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.
I also expect Robin Lopez to own Hasheem Thabeet in the paint. The #2 overall draft pick has yet to impress many observers (including myself) here in Vegas. Robin is the far more athletic of the two big men and his activity should overwhelm the rookie out of Memphis. Thabeet is the very definition of "project" and often looks lost on the court. For Robin, the question is whether or not he can stay out of the foul trouble that plagued him in last night's game.
While Earl Clark wasn't as impressive last night as he was in his previous Summer League outing, he should get serious minutes as the Suns continue to gauge his ability to make an immediate contribution once the regular season begins. I would also think that we'll get another good look at Micah Downs and Juri Hubalek who led (!) the Summer Suns in scoring last night with 18 and 20 points respectively. Downs particularly was active and stuffed the stat sheet wtih 5 boards, 3 assists and 5 steals. Hubalek also had 4 blocks to go with his team-leading offensive output.
Feel free to leave any questions in the comments or hit me up on Twitter: @mikelisboa. I leave tomorrow morning so it's your last chance for custom Summer League coverage.