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Earl Clark has the potential to be the second best player in the 2009 draft, he's probally already the best defender in his draft class anyway.

And here is 2 Q&A from the Hoopsworld chat for today.

Poopsworld wrote:BC in toronto:

DeRozan is looking real good in the summer league. Did I get a steal with the 9th pick in the draft?

Joel Brigham:

DeMar's been good, but Earl Clark would've been the better pick for them I think. Watching Earl play yesterday was pretty wild. He's goign to be CRAZY good. Not only will it be almost impossible to guard him, but it'll be almost impossible to score on him. Raps would've loved him.

AND

Poopsworld again wrote:John in UK:

You say DeRozen is maybe 1 of 4 players in this draft that could be a star whos your other picks?

Joel Brigham:

Blake, Rubio, Earl Clark.

I just hope even though he is a rookie and Kerr has said we will bring him along slowly that he will get some decent playing time. Without ACTUAL game playing time you just end up with a Tucker.

I'm really hoping that drafting Clark ends up being one of those franchise-defining moments, and in a good way.

Let's calm down here. But yes, he's promising. If he could play like Diaw did, just more consistently (they have similar skillsets) we won't be in bad shape at ALL.

Best case scenario is he's Lamar Odom, except capitalizing on his potential/ability.

His defense will force Kerr to use him this year. I personally want to see

Nash. Rich. Hill. Clark. Amare. As our starters. He's ready to play and the best prospect we've had since Amare.

Thats why I think the Suns went in the right direction not bringing back Matt Barnes and not getting another big so far. They want some playing time for Clark and for him to develop.
I think we have a good core of young players on the roster.

Earl Clark could be a bigger Marion for us. I'm excited to see him be a productive player for us this year. I hope he can get around 20 minutes a game.

This sounds all good, but I'm becoming cautious of reading into hype, especially about a SL game.

In saying that, as a Suns fan, I've got to take all I can get, so I do sorta like hearing this...

BurningHeart wrote:Let's calm down here. But yes, he's promising. If he could play like Diaw did, just more consistently (they have similar skillsets) we won't be in bad shape at ALL.

Best case scenario is he's Lamar Odom, except capitalizing on his potential/ability.

His skill-set and physique actually reminds me a bit of KG when he came into the league. Remember he started off playing SF for the Wolves. He def liked to face up more and was a good perimeter defender because of his length.

Not saying that he will turn into KG but just that he reminds me of him when he entered the league.

KG's first season he had: 28.4mpg, 10.4ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.1spg, 1.6bpg

I don't think he will be as good with the steals and blocks (altho I would love it if he is) but I think on a per min basis he could be similar to KG. I just dont think we'll be giving him 28mpg ... more like 18mpg. So something like 6.5pp, 4rpg in that space of time would be great. Maybe throw in 1/2 a steal and block pg. I would be really happy about that.

If we get off to a bad start this season expect us to throw a bunch fo mins at Clark if he impresses early in the season, much like we went with Amare over Googs that year we traded Marbury.

To be honest Clark is one of the few things I'm excited about going into next season. Trying not to get too excited because I was hoping for a lot from Zarko as well ...

BurningHeart wrote:Let's calm down here. But yes, he's promising. If he could play like Diaw did, just more consistently (they have similar skillsets) we won't be in bad shape at ALL.

Best case scenario is he's Lamar Odom, except capitalizing on his potential/ability.

That's a pretty damn good best case. Odom's only negative, really, outside of being **** crazy, is that he doesn't have a lot of drive. In games where Odom does take advantage of his potential, his stat line is basically 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. That's pretty much star status there.

He can shoot, i'm thinkin' he's a Rashard Lewis type who's bigger and not as soft

i think he like an andre kirilenko player

Kerrsed wrote: Without ACTUAL game playing time you just end up with a Tucker.

That prospect scares the sh*t outta me

Yeah Im legitimately pumped about Clark. I wanted us to draft him, we had him fall to us and we got him

I think he plays as many mins as Amundson did last year for the first few months, so first big off the bench and 15-18mins, and as the season goes on he'll clearly get better or regress a little

I'll go with 8pts 5reb 2asst first year with the odd steal and block

lilfishi22 wrote:

Kerrsed wrote: Without ACTUAL game playing time you just end up with a Tucker.

That prospect scares the sh*t outta me

As it should!

I hope that clark is going to be good too. I remember Amare's rookie year when 7 teams passed on him. I do not wish that clark be something like amare but It would be nice to find a gem after the years that we just sold picks. the thing is too the picks that we sold or traded, were good players- rondo, and luol deng so lets hope thats a good sign for clark.

ma_falaa_50 wrote:I hope that clark is going to be good too. I remember Amare's rookie year when 7 teams passed on him. I do not wish that clark be something like amare but It would be nice to find a gem after the years that we just sold picks. the thing is too the picks that we sold or traded, were good players- rondo, and luol deng so lets hope thats a good sign for clark.

8!!

I hope he becomes a player who is excellent on defense and can knock down open jumpers, anything on top of that is gravy, such as being "almost unstoppable" on offense and creating for himself.

BTW, Doug Franz on KTAR 620, still think we should have went with Blair. The moron plays up Blair double double, but shoots down Clark's..Wow!

JMac1 wrote:

ma_falaa_50 wrote:I hope that clark is going to be good too. I remember Amare's rookie year when 7 teams passed on him. I do not wish that clark be something like amare but It would be nice to find a gem after the years that we just sold picks. the thing is too the picks that we sold or traded, were good players- rondo, and luol deng so lets hope thats a good sign for clark.

8!!

I hope he becomes a player who is excellent on defense and can knock down open jumpers, anything on top of that is gravy, such as being "almost unstoppable" on offense and creating for himself.

BTW, Doug Franz on KTAR 620, still think we should have went with Blair. The moron plays up Blair double double, but shoots down Clark's..Wow!

I think drafting Blair became kind of a joke on Doug & Wolf. They liked him, sure, but I think they overplayed it for laughs.

Alando Tucker's development (or lack thereof) had nothing to do with coaches not giving him playing time and every thing to do with a lack of talent. From the first summer league game I watched I could see:

1. His shot was the flattest I'd seen since TR Dunn.
2. He lacked the size and strength to play SF, and got destroyed when they posted him up
3. His total lack of lateral quickness allows SGs to blow by him with ease
4. He's not a distributor

So, what use is a player who can't shoot, can't defend anyone, and doesn't make other players around him better?

Tucker just isn't an NBA caliber player. Never was.