Summer League Fun

[letsgosuns]

The main players that matter on the summer league roster such as Len, Warren, Goodwin, and Booker all looked great today. Len and Warren were the best but Len stood out the most because of his all around game. Dominating around the rim on offense. Rebounding well. Throwing great outlet passes. Plus blocking shots like always. The only negative was his fouls at first but he can clean that up as he gets back into the swing of playing. I think Chandler mentoring him is going to take his game to an entirely different level. And seriously, there is no way in hell that Tucker should start over Warren next season. Warren is a big, athletic, scoring machine. Putting him on the bench would be insane.

So you thought Goodwin looked good overall? He hit a couple of nice shots but he was out of control otherwise...I can't see him competing in an actual nba game this season. Booker, though, seems like he could come in and play a role immediately based on what I saw.

I thought Archie looked better as the game went along. He probably was the weakest of the four players though. His shot was a little better but overall he still looked like he had some of the same problems as last year. But c'mon, he is still only 20 years old. He has barely had any consistent playing time. However, if 22 points and 5 rebounds on good shooting is considered a bad game for Archie, I cannot wait to see what a good game will be.

[NoKneeBledsoe]

Bobby Portis is a beast! Wish we would of grabbed him!

He could of been a good stretch 4

[RaisingArizona]

The main players that matter on the summer league roster such as Len, Warren, Goodwin, and Booker all looked great today. Len and Warren were the best but Len stood out the most because of his all around game. Dominating around the rim on offense. Rebounding well. Throwing great outlet passes. Plus blocking shots like always. The only negative was his fouls at first but he can clean that up as he gets back into the swing of playing. I think Chandler mentoring him is going to take his game to an entirely different level. And seriously, there is no way in hell that Tucker should start over Warren next season. Warren is a big, athletic, scoring machine. Putting him on the bench would be insane.

So you thought Goodwin looked good overall? He hit a couple of nice shots but he was out of control otherwise...I can't see him competing in an actual nba game this season. Booker, though, seems like he could come in and play a role immediately based on what I saw.

He turned it on after the half. I thought he looked great after the 2nd quarter.

[SideSwipe]

Way too much Archie hate on here. He's the one that helped us pull back away at the end of the game. He kept getting to the rim and drawing fouls late. Guess what coaches want you to do in late game situations? Get to the line. He made 22 points on 13 shots. He was not perfect and has a lot to work on, but I think that speaks more to his ceiling than his performance. Imagine (for future growth) if he had made just two of those outside shots. 8/13 and 26 points. 2 points per shot. It's summer league, but that's superstar scoring efficiency. As-is, he was very efficient with the ball. He made 9/11 free throws as well.

I don't think Archie will be a superstar, but lets give the guy some credit for a great game that helped us put it away in the end. Leads all scorers and we give the kid a hard time about what he didn't do? Seems like a little perspective could help us all.

[Cutter]

Archie was very bad last year. One summer league game does not change that. However, I am A-Ok giving him more time to turn it around. This is his year. Hopefully he seizes the moment.

[bigfoot]

Hope they keep this stat during the regular season. Apparently McConnell was hustling

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/620045339525931009[/tweet]

[GetYourPHX]

Remember folks - Archie Goodwin is 20 years old. As in he can't even order a beer yet. He has a long, long NBA career in front of him.

With that in mind, I'll go ahead and make my first "way to soon, total over-reaction" call of summer league - Trey Lyles is a bust. I've never seen a player emulate Earl Clark's game so flawlessly.

[kennydorglas]

Hope they keep this stat during the regular season. Apparently McConnell was hustling

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/620045339525931009[/tweet]

TJ '****' Warren.
If he can keep his defense like that... OH MY.

[Qwigglez]

I rewatched the game. Here is my player analysis:
Warren is most impressive. He just has all the little knacks and tendencies to be an overall solid player. His court awareness is impressive. He had a couple post-up opportunities that he didn't look comfortable in, but besides that he played extremely well. He needs to develop a three for him to take his game to the next level.

Booker is a lot better than I expected honestly. I expected a shooter and that's it. He's way more than that. His first bucket was a play designed for him to catch and shoot from mid-range, in which he executed flawlessly. His second bucket was a screen where he got the ball, took a dribble and then shot. An entirely different kind of shot if you ask me (the one dribble shot/pull-up), and it takes way more concentration to knock that one down. He missed his threes, which is fine. I saw him attack the basket, dive for boards, and even took the ball up the court. He looks like he has the willingness and focus to learn. This kid is exactly the type of player that Hornacek can teach. He looks like a Klay Thompson more so than a Kyle Korver to me and that excited me.

Alex Len played lazy the first quarter. He played better the rest of the game and didn't look like he gave that much effort honestly. I wish he had a couple of post moves to show, but at least he caught some of the low passes that were given to him. His hands are getting better. His defense is really good, mostly because he plays tall. I hated watching Lopez play all slouched over, frustrated me watching a 7 footer play like he's 6'7. All in all, I think Len is gonna learn a lot from Chandler and can easily do what Chandler does, I'm just hoping for more offense.

Goodwin played well I guess. He tried really hard, but sometimes he forces things or just has some dumb plays. I know he's still really young but the clock is ticking for him. I just am unsure if Phoenix is the right system for him. He made a couple jumpers which shows his improvement but he still only has one move and that's drive to the basket.

McConnell looked good. He looks like a true PG that tries to get other players involved. Len built like instant chemistry with him. I doubt we sign him, but I could see him playing in the D-League and in case of injuries we could sign him to a couple ten days contracts.

[Scutt]

So you thought Goodwin looked good overall? He hit a couple of nice shots but he was out of control otherwise...I can't see him competing in an actual nba game this season. Booker, though, seems like he could come in and play a role immediately based on what I saw.

You cant be serious? Goodwin has already preformed decently in actual nba games, when given minutes in his first two years. You really believe he has regressed to the point of not being able to even get on the court, based off of one summer league game where he had 22 points?

[gaspar]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUUAg51qsjE[/youtube]

[AtheJ415]

Remember folks - Archie Goodwin is 20 years old. As in he can't even order a beer yet. He has a long, long NBA career in front of him.

With that in mind, I'll go ahead and make my first "way to soon, total over-reaction" call of summer league - Trey Lyles is a bust. I've never seen a player emulate Earl Clark's game so flawlessly.

I definitely agree on Archie, but the 2 things that concern me are:

1. that it's not hard to make that initial jump in your jumper. I think a professional should be able to do that over 2 years. It becomes really tough to make incremental gains after you get to average to good levels, but even if your form sucks if you practice enough you should be able to hit at a below average clip. Aaron Gordon and Len seem to have made real strides in just 1 offseason.

We'll see. I do think Archie's jumper is better, but I'm not sure by how much.

2.Also, his defensive awareness isn't make the strides I anticipated either, although this was just in 1 meaningless summer league game. Plenty of time to show differently.

[AtheJ415]

For me with Archie the only things I care about seeing are his jumper and defense. We all already know that he can get to the paint at a ridiculous clip and finish at an NBA level. So for me, even if he's dropping 40 points by attacking the rim in the summer league, I don't care. What I really care about is seeing his weaknesses begin to improve.

Same with TJ. What I liked seeing today was his defense. His offensive awareness and craftiness is nothing new. Same with his floater. I expect him to be able to dominate at will in these games around the hoop and in the mid-range. What I want to see are defense and an improved 3 point shot. He's shown improved D. I hope that continues and that he gets some 3s up in the future games.

Summer league is essentially MLB spring training. It's the time to work out the kinks. If Archie goes 3-3 with 9 points hitting 3 3s, then I'm way more pumped than if he got into the paint and got fouled at will. He's proven he can do that at the NBA level, so he damn well should be able to do it in the Summer League whenever he wants. Hell, Marcus Banks can play to his strengths and dominate summer league.

[LukasBMW]

Just from watching the Suns last year I can say that Len and Warren made solid impacts on the game against other teams starters/best players.

Archie put up some good numbers in his two years of limited playing time, but it was always against the bench or in garbage time.

I have high hopes for Len and Warren. I think they could be our future starters and possibly even all star caliber players.

I love Archie's ability to attack the basket, but if he ever wants to be an allstar, he has to attack and finish, not just get to the line. He has to hit his outside jumpers. He has to be able to create for teammates. Jury is still out on all of that.

[DirtyDez]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUUAg51qsjE[/youtube]

Warren's foot speed after catching that pass from Archie....... Dude has been working on agility this summer.

[batsmasher]

I share similar views to everyone else. Archie was the same Archie we saw last year: still straight line drives, still searching for his shot. He did shoot a couple of nice midrange shots at least. Was hoping for a little more progression from him, otherwise he will probably get buried on the bench quick smart.

Len still has to learn how to control his massive body: looks like a rookie still in that respect.

Booker tried hard, which was good to see, but he's going to be severely limited by his little wingspan.

McConnell has fantastic court awareness and could easily steal one of the last 2 roster spots.

TJ is TJ. A maddog.

[bwgood77]

The main players that matter on the summer league roster such as Len, Warren, Goodwin, and Booker all looked great today. Len and Warren were the best but Len stood out the most because of his all around game. Dominating around the rim on offense. Rebounding well. Throwing great outlet passes. Plus blocking shots like always. The only negative was his fouls at first but he can clean that up as he gets back into the swing of playing. I think Chandler mentoring him is going to take his game to an entirely different level. And seriously, there is no way in hell that Tucker should start over Warren next season. Warren is a big, athletic, scoring machine. Putting him on the bench would be insane.

So you thought Goodwin looked good overall? He hit a couple of nice shots but he was out of control otherwise...I can't see him competing in an actual nba game this season. Booker, though, seems like he could come in and play a role immediately based on what I saw.

I thought Archie looked better as the game went along. He probably was the weakest of the four players though. His shot was a little better but overall he still looked like he had some of the same problems as last year. But c'mon, he is still only 20 years old. He has barely had any consistent playing time. However, if 22 points and 5 rebounds on good shooting is considered a bad game for Archie, I cannot wait to see what a good game will be.

Hey, if you know me, you know I am never going to write anyone off and will hope for the best, but I think I'd already be more comfortable putting Booker or even Mickey in a game before him, and Bogdan shows up next year. I hope he gets there, but I don't know if it's in the cards.

[AtheJ415]

How many roster spots do we have available assuming McNeal gets cut? I'd like to add a promising player from the summer league instead of McNeal. Not necessarily McConnell, although he played well. Houston, for instance, can't keep Connor Wood and Montrezl.

[bwgood77]

Hope they keep this stat during the regular season. Apparently McConnell was hustling

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/620045339525931009[/tweet]

WOW

[bwgood77]

So you thought Goodwin looked good overall? He hit a couple of nice shots but he was out of control otherwise...I can't see him competing in an actual nba game this season. Booker, though, seems like he could come in and play a role immediately based on what I saw.

You cant be serious? Goodwin has already preformed decently in actual nba games, when given minutes in his first two years. You really believe he has regressed to the point of not being able to even get on the court, based off of one summer league game where he had 22 points?

Well, it is absolutely refreshing for you to be posting a positive post against my negativity which I never would have predicted, and I am not writing him off...I just think the more time that goes by, if he doesn't become a knock down shooter or great passer, I don't see how he will get on the court much, especially once Bogdan shows up.