt the defense) has worked. (That will now be dubbed the Gentry Gambit, by the way. It differs from the Bonner Gambit in that the latter states that if you have a good enough defense from positions 1-4, you can play a tall shooting guard at center.)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Amare Stoudemire	19	33.8	7.2	12.5	57.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	4.8	6.4	75.4	2.1	5.0	7.1	1.1	2.9	0.6	1.2	3.5	19.2
Jason Richardson	17	31.4	6.2	12.4	50.5	2.5	5.6	44.2	1.8	2.5	72.1	0.9	4.1	5.0	1.7	0.9	0.8	0.4	2.1	16.8
Steve Nash	19	32.3	6.1	11.7	52.3	1.6	3.6	44.1	2.7	2.8	94.4	0.5	2.3	2.8	11.5	3.8	0.4	0.2	1.2	16.5
Channing Frye	19	30.1	4.6	9.9	46.8	2.7	5.7	46.8	0.9	1.2	78.3	0.8	4.9	5.8	1.4	0.8	0.8	0.8	3.4	12.9
Grant Hill	19	30.2	4.6	9.6	47.5	0.4	1.0	42.1	2.4	3.0	78.9	1.4	5.3	6.7	2.1	1.3	0.6	0.3	1.6	11.9
Leandro Barbosa	14	21.4	4.6	9.4	48.5	1.2	3.0	40.5	1.2	1.7	70.8	0.3	1.6	1.9	2.0	1.1	0.6	0.1	2.0	11.6
Jared Dudley	19	22.1	2.8	6.3	44.5	1.5	3.3	46.0	1.5	2.2	70.7	1.5	2.3	3.8	1.2	0.8	1.0	0.2	1.9	8.6
Goran Dragic	19	15.9	2.5	5.6	43.9	0.7	2.1	35.9	1.1	1.9	56.8	0.6	1.7	2.3	2.9	1.6	0.5	0.2	1.7	6.8
Louis Amundson	18	15.2	1.9	3.6	53.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.6	58.6	1.8	2.7	4.4	0.4	0.9	0.1	0.9	1.9	4.8
Alando Tucker	7	6.1	1.3	3.0	42.9	0.1	0.6	25.0	1.9	2.4	76.5	0.6	0.3	0.9	0.4	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.1	4.6
Robin Lopez	4	9.8	1.8	2.8	63.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	1.0	75.0	1.5	1.8	3.3	0.0	2.0	0.3	0.8	2.0	4.3
Earl Clark	15	10.3	1.7	3.7	45.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.5	50.0	0.6	1.1	1.7	0.5	0.7	0.3	0.4	0.5	3.6
Taylor Griffin	1	8.0	1.0	2.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0
Jarron Collins	11	7.3	0.5	0.7	62.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.8	22.2	0.5	1.5	2.0	0.1	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.2	1.1

The Suns are a bad rebounding team (13th on offense, 30th on defense) so feast away, Mssrs. Jason Thompson and Jon Brockman! The real battles are at ... well, hold on.

THE KEY BATTLE

I think that, assuming at some point Paul Westphal wants to bring Beno Udrih back into the starting unit as he did to open the second half of the Pacers game, this is not the right game to do it. We know factually that Beno can't guard Nash. We assume Tyreke Evans will also have problems, but the chance Evans can slow Nash a bit (plus make him work hard on the other end) plus the idea that Donte Greene will cause more problems on defense for Jason Richardson than Evans would, and ... I think you go Evans/Greene again. The issue would be whether Westphal wants to keep up with Phoenix (score every time they do) or to slow them down enough to keep pace (spend energy defending, hope you make enough shots). Ideally, both. But this is a real world, you know? As such,

Guards vs. Guards.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

I have no idea whether any current Phoenix residents actually lived there during Westphal's tenure. But if so, this is like ... Dick Motta returning, right? How would I react if Dick Motta got hired by the Grizzlies and came to ARCO? Hmm. I hope I don't spend the first quarter ignoring the game while pondering this.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Florida's white helmet-white uni motif is worse than the Kings' short-lived gold lamé kits.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Suns by 5.

DETAILS

This will be a 6PM Pacific tip. Game thread at 6, post-game thread at 8:45. Recap under the sea.

Game Preview - Phoenix Suns vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Mike Lisboa — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:11:43 -0000

Amar'e Stoudemire must start AND FINISH with his gorilla game for the Suns to have a chance in Cleveland tonight. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Hopefully the Suns can make like Alando Tucker and wash the icky residue of last night's loss to the Knicks off their hands before mixing it up with the Cavaliers in Cleveland tonight.

The Suns head into Cleveland 2-1 with a chance at salvaging a winning record on this eastern road swing before coming home to face the Kings on Saturday. Last night the Suns came out flat on both ends of the court and despite rallying to get within 6, never recovered offensively or defensively.

So, which Suns team will show up tonight? The 14-3 power rankings darlings or that group of zombies that took the court in New York last night.

The Cavaliers come into tonight's game riding a 4 game winning streak, including a 16-point thumping of the Mavericks on Saturday. That's right: Saturday. In addition to being at home, Lebron and company have 3 days of rest. For their part, after taking most of yesterday's game off, the Suns should be plenty rested as well *rimshot*.

Match-ups

Guards

At the point, we have Steve Nash going up against Mo Williams. On paper, this would seem to be a clear advantage for the Suns, but last season Mo torched the Suns for 30 points in their meeting in Phoenix and 44 in Cleveland (Nash missed this game with an injury). Off the bench, it's Daniel Gibson vs. Goran Dragic. While Boobie is capable of getting hot, in 8 games this year, he's only averaging 6.8 point per game. If Dragic can bounce back from a terrible performance in New York, they should basically cancel each other out.

I thought it was the 30-somethings that were supposed to struggle with back-to-backs? Jason Richardson has been a key ingredient to the Suns potent offense this year, averaging 17.4 points per game, good for 2nd on the team behind Amare Stoudemire. However on the 2nd night of back-to-backs, all of J-Rich's offensive numbers have taken a hit: -7.7% on FG%, -4.9% on 3PT%, -32.1% on FT% (yipes!), and -6.1 PPG. There's no reason he shouldn't reverse that trend against Anthony Parker (and you thought the Suns had cornered the market on lesser siblings! He has to play in the shadow of his sister Candace.) and he'll have to if the Suns want to win this one.

Off the bench at the 2, it will be interesting to see who the Suns go with in Barbosa's absence. After pouring it in (14 points on 4-7 shooting), Alando Tucker may have earned some increased minutes. Equally mysterious is who the Cavs will bring off their bench behind Parker. After seeing limited use thus far this season due to personal and health reasons, Delonte West played a season-high 29 minutes against the Mavs, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 boards.

Forwards

Grant Hill will have his hands full with LeBron James. If he and Jared Dudley can combine to keep LBJ around his averages, the Suns will probably consider that a success. I don't think anyone has any illusions of stopping him.

Off the bench, Jamario Moon is something of a Matrix-Lite, so he and Jared Dudley will engage in some kind of sideshow hustle competition.

At power forward, the Suns have what should be their clearest advantage, offensively at least. Amare Stoudemire needs to bring his vaunted Gorilla Game to exploit Cleveland's tandem of Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson. If he can stay out of foul trouble, look for Amare to log heavy minutes and heap piles of offensive abuse on the Cavs while not having to worry too much about being challenged on the other end. Except for rebounds.

Center

Here's where line-up and strategy will come into some serious play. It's entirely possible the Cavs elect to send Varejao and Hickson out on Frye at the perimeter, keeping Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the lane to defend Amare on the pick and roll. If that's the case, look for Amare to log heavy minutes and heap piles of offensive abuse on the Cavs. (See what I did there?)

Defensively, Channing Frye doesn't have the bulk to keep up with Shaq in the post and the Cavs will probably go to this mis-match early and often, much like the Lakers did with Andrew Bynum earlier in the season against the Suns.

Robin Lopez will probably get some early minutes on the defensive end to see if he can help stop the bleeding in the paint against the much larger Shaq. Robin vs. Shaq has the potential to be explosive as Robin looks to heap some punishment on the The Big Mentor who rode his Fuzzy-head pretty hard last season.

Of course, that's just wishful thinking. Shaq will destroy Robin given the chance.

Predictions

Offensively, the Suns will look to spread the floor against the Cavs using their dead-eye shooting (which hopefully they bring with them tonight) to exploit the lack of speed of the Cavs big men. If his shot his falling, Channing Frye could have a career night. Similarly, if the Cavaliers lumbering bigs stay at home on Stoudemire, he and Nash should have a field day running the pick and roll till the cows come home.

Defensively, the Suns will have to find a way to limit Cleveland's opportunities in the paint AND contain the speedy Williams AND contain LeBron James. If the Lopez and Frye struggle with Shaq, look for Jarron Collins to come in and provide 6 additional fouls against O'Neal. I'm pretty sure Robin will use his up fairly quickly.

In a perfect world, the Suns draw the Cavaliers into an up-tempo shoot-out, regain their accuracy and out-run the Cavs. For their part, Cleveland and their 8th ranked defense (100.6 points per 100 possessions) will look to keep things slow as molasses (7th slowest pace in the NBA), bogging the Suns down in a half-court game. Look for them to pound it inside and run plenty of isolations for LeBron James. Like, 70 of them.

While I think the Suns will come out more focused than they did last night in New York, I don't see them winning this game. They'll keep it close in the first half, but their porous defense will be their undoing as the game wears on.

Final score 105-93, Cavs.

Suns vs Cavaliers coverage

Suns vs Cavaliers preview

Fear The Sword

Alando Tucker Trying To Staying Positive After "Lay off"

Phoenix Stan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:04:04 -0000

Phoenix Suns third year guard Alando Tucker had his fourth year option declined by the team making him a free agent at the end of this season. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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In these economic hard times we all probably know some who's been laid off. I've had to let quite a few people go over the last year and it is never easy. These decisions come down to a lot of things but in both business and basketball the bottom line is value.

It is not always about how much potential you have but how much the organization is able to utilize your talents and abilities right now - especially when resources are limited. You might be a great graphic designer but if there are two others better than you who the organization has more invested in then you could be out regardless of what you can do.

It's a numbers game and that's exactly what happened to third year Suns guard Alando Tucker this week when the team announced that it would not be picking up his fourth year option. Tucker now becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Tucker I suspect, is the last person in the world who wants anyone to feel sorry for him. He's made a lot of money and he's enjoyed his time as a Sun. Listening to him talk it is clear that he's already looking beyond his time here in Phoenix, "I love all my teammates so it will be tough in that aspect but at the same time I just have to keep getting myself better."

Tucker came into the league in 2007 as the Big Ten Player of the Year and a First Team All-American but he played the power forward for Wisconsin and is continuing to learn the guard position at the NBA level.

Suns coach Alvin Gentry said he still has progress to be made guarding players on the perimeter and getting his outside shot to be more consistent. Despite those shortcomings, Gentry speaks highly of Tucker, "His work ethic is great, no one has ever complained about that. He's just a victim of being at a position where we're loaded."

Playing behind first Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa and now Jason Richardson Tucker feels he's never gotten the opportunity to get the consistent playing time he needs to prove that he can play at the NBA level. He said it's been a mixed blessing playing in Phoenix with such great guys but his career has clearly suffered by not having more opportunity.

Alando doesn't doubt that given the chance he can be a solid NBA player, "For sure. My goal is definitely to stay in the league. That's my whole goal."

Tucker has already talked to his agent about getting work outs with teams in the coming off-season or perhaps thinking about trade opportunities to team that could use him immediately in their rotation.

For the Suns he does now have some limited value as an expiring contract. Consider a deal like this where he could be sent to Minnesota for center Oleksiy Pecherov who is under contract for next season. The Wolves are deep up front but rely on injury-prone Sasah Pavolic and rookie Wayne Ellington to play the off-guard.

At any point this season if a team has an injury to a shooting guard who is rotation player they could look at trading for Tucker knowing that they would only have to pay him for the remainder of this season. The Suns wouldn't be able to get much back but you never know.

Tucker's not thinking much about all that. Asked how he's dealing with being in a kind of NBA limbo he displayed the great attitude that's made him appreciated by Suns fans despite his limited on-court contributions, "Never stop working. Never complain. I'm working out after the games, I'm staying here extra hours so I try and get back in here at night and work on my game after practice."

That's not to say that Alando isn't a little bitter about the situation either, "Pretty much in a sense we are all puppets. We can be shoved, pushed here. You have to be ready for it. You never know. You have super stars that get pushed and traded all the time."

The reality is that a big part of this is financial. The Suns are paying Richardson and Barbosa a combined $20m this season while Tucker is making $1.8m on his rookie scale contract. This fact is not lost on Alando, "It's just so hard here because you've got guys, and you've got money situations. You've got J Rich, these guys have to play. They're getting paid to play."

It's not that Alando thinks he deserves to be getting minutes over Richardson or Barbosa but he is human and clearly this situation is painful for him. He feels that he should be playing in the NBA and he's frustrated that he's not had that chance. It's like being frustrated when the weather messes up your plans; it can be maddening but there's little you can do.

Instead of dwelling on the situation, Tucker is focused on what he can control, "It's a long season, you never know. I'm trying to get better every practice, every day and you never know what happens toward the end of the season."

The awesomeness that is Steve Nash

watdogg10 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:57:16 -0000

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Steve Nash continues to impress. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Over the past five seasons I, with many of you, have had the absolute pleasure of watching Steve Nash run the point for one of the best offensive teams in the history of the NBA. I've seen him bury teams with last second heroics (yeah, you remember the game against the Nets), carve up teams with his penetration and passing and carry this Suns organization to great heights on his weakened back.

I've witnessed his two MVP seasons and although I've heard all of the naysayers I have to say that seeing every game of those two seasons there is no doubt that he was the most valuable player in the league. In fact, one of the biggest issues for the Suns has always been that they haven't been able to get him rest because the Suns have been unable to sustain anything when he's on the bench. Don't get me wrong, there have been GAMES where the bench did their job and kept it going but for the most part when Nash went to the bench every Suns fan would hold his/her breath knowing that his break would be cut short out of necessity. In fewer words, Steve Nash has been awesome.

All this being said, I don't think I've ever fully appreciated the total awesomeness that is Steve Nash. Yes I am a long time fan of his defensive instincts...wait...did I just say defense? Yes. Nash has consistently been one of the best in the league at drawing charges on PGs drives and anyone who plays and knows the game knows how difficult this really is. Is his defense lacking? Of course. But would we have such an issue with it if he had somebody behind him willing and able to protect the rim at all costs? Honestly, I don't know. I've always enjoyed watching him shoot crazy percentages from everywhere on the court and I don't need to use any adjectives when talking about Steve Nash's passing. However, it wasn't until this past Saturday that my eyes were truly opened to just how great Stevie Wonder/Nashty/The Golden Sun really is.

Saturday started out innocently enough. I woke up around 10 (yes, I enjoy sleeping in on Saturday mornings if I'm not playing ball), played with my little girl a bit and prepared to go to the Suns open scrimmage. Long story short, a friend of mine's wife bought a cat without discussion, felt bad and then bought him season tickets to make up for it. As new season ticket owners we were treated to a free t-shirt and some snacks while we were fed the company line about Clark, Dragic and the Big Fail aka Shaq. Afterwards we were taken down courtside to watch the scrimmage and other Suns entertainment.

Jermaine and I quickly grabbed seats right at the free-throw line of the black team's (Nash, Hill, Amare, Frye, JRich, Griffin and Tucker) basket. Let me start by saying that I have never sat courtside at a game and maybe never will again so this was awesome. As the scrimmage opened you could tell that Nash was just on another level. A lot of the players were joking around, smiling and enjoying themselves but Nash was all business. Even though his team was clearly superior, Nash was not there to put on a show or play to the crowd - Nash was there to win. I don't know if it's his size or his personality or the fact that Nash is Canadian but for some reason people tend to underestimate Nash's competitive drive.

As I sat watching the action I had no idea that I was about to witness basketball perfection. One play...wait, scratch that...one pass in the middle of a play was about to show me all that I knew to be true with Steve Nash and more. It all started with an Amare rebound (yes, he does get rebounds every so often). After grabbing the board Stoudemire quickly outleted the ball to Nash and the break was on. Nash came down full speed ahead of everyone on the black team to the 3-point line directly opposite where I was sitting on the court and threw a pass without more than a quick glance that was headed right for me with only two white jerseys even in the vicinity of the ball. In that moment time slowed like a scene from the Matrix and everything became clear. As I watched the ball heading straight towards me in slow-motion, Grant Hill appeared out of nowhere and pulled the ball out of the air as if he was taking a handoff from a quarterback.

Now, I have absolutely zero idea what Grant Hill did with the ball because I sat there frozen, just watching the spot where Hill materialized trying to fully grasp what I had just witnessed. How Steve Nash knew the exact velocity/placement needed to get the ball to a player that he couldn't have seen more than a sliver of out of the corner of his eye while moving at top speed and dribbling between three defenders is beyond me. I cannot comprehend it...cannot even try to make sense of it. No human being should be able to make that pass under those circumstances and Steve Nash is one of probably four humans alive who can.

There has been a lot of talk here on Planet Orange about whether or not the Suns should have signed Steve to the extension this summer or just decided to go for broke and move away from the Steve Nash era. I'm here to plead with every Suns fan to enjoy and appreciate the fact that we get to watch Steve Nash do what Steve Nash does on a nightly basis. Steve Nash, even in his "advanced" age, is still a top 5 PG (I think he's top 3 but I'm adding two spots to cover my hometown bias) as well as one of the most clutch players/pure shooters in this league and when he is free to do his thing - i.e. doesn't have Shaq sitting on him - Steve Nash is an absolutely incredible player to watch.

As a Suns fan, you have to ask yourself, would you rather watch the team that captured the imagination of every NBA fan with the run n' gun and Steve Nash or the train wreck we all had to witness last year? Would you rather watch a team that probably isn't going to win the title but has a chance to beat any team on any given night or a team in rebuilding mode with a bunch of young guys just learning to play the game who may or may not pan out? Look what happened to the Bulls when they went into full on rebuilding mode or the Lakers when they shipped Shaq - they even had one of the best players on the planet trying to keep them afloat.

Look, don't get it twisted...if a creepy guy with half a face came to my door and told me that with the push of a button the Suns would win the title I would push it before he even finished his disclaimer saying that some stranger would die - I want to see the Suns win it all. However, for me, if winning it all isn't even an option (for the record I'm not saying that it isn't), watching Steve Nash run the most entertaining offense in basketball on a team that truly enjoys playing together for a full season would easily be the next best thing.

Personally, it took seeing a pass up close in a team scrimmage to come to grips with the awesomeness that is Steve Nash...my hope is that the rest of Planet Orange sees and appreciates it, too.

Thunder Gameday: Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder

Mr Pappagiorgio — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:56:05 -0000

So the Oklahoma City Thunder will make their 2009-10 home debut tonight in the Ford Center as they take on the Phoenix Suns. Thus far the Thunder are 0-2, with both losses coming last week on the road. All in all the Thunder have been able to take a lot of positives and negatives from each of their first two games. In reality, The Thunder probably should have won both those games as they let 4th quarter leads slip away to big runs. Tonight will be another important step in getting this team ready for the regular season, and being as its the first home game, perhaps head coach Scott Brooks has a plan to get us a win.

The starters have yet to play much more than 25 minutes in either game last week, but perhaps being the first home game, guys like Durant, Green, and Westbrook can get into the 30's (minutes) for the first time this pre-season, in an effort to not only get them a little bit closer to regular season type minutes, but to also re-energize Thunder fans as they make their way back into the Ford Center for the first time since last spring. In the process it could very well give this team a much needed win and a boost as we head closer to the regular season opener. I also apologize for not getting this up sooner and being as late as it is, we'll skip the long winded game preview that usually gets posted, and instead let you take a quick look at the roster as you're probably already about to head down to Bricktown for a little wining and dining before trotting on over to the Ford Center for tonight's game. So make the jump and take a peak. Tipoff is 7pm, and we'll have an OPEN THREAD posting 30 minutes prior as we usually do for commenting and such.

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	-	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

Phoenix Suns Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Louis Amundson	17	F	12.7.82	225	6-9	U-N-L-V
Leandro Barbosa	10	F	11.28.82	202	6-3	None
Earl Clark	55	F	1.17.88	220	6-9	Louisville
Dan Dickau	12	G	9.16.78	180	6-0	Gonzaga
Goran Dragic	2	G	5.6.86	180	6-4	None
Jared Dudley	3	F	7.10.85	225	6-7	Boston College
Channing Frye	8	C	5.17.83	245	6-11	Arizona
Taylor Griffin	32	F	3.16.89	238	6-7	Oklahoma
Grant Hill	33	F	10.5.72	225	6-8	Duke
Robin Lopez	15	C	4.1.88	255	7-0	Stanford
Steve Nash	13	G	2.7.74	178	6-3	Santa Clara
Carlos Powell	11	F	8.29.83	225	6-7	South Carolina
Emir Preldzic	-	G	6.9.87	220	6-8	Bosnia
Jason Richardson	23	G	1.20.81	225	6-6	Michigan State
Amare Stoudemire	1	F	11.16.82	249	6-10	None
Raymond Sykes	4	F	7.3.86	220	6-9	Clemson
Alando Tucker	29	G	2.11.84	205	6-6	Wisconsin

Phoenix Suns Preseason Game #1: Partizan Belgrade

Phoenix Stan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:27:50 -0000

This collection of Serbian studovic's will take on the Phoenix Suns in the team's first preseason game. via www.kkpartizan.rs

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I'm not going to lie to you. I know more about the Fort Wayne Mad Ants then I do about the team the Phoenix Suns are facing to kick off the 2009 exhibition season.

Pretty much all I can tell you about Partizan Belgrade is that Suns Coach Igor Kokoskov once played for them and their roster has the largest concentration of players who names end in "ić" (10 of 12) this side of the Croatian National Team.

That is assuming of course that this wikipedia roster of their team is up-to-date.

Since I won't be attending tonight's "ić-fest" to provide you with any locker room insight or court-side pronunciation tips, I will take this opportunity to say a few things about preseason:

If you are a player who's over the age of about 25 and have played more than about 3 years in the league what you do in preseason is pretty much meaningless
Sure, Amare needs to work himself back in shape but don't blow your orange lid if he goes 2-36 and gets dunked on by Nemanja Bešović
At least for this Suns roster there's only a couple of guys that might be worth watching in preseason and one of them already broke his foot so that leaves...
Goran Dragic. How Mr. Slovenia looks this preseason might actually give us some insight into how much he's developed this summer. I won't care so much about his points, turnovers or assists but I do want to see him play with some swagger
Earl Clark. Honestly, I kind of feel like I've seen all I need to see from Clark in Vegas. The kid's got all five tools and the question for him is can he put it together over the course of an NBA season. I am sure he's going to do some amazing things over these next few games but honestly, I don't care. I want to know how he looks in early February after the excitement has worn off and he's cashed a few of those big pay checks
Alando Tucker. Again, I think we know what Tuck can do and I fully expect him to have another great preseason. I also fully expect that it won't matter too much unless the Suns are showcasing him for a trade. He's just too deep in the depth chart right now
Lou and JD. I group these guys together because they each will have the opportunity to show us pretty much the same thing. Has Lou improved his odds of making a few throw to a ratio greater than a coin toss? Can JD stop tweeting long enough to actually hit that corner three he's been talking so much about? Will either of these guys demonstrate that they have a speed other than "balls-out"?
The goals for everyone else on the team is this. DON'T GET HURT

While I am selfishly choosing to attend my 12 year old daughter's school concert instead of going to the 1st Annual Phoenix Claššić, we will be getting exclusive photo's from the game in which you will see the Whitest Team West of Latvia vs. Your Phoenix Suns!

игра!

and btw, about 15 years ago when I lived in Germany I used to frequent a Serbian restaurant. The food was good. It had flavor which is more than I can say about German cooking. I think we all can agree that qualifies me as the staff cultural expert when it comes to all things Serbia.

Phoenix Suns Media Day: Exclusive Media Gallery

Phoenix Stan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:55:08 -0000

Suns Media Day 2009 - Images by Max Simbron

Wil is writing up a comprehensive Suns media day report as we speak. In the meantime, here's some audio to tide you over.

Steve Kerr

Coach Gentry

Amare Stoudemire

Robin Lopez

Channing Frye

Alando Tucker (mostly talking about the Mercury)

Mercury Catch Fire, Melt Silver Stars

Phoenix Stan — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:07:54 -0000

Phoenix Mercury guard Cappie Pondexter was aggressive going to the rim. In this play she scored the bucket and drew the foul. Photo by Max Simbron

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When you are an up-tempo, run and gun team as loaded as Phoenix is with talent you are going to have nights when you catch fire and the ball finds its way through the rim. Repeatedly.

The Phoenix Mercury had one of those nights but everyone from both teams that talked after the game didn't credit "hot shooting". Words like "active","energy" and "aggressor" were the common theme.

Diana Taurasi, who bounced back herself from a sub-par shooting game with 24 points on 10 of 15 shooting including 3 for 3 from three in the first quarter, said this when asked about hitting her shots, "Yeah, we could probably focus on that but in the locker room we were talking about how active and how much energy we played with on the other end."

Diana went on to talk about how playing hard was far more important then the adjustments that were made, "Playing hard erases doubt. You can play as hard as you want but if you're stupid it doesn't matter. So today we played hard with being smart. It helps."

San Antonio Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes had a similar view. He opened his post game press conference with this sentence, "I thought Phoenix did a great job coming out and being the aggressor."

The Mercury did come out aggressive and hit shots early and got to the rim. Phoenix scored an amazing 17 points in the opening 4:30 of the game. But the key stretch came with about 3 minutes left in the quarter with the game tied at 21 when Penny Taylor and DeWanna Bonner came in were able to keep the pressure on. The Mercury went on a 14-2 run to close the quarter and never looked back.

Coach Hughes talked about that stretch, "I thought that was huge right there. I thought Taurasi set a pattern early but I thought we dealt with that ok. We were hanging around kind of coming in and out and offensively getting stuff done but that 12-0 run, I thought that had a lot to do with the separation in the game."

So if playing hard and being aggressive and playing active and with energy is so important, why don't teams do it all the time? How does the Mercury not play that way in San Antonio and the Silver Stars get out worked in Phoenix. These two teams have played six times this season and the home team has won every game.

Clearly home court matters, but there's more to it than that. Something that statistics can't explain. It is this mental aspect of the game that fascinates me the most and this series so far has been a prime case study in teams playing or not playing up to their capabilities.

I might have more to say about this game tomorrow but then again, what else can you say about a game where one team shoots 75% in the first half and finished with 64% shooting and a 39 to 20 rebounding advantage.

Game over. Move on to game 3 on Monday which if classic playoff trends hold true should be a barn burner.

Here's some post game audio to tide you over:

And a bonus interview with Suns guard Alando Tucker who has attended every Mercury game since coming back to Phoenix to get ready for the season. Watching him cheer for the team it is pretty clear he's a fan. Listen to the interview to see who he compares his game to.

Alando Tucker 091909

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 09/20/09 11:48 AM MST ]

I watched the first half the game via Tivo and also checked my notes. Couple of random thoughts:

Defensively the Mercury adjusted by putting Temeka on Hammon and then did a better job forcing her into help. Diana, Penny, Bonner and Cappie all did a good job coming over the help stop Becky
Offensively, both Cappie and Diana were aggressive attacking Vicky Johnson off the dribble. Both were able to right by her at will without the help of a screen. That forced the Stars to collapse and created all kinds of open shots
The Mercury ball movement was fantastic. I think an under appreciated strength of this team is the passing from Taylor and Taurasi on the wings and Ohlde in the middle
Ann Wauters had a better game but other then her the Stars really suffer for a lack of size up front which help Bonner look so good on the glass
The Merc ran a couple sweet new plays including having Taurasi and a big switch from high to lo without the ball. The big screened Diana's defender but on both times they ran this the two Stars players both ended up following D out to the 3 pt line where she got the pass and immediately found the Merc big (Ohdle or Bonner) open in the low post for easy buckets
The Merc also did a great job running a side pick and roll with Penny and Nicole which resulted in Bonner being open on the weak side. Nicole skipped the ball to the far side and they posted DB against a smaller player. Bucket and 1. Great ball movement. You can't defend those kinds of plays
The Mercury love to try and Le'Coe involved early to keep her engaged in the game. To start the 2nd half they went to her on the 1st three trips down the floor. The first two times, Young did a great job denying the entry pass and on the third time Le'Coe was able to seal her in the middle of the lane and scored. They may have become a bit too predictable in this pattern though
The Mercury slacked off defensively in the third and played a lot more zone and SASS was able to find some seams. Bonner defensively is often out of position. Of course, so is Candace Parker. That's what young players do
I was impressed w/ Ohlde's passing during the game watching the replay even more so

The bright side of summer...

watdogg10 — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:58:01 -0000

More photos » by Laura Rauch - AP

Goran Dragic drives around Mike Taylor during their NBA Summer League basketball game at Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

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On the first day of my high school English class my teacher, Mrs. Petersen, handed out a list of "fatal errors"...should even one of these flaws show up on a paper and the highest you could score was a 'c' (which meant a lot because my high school did not have 'D's - grading went A, B, C, F). Fortunately, I had enough experience to be able to avoid making these fatal errors. I was able to build on the writing fundamentals I had learned up to that point and find the writing style that works for me. Just as in writing - and in all walks of life - in basketball, you have to build on a steady foundation of fundamentals. You can't walk before you crawl type of thing. The greatest to ever lace them up once said "You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise."

Around these parts I have become known as somewhat of a pessimist due in large part to my stance (apparently it's quite controversial) on Goran Dragic (if you're new to the site you can see what I say about him here or in my original blog at cutgorandragic.blogspot.com). People tend to forget the positive things I've said about Gentry (here), Hill (here), JRich (here) or even that I have defended Amare when others were ready to burn him at the stake (here). So for those of you that say I'm not an optimist - and that's fine, everybody is entitled to their own opinion - how's this for optimism...the Phoenix Suns will make the playoffs this season! I truly believe that this team as presently constituted (players/coach) is a playoff team that can even make a run at the NBA Finals - obviously A LOT would have to go right but hey, every championship team needs a few lucky breaks (or the assistance of David Stern) to take home the hardware. However, in the spirit of taking things one step at a time, let me start with the playoffs. Lets face it, last year's team was a mess. You had the big twit and his ego clogging up the lane, Terry Porter completely ignoring the strengths of his players and trying to turn the team into something it clearly couldn't be (for the record, I don't just blame Porter for this...I believe this was influenced by a higher authority or two), and you had a rookie backup PG who probably should've still been in Europe developing trying to play an important role on a should've been playoff team. This year, with one philosophy being preached from beginning to end and without Shaq (while some didn't like the Shaq trade because it was just about money...I loved it and believe that this is a case of addition by subtraction) these Suns will make a run at the playoffs and should be a lot more fun to watch than everything we saw last season.

Now, again taking this one step at a time, there are things that each player on the roster should be working on this summer in order to make the playoffs possible. Below is a list of each player on the known roster - Nash, Hill, JRich, Amare, Clark, Barbosa, Dragic, Lopez, Frye, Sweet Lou, Dudley and Tucker (no I'm not including Taylor Griffin as he shouldn't make the team - hell he shouldn't have even been drafted but we all know how the Suns can't resist the lesser brother of a future superstar). I am going to go through what I think each needs to be working on and some specific things that some should be doing to improve the weaknesses in their game. Now, given my (as Mike so tenderly put it) "proclivity for pointing out Goran's shortcomings" I could write this whole post just on what he needs to work on. That being said, expect his to be the longest as he is going to be the player with the highest ratio of things asked of him on the court to things he needs to improve on. Lets get to it.

Steve Nash/Grant Hill: At this point in their careers we pretty much know what we're getting with these two. The only thing they need to be doing is whatever Aaron Nelson and the Suns medical staff tell them they need to be doing. Grant just played all 82 games of the regular season for the first time in his whole career and Nash continues to age (as everyone who talks about the Phoenix Suns ever will remind you). Whatever the Suns staff does apparently works and these old men just need to continue to drink from Nelson's fountain of youth.

Jason Richardson: I believe a lot of the Suns success this coming season is going to hinge on JRich. JRich and Barbosa are the two players the Suns have that can spread the floor and kill you if you leave to help by hitting the 3 or blow by you on a hard closeout and get to the rim. JRich also has the ability to exploit mismatches by posting up against smaller guards. I would have JRich putting up 1,000+ shots/day from all different angles on the court. Have him watching video of Nash on the pre-Shaq teams and see where he likes to get to and where he likes to kick to. I would also have him work on reaction drills where he gets the ball and is forced to recognize different speeds/angles of a defender's closeout. If they are coming too hard give a good fake and either take one escape dribble for the shot or take it to the hole. If they are closing out too slow put up the quick shot. Finally, I would have him working on being more decisive in the post. Get the ball, feel your defender and react quickly. Last season when he would post he would give the defense to much time to prepare for what he was going to do. With his athletic ability he should be able to make a move quickly/efficiently and catch defenses off guard.

Earl Clark: Clark should be a starter this year. Yes, he's a rookie who will make a lot of mistakes but if there is anyone who can make a rookie wing like Clark look good it's Nash. Plus, starting Clark takes us back to the days of Amare/Marion and I believe gives us the best chance of exploiting other teams and just outrunning/scoring teams on a nightly basis. Of course, being a rookie he will have a lot to work on...the thing I think he needs to work on most? Conditioning. If he can get into the best shape of his life so that he is able to race up and down the floor for 25 minutes a night he will be effective and may even challenge for rookie of the year...Nash has that effect on people. I would also have him in the video sessions with JRich learning the offense as well as the ins and outs of playing with Nash.

For the record, I HATED that the Suns took Clark with so many quality PGs on the board, but I have officially talked myself into the kid in this system.

Amare Stoudemire: Number 1 for Amare, get healthy. He needs to make sure that his eye is on point and ready to go. Obviously he needs to work on pick and roll defense as well as his being strong when defending the post. I would recommend that he spend a lot of time watching video of Perkins and Garnett in Boston. Perkins knows how to use his strength to make opposing post players VERY uncomfortable and Garnett moves very well when defending the P&R. Amare needs to watch for the little things that make these guys successful on D. After seeing he needs to head straight to the gym (preferably he'd have the video up in the gym for reference sake) and try and incorporate those little things into his defense. I am very high on Amare this season. A) Shaq is gone and out of the lane, B) Amare wants to get paid and in order to do so he has to prove that he's healthy this season and that he is willing to play D (or just an unstoppable beast on the offensive end - preferably both). I fully expect Amare to make either first or second team All NBA this season. If he can learn what makes the Celtics so successful and impliment it even to a far lesser scale, it'll be that much easier for him.

Leandro Barbosa: LB will be involved with running the offense on the second team. He has improved every year in his ability to do so and I fully expect this improvement to continue. I would have him learn the offense from the standpoint of every other position on the floor. He already plays the 2 a lot so he has that down but he should know what the 3, 4 and 5 players are going to be doing in every scenario on every possession. This will help him see the floor that much better. I would also have him learn the art of keeping his dribble. Many times he'll start driving, get into the lane and just take off without having a clear shot or knowing where his teammates are. Nash, in this same situation will keep his dribble alive and wrap around to the near corner. If Barbosa can learn to recognize better in these situations he will cut down his turnovers and be much more effective running the offense. I would set up some reaction drills for him to practice recognizing what is happening around him and also have him watching footage of what Nash does in similar situations.

Goran Dragic: Going back to Jordan's quote on fundamentals, Jordan goes on to say that a lot of players fail in the L because they get there without ever learning the proper fundamentals. They have no foundation. For example, we have seen no shortage of promising 7'ers make it to the L only to fail because their whole lives they got by by being taller than everyone and never really developing the fundamental games to help them strive when everyone is as big or as strong as them. The biggest (most fundamental) problem with Goran is his handle. Going back to his days of making a name for himself in the Adriatic League, Goran's scouting reports said that he had good size and was able to get to the rim and had a good drive and kick game but that he had an average handle - meaning he was average even for an Adriatic League PG. Going back and watching a lot of tape to prepare myself for this post, I recognized three main flaws with Goran's handle. 1) His dribble is too high, 2) he dribbles the ball in a defensive position (I'll explain in a bit) and 3) he has a tendency to stare at the floor as he starts any aggressive move with the ball. First, the high dribble makes it so that he is slower when changing directions and more likely to get swiped by stray hands. This forces him to rely on his quick first step to drive and also forces him to dribble the ball defensively. What I mean by this is he doesn't have the ball ready to attack. Because of his high dribble he is forced to use himself as a shield. He keeps the ball back slightly ready to step between his defender and the ball at any point. Some of you may remember being taught to dribble this way and it is an effective tool - however, when you are a PG and the whole offense hinges on you being able to get to your spot you have to be ready to attack at all times. One of the reasons Dowdell was more effective at running the offense in Summer League is he keeps the ball low and in front of him and is able to push forward to get to his spots, Dragic, on the other hand, keeps it a little behind and therefore has trouble pushing through when a defender gets in his path forcing him to just back it out. This takes precious clock time and stalls the offense. So, when you hear me refer to him handling the ball like a PF, this is what I mean. PFs are told to dribble this way to protect the ball. PGs need to be able to keep it low and protect it in traffic while at the same time being able to get to their spots to start the offense. Some have argued before that Magic Johnson had a high dribble...well, Magic Johnson also had the swagger of an American street baller - something Goran does not nor will he ever possess. He has to learn how to be a fundamentally sound PG ball handler to be effective. Finally, something I noticed is that Goran's eyes immediately drop to the floor whenever he starts any aggressive move. Meaning that until he looks up towards the end of his move he has very little sense of what's going on on the rest of the floor.

Goran needs to improve his handle. He needs to be constantly doing drills that force him to handle the ball with both hands in tight spaces and keeping his head up even when he's being aggressive. He needs to be in the film sessions with LB learning the offense from every position on the floor. I would also have him watching hours of film on Tony Parker. Have him learn how to control the game while playing to your strengths. I would also have him doing reaction drills similar to JRich and Clark. Recognizing what to do with different looks that defenders will give. Finally, I would have him practice getting to his spots. He needs to be able to do what the offense requires regardless of the defense. To do this he needs to recognize how the defense is playing and if they're overplaying than he needs to punish them going back the other way. While playing in Europe Goran needs to focus on these things and try to impliment them into his game there. Test the waters, get the practice he needs because again, if you're just practicing bad habits...all you ever learn are the bad habits you had in he first place.

Robin Lopez/Channing Frye (I'm lumping them together even though most of my advice would be for Fropez): First and foremost these two need to learn the offense. They need to learn to be effective by rebounding and hitting the midrange jumper. They also need to learn to be effective in the post. I would have each of them shooting 1,000+ 15-18 footers every day. Make them shoot it faster than they would in a normal game so that they'll be able hit them at real game speed. I would also work with them on limiting the number of dribbles that they use. In Vegas, Fropez got the ball 3' from the basket in the post. He turned to face up (again from 3') took 3 dribbles towards the baseline to go up and under on the opposite side of the hoop. Were this a real NBA game he would have gotten swatted or swiped. They need to be effective using one dribble. Know what you want to do and do it. I would work with both of them at having a very effective post move/countermove and a pump fake from midrange where they could use 1 dribble either to attack or escape. Neither one of them should be (or need to be) handling the ball much more than that. I would also work with them on recognizing shot angles - as each will be probably around 8 - 15 feet out on shots - and attacking aggressively without fouling.

Lou Amundson: Look, Lou is what he is. He knows his role and what pays the bills. I would continue to have him work on free throws, midrange shots and shot angles for rebounding. Other than that, he just needs to get into the best shape of his life so that he'll be able to provide the same energy while running a lot faster and more in the high octane offense.

Jared Dudley: Dudley, like Lou, is what he is. He needs to get into the best shape of his life and I would have him in the gym shooting 1,000+ shots a day from all over the floor. I would also have him working on quickness drills that should help his lateral movement. Also, in this offense he is spread to the 3 point line a lot so I would have him running the same reaction drills as JRich as well as working on attacking angles for rebounding.

Alando Tucker: I'm not going to lie to you, Tucker was probably the hardest for me to evaluate given his lack of playing time and the fact that he only played in one summer league game. I think there is a spot for Tucker not only here but in the league. I would have him shooting the 1,000+ shots a day and running the same reaction drills as JRich and the others. But I think I would also work with him on moving without the ball and using screens effectively away from the play. Alando has the tools to be a Rip Hamilton type player and I would like to see him play that role a little bit. I would also like to see him attacking the rim more. Don't try the fancy up and unders but attack right at the defender. Work with him on absorbing contact without changing his shot midair. If he could become the Rip Hamilton type as a 3 he'll have a spot. Goran, LB and he could run an attacking backcourt for a few minutes a night that might catch some teams off guard.

You can probably tell by a lot of my suggestions that I fully expect this team to go back to the 7SoL system. I think we have the personnel to make it work and be successful. I think that we can surprise the NBA this year and establish ourselves as playoff contenders...of course, this should surprise nobody as I am, after all, an optimist.

Bucky's YouTube Series, Vol. XV

Adam Hoge — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:00:16 -0000

Thanks to BuckyNoSucky for this installment of Bucky's YouTube Series. This is a classic game winner from the 2007 basketball season when senior Kammron Taylor hit a game-winning 3-point shot with 3.9 seconds remaining on senior day.

There are three things I can remember from this game. 1) Michigan State should never have been in the game, 2) Rick Majerus was the TV analyst, which was bad, and 3) the ceremony for the seniors after the game was very well done, very emotional and Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor deserved all the praise they got that day (cue Bo Ryan reminding me that Jason Chappell was also honored that day).

Here's the video, which is from a fan's perspective in the upperdeck, so after the jump I also included the ESPN footage from the game which includes a lot more than just Kam's shot.

We want you to help us find the best Wisconsin Badgers videos out there. Post your favorite Wisconsin Badgers videos as FanShots. Later this summer we will select the Top 10 Wisconsin YouTube videos. If your video is voted No. 1, you will win a $50 gift certificate to Bucky's Locker Room.

Don't know how to post a FanShot? Check out our easy how-to guide.