The Suns played hard today, despite the game occurring after a long week of two-a-day practices. Today was different.
Martin Knezevic at BlogNBasketball.com was kind enough to "live blog" through the Suns' intrasquad scrimmage today, providing us with great insights and observations along the way.
Now, he gives us the recap of his first-hand observations.
link: SUNS SCRIMMAGE RECAP
UPDATE: Martin added exclusive photos and some more thoughts today from the scrimmage, including:
"Overall, it was one of the better scrimmages I have seen in recent memory....great energy and a lot of talking out there."
Hit that link again!
Clearly, Jared Dudley was the star of the show. His unofficially official stats today were 11-11 FG, 4-4 3PT, 5-6 FT, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 31 points. As Martin wrote, "you could tell it was a home game for Jared Dudley back in San Diego".
Dudley's day didn't stop with shooting. In his recap, Martin also observed, "[Jared's] hot shooting early turned him into a playmaker late as the defense keyed on him coming off screens. It's obvious Jared added some ball-handling and passing to his game this summer."
Markieff Morris (9-15 FG, 1-6 3PT, 4-4 FT, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 23 points) made his mark with aggression that built throughout the game. "Going into year two, [Morris] looks like a lot more comfortable in who he is as a player and in letting the game come to him. Sitting courtside he is long and very disruptive on defense. Offensively his shot looks a better as well."
Shannon Brown showed up as well, attacking the basket, passing the ball and "griping at teammates for poor execution".
Martin was complimentary of Sebastian Telfair, Jermaine O'Neal and Ike Diogu as well, but not as impressed with the game played by Luis Scola, Michael Beasley or Wesley Johnson. "Every time I looked up, Coach Igor was in [Michael Beasley's] ear/face."
Check out Martin's recap and his "live blog" on blognbasketball.com for lineups and details (link above).
Pictures (arizonasports.com) here: pics
Video Highlights (arizonasports.com) here: highlights