Earl Clark: Rookie with the Most Upside

justinb80 · Post #1 » by **justinb80** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 7:17 pm

From ESPN.com insider:

"1. Earl Clark, Suns | Rookie card
Clark already has an excellent foundation. He is long, strong and athletic, can defend four spots on the floor and is skilled as both a dribbler and passer. Unfortunately, he has been a nonfactor in the NBA.

Many people assumed this would be the case during the draft process, which is why he fell to the Suns at No. 14; he would have been in consideration for a top-three pick were it not for questions about his work ethic and character. Clark has trouble staying locked in the moment, so he'll miss assignments (such as the wide-open 3 he recently gave up to Andres Nocioni after a timeout). And he's so talented that he can get casual about details. Not to mention he still has to work on his shooting and finishing, and concerns about his off-the-court immaturity exist.

In June, I guessed that Clark had about a 50 percent chance to reach about 75 percent of his potential; it seemed unlikely to me that he would ever reach his full potential. As of today, he has a lot of growing to do to get even close to that 75 percent mark."

justinb80 · Post #2 » by **justinb80** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 7:20 pm

A note from author David Thorpe:

"This is not a prediction of how good I think these players will become. Instead, it's a ranking of who would be the best players if they ever reached their full potential."

MaryvalesFinest · Post #3 » by **MaryvalesFinest** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 7:53 pm

He should be starting over Frye or Hill or at least the first guy off the bench.

justinb80 · Post #4 » by **justinb80** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 8:06 pm

I think we'll see a lot, lot more of Earl Clark next season. I think the goal this year is to make the playoffs, so the draft pick we gave OKC won't bite us in the a$$.

RaisingArizona · Post #5 » by **RaisingArizona** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 8:14 pm

I'd also like to see Clark get a few more minutes.

OrangeNation · Post #6 » by **OrangeNation** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 9:08 pm

This really tells how talented and highly regarded EC is. After spending majority of his time on the bench, he still NO.1 lol.

Jimmy76 · Post #7 » by **Jimmy76** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 9:31 pm

Clark looks lost right now its gonna be a year or two before we really find out what this kid could be

JMac1 · Post #8 » by **JMac1** » Wed Dec 9, 2009 10:53 pm

Jimmy76 wrote:Clark looks lost right now its gonna be a year or two before we really find out what this kid could be

I totally disagree. He didn't look lost when he was guarding King James in the post or on the perimeter in Cleve. He didn't look lost when he was guarding Shannon Brown in LA. Put him out there with Nash and Amare at the 3 and Lopez at the 5. I hope we don't mind no him!

No avoiding the language filter :wink:

--rsavaj

Classick · Post #9 » by **Classick** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:05 am

He really did look great guarding LeGod James. I'd love to see the Suns actually give their rookies playing time. Goran Dragic developed nicely, so give Earl Clark the same chance. We need a back up SF as much as we did a PG.

JohnVancouver · Post #10 » by **JohnVancouver** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:05 am

What we need to do is get some nice leads over a few teams and then Gentry will have the breathing room to play EC and RoLo. I think 55 looks like a rookie with nice potential so far - a good all-around game and a tendency to fall in love with his jumper. i don't think he's an out-of-the-gate success like OJMayo say, or Tyreke this year. he'll need some time to figure it all out but he'll be solid when he does.

Post #11 » by **TASTIC** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:43 am

He might be like Amare, just throw him out there, get through the growing pains and let him learn on the job

I don't think he's ready this year. He still needs to work on when to shoot and when to get to the hole, but the defense is there when he's concentrating

Post #12 » by **lilfishi22** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:17 am

JMac1 wrote:
Jimmy76 wrote:Clark looks lost right now its gonna be a year or two before we really find out what this kid could be

I totally disagree. He didn't look lost when he was guarding King James in the post or on the perimeter in Cleve. He didn't look lost when he was guarding Shannon Brown in LA. Put him out there with Nash and Amare at the 3 and Lopez at the 5. I hope we don't mind no him!

No avoiding the language filter --rsavaj

He looks good when the guy he's guarding has the ball and they get into a bit of a one on one situation but he does look lost at times when his man is roaming without the ball. Offensively he needs *a lot* of work and it would definitely help his game if he gets some PT when Nash is on the floor.

justinb80 · Post #13 » by **justinb80** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:40 pm

TASTIC wrote:He might be like Amare, just throw him out there, get through the growing pains and let him learn on the job

I don't think he's ready this year. He still needs to work on when to shoot and when to get to the hole, but the defense is there when he's concentrating

I think next year, when we have a first round draft pick, this will be the case. Clark will be on the court 25 to 30 minutes a night.

JohnVancouver · Post #14 » by **JohnVancouver** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:23 pm

TASTIC wrote:He might be like Amare, just throw him out there, get through the growing pains and let him learn on the job

I don't think he's ready this year. He still needs to work on when to shoot and when to get to the hole, but the defense is there when he's concentrating

This wouldn't hurt my feelings either - but we have a number of guys ahead of him so who sits?

sunfire0112 · Post #15 » by **sunfire0112** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:13 pm

JohnVancouver wrote:
This wouldn't hurt my feelings either - but we have a number of guys ahead of him so who sits?

No one should sit. Earl's gotta earn his PT. He's got a laid back attitude but that's no excuse for his lack of effort/focus. It's pretty obvious in his defense. His on-ball D is great but his off-ball D leaves a lot to be desired. Fact is we have the rare opportunity to bring him up right.

justinb80 · Post #16 » by **justinb80** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:20 pm

sunfire0112 wrote:
JohnVancouver wrote:
This wouldn't hurt my feelings either - but we have a number of guys ahead of him so who sits?

No one should sit. Earl's gotta earn his PT. He's got a laid back attitude but that's no excuse for his lack of effort/focus. It's pretty obvious in his defense. His on-ball D is great but his off-ball D leaves a lot to be desired. Fact is we have the rare opportunity to bring him up right.

I've mentioned this before in other threads, but more often than not, the great players in this league are not brought along slowly. I came up with Steve Nash as one of the few examples, and someone else brought up Jermaine O'Neal. Most of the time, however, the guys who become great were just thrown in the midst of things and had all the time in the world to learn from their mistakes. They were put in plenty of "live action" in which to learn what worked and what didn't. You can only learn so much from "book learnin'" so to speak, before you actually need to go out on the job.

justinb80 · Post #17 » by **justinb80** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:22 pm

I think that if Kerr/Gentry/Sarver really think that Clark and Lopez represent our future, then they need to be put out there for 20-25 minutes a night, win/losses be damned. I think the only thing that keeps them from actually doing that is that we don't have our pick for this year.

I think next year, it'll be the Earl Clark show, guest-starring Nash and Stoudemire.*

* Unless, of course, they don't actually think he is a future star on the team.

GrapeApe · Post #18 » by **GrapeApe** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:25 pm

He should have been sent to the D-league with Griffin to get a lot of P.T.

justinb80 · Post #19 » by **justinb80** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:26 pm

GrapeApe wrote:He should have been sent to the D-league with Griffin to get a lot of P.T.

Eh I think the D-League is where you send players you really don't think will ever be a factor in the NBA, but you want to give them something to do.

JMac1 · Post #20 » by **JMac1** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:09 am

justinb80 wrote:I think that if Kerr/Gentry/Sarver really think that Clark and Lopez represent our future, then they need to be put out there for 20-25 minutes a night, win/losses be damned. I think the only thing that keeps them from actually doing that is that we don't have our pick for this year.

I think next year, it'll be the Earl Clark show, guest-starring Nash and Stoudemire.*

* Unless, of course, they don't actually think he is a future star on the team.

+1000, Jesus H Christ Gump, you are truly gifted!. You must be a got damn genius!

BING DA F... O!