Over the weekend we've learned a bit more about who will be joining Earl Clark (and me) for a trip to Vegas were Mke Tyson's tiger isn't the only thing that can trip up a young player. There's also about 40 guys desperate to impress the coaches, scouts and GMs who are there from both the NBA teams as well as overseas clubs.

Basically, Summer League serves two purposes - for guys like Earl and top draft picks like John Wall and Wesley Johnson it's an opportunity to hone skills, work on some things and basically just get some solid run during the summer under their actual NBA coaching staff.

For the other 85% of the guys it is a giant sweaty man-meat market where these boys are hooping it up so they can perhaps get an invitation to a team's training camp or in many cases earn a contract to play in beautiful Barcelona or Gdansk.

Because these teams are thrown out there with maybe about three or five days of practice time, the team aspects of the beautiful game go out the window like an English squad who's captain slept with his teammate's woman. Vegas, appropriately, is about showcasing individual skill and talent and it does that really well.

For the Suns, we've confirmed the following fellas will be wearing the oh-so-fancy Suns practice jersey for those five games.

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Been waiting on this one for weeks now so I could plan my annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas to "watch basketball". And that's in quotes because the basketball can be a bit rough with these ad hoc teams of fringe NBA players mixed with top-notch rookies going at it with little time to prepare.

But if you can get past the rough team play and focus on individual players, it's a great time. Plus it is in Vegas.

The Suns schedule is:

• Friday: 3 PM - Houston vs. Phoenix
• Saturday: 1 PM - Toronto vs. Phoenix
• Monday: 5:30 PM - Phoenix vs. NBA D-League
  
• Wednesday: 5:30 PM - Cleveland vs. Phoenix
• Thursday: 3 PM - Golden State vs. Phoenix

If you can't make the entire thing, I would recommend going the Fri-Mon route. The early games tend to be better for getting a look at the bigger name players.

For the Suns, that means Earl Clark. I doubt Robin or Goran will play this year in Vegas given how much they've already shown at the NBA level. Dwayne Jones and Taylor Griffin would also probably be on the roster along with any draft picks the Suns end up with (right now that's two 2nd rounders, but one never knows what kinds of trades could happen).

Full schedule after the jump:

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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The story of this game is Goran Dragic, who came out of his shell to put up 17 points and 8 assists in the Suns 95 - 89 win over the D-league Select (DLS) team. His performance wasn't stellar from start to finish and by no means can be considered "break out," but it was an improvement and he knew it.

A smiling and jocular Dragic had this to say about himself after the game, "I was talking with Alvin (Gentry) and he told me 'Dragic, finally you showed up in Vegas' and I said yeah. [chuckle]"

There is no doubt that the entire Suns organization was looking for a better performance tonight from next year's backup point guard and he delivered that tonight.

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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.

The most disappointing aspect of the Suns loss to the Raptors on Wednesday was the lack of pace. The team didn't feel that they saw "Suns ball" so in the next game Friday against the 2-0 D-League squad we should see a different approach.

To keep things rolling look for Taylor Griffin to play more power forward while Earl Clark shares time at center with Robin Lopez.  Josh Carter and Micah Downs will likely get minutes at the small forward and the back court will feature Zabian Dowdell and Goran Dragic.  The minutes will come at the expense of Kaspars Brezin and Jiri Hubalek who aren't close to making the Suns roster. 

The team obviously isn't thrilled with Dragic's performance so far while there is still no question about his talent.  The young point guard is still adjusting from playing since the age of 15 in the most disciplined system in Europe where his every move on the court was controlled.  Mostly though, the Suns want to see more aggressiveness and confidence from him.  Dragic was a top ten point guard in the NBA statistically over the last month of the season and none of the competition out here should be close to his level. The Suns want him to play that way in Friday's game.