Did You Know Alando Tucker’s Middle Name is Forest?

Run Forest, run!!!!

It’s Forest's third year with the Suns. What can we expect? Will he get any playing time? If so, can he make a significant contribution?

 

 

Obviously between injuries and bench time and D League, Tucker hasn’t seen a whole lot of playing time at the NBA level. So let us look at his college career. There is quite a list of accolades and awards:

* Broke Michael Finley's UW school record for UW's All Time Leading Scorer with 2,217 points.
    * Broke Devin Harris's UW school record for most points in a single season.
    * Broke Michael Finley's UW school record for vertical leap as a freshman by jumping 38 inches.
    * 2002–03 – Set UW record for offensive rebounds (86) for a freshman
    * 2002–03 – Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team
    * 2004–05 – Big Ten and Syracuse Regional all-tournament teams
    * 2004–05 – Consensus third-team All-Big Ten selection
    * 2005–06 – Preseason John Wooden Award Candidate
    * 2005–06 – First team All-Big Ten selection
    * 2006–07 – Preseason John Wooden Award Candidate
    * 2006–07 – Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year
    * 2006–07 – Consensus first team All-Big Ten selection
    * 2006–07 – Big Ten Player Of The Year
    * 2006–07 – First Team All-American (National Association of Basketball Coaches)
    * 2006–07 – First Team All-American (The Sporting News)
    * 2006–07 – Lowe's Senior CLASS Award (Lowe's)

So what could we expect from Alando? Is he a legitimate NBA player? Could he ever be a viable option for the Suns at SG? Since we haven’t seen much of him, what are some reasonable expectations? Here is a 2007 Draft profile:

Possesses a NBA ready body that is strong enough to absorb contact in the lane and finish … Has three point range on his jump shot … Back to the basket skills are highly developed … Owns a nice turnaround jumper … Excellent finisher who is blessed with great body control to get off even the most difficult shots in traffic … Tough minded player who enjoys physical play and will not back down from a challenge … Unselfish player with the willingness to set-up open teammates … Physically he has all the tools needed to be a quality defender: quickness, good hands, long arms and intelligence … Crafty scorer who uses a number of fakes and his leaping ability to create scoring opportunities for himself … Solid rebounder due to his athleticism and body strength … Smooth player on the floor who lets the game come to him, rarely forcing things … Coachable player with a great work ethic to improve … Does a great job of creating contact to draw fouls … Excellent finisher in transition where he will finish with flair … Emerging as a player who understands how to effectively move without the ball …

Alando is scheduled to make some appearances in the Las Vegas Summer League. We can obviously take that to mean that management believes he needs to work on his game, which is no surprise. Tucker has only played in 36 NBA games, most of his minutes coming during garbage time.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 06/28/09 6:32 AM MST ]

I still believe that would have a break out season last year...he was having a fantastic pre-season and was on track to get decent minutes until he went down with a knee injury in October. If that doesn't happen he gets solid time while LB is in Brazil and who knows...

As it was, he struggled all season with that knee injury (see his exit interview).

I still believe in Tucker and think he can be a back up two guard in this league. He is already a better defender then JRich and because of his experience in college is fantastic in the paint. His mid-range game has improved a lot and of course he knows that he needs to work on his flat three point shot.

He's also a great kid and a fantastic teammate. See his blog on Suns.com if you haven't already.