Summer League Fun

[bwgood77]

Idk what it is but I feel like the Suns play the Spurs every single damn time they are in a playoff situation. Played them in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 (the last time the Suns made the playoffs), and now in the summer league finals. Seriously what the hell were the chances that the Suns would face the Spurs in the finals out of 24 total teams. First they lose Aldridge to the Spurs, now they lose the Summer League Championship when I believe the Suns should have dominated it.

The three main players on the Suns all had NBA experience and I had never even heard of the players on the Spurs team. That was an absolutely pathetic performance by the Suns. No heart besides Mike James. Len, Goodwin, and Warren played selfishly, stupidly, and with barely any effort on defense. That was a horrendous defensive showing by those three young players. It was like they did not care. That actually felt like the same type of game the Suns have versus the Spurs in the regular season. Dominated defensively by the Spurs with tons of turnovers, fouls, and offensive rebounds given up by the Suns. Even though the Spurs are a great organization, I loathe them, and I despise losing to the them at any level.

Agree with your post. Funny side story...I work at a fairly small company and we were hiring a position...I am in charge of all financial and human resources stuff, and they had the guy they wanted to hire. So, if you don't know, I live in Austin, so most everyone here is a SA fan. But while screening him, I checked his FB profile and he had a pic of the LaMarcus Aldridge banner hung by the mayor in Phx. So I thought "that would be awesome to have a fellow Suns fan here". Upon further thought, I went back, scrolled down on his profile only to see Spurs related stuff. So now I have a new guy starting at my company on Monday who is a Spurs fan and thought it was humorous we thought we might get Aldridge.

I mean, at some point, we have to come out on top. It's almost like the forces that be are trolling us. We FINALLY sweep them in 2010 and get to the WCF then break up the team and they reboot.

[SkinnyOMiller]

Idk what it is but I feel like the Suns play the Spurs every single damn time they are in a playoff situation. Played them in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 (the last time the Suns made the playoffs), and now in the summer league finals. Seriously what the hell were the chances that the Suns would face the Spurs in the finals out of 24 total teams. First they lose Aldridge to the Spurs, now they lose the Summer League Championship when I believe the Suns should have dominated it.

The three main players on the Suns all had NBA experience and I had never even heard of the players on the Spurs team. That was an absolutely pathetic performance by the Suns. No heart besides Mike James. Len, Goodwin, and Warren played selfishly, stupidly, and with barely any effort on defense. That was a horrendous defensive showing by those three young players. It was like they did not care. That actually felt like the same type of game the Suns have versus the Spurs in the regular season. Dominated defensively by the Spurs with tons of turnovers, fouls, and offensive rebounds given up by the Suns. Even though the Spurs are a great organization, I loathe them, and I despise losing to the them at any level.

Agree with your post. Funny side story...I work at a fairly small company and we were hiring a position...I am in charge of all financial and human resources stuff, and they had the guy they wanted to hire. So, if you don't know, I live in Austin, so most everyone here is a SA fan. But while screening him, I checked his FB profile and he had a pic of the LaMarcus Aldridge banner hung by the mayor in Phx. So I thought "that would be awesome to have a fellow Suns fan here". Upon further thought, I went back, scrolled down on his profile only to see Spurs related stuff. So now I have a new guy starting at my company on Monday who is a Spurs fan and thought it was humorous we thought we might get Aldridge.

I mean, at some point, we have to come out on top. It's almost like the forces that be are trolling us. We sweep them in 2010 and get to the WCF then break up the team.

The pendulum goes back and forth, there will be a time when the Spurs simply aren't a very good team. Just like the Lakers, Knicks, Celtics, Rockets, Bulls and Pistons fell off, so will San Antonio. This current run has been led by Duncan and Popovich, one of the top players in NBA history and one of the top coaches in NBA history, the odds that they replace those guys with anyone remotely equivalent aren't very good.

[letsgosuns]

Idk what it is but I feel like the Suns play the Spurs every single damn time they are in a playoff situation. Played them in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 (the last time the Suns made the playoffs), and now in the summer league finals. Seriously what the hell were the chances that the Suns would face the Spurs in the finals out of 24 total teams. First they lose Aldridge to the Spurs, now they lose the Summer League Championship when I believe the Suns should have dominated it.

The three main players on the Suns all had NBA experience and I had never even heard of the players on the Spurs team. That was an absolutely pathetic performance by the Suns. No heart besides Mike James. Len, Goodwin, and Warren played selfishly, stupidly, and with barely any effort on defense. That was a horrendous defensive showing by those three young players. It was like they did not care. That actually felt like the same type of game the Suns have versus the Spurs in the regular season. Dominated defensively by the Spurs with tons of turnovers, fouls, and offensive rebounds given up by the Suns. Even though the Spurs are a great organization, I loathe them, and I despise losing to the them at any level.

Meh, its Summer League, like people get all wrapped up in it but in the end it doesn't mean a whole lot other than for the guys fighting to have a job in the NBA.


The Spurs in terms of their defensive alignments and offense playsets seemed a lot better coached, they had more fringe guys that were doing all they could to make one last good impression. Meanwhile Warren, Len, Booker and Goodwin are in no danger of not making the roster. Looking back on the Summer League as a whole, I liked that Warren has shown improvement, that Booker looked far better prepared and ready to play than you might expect from an 18 year old, that James could very well wind up in camp with the team, excited for training camp.

The Spurs are definitely far better coached and play the right way where defense comes first. When you play like that on defense, the offense becomes much easier. The Suns seemed to have not grasped that concept for 50 years. However, I feel that McDonough is doing whatever he can to change the Suns culture by acquiring defensive minded players and I love that.

Also, based on what I saw the past few games, Booker appears more NBA ready than Goodwin. His shot is obviously on an entirely different level than Goodwin. And Goodwin was not making the smart basketball play. He got the ball so many times for a wide open jump shot and passed it up because he does not have confidence in his jumper. Instead of catching and shooting, he would dribble to get a rhythm or drive to the hoop. That is not good offense when your teammates set you up for a wide open shot.

[JTrain]

It'll be fun to see if Mike James can make an impact.

PS - PJ appears to be one of those guys that loses most of his endearing qualities right after signing the big contract.

[kennydorglas]

Lesson learned.
Never fall again in pre-camp/training hype

Coaches talking about Len shooting 3's and knocking down thousand of shots in mid-range
Reality: cant even work on some post moves.

[SkinnyOMiller]

.

The Spurs are definitely far better coached and play the right way where defense comes first. When you play like that on defense, the offense becomes much easier. The Suns seemed to have not grasped that concept for 50 years. However, I feel that McDonough is doing whatever he can to change the Suns culture by acquiring defensive minded players and I love that.

Also, based on what I saw the past few games, Booker appears more NBA ready than Goodwin. His shot is obviously on an entirely different level than Goodwin. And Goodwin was not making the smart basketball play. He got the ball so many times for a wide open jump shot and passed it up because he does not have confidence in his jumper. Instead of catching and shooting, he would dribble to get a rhythm or drive to the hoop. That is not good offense when your teammates set you up for a wide open shot.[/quote]



Hammon was coaching like it was Game 7 of the Finals with her substitutions and playcalling. The Suns have more NBA caliber players, the Spurs outplayed them as a team. Being that it is Summer League, I ain't even mad. I'm excited for this season and can't wait to see how some of these young players continue to develop.

[letsgosuns]

It'll be fun to see if Mike James can make an impact.

PS - PJ appears to be one of those guys that loses most of his endearing qualities right after signing the big contract.

I thought it was kinda unfair that the announcers were making fun of Tucker for eating nachos. Who cares what he is eating. I think it shows more class just the fact that he shows up to the games and supports his organization. I do not see Markieff anywhere around supporting the purple and orange. All I see is pictures of him with his brother and Rasheed Wallace. His brother is wearing Pistons gear and Markieff ain't wearing Suns gear.

[bwgood77]

It'll be fun to see if Mike James can make an impact.

PS - PJ appears to be one of those guys that loses most of his endearing qualities right after signing the big contract.

I thought it was kinda unfair that the announcers were making fun of Tucker for eating nachos. Who cares what he is eating. I think it shows more class just the fact that he shows up to the games and supports his organization. I do not see Markieff anywhere around supporting the purple and orange. All I see is pictures of him with his brother and Rasheed Wallace. His brother is wearing Pistons gear and Markieff ain't wearing Suns gear.

I felt the same way. Who really cares what he is eating. He brings it. It was funny though.

[AtheJ415]

It'll be fun to see if Mike James can make an impact.

PS - PJ appears to be one of those guys that loses most of his endearing qualities right after signing the big contract.

I thought it was kinda unfair that the announcers were making fun of Tucker for eating nachos. Who cares what he is eating. I think it shows more class just the fact that he shows up to the games and supports his organization. I do not see Markieff anywhere around supporting the purple and orange. All I see is pictures of him with his brother and Rasheed Wallace. His brother is wearing Pistons gear and Markieff ain't wearing Suns gear.

Kieff is elsewhere working out and trying to get better. Tucker is supposedly drinking, lounging around the pool, and eating nachos/enjoying Vegas. It's his offseason and he has the right to do whatever he wants with it, but let's not pretend that what he's doing is somehow more valuable than what Kieff is.

[RunDogGun]

It'll be fun to see if Mike James can make an impact.

PS - PJ appears to be one of those guys that loses most of his endearing qualities right after signing the big contract.

I thought it was kinda unfair that the announcers were making fun of Tucker for eating nachos. Who cares what he is eating. I think it shows more class just the fact that he shows up to the games and supports his organization. I do not see Markieff anywhere around supporting the purple and orange. All I see is pictures of him with his brother and Rasheed Wallace. His brother is wearing Pistons gear and Markieff ain't wearing Suns gear.

Kieff is elsewhere working out and trying to get better. Tucker is supposedly drinking, lounging around the pool, and eating nachos/enjoying Vegas. It's his offseason and he has the right to do whatever he wants with it, but let's not pretend that what he's doing is somehow more valuable than what Kieff is.

I don't think he was saying it was more valuable, as he was saying it was more supportive.

[King4Day]

So should we be concerned that a group of 3 second/third year players couldn't come up big against a lesser experienced group?
Not for the season in general. Just the fact that none of them made mega strides. Warren a bit but he wasn't good enough imo

[bwgood77]

So should we be concerned that a group of 3 second/third year players couldn't come up big against a lesser experienced group?
Not for the season in general. Just the fact that none of them made mega strides. Warren a bit but he wasn't good enough imo

Well, it would have been nice to see them win, but you can't encapsulate too many overall opinions on one game. They looked awesome in most of their games, and lost the last one. I was extremely intrigued by many of the things I saw in Summer League.

[PackSuns]

Idk what it is but I feel like the Suns play the Spurs every single damn time they are in a playoff situation. Played them in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 (the last time the Suns made the playoffs), and now in the summer league finals. Seriously what the hell were the chances that the Suns would face the Spurs in the finals out of 24 total teams. First they lose Aldridge to the Spurs, now they lose the Summer League Championship when I believe the Suns should have dominated it.

The three main players on the Suns all had NBA experience and I had never even heard of the players on the Spurs team. That was an absolutely pathetic performance by the Suns. No heart besides Mike James. Len, Goodwin, and Warren played selfishly, stupidly, and with barely any effort on defense. That was a horrendous defensive showing by those three young players. It was like they did not care. That actually felt like the same type of game the Suns have versus the Spurs in the regular season. Dominated defensively by the Spurs with tons of turnovers, fouls, and offensive rebounds given up by the Suns. Even though the Spurs are a great organization, I loathe them, and I despise losing to the them at any level.

Agree with your post. Funny side story...I work at a fairly small company and we were hiring a position...I am in charge of all financial and human resources stuff, and they had the guy they wanted to hire. So, if you don't know, I live in Austin, so most everyone here is a SA fan. But while screening him, I checked his FB profile and he had a pic of the LaMarcus Aldridge banner hung by the mayor in Phx. So I thought "that would be awesome to have a fellow Suns fan here". Upon further thought, I went back, scrolled down on his profile only to see Spurs related stuff. So now I have a new guy starting at my company on Monday who is a Spurs fan and thought it was humorous we thought we might get Aldridge.

I mean, at some point, we have to come out on top. It's almost like the forces that be are trolling us. We FINALLY sweep them in 2010 and get to the WCF then break up the team and they reboot.

Great story!! I would have sabotaged him!! You still have time. Lol.

[JMac1]

5 years of missing out the playoffs and we don't even have a recognizable core to show for despite all the praise for our youth

Bledsoe
Knight
Len
Booker
Warren

[JMac1]

So should we be concerned that a group of 3 second/third year players couldn't come up big against a lesser experienced group?
Not for the season in general. Just the fact that none of them made mega strides. Warren a bit but he wasn't good enough imo

Well, it would have been nice to see them win, but you can't encapsulate too many overall opinions on one game. They looked awesome in most of their games, and lost the last one. I was extremely intrigued by many of the things I saw in Summer League.

I can't believe the crying that is going on because we lost a SL game? Wow. I'm with you. We lose the championship game and people are talking about how we have no players because of it.....

[bwgood77]

Great story!! I would have sabotaged him!! You still have time. Lol.

Funny, I worked for a real estate company in San Diego who bought a home builder in San Antonio, so I transferred to that new division to be over them, and when I got there, I made it clear I was a Suns fan. This was in late 2006. My boss had four very good seats. I went to a few games, including game 4 of the 2007 playoff series against SA where the suspensions happened. Such an exhilirating game, and driving home, in the back seat of my boss' car, they were all talking, but I was intently listening to Kerr on the radio talking about possible suspensions and it took the wind out of my sails. The SA fans were thinking "nah, they won't get suspensions for that".

I even had signs that said something like Barkley couldn't win in a ring, but these Suns will...highlighting in bold "TNT" ...just to see if it would get shown....not to pick on Barkley as much as to try and draw attention since it was a TNT broadcast.

The people at work would post little pictures in my office of Horry with a mean face, saying "I'm watching you". It was kind of funny.

It will ultimately be fun having a Spurs fan there in the new office just to talk about stuff, but it would certainly be nice to have more times where we won to discuss.

[Gorilla Warfare]

That's it. Our summer league team lost. The season's over. Trade Bledsoe for picks and let's start the rebuild.

[PackSuns]

Great story!! I would have sabotaged him!! You still have time. Lol.

Funny, I worked for a real estate company in San Diego who bought a home builder in San Antonio, so I transferred to that new division to be over them, and when I got there, I made it clear I was a Suns fan. This was in late 2006. My boss had four very good seats. I went to a few games, including game 4 of the 2007 playoff series against SA where the suspensions happened. Such an exhilirating game, and driving home, in the back seat of my boss' car, they were all talking, but I was intently listening to Kerr on the radio talking about possible suspensions and it took the wind out of my sails. The SA fans were thinking "nah, they won't get suspensions for that".

I even had signs that said something like Barkley couldn't win in a ring, but these Suns will...highlighting in bold "TNT" ...just to see if it would get shown....not to pick on Barkley as much as to try and draw attention since it was a TNT broadcast.

The people at work would post little pictures in my office of Horry with a mean face, saying "I'm watching you". It was kind of funny.

It will ultimately be fun having a Spurs fan there in the new office just to talk about stuff, but it would certainly be nice to have more times where we won.

Hahahhaha.

My friend owns quite a large company and he had to make layoffs. It was a presidential election year so he went out to the parking lot and looked at everyone's bumper stickers. Needless to say about 20 peeps that didn't agree with him politically no longer had a job. Ruthless. Terrible but true. Sorry, now back to basketball.

[King4Day]

So should we be concerned that a group of 3 second/third year players couldn't come up big against a lesser experienced group?
Not for the season in general. Just the fact that none of them made mega strides. Warren a bit but he wasn't good enough imo

Well, it would have been nice to see them win, but you can't encapsulate too many overall opinions on one game. They looked awesome in most of their games, and lost the last one. I was extremely intrigued by many of the things I saw in Summer League.

I can't believe the crying that is going on because we lost a SL game? Wow. I'm with you. We lose the championship game and people are talking about how we have no players because of it.....

Not sure if you're referencing me as to 'crying' but if so, how does what I said warrant crying. My concern is we have Goodwin coming into his 3rd year and he didn't show up the way some lesser known guys were. He realistically should have owned this summer league and was just average.

Warren, it's only his second year and maybe the injury was why the last couple games he looked meh.

Len, IMO, should have been a double double each time out. He was missing easy rebounds which I wasn't happy about.

These guys need to make some major jumps heading into preseason against tougher competition. Especially Goodwin or else Booker is taking his job from day one. Warren should be a solid scoring bigman so I hope the hammy is what was slowing him down.

[Dambo]

Are we going to be signing James? Any news on that?