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Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark.

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Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#1 » by DRK » Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:46 am

Hey Orlando fans.

I'm a Suns fan, and I thought you may want some more information on one of your newiest acquisitions, Earl Clark.

Earl Clark is a 6'10, 225lb, PF, altohugh he does have SF and C capabilities aswell.

Ever since he was drafted, I had been following Earl Clark, and wishing/hoping for him to be put into the Suns rotation, unfortunatly it was not to be. I wish all the best for Clark at his new home

Strengths

The first thing you will notice about Clark, is that he is very long. He has a wingspan of 7' 2.5". His main asset he brings is defense. In my opinion, he was the best all-round defender on the Suns. A day before he was traded, Earl Clark was put in the game against the MAvericks, to defend Dirk Nowitzki. While Clark was on the court, Nowitzski scored less than 6 points.

Clark positioned his body extremely well, and did not allow Dirk an opening to the basket, therefore forcing Dirk to shoot incredibly difficult fade aways over him, which is not easy considering Clark's length. Everyone on the Suns board who was watching the game was mightily impressed with Clark's defence, and that is not the first time he has shown those skills.

On December 3, 2010, Earl Clark, with the help of Grant Hill and Dudley, kept Danny Granger to 8 points on 2-13 shooting. Clark repeatedly forced Granger into very very difficult shots from the outside, and again, did not allow Granger open lanes to the basket.

On offence, Earl Clark uses his great speed and quickness to try to drive to the basket. He is very athletic, and is capable of throwing down a big dunk. He is also an excellent passer. Many many times, we have seen Earl drive to the basket, and dish off a sneaky pass to an open teammate for an easy lay-up/dunk.

Weaknesses
Earl Clark is still very skinny. He needs to put on some weight to be more effective on the court. Due to not playing much during his time in Phoenix, he sometimes does look lost on the court, but the only way that can be solved is if he gets good playing time.

On offence, Earl Clark does not drive as much as he should. Instead he settles for difficult pull-up jumpers, which he hardly hits.

In summary, I think Magic fans should not overlook what Clark can bring to your team. When I first heard of the trade, I was very disappointed to hear Clark outgoing. To put in perspective of my opinion of Earl Clark, if you gave me a choice of who I wanted to keep, I would've chosen Earl Clark over Michael Pietrus any day of the week.


Good luck with Earl Clark Orlando. I wish you all the best in the future!
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#2 » by ADRajX » Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:53 am

Thanks for the info on the breakdown of this kid, makes me excited/intrigued to see him play now

Defense is what Orlando loves to preach, and your descriptions of his ability on defense seems to fit our needs, I really want to see how he pans out with some minutes behind Bass/Howard... who knows, maybe he can fill the role left by Gortat, and we wouldn't have to search/trade for another backup big

You made mention on the Suns forum that Clark played a bit of 3, 4, and 5 on the Suns?
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1076657&start=435
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Orange_Blooded wrote:overall I like the trade.

Pietrus for EC= lopsided win for us, unless Clark finally develops.



I would've prefered to keep EC, and have Orland keep Pietrus. EC is able to play the 3, 4 and 5, and pietrus is just another wing we didnt need. EC has alot of potential aswell, while Pietrus has reached his ceiling.

I feel Orlando win this one, but only slightly.


How did that work out for your guys, defensively and offensively, with him playing those positions, specifically the 3 and the 5?
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#3 » by DRK » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:00 pm

Yeah that was me who said that.

Our coach Alvin Gentry sometimes ran a small lineup with Earl Clark at Center. It worked quite well, although Clark tended to be out-muscled on the rebounds by the much bigger/stronger players. A summer in the weight room should fix that problem.

On defence, when against massive centers, he did quite well. Didn't allow the centers much room to move, and forced them into tricky shots.

It was hard to judge his offensive performance, because Gentry hardly ran offensive plays for him. Sorry I can't help your there.

I don't know if you remember, but Earl Clark had the best game of this season for the Suns against Orlando, 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 16 minutes.

Another point, whenever Clark was on the court, he gave it everything. He put his own heart and soul into his game on defence, and although you would see a couple of dumb plays from him each game due to lack of experience, he would still give his best.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#4 » by ADRajX » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:09 pm

So his quickness/agility/hustle (Orlando fans love hustle btw) is more of his ammo then his strength... so with that said, in your honest opinion, do you think he could play well as a backup to Dwight for some minutes at Center possibly? (let's just assume Bass is on the floor with him to give him the muscles/help in the frontcourt).

btw... I'm heading off to bed now, but keep checking this thread... I'll guarantee you many Magic fans will want come here (when they wake up) and know more about this kid... especially from a Suns fan and a knowledgeable person that has seen him play a lot.

Orlando is trying to find answers for a backup big now, and your descriptions are very... very... interesting and appeasing, and it could save Orlando a whole lot of stress and headache in searching for another backup big, if this Clark kid pans out... the kid must have some potential, I can't wait to see him play

Keep us updated please :)
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#5 » by grumpysaddle » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:19 pm

No waaaaaaaaaay Clark can be a back-up for Howard. He's way too small and is more suited for the 3, when he gets more comfortable being on a basketball court, sometimes a 4, in a small lineup.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#6 » by DRK » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:24 pm

Rebounding wise, Clark is not ready to be a legitimate backup for Howard. He is no where near strong enough to wrestle people like Haywood and Shaq underneath the basket. But give it a couple of Summers in the weight room, and Clark should be okay.

Man to man defence, again the lack of weight will be a factor, but Clark has terrific lateral quickness, and gets his body in the correct places to defend bigger guys. Clark will definately alter more shots than he will block. He isn't explosive, or exciting on defence, but he is very solid.

Clark is much better suited to playing the 3, or 4, where he will be matching up against people more around his size. Clark is okay for short stints at the center position, but if you ask him to play center for a long time on a regular basis, he will struggle. So I am afraid your search for the legitimate backup for Howard is not over yet. Sorry.

The best thing about Earl Clark is that his size and length allows him to guard 4's, but also his quickness and athleticism allows him to guard smaller quicker players. I personally was really looking forward to see Earl Clark for Phoenix play against OKC, and match up with Durant, but unfortunatly he was traded before he got the chance.

Another point I forgot to mention in my original post, is that Clark has very good ball handling skills for a big man. He has the ability to take it coast-to-coast off a rebound.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#7 » by Cigamodnalro » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:26 pm

He's probably too skinny to defend in the post at this point, but I could see him doing very well on someone like Bosh who is more finesse than power.

He played C on the Suns, but so did Boris Diaw.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#8 » by tiderulz » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:47 pm

considering the only true SF we have are Q and Turk, neither defensive stalwarts, it will be nice to see someone with Clark's length come in and focus solely on defense. Makes Q available to trade out with one of the PG's for a center.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#9 » by RookieStar » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:53 pm

Wait hustle? He's bald too? Leave his heart and soul.... Decent ball handler but not good on offense? Moves a lot like coffee overload?

Ok I'm convinced!! Alright magic fans, we have the taller Darell Armstrong
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#10 » by Cigamodnalro » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:55 pm

RookieStar wrote:Wait hustle? He's bald too? Leave his heart and soul.... Decent ball handler but not good on offense? Moves a lot like coffee overload?

Ok I'm convinced!! Alright magic fans, we have the taller Darell Armstrong


Or Orlando-days Trevor Ariza
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#11 » by RookieStar » Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:06 pm

^^^ True Cig, but in the interest of gaining more fans, I have to mention DA. He's more popular than Ariza.

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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#12 » by DrunkOnMystery » Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:31 pm

Earl Clark has a TS% of 41%.

I didn't think it was possible to have a TS% below 45 without intentionally missing shots.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#13 » by Bensational » Sun Dec 19, 2010 2:05 pm

well, this board loves a project player. i'm sure he'll have a fan base that will be screaming for him to replace Dwight within a month.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#14 » by drsd » Sun Dec 19, 2010 2:07 pm

The last "throw-in" was Anderson. That worked out great. So, here's hoping!
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#15 » by DrunkOnMystery » Sun Dec 19, 2010 2:08 pm

Bensational wrote:well, this board loves a project player. i'm sure he'll have a fan base that will be screaming for him to replace Dwight within a month.


He's a tweener forward.

They'll be screaming for him to replace Bass.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#16 » by craig01 » Sun Dec 19, 2010 2:09 pm

Bensational wrote:well, this board loves a project player. i'm sure he'll have a fan base that will be screaming for him to replace Dwight within a month.



I'll give that about two games....lol
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#17 » by WeAreVenom » Sun Dec 19, 2010 3:06 pm

I'm always interested in the guys that no one talks about in these kinds of trades, they are often surprisingly good. Ryan Anderson was that guy in our VC trade (even though he's been in a slump for the most part).

Thanks Da_Reel_Kboy.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#18 » by AdamTheGreek » Sun Dec 19, 2010 3:52 pm

Earl could very well be extremely valuable come playoff time.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#19 » by MickaelPietrus » Sun Dec 19, 2010 3:56 pm

We should play Earl Clark at PF on Tuesday.


Trust me, Dirk`s pump fakes will kill Brandon and Ryan.
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Re: Some Useful/Encouraging Infomation on Earl Clark. 

Post#20 » by Neon1 » Sun Dec 19, 2010 4:02 pm

I like him as a situational 4 off the bench. We needed a long and agile 4. We didnt have any that had the length PLUS the footspeed to attempt to slow down certain matchups with unique guys like Bosh,Dirk,Odom etc.

Shard was not quite long enough or strong enough. Clark looks to possibly be a little better size/strength/agility wise against those types.

Not saying he will be a stopper or be effective at it, but it is nice to have a different look to throw out there if need be.
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