SB Nation - Earl Clark

No Surprises Here, Suns Drubbed by Lakers 108-88

Wil Cantrell — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:30:33 -0000

Mr. Gentry was not in the holiday spirit Sunday night.(AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

Tonight was deemed "Mission Impossible Part 2" by a respected Suns journalist. The local commentators were hoping for a rain out (hur, hur). While there was no rain or Tom Cruise sightings at the game, winning was to be a monumental task. The "tired" Suns on the second night of a back to back didn't play a perfect game, and even if they did, they probably still would have lost to the defending champions.

There was certainly some good that came out of this game, and there of course, was some bad.

The Suns at least competed tonight. The first quarter witnessed an active Suns team, combatting a nearly flawless Lakers attack. Amare Stoudemire showed up, feeling his outside game and battling inside for rebounds. But five turnovers leading to a 9-2 Lakers run in the first 7 minutes left the Suns in an early hole.

The Lakers D held, as it did for the rest of the game, limiting any Suns inside penetration. Pau Gasol switched off on Steve Nash, thus alleviating any pick 'n roll success.

Still the Suns were making shots, ad held close. A Jared Dudley three brought the Suns back to a 2 point deficit, the Lakers still held a 29-26 first quarter lead.

The Suns battled in the second quarter as well, going on a nice little 6-0 run. Yet the Suns struggled on D, allowing Laker penetration and two wide open threes. Robin Lopez left his man too early, allowing the first, while Steve Nash went underneath a screen allowing the second. The Suns were still playing respectable and even managed a free throw, their first with 3.49 to play in the second. But this was as good as it was to get for Phoenix on this night as they ended the first half down 54-44.

The Suns were outscored by 11 in the third quarter and all was, well, finished at that point. The lakers continued to attack and get what they wanted on the offensive end while the Suns went cold from outside, and continued to have trouble getting in the lane.

The Suns second unit closed the lead to 13 midway through the 4th quarter, but back to back three pointers by Shannon Brown ended the Suns small run.

The Rest of the Good (which wasn't a whole lot)

The Suns shot 57% 1st quarter, Nash had 7 Assists (who cares, I know)
Goran Dragic had a nice little pick off of Shannon Brown, took the ball the length of the court for a layup. (It was nearly dropped. You gotta DUNK, Goran).
Robin Lopez didn't look dreadful and confused, in fact he looked serviceable. Heis aggressive at the rim and has a nice little 5-6 foot jumper. I'm hoping he can get in shape and put in 10-15 minutes eventually this season. he could be valuable against the more sizeable teams.
The Suns second unit played pretty well. Lopez, Dragic, and Dudley all played solid. Earl Clark had a nice 15 footer off the dribble.

The Rest: A Very Small Ode to the Lakers:

OK the Suns are tired and this was a back to back game on the road. We didn't expect much. But this Laker team flat plays defense. The cut off the lanes and the Suns simply couldn't penetrate to the hoop. The Lakers also rebounded and played good perimeter defense. The Suns couldn't shoot from the field, they couldn't make a three. Further, the Lakers executed their offense flawlessly. Ron Artest made threes, Kobe Bryant simply toyed with Suns defenders. Bynum was all over the glass, and Gasol confounded Amare Stoudemire. So...what in God's name were the Suns supposed to do tonight? They played the reigning champion and got trounced. I don't like it, you don't like, but that's the way the mop flops.

End of story.

Pertinent Numbers:

Suns shot 4-13 from three point land. The Lakers were 10-21.
The Suns shot 11 free throws, making 10. The Lakers shot 22-26.
The Suns had 14 turnovers, the Lakers 11.
The Suns had 37 rebounds, the Lakers 42.
The Suns had 36 points in the paint, the Lakers had 40 (maybe I missed them, but I do not recall the Suns scoring that much in the paint).
OH, AND THE LAKERS HAVE PLAYED 16 OF THEIR FIRST 19 GAMES AT HOME. (yep, I'm just a smidge bitter).

FINAL - 12.6.2009	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
Phoenix Suns	26	18	22	22	88
Los Angeles Lakers	29	25	33	21	108

Next up, @Dallas, 6.30 PM on Tuesday, 12/8

Suns vs Lakers coverage

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Silver Screen and Roll

Preview: Kings at Suns

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

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

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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.

Dealing with no hope

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:43:16 -0000

Take a good look at that picture. That's the view from the "Wolves Section" of the Scheel's store in Mankato. 4 shirts (one of them to be picked up by yours truly) surrounded by 5 Celtics shirts, 5 Lakers shirts, 5 Cavs shirts, and some Dwight Howard and Paul Pierce gear. I was out and about at 9 AM for some Black Friday craziness and I'm pretty sure I didn't miss out on the Wolves rush. What I did miss out on was the North Star rush. Check out the Stars' apparel rack:

If you look to the upper right portion of the picture you'll see that the old-school Stars logo shirts were picked through to the bone; with only smalls and XXLs still available at the same time the Wolves had XLs and Ls still available to anyone with some cash in their wallet. For those of you playing along at home, that's a fully stocked apparel stash for a team that doesn't exist compared to 4 shirts for a team that was supposed to play on ESPN tonight.

I say "tonight" because I'm writing the game wrap with 2 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter and the Wolves are flirting with a 30 point loss to the Suns on a game that was preempted for the OKC/Milwaukee tilt on national TV.

For those of you who missed out on the nationally televised game because FSN and Channel 45 didn't pick up the slack, you didn't miss anything. In fact, you may be better off not seeing what happened at the Target Center on Kurt Rambis Glasses Night. The only intrigue available to the home fans was wondering if and when Kevin Love would take off his Rambis glasses while sitting behind the Wolves' bench. Really, that's the only interesting thing about this game.

The only other interesting thing about the game was that the Suns announcing crew took shot after shot at the Wolves' front office for putting together a team that clearly can't compete at an NBA level right now. From quickies about Ricky Rubio to extended stories about how the Wolves were consistently out of position, perhaps it was a good thing that the Wolves weren't granted a national audience tonight. If they did have a spot on ESPN they may go from 4 shirts at Scheel's to 1 or 2.

Some highlights from the game: Robyn Lopez torching Al Jefferson in his first minutes of the season, Earl Clark showing all sorts of versatility, Goran Dragic getting a rebound/put-back against 2 Wolves front court players, Jonny Flynn being completely unable to run a professional offense, several mentions of the fact that the Wolves traded away 2 starters for a guy who may never play at the Target Center, and Corey Brewer missing all sorts of layups and close shots.

That's about it. There is nothing good to say about this game. There is nothing good to say about this team. Forget Brewer's effort and Ramon Sessions' ability to run something close to approaching an NBA offense, this team is unwatchable right now and I am more interested in watching the Thunder take apart the Bucks right now than I am in writing about a team that doesn't even have 5 shirts at my local sporting goods store.

We all knew this would be a bad year. We all knew there would be a pause before the flurry of using the team's considerable offseason assets. That being said, who knew it would be this bad? How can this squad, and its fans, continue at this pace? The Wolves are not even close to winning a game right now. How on earth can they use said considerable assets to put together a competitive team before they lose the increasingly obviously frustrated Al Jefferson? Love coming back will help but will it help enough to bridge the gap between the hopelessness Wolves fans currently feel right here and the now and the time where they may be competitive some time in the next...what, 2 or 3 years? This team is off of the Minny sports radar. Here in Mankato I have MSU hockey on the radio and Dr. Laura will take over when that game is finished. No one is going to the bar to watch this mess. No one is going to Scheel's to buy a shirt or a jersey (except for this guy right here). Where is this headed? What is the end game? This is unwatchable basketball. Wolves fans deserve more than this. Even the diehards. We deserve more than this. This is nonsense.

To be perfectly honest, I don't look forward to watching these games any more. I really don't look forward to writing about them. What am I supposed to write about? We all know the score right now: A complete lack of talent and a bunch of guys who don't appear to fit together. Sessions is a player. Jefferson is a player. Brewer is a player with 4 other players around him. Flynn looks like a chicken with his head cut off. Opposing announcers talking at length about how Ricky Rubio will never play here....what the hell?! Were the folks at www.firedavidkahn.com ahead of their time?

I'm sticking through this but it is increasingly becoming a chore just to pay attention to what is going on. I'm sure fellow diehards feel the same. I know they do. I get emails.

Whatever the case, the long and short of today's lesson is that I got to buy a single Wolves shirt on Black Friday and instead of finding a Wolves sweatshirt for my daughter I bought her a youth basketball for Christmas before we sat down and watched the Thunder vs. the Bucks. Forget the Wolves. I want her to be exposed to real basketball. When will we see real basketball again?

Until later.

Hope versus Expectations -- Another Poll

JSun — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:37:56 -0000

"Do not expect too much from me, and you will not be let down." I love typing, saying, humming and singing that Gin Blossoms lyric.

I'm looking around and seeing posts about Earl Clark and rivalries and Skywalker/Yoda allusions to the Lakers. I had been thinking about this and it was about time to chime in.

What would you rather have?

The Suns' fans have hope. It was a dismal (well, relatively dismal) 2008-2009 campaign and no one's expectations were buoyed by the off-season moves.

Things are fun again. Kind of like D'Antoni's first two years. The sell-outs are coming back, traffic to this site in increasing and Phoenicians are once again talking about the Suns around the water coolers in the month of November. Just as the Cardinals were posed to become relevant happy hour conversation, that other No. 13 has pushed the Suns back into beer-induced delusions of granduer on Friday afternoons.

If the 2006-2007 Suns were 11-3, we'd be talking about how they don't have the fortitude to close-out inferior teams like New Orleans. We'd be saying (which we were saying) that the Suns failed to come up big against the elite (being 1-2 against the best 3 teams they have faced). Success leads to expectations, expectations leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. Of course, if you're just happy to be there, you'll likely get zapped by blue lightning.

Now, however ... well, you're paying attention.

Poll

What would you rather have? Hope or expectations?

Hope

209 votes

Expectations

82 votes

291 votes | Poll has closed

Earl Clark Has A Lot To Learn If He Wants to Play More

Phoenix Stan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:17:30 -0000

Earl Clark is going to have to work on all aspects of his game to get more minutes on a good Suns team. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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When the Suns drafted Earl Clark with the 14th pick this summer they down-played how much impact he would have on the team this season. They talked about his potential and his size and skill set but set the bar pretty low in the all important expectations game.

So far this season Earl has earned a "Meets Lowered Expectations" rating on his interim performance review. His bosses boss Steve Kerr put it this way, "He's doing fine...I don't expect him to crack our rotation this year because we are a deep team."

Opportunity means a lot when it comes to evaluating rookies. Ty Lawson went into the Denver Nuggets as the designated backup point guard and he's performing in that role. Clark is much deeper in the Suns rotation and his numbers reflect that.

Clark has played in 10 of a possible 14 games and is averaging 10 minutes per game; but even that average is deceptive. On three occasions he played between 17 and 22 minutes; four times he played less than 5 minutes; and three times he played between 7 and 10 minutes. And of course in four games he didn't play at all. That's the picture of inconsistent usage for the young rookie.

In those appearances he's only shooting 39% and is 1-4 from the free throw line. The good news is that with more minutes his efficiency appears to increase. He's a combined 9-15 shooting in the big minutes he was able to log in the Suns blow out losses to the Lakers and Magic.

Defensively, he's done some nice things including a few memorable blocks and his adjusted rebounding rate of 8 per 36 minutes is respectable.

Despite being deep in a team's rotation some rookies are able to create their own opportunity. In the NBA if you are better than the other guy you will play so it is somewhat misleading to only blame Clark's inconsistent playing time on the Suns depth chart.

Look at Rodrigue Beaubois who has started 6 games for the Mavericks compared to no starts for JJ Barea. That's what happens when you are shooting 60% and making it impossible for the coach to keep you on the bench.

This is where Clark's need to develop his overall game comes in.

Suns Assistant Coach Igor Kokoskov often works with Clark after practice and said this about the 21 year old, "Sometimes it looks as when he's executing offensively, defensively he's going through the motions and he's kind of slow and basically he told us, 'I'm trying to first know where I'm going'."

Igor feels Clark is thinking too much and not reacting to the play. This is an indication of his need to work even harder to learn the game and Earl knows it, "I'm making a lot of mistakes but I'm not getting frustrated. I'm just trying to work through them and work hard. Just try and get better for next year."

He says that most of his mistakes are on the offensive end where he's still learning plays and where to be on the floor. It's a natural adjustment to the speed of the game and Earl seems to be accepting that he's got a ways to go.

At the same time he wants to play and is frustrated by his lack of court time, "As a rookie, it's no mistakes. Other guys they'd be able to make mistakes and they can be able to stay out there but rookies, one mistake or two you're out of the game."

Coach Gentry understands that frustration of not playing and is happy to see it, "I would be disappointed if they weren't upset." NBA players are competitive by nature and want to play but at the same time Gentry expects them to be "a good solider" see the big picture of what's best for the team.

The biggest knock on Earl in the pre-draft reviews was his work ethic and desire. Steve Kerr touched on this when I asked him about Clark's progress to date, "The biggest thing with Earl is we're just trying to teach him what it takes to be successful on a daily basis. That means the commitment, the work ethic, the intensity of the work outs."

In the long run, it is probably best that Clark is forced to earn his playing time. He's a very talented kid who can play either the small or power forward positions. Physically he's a five-tool guy with the ability to pass the ball, dribble and create, defend, shoot his high-release jumper, and finish well above the rim.

The key will be his desire to put in the work needed for him to learn the game at this level and over-come what appears to be a mediocre basketball IQ.

"Unless you learn how to apply all those skills then nothing's going to come of it. So, that's what we're trying to teach him is how he can apply his skills and how hard he has to work in order for that talent to take hold," said Kerr who is the guy responsible for drafting him to Phoenix.

For more about Earl Clark listen to this exclusive interview with him along with Gentry, Kerr and Kokoskov talking about the young man's development into an NBA-level player.

The Evolution of Jared Dudley

Wil Cantrell — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:43:59 -0000

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Jared Dudley is only getting better. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Of all the Suns I met at Media Day, Jared Dudley was the easiest one for me to talk to. Nash wasn't really available, Amare had been asked the same questions over and over again, Robin Lopez actually intimidated me, Earl Clark was too soft spoken for me to understand (and his words came from what seemed to be the ceiling of US Airways), Channing Frye was surrounded by everyone, and was talking about his honeymoon, and talking to Dan Dickau was clearly pointless.

Jared Dudley has a very engaging personality. As a young pseudo journalist, it's oftentimes difficult to think of an original question to ask a professional athlete. Of course there was much to ask Dudley. He was really trying to tweet his way to, um, something, and he had shown some serious promise last year in limited minutes for the Suns after he was tossed into the Bobcat deal that sent Raja Bell and Boris Diaw to Charlotte for Jason Richardson.

Last year in limited minutes Dudley proved to be a bench player the Suns had needed for some time. He was a guy who went to the floor for loose balls, played defense, and took pride in everything he did on the floor with the precious minutes he was allotted. The guy had heart, and all of us Suns faithful that endured a season of pain and confusion last year got a glimpse of the Junkyard Dog. We liked what we saw.

Dudley was intriguing to me, but I didn't have to ask him much, he was willing to talk and talk and talk. By the end of our two minute or so interview, I was struck by one thing he said. The Q &A went something like this:

Me: "So have you been working on your three point shot this off season? You really seemed to thrive in the Suns run and gun system late last season."

Dudley: "Hey, anything to stay in this league. I'm working on everything."

And it struck me at that point that this guy wasn't taking anything for granted. He wasn't satisfied to sit at the end of the pine just picking up an NBA paycheck, he wouldn't be satisfied to play a few years in the NBA and then move in. Jared Dudley wanted to play, make his mark, and stay in the NBA. He knew what he could bring to the table. He knew what it took to get on the floor, and he wasn't intimidated by anyone in the NBA, anyone.

The interesting thing about Jared Dudley when we look at the numbers and what the "experts" have said about him, is that it could be possible that no one, including Dudley knows how good he can be in the NBA. No, he won't be LeBron nor will he be Kobe, but what the numbers suggest is pretty interesting.

Jared Dudley played is college ball in the ACC for Boston College. Recruited from Horizon high school in San Diego, Dudley wasn't considered a blue chip recruit. He was a guy who didn't fit into one category. He wasn't considered a huge scorer or a defensive specialist. Instead, he was chunky-bodied guy with the tools to do a number of things fairly well. He led his high school teams to state championships in the final two years of his high school career. Most importantly, he was soulful winner, he was a team player, a guy you could count on to bring 110% every night. Dudley did the little things his team needed in order for them to win.

What Dudley also brought with him to Boston College was a desire to improve his game and leads his team to victory. He played in every game his freshman year at Boston College, averaging 11.9 points and 6.6 rebounds. Playing behind Craig Smith who was 6th in the ACC in scoring, Dudley helped Boston College to a tournament appearance, while finishing 19th in the ACC with 11.9 points per game. While his total body of work in 2003 wasn't incredibly impressive, what is impressive is that as a freshman, Dudley played in ever game, averaging double figures in points per game.

2003-4	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	RB	STL	BLK	AST	3PT%
JARED DUDLEY	34	34	11.9	46.5	6.6	1.3	2.8	2.8	31.6

Again in 2004-5, Dudley played in every game. He increased his averages in nearly every important statistical category, finishing 7th in ACC scoring. He lead his team to yet another tournament birth, defeating Pennsylvania before getting knocked out by Milwaukee-Wisconsin in the second round.

2004-5	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	RB	STL	BLK	AST	3PT%
JARED DUDLEY	30	36	16.5	48.8	7.5	1.6	.2	3.2	33.3

It was no surprise that Dudley played in every game in the 2005-6 season, once again leading his squad to a tournament birth. His season averages only show slight improvement, nonetheless, improvement. Dudley finished 9th in ACC average points per game.

2005-6	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	RB	STL	BLK	AST	3PT%
JARED DUDLEY	36	37.2	16.7	49.4	6.6	1.1	.3	3.2	35.1

Before Jared Dudley's senior season, he was projected as a certain NBA draft pick. He had come far from his freshman season. Every year he had improved at least 2 to 3 facets of his game. On paper this is evident, however what cannot be captured on paper may have been his best qualities. The draft analysts spoke of Dudley's intangibles, all that could not be captured in a box score:
Excellent Competitor
Tremendous heart
High basketball IQ
Intense and emotional, does whatever it takes for his team to win
Fearlessly attacks basket
Excellent court vision and awareness
Work ethic is among the best in the country

That was all well and good, but Dudley wasn't blessed with LeBron like athleticism or Kobe Bryant explosiveness. He didn't really even have an NBA position. He was too small to handle the beasts at power forward, and not quick enough to defend the small forwards. He overpowered his stronger and more athletic foes in college, but that didn't seem possible for him at the NBA level. The best reviews predicted Dudley may make it as a role player in the NBA, and others recommend he try to play in Europe.

In his senior season, Dudley established himself as an NBA 1st round pick. Here we can see the most dramatic increase in his numbers, especially, in points (19.0, 2nd in ACC), field goal percentage, rebounds, and most significantly, three point percentage. I don't know at what point in his college career he picked up the nickname, Junkyard Dog, but if that wasn't his moniker by 2006, he certainly earned it during his final season at BC. He was voted ACC Player of the Year and second team All-American.

2006-7	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	RB	STL	BLK	AST	3PT%
JARED DUDLEY	30	38.4	19.0	56.2	8.3	1.4	.3	3.0	44.3

The unheralded, soft-bodied freshman who entered Boston College in 2003 had proven vital to the success of the team. Dudley started over 100 consecutive games for Boston College. During that time he had improved his game in nearly every facet over four years. His teams at Boston College were good, they went to the NCAA Tournament every year he was there, and he had established himself as an excellent player with a high basketball IQ who possessed the intangibles that many other players with natural talent and raw athleticism do not have-heart, pride, and a gritty selflessness that would be a welcomed addition to any NBA squad.

"If you looked at him in high school, you would have never imagined that he would have risen to this level,but no one could measure the size of his heart and his desire, along with his intelligence that allowed him to play."

-Al Skinner, Jared Dudley's coach at Boston College

In 2007, the Charlotte Bobcats used their 22nd pick in the first round to draft Jared Dudley. By draft day, the experts were on to Dudley. They recognized his improvement throughout his college career. Combined with all of his qualities from the years before were some new qualities that shaped Dudley into a player ready to immediately contribute at the NBA level:
Improved perimeter shooting, with legitimate 3-point range
Basketball IQ could be the best of any player in the draft
Reads the ball very well to enable box out of his man on the boards
Body strength enables him to absorb contact and finish at the rim
Uses intensity and aggressiveness to intimidate on defensive end

Jared Dudley played in the first game of the 2007-8 season for the lowly Charlotte Bobcats, coached by Sam Vincent. But by the last game of the season, the rookie had worked hard enough and impressed his coach with his work ethic and results on the floor to become a starter.

Charlotte Bobcats

2007-8	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	RB	STL	BLK	AST	3PT%
JARE DUDLEY	73	19.0	5.8	47	2.3	.8	.1	1.1	22.0

In that last game of the season, the Bobcats beat another lowly team, the Indiana Pacers, 107-103. Dudley played 42 minutes, dropping in 19 points and 8 rebounds. Just when it appeared that Dudley was ready to establish himself as an NBA regular, Vincent was fired and Larry Brown took over as coach of the Bobcats. Dudley didn't begin the season as a starter and was shuffled in and out of the lineup, as Brown attempted to figure out what combination of players would lead to victories. On December 10, 2008, Dudley was packaged with Jason Richardson and sent to the Phoenix Sunsfor Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and Sean Singletary.
Dudley saw little court time during the Terry Porter regime, however, once Porter was jettisoned in favor of Alvin Gentry, that changed. We shell shocked Suns fans saw in Dudley what the team lacked for many years under the D'Antoni era: a relentless player capable of asserting his will on his opponent on the defensive end, a new and surprising threat from three point range, and a gutsy team player who always brought energy off the bench, consistently, night after night.

Suns/Bobcats

2008-9	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	RB	STL	BLK	AST	3PT%
JARED DUDLEY	68	17	5.5	47	3.0	.8	.1	.8	39.2

"He's a coach's dream. He plays so hard and he really is the inspiration for our second team."

-Alvin Gentry on Jared Dudley

So, what's my point? Yeah Dudley's good for the Suns. A solid NBA defender, he always comes to play, he scraps, he claws, he grinds, he grits, he barks like a dog. Thing is, Jared Dudley has improved every year at every level he's played at. If history is any indication of the 25 year-old Jared Dudley's future career path, he's only going to get better. With Grant Hill most likely retiring at the end of the season, Dudley is his likely replacement. It may just be that Dudley will be wearing a Suns uniform for years to come.

Suns

2009-10	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	RB	STL	BLK	AST	3PT%
JARED DUDLEY	10	22.4	9.7	47.3	3.8	1.3	.2	1.3	47.2

3 In the Key - Toronto Raptors Game-Day Preview vs. Suns

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:30:24 -0000

More photos » by Winslow Townson - AP

J-Rich has now experienced the full Steve Nash-effect (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

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After now securing two wins in a row, the Raptors roll into Phoenix to try and keep up with a fast-paced Suns team. Vicious D takes a look at how these two teams will stack up against each other.

I'm sure you guys have heard by now, but I've been in a Fantasy Draft with a bunch of reporters and bloggers over at PeteMarasmitch.com. When I took Chris Bosh in the first round, I was actually debating between both Bosh and Amare Stoudemire for my first pick. In the end, I went with Bosh who had bulked up, was in his contract year and was less likely to suffer any huge injury. And so far, who could be disappointed by Chris Bosh's game this year?

It's the rest of the team that has left us questioning at times.

Nevertheless, the Raptors roll into Phoenix riding a two game winning streak built on comebacks thanks to some limited effort on the defensive end. Against the Suns, they'll need a full game's worth of work, but I'm not holding my breath. These are the Phoenix Suns after all and behind Jason Richardson's newly rediscovered offense, Steve Nash's impeccable leadership, and Amare Stoudemire's athleticism and power, the Raptors will be tested even when firing on all cylinders. Heck, if past Raptors vs Suns contests are any indication, this game is in danger of working out much like the previous Memphis, Spurs, and Orlando games of this year.

That is a game with little attention to defense along with tons of high-powered scoring.

Which is why this team has to bend their trends that they've shown so far. We can talk all we want about the Raptor's defense the past two games, but the Clippers and the Bulls are hardly offensive juggernauts who have two or three options available at their disposal. The league definitely has more teams with two or three players who can get it going at any game and Phoenix has at least seven players who can score double digits for them on any given night. These are the kinds of teams that the Raptors have to get better at stopping. And to pull out a win against these high-powered Suns? The Raptors will need to focus on these keys:

1) Personal Defensive Accountability

The Raptors have yet to hold down a team like the Suns because their defense is often effective when they help and collapse on people. However, against teams like the Suns who create their offense based of finding the open man for a high percentage shot, help defense is the first step towards a Raptors loss. Defensive accountability for every player is going to be a big factor in this game. Every person has to try to defend their position without help, otherwise the Raptors will be asking for trouble.

2) Fight the Bench

The Suns have a bevy of bench talent that starts with Leandro Barbosa and ends with young players such as Earl Clark. Fast, capable of scoring at will, athletic, and with a bit of toughness int the form of Louis Amundson, the Raptors have to be careful as a Phoenix second unit can easily destroy the Raptors as well as the starters.

3) No Slow Starts

A bad start by the Raptors in this game will lead to the team getting blown out of the water. There just can be no room for that error against an elite team. Make no mistake about it, the Suns are one of the top teams of the West thanks to their change back to their free-style basketball. If the Raptors are once again caught napping at the gate, there will simply be no miracle come back. The Raptors need four quarters of effort to pull this one out.

For a take on the Suns' side of things, we turn to our weekly "Blogging with the Enemy" feature.

This week we've asked "Phoenix Stan" from the Phoenix Suns' blog, "Bright Side of the Sun" to give his take on Phoenix, and tonight's match-up:

1) RaptorsHQ: The Suns took the league by storm with their surprising start. Last season the club disappointed with Shaq Daddy slowing the once high-powered offence to a crawl. So what’s your take on this team in general? Is the return to the running game the reason for its early success or are some of Kerr’s moves, (Frye, Dudley etc) and the job Gentry is doing not getting enough pub?

Bright Side of the Sun: First it is kind of a myth that the Suns have returned to the running game. This team is playing very different from the 04-07 Suns. Those teams relied 100% on their speed and offense. They really did shoot within 7 seconds. This team is much more willing and able to work in the half court and they are definitely more focused on the defensive end and on rebounding which is also slowing things down.

Steve Nash told me recently after beating the tar out of the Hornets that as long as the team is winning and scoring he's fine with less running.

Kerr deserves a lot of credit for building the bench. Jared Dudley was a great pick up and was not a throw-in. Kerr said that he had to be included in that trade so that wasn't just luck. Amundson is another great find and Dragic is looking good so far. Mostly though there was a change in thinking from the D'Antoni days. Kerr decided the team needed to be deeper and better defensively and he went out and made that happen on the cheap.

So yes. Credit to him. But it's going to take a lot of Amundson's to make up for Shaq.

2) RHQ: Everyone’s talking about Nash being back to his old self but let’s talk about Amare. Do you think he sticks around Phoenix next year and if so, is it for max dollars?

BSOS: This is the single biggest decision facing the Suns organization. Much like Chris Bosh's situation, Amare is holding the cards here. He's made a few things clear in his many interviews on the topic. a) He likes it here and feels the Phoenix fans support him b) He wants to be somewhere competitive which is one reason he wasn't keen on being traded to the Warriors in that draft day deal for Biedrens, Curry and friends that fell through. c) He wants to get max money.

For the Suns it's just too soon to say what they will do. I don't think that right now they feel Amare is a max player and likely are skeptical about hitching the wagon to him for the next 5 or 6 years. But at the same time they aren't likely to get a star back in any trade scenario and this isn't a franchise or fan base that has the patience for a long rebuilding project. With Nash signed for a couple of years it really is a pickle. I would think best case is they extend Amare for only a couple of years so that his contract matches Nash's remaining term but that's not going to happen.

My best guess right now is that the Suns won't make a trade at the deadline and that Amare will end up not opting out and we will be right back talking about this again next season when he is in the final year of his contract. Anyone that tells you they KNOW what is going to happen though is on crack.

3) RHQ: Keys to tonight’s game; what do the Suns have to do to get the W?

BSOS: The Suns just need to do what they do. They will be well rested and displeased about getting blown out in LA. The Raptors are putting up a lot of points but I think the Suns match up well. Frye and Amare on Bargnani and Bosh at least physically aren't over-matched like with bigger centers (Howard, Bynum, Oden) and on the wings I am confident that Jason Richardson and his new found defensive focus will do just fine and I will always take my chances with Hill on Hedo.

Obviously, Nash is playing at a tremendously high level and I just want you guys not to feel too bad if he tears the Raptors apart. He's pretty much done that to everyone so far - Paul, Rondo, Chalmers, Evans, Davis, etc...

The biggest advantage for the Suns though is probably the bench. Our four guys have done a great job holding and even extending leads. Dudley and Amundson are bringing it on the defensive and hustle end and Dragic is really looking like a different player than last season. Confident and efficient. Barbosa is a bit banged up with a sore wrist but even without him the Suns are getting solid production from the reserves which is probably as big a factor in the Suns success as anything else.

A big thanks to "Phoenix Stan" for the answers and be sure to check out Bright Side of the Sun for their take on tonight's game as well.

We'll be live-blogging as usual so drop by to discuss what should be a very high-scoring and fast-paced match.

Practice Notes and...Guess Whose Birthday it is?

Wil Cantrell — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:55:46 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, left, puts up a shot as Los Angeles Clippers center Marcus Camby looks on during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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PHX Stan needed the night off so I'm giving him a birthday present by posting his thoughts and audio from practice today.

It was no surprise that Coach Gentry was happy with a W but unhappy with many aspects of the Suns' performance last night. Still a win is a win which is probably why the boys weren't running suicides at practice. Here are some of Stan's observations:

Team was very loose. More goofing around and joking today then earlier in the week
The guys had rookie Taylor Griffin showing how his hops. Literally had him stand in front of the rim on one leg and dunk and then then stand in the paint in the lane (where they stand for free throws) and dunk w/ two hands from a stand still jumping off both feet. Amare tried that same dunk a few times. He got it once and missed it three or four time. Grant Hill tried it and air balled the dunk right over the rim which caused pretty much everyone to laugh. Great stuff
Taylor G and Earl Clark were last on the floor. They were working w/ Coach Igor on post moves
Dragic is seeming to fit in better. Happier and joking more w/ his team mates. I asked him about that in the interview
I wanted to talk to Tucker about the news of his option not getting picked up but didn't get the chance. He did seem to be in a good mood - as I was talking to Dragic in the hall he walked behind Goran and made some goofy faces, etc. Good to see that he wasn't down
I asked Gentry about Amare and Frye face guarding. Answer was no. He expects them to get more boards. That's in the audio
Jared Dudley arrived back around 1am and had a car waiting at the airport. His daughter was born at 2am. He wasn't at practice.

Happy Birthday to the newest Dudley, Jaylin Aaliyah.

More Dudley's has to be a good thing...

Enjoy the audio, make sure to post a special birthday message for Stan and don't forget to guess his age!:

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/198767/Gentry_102909.mp3
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/198768/Amare_102909.mp3
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/198769/Dragic_102909.mp3

[Note by Wil Cantrell, 10/30/09 8:13 AM PDT ]

Also of note from the audio:

(At about 3 minutes): Amare "hated" taking charges in the past because they hurt, but realizes there is an "art" to it now. The key he says is getting to the spot early thereby staying away from the "knees and elbows."
Gentry noted that he was very pleased with the bench play, including Dragic and Dudley helped bring the team back. He also noted that he was happy with Clark's defensive performance but that he has to consistently make that 18 foot shot. Gentry downplayed Lopez's loss, stating, "He's not Kareem," and he shouldn't feel the pressure to play "38 minutes" when he returns. Gentry also commented on the last play of the game where he chose not to foul and let the Clips take a 3. He noted the time left (25 seconds), and that he'd rather attempt to make the defensive stop than put someone on the line.
Dragic felt confident about his performance stating, "I played great." He emphasized the importance of his confidence and that good practices equate to good performances during the game. He is having much more fun than last year, working with Dan Majerle is helping him a lot.

Phoenix Suns Season Preview (For SBN)

Wil Cantrell — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:59:51 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Bull - AP

The Suns playoff hopes may rest on Amare Stoudemire's shoulders. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

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The good foilks at SB Nation have requested a team preview contribution from BSOTS. ZONAFLASH did an awesome preview that I will not be attempting to outshine. Instead, here's the bare bones that we all have been agonizing over.

Also, be sure to check the team previews at:

http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/9/19/1037258/nba-blog-previews-2009-schedule

Team Name: Phoenix Suns

Last Year's Record: 46-36

Key Losses: Shaquille O'Neal, Matt Barnes (not really a "Key" loss)

Key Additions: Channing Frye, Earl Clark

1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?

Extended Steve Nash
Resigned Grant Hill
Signed Channing Frye
Drafted Earl Clark and Taylor Griffin
Traded Shaquille O'Neal for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic and executed buyouts with each. ($, addition by subtraction)

2. What are the team's biggest strengths?

Offense. The running mentality has been restored. There will be consistent emphasis on continuing to be a team that wants to run and score a lot of points thereby playing to its strengths.

Motivation. Amare Stoudemire is out to show that he is healthy and worthy of a maximum extension. The team acknowledges the low expectations from fans and media alike and are looking to play with a chip on their shoulder.

3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Defense. The team is undersized. Channing Frye and Amare Stoudemire will most likely act as underized 5's for the Suns until Robin Lopez returns from injury. Rebounding will be difficult with such a small team whose focus is on scoring a lot of points.

Age and Injury. Keeping Nash and Stoudemire healthy is vital to the success of this team. Nash is aging and tends to wear down over the course of a season. Hopefully Goran Dragic can turn into a dependable back up and be able to provide Nash with plenty of time to rest. Stoudemire is attempting to return from a serious eye injury. Injuries to these two players could spell doom for the 2009-10 Suns.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Getting back to being a playoff contender. The team seems happy as a whole which means a lot to a squad of guys who had to deal with plenty of on the court and off the court issues last year.

SPECIAL BONUS QUESTION!

5. Can Amare Stoudemire return from a career threatening injury and lead the Suns back to the playoffs?

Projected Finish: 48-34, 2nd Place Pacific Division, 8th seed in the playoffs.

Suns Other Preview Stories:

Part 1 - Looking Back - by Wil Cantrell
Part 2 - Assessing the Offseason - by ZonaFlash
Part 3 - The Roster - by watdogg10
Part 4 - The Competition - a PanamaSun and JSun production
Part 5-The Wrap Up by PHX Stan

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.