Sarver, Gentry And Dragic Talk Suns This Week - Interesting Nuggets Of Info

That he wasn’t entirely happy in Phoenix…I chalked it up to just “rumors”…turns out it was actually true…Wow, I thought LB would never want to leave PHX and they would have to drag him out of here in tears…

Sarver: LB, we want you to want to be moved.
LB: I want to do whatever the Suns want me to do.
Sarver: We want to move you but say you wanted to be moved so we don’t look bad.
LB: I want you to be happy with me.
Sarver: Say you want to move.
LB: I want to move.
Sarver (triumphantly waving his orange foam finger): Let the record note that LB has asked for a trade!!

I always thought like Alex, that Nash wasn’t a good spot-up shooter, but this year and throughout the playoffs he seemed to have a lot more spot-up attempts that he was knocking down.

It’s just the one season in Toronto that’s making everyone nervous. But apparently he really, really hated it there.

The Toronto fans were clowning so hard because they got rid of him, that I really wondered if the Suns front office had done due diligent research on him… Hopefully his time in Toronto was an aberration and he will give us his full undivided attention.

One concern that I do hav is playing ofr Turkey i the Worlds….Toronto fans had made it clear that when he came back from that last season, he didn’t really want to participate in training (Said he was too tired..) camp which slowed his integration into the team. I really would like the Suns front office to clearly let him know that he must participate fully in training camp.

like he knew what he was talking about, or something

He has defended Sarver (rightly) against every accusation of ‘cheapness’, using only facts and his own wit.
Good job, Alex. You truly are ‘Dahking’.

except, I think the Suns beat OKC and Portland as well. And I think the Lakers will have their hands full at least as much as last year, just differently… time will tell.

He still has some learning to do, but he will be a mid season pleasant surprise, ala’ Lopez and Dragic last year.

I think the notion is that he is a scorer who just happens to play the PF position, which I agree with.
Looking at what the position of PF entails, Amare never really fit into it. But he is really good at making opposing PFs look like hapless children.

I will say Amare isn’t a pure power forward. Pure power forwards are players like Kevin Mchale, Shawn Kemp, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Horace Grant, Elden Campbell. These are players who are constantly on the block rebounding, posting up, I can say Amare has done it but seems to float around, thats not his fault, he’s talented big man who can shoot jumpshots and can dunk, but the sacrifice with that game is, is that your not a force inside because you spent most of your talent and time working on jumpshots and dunks that boxing out and defensive rebounding is not your fortay.

http://www.silive.com/knicks/index.ssf/2010/07/penny_hardaway_wants_to_join_the_miami_heat_with_lebron_james_dwyane_wade_and_chris_bosh.html#incart_rh

First, despite the trade rumors the past 2 seasons, we don’t trade Amare and we end up going to the WCF and had a special year (last year).

Then, Sarver puts out an ad after Amare committed to the Knicks, thanking Amare, and saying how great Amare was; he even went as far as to say that one day we might put Amare in the ring of honor (a very nice gesture, and a justified comment I believe).

Amare then puts this ad out, and thanks us all… (Plus we got that trade exception for his departure, so we didn’t lost Amare for nothing).
Good ending to a great career in Phoenix (LeBron should be taking notes); both parties congenially moved on. Wish you well Amare! GO SUNS!!!

What did Shaq say, because usually he said bad things about the teams he would leave?

The Suns are a class organization. They have from what I’ve heard the very best medical staff in the business. Letting Joe Johnson go years ago I thought was a learning curve for Sarver, now he seems to be making decent moves. Kerr made a mistake bringing in Shaq, but their trying to win a championship, intentions were good. Didn’t like not signing Joe Johnson years ago though.

Though I don’t doubt his genuineness.

He could be bitter that the team shopped him for years. He could be bitter that he wasn’t worth guaranteed max money.

BUT.

He should be fucking bitter that Lebron and Dwayne Wade didn’t even consider him as a teammate in Miami over Chris Bosh.

but more dynamic. ppl like shiny new things

Robin averaged 4.9 – I think everyone agrees he can do more.
Hill averaged 5.5
Richardson averaged 5.1
Nash averaged 3.3 – better later in the season
Frye averaged 5.6
Dudley averaged 3.8
Goran averaged 1.8 – probably won’t make 5

Amar’e 9.1
LB 1.3
Lou 3.5 are all gone

Turk 4.6
Childress 5.6 career in NBA
Warrick career 4.3
Lawal?
Collins?
Clark???
So, Hill, JRich, Frye, and Childress are already there – Robin (.1 rpg) and Turk (.4 rpg) are close enough to make it easily, Warrick is .7 rpg off, and Dudley is 1.2 rpg shy.
That’s 8 guys within spitting range of it, without Lawal, Collins, and Clark.
Might be doable.

that highlight lesser known value provided by a player other than pts, rebs and assts and stls. Its much better than +/- stats too.

Basically, its tracking every single play by every single player and quantifying guys like Shane Battier and Raja Bell and Bruce Bowen as players just as valuable to winning as Amare Stoudemire (sometimes moreso).

It played a big part in making baseball stats more sophisticated than just batting average, HRs and RBIs for hitters, and ERA and W-L for pitchers. The “Moneyball” philosophy allows teams to exploit weaknesses in the market, and improve their team by adding players with undervalued skills. Basically, you can get more bang for your buck, which is critical if you have budget limitations such as a salary cap. Using more data points allows teams to make fact-based decisions about players rather than using conventional wisdom and emotion (i.e. “Stoudemire’s dunks sure look pretty! David Lee? Psssh. He’s an unathletic white guy.”) Good to see us finally moving in this direction.

One way to keep everybody happy is to win, with everybody contributing. Gentry did it last year, and our personnel this year should be even easier to work with. Having a second unit that becomes renowned in its own right helps.
As far as the rotation goes, it will take a while to take shape – but last year, our rotation was very unconventional, and this year might be more so. Putting a 6’11" center on the perimeter to chuck 3’s is hardly conventional – but it worked. We had 3 distinct sections to our season last year – 14-3 start, 14-19 middle, and 26-9 end, each with distinctly different rotations. I think Alvin can adjust.
     Consider, also, that everyone on this team has something to prove – even more than last year. Hedo nearly wrecked a very good career with his stint in Toronto. Childress was in Europe – he wants to show Atlanta and the world that he belongs in the NBA. Warrick, Collins, Lawal, and Clark want to prove their detractors wrong, and the rest of the team has tasted the success of a WCF appearance, and want to prove that they can do better without Amar’e. Since his departure, I haven’t seen a lot of pundits taking the Suns too seriously. So I’d say the chip is securely affixed to our collective shoulder.

we used some of the TPE for him. Plus if Turk takes up SF minutes (since Amare would be PF), then theres fewer minutes for Childress. So I don’t see that happening.

Frye, however, prob would have been brought back but who knows? that’s a lot of cash. I’m guessing one of those 2 (Frye/Chill) would have been here but not both.

at least to me. maybe I’m less observant than you are.