Taylor Griffin Goes To Iowa
by Seth Pollack on Dec 7, 2009 11:59 AM MST
in Suns News
9 comments
I've been to Iowa in the winter time. I wonder if the opportunity to play on the regular basis and become a better basketball player overrides spending the cold months in Phoenix? I am guessing so.
This is expected of course, and should be a good opportunity for Taylor. The Energy team he's going to is well coached and is 4-0 to start their season.
They have one of the better point guards in the D-league in Curtis Stinson and a promising young big in Earl Baron. Rumor is they might getting back Courtney Sims and Cartier Martin as well. Unless Martin comes back, there should be no reason that Taylor won't start for the Energy at the small forward spot.
Griffin's brand of athletic hustle will likely have an immediate impact in the D-league. The challenge will be for him to develop more refined basketball skills and specifically a consistent outside shot. He's trying to transition from PF to the SF spot in the NBA. He'll need to be careful not to get sucked in too close to the paint while playing for the Energy against smaller opponents than he hopes to face in the NBA.
We'll keep tabs on his progress.
Press release follows
Phoenix rookie to join Suns’ NBA Development League affiliate in Iowa
PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns have assigned rookie forward Taylor Griffin to the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.
The 6-7, 238-pound Griffin was selected by the Suns with the 48th overall pick (second round) of the 2009 NBA Draft and has appeared in two games this season for Phoenix. The Oklahoma product is expected to appear in both of the Energy’s home games this Friday, Dec. 11 and Saturday, Dec. 12 against the Dakota Wizards.
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Cartier Martin
Is returning to the Energy. He played well for the Bobcats last year when Gerald Wallace wentdown and is likely a better player tham T Griff right now. They are very similar players size and role wise.
Wonder who will get more minutes?
Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @phoenixstan
by Seth Pollack on Dec 7, 2009 2:57 PM MST via mobile reply actions
Only a short stay
according to Suns.com Taylor won’t be spending a lot of time in Iowa…Kind of surprising
Taylor is primed for his D-League debut on Friday against the Dakota Wizards. He’s expected to play the following night – also against the Wizards – before rejoining the rest of his Suns teammates next week.
Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @phoenixstan
Wow
The D League already?
not a good sign considering who was still on the board when we chose him.
Really?
Who was on the board after him? A.J. Price?
Going to the D-league is a fantastic move. Plenty of guys (Lou Amundson and Matt Barnes for example) improved their game and are making it in the NBA in no small part to playing in the D’s.
Baseball has an establish minor league system and so should basketball. He can only improve so much by sitting on the bench. Why not give him minutes playing in Iowa?
Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @phoenixstan
I was really high on Nando De Colo and Jack McClinton
Goran Suton and Patty Mills to a lesser extent. I think San An cut McClinton though, right?
Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."
Taking it with a grain of salt – after all, D’Antoni rarely developed young players – but I haven’t really seen anything come out of the D-League for the Suns. Tucker spent some time there in the past couple years, but it doesn’t seem to have helped him get any playing time.
D league
The kind of work Tucker needs is impossible to simulate in the D league. He needs to be a Marion-type of player, and every time he plays against D league forwards, he dominated them inside. Right now Sam Young, who came out of Pittsburgh, and is a comparable player to Tucker, is more NBA ready than Tucker. The Big Ten has fallen way off in preparing players for the NBA. And the D league competition is at about Big Ten or Pac Ten level. It needs to be better than SEC, ACC, or Big East to be rewally worth it,
April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?
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