SB Nation User Blog: Mike Lisboa

The 9.756097561% Report

Mike Lisboa — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:09:52 -0000

(Photo by Max Simbron)

With the season now just under 10% of the way complete (stupid 82 getting in the way of my round numbers!), I figured it's as good a time as any for a little progress report. In a nutshell, I think it's pretty safe to say, "Progress has been made."

Coach Gentry has set the 25 game mark as a his point for when he'll know what he's really got with this squad and I think that's a pretty level-headed decision on his part. However, I'll be checking in every 8 games with and odd fraction in the title to let you know what I think of the team.

Now, please raise your hand if you thought the Suns were going to be 7-1 at this point in the season? You may notice my hand is down along with everyone praying to a portrait of Cotton Fitzsimmons above their mantle. This team exceeding expectations so far. But let's not get too crazy. Here's some fun fact bullet points to get you pumped/un-pumped as you see fit.

The Suns are 5-1 on the road so far! That's great! I thought this was totally awesome until I realized they haven't done that since... last season. Yup, last season's epic fail started off with the Suns winning 5 of their first 6 on the road before going 13-22 the rest of the way.
That said, I wrote back when the schedule came out that if the Suns were at or above .500 after Thursday night's game with the Lakers they should get a parade and an automatic playoff berth. Well, mission accomplished, regardless of how they do in that back-to-back.
At no point this season has any observer thought to themselves, "You know, the Suns could sure use Shaquille O'Neal right about now."
Brother, can you spare a dime? Steve Nash has a mind-boggling 103 assists over 8 games. 2 20-assist games will do that for ya. He also has a league-leading 37 turnovers, but that assist-to-turnover ratio ain't too shabby.
Between assists and scoring himself, Steve Nash has accounted for at least 352 of the Suns' 887 points. That's almost 40% of their offense. And that's assuming all those assists went for 2 instead of 3. Amazing.
The Suns are one Steve Nash injury away from the longest season in NBA history.
It's always somebody: In his first 3 games, Jason Richardson went 6-16 from 3-point range while Channing Frye when 16-20. In the last 3 games, Channing Frye has gone 7-21 from 3-point range while J-Rich has shot 16-22. Darwin likes offensive diversity.
Brother, can you spare some charity? Steve Nash cannot. He's carrying the Suns with his .926 free throw shooting percentage. Despite that, the Suns are shooting less than 70% on gimmes. And winning.
He still spooks under pressure defense, but Goran Dragic has been giving the Suns a not-embarrassing 14 minutes per game. I'd like to see him initiating more of the offense (use them hops, young man!), but I'll take it. How you feeling about your bet, Dog of Watt?
Speaking of Goran, how about that bench? With at least 4 players cracking the 14-minute mark, that's a lot of rest for our starters.
Except Amar'e. 36.9 minutes a game. Pretty good for a guy who wasn't allowed to move athletically until pretty much training camp.
Also, about Amar'e. I don't think we've even begun to see him yet this season. That 25 game mark Alvin was talking about? As smart as he's been playing, he could be downright scary by then.
Jared Dudley. Jared Freaking Dudley. If Barbosa provides a spark off the bench then Dudley provides the fire. He's like Dan Majerle before Dan Majerle discovered the 3-ball.
Which reminds me: Hustle Dan and 3-Ball Dan were never on the court at the same time. Let's hope the same doesn't hold true for 3-Ball Jared and Hustle Jared.
Again with the 25 game thing. That 25th game? San Antonio. In Phoenix. On 2 days rest. No excuses.
It totally sucks to be Robin Lopez right now. The team is deep and rolling without him. How exactly does Gentry work him into the line-up?
8 games in and the Suns and their opponents are both averaging exactly 41.8 rebounds a game. Whodathunk?
The Suns have yet to play a top 10 team from the Western Conference. There's a lot left to prove.
Best. Record. In. The. NBA. Enjoy it while you can.

So overall the Suns are doing what they're supposed to be doing: beating the teams they should beat and one or two that pose a bigger challenge. With their next two games on national television, they have an opportunity to make a big statement or alternately, get exposed as paper tigers. Here's to hoping they have a couple of big roars in them.

Men of a Certain Age: Vets Dominate in Suns 109-107 Win over Clippers

Mike Lisboa — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:09:01 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

1 game winner down, 81 to go. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Back in July, I penned a little piece of commentary on the Suns' offseason called "No Franchise For Old Men" about how the Suns shouldn't have made re-signing Steve Nash and Grant Hill a priority. Um, yeah. About that...

Grant Hill (19 points) carried the Suns early and Steve Nash buried the Clippers late (24 points, including the game-winning lay-up) to secure an opening night win in Los Angeles. Throw in Marcus Camby's Clipper-leading 23 points and it was practically "Space Cowboys" night at the Staples Center. Actually, the old guys leading the way was pretty typical for what was in almost all ways an atypical game.

For a team looking to impose their style of play on their opponents, the Suns did not do a very good job of running. 2 fast break points in the entire game is not a stat you want to see from an alleged run and gun team. The Suns looked a little lethargic out of the box and never really got running at all. Credit the Clippers with some good transition defense and the twin towers of Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman for significantly clogging the lane once they were back. They recorded several early blocks and changed shots.

Despite the inside presence of Camby and Kaman, the Suns more than held their own on the glass with edges in both total rebounds (36-35) and offensive boards (10-7) with Grant Hill leading the way with 13. (Side note: I hate "what ifs" but you have to wonder what kind of career Grant Hill, and the rest of us, were deprived of due to his injuries. If this guy is balling like this in his late 30s, what would he have done at full speed in his prime? Just freaking sad and scary to think about.)

I'm not sure if Amar'e Stoudemire was tentative or just looked tentative. On at least 3 different plays, he received the ball deep in the post. 1 year ago, those were thunderous dunks. Tonight, they were either blocks or fouls on hesitant moves to the rim. This doesn't concern me much as he's still playing his way into shape, but it's a situation worth monitoring. Hopefully, rounding into shape for Stoudemire will include improving on his 5 rebounds in 40 minutes.

If you're looking for bright spot in the Suns' game tonight, look no further than the play of the bench. The second line provided a great spark and outplayed the heck out of the Clippers second team. Don't let their relatively anemic point totals (21 points total) fool you. Louis Amundson did his irritant banging thing and Jared Dudley was everywhere, notching 7 boards in 23 minutes. Goran Dragic was more than capable in reserve of Nash shooting a perfect 3 for 3, and dealing 3 assists with no turnovers in 11 minutes of reserve duty. And Earl Clark's first NBA performance bore a lot of similarities to his pre-season performance: he looks great when driving but struggles with his jumper. He did demonstrate his versatility on the defensive end, performing effectively on a few different players.

Defensively, the entire squad has a ways to go. There will not be many nights, the Suns can afford to give up almost 56% shooting and walk away with a win. If it hadn't been for some late offensive heroics by Nash, they might not have done so tonight. It also helped that the Clippers shot better from the field (55.8%) than they did from the charity stripe (55.6%).

This really was a loaded game for the Suns and I am not really doing it justice here. I think this team is far from firing on all cylinders and for them to be effective and truly make a run at the playoffs, they have very little margin for error. They clearly missed Jason Richardson at both ends of the floor tonight. Leandro Barbosa did not look comfortable as a starter and didn't seem to find his stroke until he was playing with the second unit.

I expect a similar performance Friday night versus Golden State and hopefully a much more aggressive and cohesive game once J-Rich returns versus Minnesota. That's the Suns' de facto 3 game learning curve, because after that they become Road Warriors in a brutal stretch of schedule that has them playing 18 of their next 23 games on the road.

Game 1 WCF Recap: Mercury Down Sparks 103-94

Mike Lisboa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:58:35 -0000

Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi lead her team past the LA Sparks to take a 1-0 lead in the WNBA Western Conference Finals. September 23, 2009. Los Angeles, CA. Photo by Craig Bennett

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It's hard to do this game justice without veering off into the realm of wild hyperbole. Diana Taurasi and Candace Parker looked positively all-world tonight. Like, "Can we put them in the hall of fame tomorrow?" all-world. It was a tug of war between force and finesse, with finesse (and a little help from its friends, depth and tempo) winning out.

If you watched tonight's game 1 between the Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks, it might be easy to simply say the Mercury have Diana Taurasi, who else do they need? Taurasi was phenomenal, unloading on the Sparks for 28 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block. And it seemed like every single play was exactly when the Mercury needed it, fending off rally after rally by the Sparks.

However, Tina Thompson, Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker will tell you exactly what you need besides Diana Taurasi: a supporting cast of players who want to win as badly as they do with the talent to back it up. The tremendous trio combined for 72 of the Sparks' 94 points. The rest of the Sparks? 22 points on an abysmal 9 of 27 from the field.

After a close start to the game that saw the Sparks lead 8-7, the Mercury rattled off 11 straight points for a 19-8 lead and finished the 1st quarter up 26-19 behind strong early play from Cappie Pondexter who led all scorers after the 1st quarter with 9 points.

The Mercury controlled the pace despite the Sparks dominance in the paint. LA crushed Phoenix on the boards 40-26. Phoenix struggled to do anything against LA's frontcourt. There were several stretches where it seemed the only way the Mercury touched the ball under the glass was after an LA make. Giving up 15 offensive rebounds will do that. Candace Parker bulldozed her way to a career playoff high of 28 points and 10 rebounds, giving her her 8th double double in her last 10 games.

This was despite some excellent zone defense by the Mercury, especially early in the game when the Sparks' guards struggled to get the ball inside against the Mercury's zone. Said Mercury coach Corey Gaines, "We get outrebounded a lot but it's the type of rebounds that we do get. We get rebounds that allow us to get out on the break and get easy shots. Then they come down and pound it in on us and we switched our defense to go a rover zone or man to man so they have to take time."

Despite the inside dominance of the Sparks, the Mercury were able to force LA into wind sprints up and down the court, and had the horses to go the distance. While the Sparks essentially went 6 deep, the Mercury got solid contributions all the way down the bench, including 18 points from Penny Taylor, 13 of which came in the second half when the Sparks threatened to come back and steal the victory from the Mercury. Her 4 of 6 led a 3-point barrage (14-30, 46.7%) by the Mercury.

Sparks Coach Michael Cooper was confident of his team's ability to rebound from tonight's loss and turn the series around in Phoenix: "We're going to head down to Phoenix for two games, and we're going to go down there and get this first one."

The Mercury, however, and their league-leading offense, will have something to say about that, though Diana Taurasi acknowledged that there was no way this Sparks team was about to roll over and give the Mercury another trip to the Finals.

"They're veterans and they have four Hall of Famers on that team. They're not just going to come into Phoenix and sunbathe; they're going to try to win two games."

The series now heads back to Phoenix with game 2 on Friday night at 7pm on NBATV and game 3 (if needed) on Sunday.

Off-Season Housekeeping: Posting and Commenting Guidelines

Mike Lisboa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:42:03 -0000

Hello Bright Siders,

This is a rare message from the management. We've got a bit of housekeeping to take care of. Since spring finds us knee-deep in playoff races and what-not, our spring cleaning gets put off until the off-season.

If you look to the left side of your screen, you'll see a snazzy new graphic that reads "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: A Guide to BSotS Participation" (hats off to Watdogg10 for the illustration). When you click on it -- which you absolutely should -- you'll see that we've crafted some guidelines as to how we think one should behave around these parts. We worked hard on them, we discussed, we modified, we carved them in e-stone. It's good stuff and we're pretty proud. There shouldn't be anything too surprising or revelatory in there. It's mostly common sense.

However, for the safety, betterment, and enjoyment of all, we felt it necessary to codify a code of conduct for posting in our modest corner of the internet. We want to make sure everyone who is a part of our community is on the same page.

Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments section below. We love and appreciate you all. If it weren't for you, we simply wouldn't have a reason to keep doing what we're doing.

Regards,

Your BSotS Bloggers

Phoenix Suns 2009-10 Schedule Analysis: US Airways Center Mostly Vacant Until Mid-December

Mike Lisboa — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:51:48 -0000

More photos » by Barry Gossage - NBAE/Getty Images

"17 of 26 on the road to start the season? Are you kidding me? Man, I'm getting too old for this $#!%."

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Hoo-rah! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a schedule! It's safe to say that with the tweaking the Suns have done to their roster as opposed to a blow-up or re-load, this season is going to be something of an adventure. Will Murtaugh and Riggs Grant Hill and Steve Nash finally be "too old for this $#!%?" Will Amare Stoudemire become the first NBA player to go an entire season rocking an eyepatch, prompting tons of Am-ARRRR'e jokes? Will Jason Richardson learn to rotate on defense and perhaps prevent Roger Mason, Jr. Eric Gordon from putting a heartbreaking lump of coal in Suns' fans' stocking this Christmas? Well, while we have questions about how our cast of characters will handle their journey this season, we've now got a road map.

Join me after the jump for the highlights.

October 28, @ LA Clippers - While The Blake Show makes it's official debut the night before against The Lake Show, the Suns will get their first regular season look at #1 overall draft pick Blake Griffin who will terrorize the Pacific Division for years to come. Amar'e Stoudemire might want to pay attention or he could easily end up on Griffin's first official NBA poster. If you haven't yet seen Griffin play, this is a must-watch game. Also, it's opening day, so I'm going to have to question your fanhood if you're not circling this date on your calendar in purple and orange Sharpie.

October 30, vs. Golden State - Home opener. Heralded rookie Stephen Curry comes to town. After seeing him in Summer League, I don't think he was quite the icing on the Amar'e Stoudemire Trade Cake that he was made out to be. Given Nellie's "on or off his meds" approach to rotations, Suns fans may or may not get to see what they didn't get in the thwarted deal. It should be a fun game nevertheless as it will pit two of the higher octane offenses in the NBA. As Phoenix Stan recently said, "The Warriors are going to look awfully good losing 40-50 games this season."

November 1, vs. Minnesota - 3-0 start? I hope so, because...

November 3, @ Miami; November 4 @ Orlando; November 6, @ Boston; November 8, @ Washington; November 9, @ Philadelphia (NBA TV) - 2 back-to-backs. 4 playoff teams. 5 games. 7 nights. As far as road trips go, this is the biggest ugliest one the Suns have all season. It'll be interesting to see if the Suns try and go to their bench youth this early in the season to limit Nash's and Hill's minutes. As I expect Phoenix to be experimenting early and often with their rotation, the season could get off to a bumpy start and it doesn't get much bumpier than this cross-country excursion.

November 11, vs. New Orleans (ESPN); November 12, @ LA Lakers (TNT) - Back-to-back games on national television? 1 day after the aforementioned east coast barnstorming tour? For those of you keeping score, that's 1 NBA Champion, 1 NBA Finalist, 3 back-to-backs, 4 At-Large Playoff Teams, 6 road games, 7 total -- in the span of 10 days. If the Suns manage to be at or above .500 at this point in the season, they should really get a parade and automatic play-off berth. However, if recent history (an 18-23 road record last year and an absolutely abysmal record* on nationally televised games) prevails, this stretch of the schedule could be hide-your-eyes ugly.

* * *

At this point, you might be saying to yourself, "Why all the gloom and doom? The Suns ought to have a nice break coming up soon, right?"

Wrong. 17 of the Suns' first 26 games are on the road. To put that in perspective, between October 28 and Dec. 17, the Suns will play at US Airways Center 9 times. Nine.

Onward.

* * *

November 27, @ Minnesota; November 29, @ Toronto; December 1, @ New York; December 2, @ Cleveland - After a nifty little 3 home, 2 away stretch, the Suns hit the road again. Interesting note about this road trip: one of these games is on ESPN. Guess which one?

Lebron and the Big Witness vs. the most recent team Shaq couldn't win a ring with?

Gentry's SSOL 2.0 vs. D'Antoni's SSOL 2.0?

The Team That Jerry Built vs. The Team That Bryan Is Building?

Or maybe David Kahn has some incriminating photos of the NBA scheduling committee. World Wide Leader, I don't understand you sometimes.

December 6, @ Lakers; December 8, @ Dallas; Dec. 11, vs. Orlando (ESPN); Dec. 12, @ Denver; Dec. 15, vs. San Antonio; Dec. 17, @ Portland (TNT) - Another unkind stretch of schedule. Again the Suns face the 2 NBA Finalists in less than a week. Oh and the other teams in this stretch aren't exactly slouches either. It also marks the first time the Purple Gang will match up against the Matrix Reloaded version of the Dallas Mavericks and the ridiculously stacked nouveau Spurs. Which one of these games do you realistically see the Suns winning? Maybe Portland. If they can keep Brandon Roy to under 45 points that is.

* * *

At this point Suns fans, let's all take a deep breath. We're just shy of a third of a way through the schedule (and no, I won't go into this much detail for the remaining 56 games) and I've got the Suns right around the .500 mark. I would not be surprised if they were even below .500 at this point.

DON'T PANIC! The season is a marathon, not a sprint and this particular marathon starts off uphill, in the rain, with a blown ACL. But around about here I could see the fanbase getting anxious and starting to round up some torches and pitchforks and Google Mapping Steve Kerr's address. I could also see Steve Kerr reaching for the "Blow-Up Button" on his desk and trading Amar'e and Nash for a bucket of fish sticks and a ride back to San Diego. To both of you, I say, "Relax."

82 games total, 41 home, 41 away. From this point on the Suns have 32 of the former and 24 of the latter. Things can only get better from here, no?

* * *

December 19, vs. Washington; December 21, vs. Cleveland (NBA TV); December 23 vs. Oklahoma City; December 25, vs. LA Clippers (ESPN) - 4-game homestand! 3 games against teams with losing records last season! The right (Cleveland) game on national TV! A Christmas Day game that's winnable! Christmas Day Quintuple-Header! I! LOVE! THIS! GAME!

This also kicks off a lovely stretch of schedule that features 10 home games versus 2 road games against some pretty unremarkable competition with the above Cleveland game and consecutive home dates against the Lakers (Dec. 28) and Celtics (Dec. 30) being the exceptions.

January 13, vs. Indiana; January 15, vs. Atlanta; January 16, vs. Charlotte; January 18, vs. Memphis - Don't you just love road trips that don't involve playoff teams? (What?! Atlanta? The #4 seed? Stupid Eastern Conference...)

* * *

I'm going to just skip right over the next couple weeks of the season (5-1 home stretch followed by another 4-game roadie) to get to the All-Star Break. I think, with the exception of that little 4 game streak at home, we've suffered enough indignities at the hands of the scheduling gods, don't you think? Ha ha! No! Still one more to come!

Anyway, All-Star Game. February 14. Valentine's Day. If the Suns start Stoudemire at the 5 this season, he's a lock to be the Western Conference starting center. And Nash'll probably squeak in on the second team. Regardless of what kind of love Cupid shows the Suns in the form of All-Star roster spots, just know that beginning February 19, our boys play 13 of the next 17 at home.

So like, if they suck during this stretch, it's cool to, you know, panic and stuff. And you should probably have been panicking when they were 10-16, despite my best efforts to be sane and reasonable about this whole business. And Steve Kerr, you absolutely should have pulled the trigger on the Stoudemire-Okafor deal when you had the chance (or the Stoudemire-fish sticks trade. Same diff.) Mid-season trades always work for this team. What made you think that one wouldn't?

* * *

February 21, vs. Sacramento; Feb. 23, @ Oklahoma City; Feb. 24, vs. Philadelphia; Feb. 26, vs. LA Clippers - That's a nice run against some bad teams. It's places like this where it will be crucial for the Suns to rack up wins if they hope to make the playoffs. Yes, they definitely need to beat playoff teams as well, but if they're not winning the games they're supposed to win they won't even have a fighting chance.

March 4, vs. Utah; March 6, vs. Indiana; March 12, vs. LA Lakers; March 14, vs. New Orleans; March 16, vs. Minnesota; March 19, vs. Utah; March 21, vs Portland - That's seven, count'em, SEVEN home games in a row. Combine that with the relative ease of their late February schedule and the Suns are in a pretty good position to make a late push for the playoffs. Sure, most of these teams were in the playoffs last season, BUT, at this point in the season the Suns should know who they are. And if they are serious about making some noise in the post-season, then taking 5 of these 7 shouldn't be too much to ask. (Oh, and dig that wacky 6 day break between the Pacer and Laker games. 6 days without Suns basketball? That's like the opposite of Shark Week!)

March 28, @ Minnesota; March 30, @ Chicago; March 31, @ New Jersey; April 2, @ Detroit; April 3, @ Milwaukee - That final scheduling whammy I alluded to earlier? Here it is: a 5-game tour of the midwest with 9 games remaining in the season. Again, if these Suns are in fact a playoff team then that shouldn't matter. These teams are not the cream of the crop and road trip or not, this needs to be a 4-1 or 5-0 streak to close out strong.

April 7, vs. San Antonio; April 9, @ Oklahoma City; April 11, vs. Houston; April 13, vs. Denver; April 14 @ Utah - Yeah. About that closing out strong thing. San Antonio, Denver, Utah. Not exactly one's ideal closing stretch, but a good test of what this team is made of heading into the post-season. If the Suns can't take at least 3 of these 5, they probably weren't going to do a whole lot of damage in the playoffs anyway.

* * *

As I said, the first third and maybe even the first half of this season is going to require some patience. About the only thing I will say for certain is that if the Suns do come out hot and and start winning early in the season, that bodes well as the bulk of their heavy lifting is front-loaded onto the schedule. But for that same reason I wouldn't take anything terribly troubling away from a mediocre to below-average start.

After going through the entire schedule, I feel pretty comfortable saying these Suns are a borderline playoff team at best. There's only so many times I can look at the schedule and think to myself "They have to play <insert Western Conference playoff team here> how many times?!" While Houston is pretty much a shell of its former self, the remainder of the 2008-2009 Western Conference playoff squads are formidable teams. Hopefully that's good enough for the Suns to land an eight seed.

And if it's not, imagine how long that 2010-2011 schedule is going to look.

*If anyone has or can find the Suns' record on nationally televised games, I'll be more than happy to add it and cite you. I know it was horrendous, but I couldn't track it down. Thanks!

2009 Phoenix Suns Summer League Wrap Up

Mike Lisboa — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:54:35 -0000

More photos » by Laura Rauch - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Clippers' Mike Taylor falls as Phoenix Suns' Goran Dragic drives around him during their NBA Summer League basketball game at Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 19, 2009. The Suns defeated the Clippers 87-70.(AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

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After a few long days in Las Vegas watching the Suns and a couple more recovering from those days, I figured it's time to give some final thoughts on what was seen there. Of course, Summer League is not the be-all end-all measuring stick for these players. Marco Belinelli and Marcus Banks both killed in Summer League only to fade to obscurity or worse in the regular season. Still, I think it's a useful laboratory for gaining some (albeit, limited) insight into what these gentlemen will bring to the table come October.

Goran Dragic - If any of the Summer Suns came out a winner, it was without a doubt the young Slovenian. It was possible to see his confidence grow with each game. As Phoenix Stan has pointed out, this is the first time in his career that Dragic has been asked to be "the man" on the court and it's a role he's still growing into. Clearly, the Suns are pushing him to be the team leader when he's running the offense. While he has yet (even against the limited competition of Summer League) to demonstrate he's got what it takes to be the heir apparent to Steve Nash, he definitely showed signs of improvement. He grew ever so slightly more vocal as the week went on and grew more fearless about attacking the rim and finding his own offense. And let me tell you, that first step of his is going to put more than one opposing guard on their heels. Best case this season is he gives the team 15-20 minutes off the bench and continues to develop his leadership skills. He's going to make mistakes for sure, but I'm hoping they're of the aggressive smart kind (like when he got rejected going hard to the rack versus the Grizzlies) instead of the meek, flustered kind (bad passes out of traps and whatnot). He was definitely the Suns' strongest player throughout Summer League.

Robin Lopez - Oy. I wasn't there for his one good game. Instead I saw three of his lesser, and what I can sadly believe are more typical, performances. And believe me when I say against the Grizzlies, he was terrible. Hasheem Thabeet had looked, not to put to fine a point on it, god awful up until that game, demonstrating no discernible basketball instincts. He absolutely dominated Lopez in the paint when they matched up. My entirely unprofessional opinion of what's ailing Robin is an interminable case of spazziness. Seeing him on the floor, it's apparent he has the physical attributes and ability to be at the very least a passable starting center. However, he hasn't figured out how to harness his intensity and direct his body into making the plays he's capable of making. I prescribe some yoga, meditation and Alexander technique classes. That's really only half a joke. If he learned how to slow himself down, and more importantly, control his body, I think we'd see those foul number drop precipitously. I don't question Robin's desire nearly as much as I question his ability to control that desire. He has to improve almost all aspects of his game in order to give the Suns many quality minutes at the 5. I think we'll see a lot of Stoudemire and Frye at center to start the season.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 07/22/09 3:55 PM MST ]

As Mike indicated, if we were hoping that Vegas would answer questions about Robin we were wrong. My impression is that after performing so well in the first game he acted as if he'd proved all he needed to prove. The team seemed much more focused on Goran's progress and no one seemed particularly concerned with Robin but I left before his final two games. With his brother and family in town one also has to wonder how distracted he was.

Robin still has all the tools to be a very good player. I guess we will have to wait until he gets consistent minutes either starting or off the bench to get a better feel for his desire to be that player. And by the way, Robin wasn't the only 2nd or 3rd year player that had one good game and seemed disinterested from then on in. Andre Blatche comes to mind.

Earl Clark- For me, the jury is way out on Clark. As Phoenix Stan pointed out, the players at Summer League who were driven and want to excel clearly stood out. DeJuan Blair, Brandon Jennings, James Johnson and Blake Griffin all come to mind. Aside from his first game, when Clark posted a double-double, he didn't do much to distinguish himself. To be honest, I don't read too much into this. Unlike Blair and Jennings, he didn't come into Vegas with a chip on his shoulder and unlike Griffin, he wasn't expected to save the franchise. He did however demonstrate why the Suns took him in the first round. He's capable of: hitting from outside, driving to the basket, bringing the ball up, getting his fair share of rebounds, defending multiple positions. He has a lot going for him.

However, if his drive and ambition are question marks come the regular season, I don't know who's going to be the one to get in his face. I have no doubt that Alvin Gentry will get on him, but who's going to back Coach up in the locker room? Steve "Winning a championship isn't as important as stability" Nash? Amar'e "I'm not a captain but call me Sun Tzu anyway" Stoudemire? I would guess Grant Hill, but it does not keep me warm at night that the Suns' most consistent leadership and locker room presence is the guy who, in his 14th season, just played 82 games for the first time. Better that Hill takes him under his wing early and we never has to have the attitude conversation in the first place.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 07/22/09 3:59 PM MST ]

The key guys I think for Earl are going to be Lou and Jared. He will playing with and against those guys a lot in practice. Each brings a lot more effort and heart than Clark might be used to but neither has his talent or potential. He certainly stands to learn a lot from being around those guys. Probably more then from Old Man Hill who isn't likely to get into Clark's face. I think the team plans on making Clark earn his minutes which in the long run should be a good thing for him. He's going to have to step it up to get on the court and prove himself better than those hustle players.

Taylor Griffin - Taylor Griffin is not quite ready for prime time and I'm not sure he ever will be. I would not be surprised if he didn't make the Suns' roster. He works hard and leaves it all on the court, but aside from a memorable dunk or two, did not do much to impress me. As I've said before, his game is reminiscent of Dan Majerle's but without the skills to back up the hustle and hunger. I could definitely see the Suns going with a veteran big man or guard instead of Griffin for the 13th roster spot.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 07/22/09 4:07 PM MST ]

I agree totally. I seriously doubt Taylor makes the team. He's going to have to improve his outside shot much more before he gets anywhere at the next level. He should probably just find a way to ride his younger brother's coat tails and help keep him out of trouble. And btw, Blake is really really good.

Zabian Dowdell - As one basketball writer at Summer League put it: "He's a grown up." He's got poise and confidence on the court. He's a good ball handler with a nice jumper. I didn't see the burst or athleticism that Dragic demonstrates, but he's a more than competent point guard. I think he'll end up on an NBA bench somewhere this season if he doesn't take the money and go back to Europe.

Micah Downs - I liked what I saw from Downs when he was on. Sadly, he was only "on" for one game. He's athletic as all get out, capable of getting off the floor and to the basket for either a dunk or a rebound. I think his frame is a little slight for an NBA shooting guard and he wasn't consistent enough in summer league for me to think he warrants an NBA roster spot. I don't think there's any place for him in the Suns rotation.

Jiri Hubalek/Kaspar Berzins - A pair of 7 footers (Hubalek is actually 6'11", but this is the Suns we're talking about. That's as close to 7 feet as we usually see around these parts.) who can hit the three, but lack the quickness or strength to keep up with the Dirks outside or bang with the Dwight's inside. They'll have fun in the D-League or Europe.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 07/22/09 4:04 PM MST ]

I actually like Hubalek. I liked him last year too. He can shoot from range. Plays hard. He even blocked some shots but he's just not really an NBA player. If Sean Marks can't get off the bench then this guy can't. I am sure he helped his overseas contract prospects though.

Berzins is no where close to the NBA. The other guy I like is Carlos Powell. He's got some nice aspects to his game like a good face up move and he plays with passion. I think overall his skill set is too limited though. Not big enough. Not talented enough. But still a good good ball player.

The rest of the roster didn't do much to make an impression due to either limited minutes or lack of attention from me. Perhaps it's my limited experience covering games in person, but I found I could either focus on the game or the players, but to do both was pretty taxing (as was watching 6-8 hours of basketball a day for 4 days straight). So those are my final impressions of the Summer Suns.

Dragic made a strong case for shouldering much of the second unit load and I think with the right kind of mentorship from Alvin Gentry and Steve Nash, he'll continue to improve throughout the season, but won't be without his share of moments that make me groan. Earl Clark should crack the rotation and contribute some quality minutes when given the opportunity. He's very skilled and if he applies himself diligently, he could work his way up the depth chart. As for Robin, he's still very much a project as much as it pains me to say it. Unless he makes some significant improvement between now and the start of the season, he is not starter material.

ESPN Reporting Nash Re-Signs with Suns

Mike Lisboa — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:58:30 -0000

ESPN Reporting Nash Re-Signs with Suns

Look like the Suns have officially decided "To Nash."

Summer Suns Get Out-Everythinged by Grizzlies

Mike Lisboa — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:20:36 -0000

More photos » by Laura Rauch - AP

3 months ago: Phoenix Suns' Robin Lopez dunks a basket as Los Angeles Clippers' Dionte Christmas watches during their NBA Summer League basketball game at Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 19, 2009. The Suns defeated the Clippers 87-70. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

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Repeat after me: It's only the Summer League; it's only the Summer League. That's the only way this Suns loss is remotely palatable. Aside from an increasingly and refreshingly aggressive Goran Dragic and a competent Zabian Dowdell, there is not much else good to report about this game.

The numbers seem like a good place to start: outscored by 37, outshot by 15% (a putrid 33% from the field, 0-14 on three-pointers), outrebounded by 21, out-assisted by 10. And it wasn't even that close.

The lone bright spots were the point guard play of Goran Dragic and Zabian Dowdell. As in the game against the D-League Select, Dragic was aggressive early, going to the rim. Even though he got off to a slow start in the first quarter, he kept attacking and finished the half with 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting. He was a little out of control in his attempts to push the ball up the court, but with only 1 turnover against 2 assists in just under 23 minutes of play, his command of the ball wasn't an issue. Dowdell was similarly effective in his 23 minutes tallying 14 points on 7 of 15 shooting with no assists and a turnover. While it's true Dowdell looks far more composed and collected than Goran, I think Dragic is the more physically gifted of the two, while perhaps Dowdell is shrewder (which may lead to the "better" comparison).

You may have notice that the point guards combined for 1 2 assists in 46 minutes of play. Part of that had to do with both of them looking for their own shot, but mostly it's because the rest of the team combined for a paltry 10 field goals on a whopping 43 attempts. Which I suppose brings us to the unbridled ugliness of the rest of the team.

Robin Lopez appears to have regressed with each successive game since his monstrous Summer League opener. Hasheem Thabeet, who has yet to really impress anyone here in Las Vegas, outplayed RoLo badly. While the numbers bear this out (10 pts., 7 reb. for Thabeet vs. 1pt., 4 reb. for Lopez), again it wasn't even that close. Routinely Thabeet beat Lopez to his spot on the floor or boxed him out, pinned him under the rim and generally out-positioned him. And it could have been much, much worse. All of Thabeet's 4 misses were on wide open dunks.

Rounding out the Suns' "big three" here in Las Vegas, Earl Clark had a thoroughly mediocre performance. Rather than using his athleticism to drive and create, Clark fell in love with mid- to long-range jumpers, making 4 and missing 8. Fortunately, the rookie continues to attack the glass (5 boards) and notched 3 blocks to boot.

I'm beginning to see what the Suns see in 2nd round draft pick Taylor Griffin: Dan Majerle. A little bigger and a little beefier, but his game is similar to Majerle's nonetheless. Unfortunately, Griffin has yet to demonstrate the same quickness and range that made Majerle so reliable on defense and so dangerous on offense. He followed Friday's 1-9 performance with a 3-7 effort from the field. Aside from finishing a fastbreak with a pretty thunderous dunk, it was jumper-palooza for Griffin as well. On defense he was abused by the faster and more athletic Grizzlies (prompting a fellow blogger to note that "Sam Young is eating his lunch."), but to be fair no one on the Suns' roster did much of anything to slow down the Memphis' offensive blitzkrieg.

With 5 players in double-figures and 48 points in the paint, Memphis appeared to be running a lay-up drill for large portions of the game. The Suns had no answer for Sam Young who drove to the hoop with impunity. Demarre Carroll also impressed with more hustle and energy than the entire Suns' roster seemed to be able to muster.

It's worth noting that Memphis' summer team fields 4 rotation players and they are undefeated in summer league play, including a 19-point thumping of the Thunder and an 18-point ripping of the Clippers. The Grizzlies are the cream of the crop of this year's Summer League and clearly outclassed the younger, less experienced Summer Suns.

Summer League Open Thread: Sin City Grizzlies vs. Summer Suns

Mike Lisboa — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:39:20 -0000

Howdy from Vegas, Suns fans! Phoenix Stan has headed back to the Valley of the Sun leaving me with sole Summer League duties today.

The Suns play the Memphis Grizzlies' summer squad today. As Phoenix Stan pointed out in his most recent re-cap, each game seems to have been a showcase for a different young Sun: Robin Lopez, Earl Clark, and Goran Dragic. I'm curious to see how the Suns use their fourth game. I expect to see more of the Slovenian Slasher (Yes? No? It's more creative than "Dragon", right?) getting heavy minutes as his comfort running the second unit will be a big part of any success the Suns plan to have this season.

I also expect Robin Lopez to own Hasheem Thabeet in the paint. The #2 overall draft pick has yet to impress many observers (including myself) here in Vegas. Robin is the far more athletic of the two big men and his activity should overwhelm the rookie out of Memphis. Thabeet is the very definition of "project" and often looks lost on the court. For Robin, the question is whether or not he can stay out of the foul trouble that plagued him in last night's game.

While Earl Clark wasn't as impressive last night as he was in his previous Summer League outing, he should get serious minutes as the Suns continue to gauge his ability to make an immediate contribution once the regular season begins. I would also think that we'll get another good look at Micah Downs and Juri Hubalek who led (!) the Summer Suns in scoring last night with 18 and 20 points respectively. Downs particularly was active and stuffed the stat sheet wtih 5 boards, 3 assists and 5 steals. Hubalek also had 4 blocks to go with his team-leading offensive output.

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments or hit me up on Twitter: @mikelisboa. I leave tomorrow morning so it's your last chance for custom Summer League coverage.

GameDay Open Thread: Summer Suns vs. D-League Select

Mike Lisboa — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:20:39 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

7 months ago: New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul (3) goes to the basket as Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (2), of Slovenia, tries for the block in the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Wednesday, April 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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Tonight the Summer Suns (1-1) square off against the undefeated D-League Select squad (2-0). Of particular note today will be the point play of both second year guard Goran Dragic and unsigned free agent Zabian Dowdell, for entirely different reasons.

Expectations are high for Dragic coming off a shaky if effective performance Wednesday against the Raptors. It's important to note that while his execution was solid on Wednesday, he looked terrible in the process. Zabian Dowdell on the other hand has looked confident but not terribly flashy in his minutes for the Summer Suns. With the team indicating they might fill the 13th roster spot with another point guard and David Thorpe calling Dowdell one of the best point guards in the Summer League, Phoenix Stan and I will be paying particular attention to his game.

Also, it will be my first look at the D-League Select Players, so I'll be sharing my thoughts on that as well.

Got anything you want us to check out for you? Let Phoenix Stan and I know in the comments and we'll do our best.