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Gear Up For Suns Basketball

Phoenix Suns 2009 Summer League Blog

 
By Adam Brennan
July 14th, 2009 at 3:18 pm

Location:Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada

Roster:

35  Kaspars Berzins  C  7-0  225  Latvia
 23  Josh Carter  F  6-7  195  Texas A&M
 3  Lee Cummard  G  6-7  190  Brigham Young
 22  Micah Downs  G  6-8  194  Gonzaga
 55  Earl Clark  F  6-10  225  Louisville
 5  Geary Claxton  G  6-5  220  Penn State
 1  Zabian Dowdell  G  6-3  190  Virginia Tech
 2  Goran Dragic  G  6-3  190  Slovenia
 32  Taylor Griffin  F  6-7  238  Oklahoma
 8  Jiri Hubalek  F-C  6-11  225  Iowa State
 4  Takuya Kawamura  G  6-4  185  Japan
 15  Robin Lopez  C  7-0  255  Stanford
 11  Carlos Powell  F  6-7  225  South Carolina
 10  Chris Rodgers  G  6-4  205  Arizona
 29  Alando Tucker  F  6-6  205  Wisconsin

 

Game 1:

The Phoenix Suns Summer League Team began their 5 game schedule by defeating the Dallas Mavericks by a score of 95-90. The star of the game was definitely Robin Lopez. Lopez scored 24 points on 7-10 shooting, to go along with his 16 rebounds (5 offensive)  to propel the Suns to victory. Alando Tucker and Zabian Dowdell each chipped in 15 points for the Summer Suns as well. Dallas’ 1st round pick Rodrigue Beaubois followed up a torrid 34 point performance against Houston by scoring 16 points. Beaubois is a native of the Caribbean island of Guadaloupe and seasoned with three years of pro ball in France.

The lowlights for the Suns included a terrible performance by Goran Dragic, who many are expecting to play substantial minutes in the upcoming season to keep Steve Nash fresh. Dragic was 1-7 shooting with 3 assists and 3 turnovers in nearly 17 minutes of play. Taylor Griffin, brother of Blake Griffin did not help his cause for making the team either; scoring 4 points on 1-5 shooting while only grabbing 2 boards in over 21 minutes. Finally, the Suns #1 pick in this year’s draft Earl Clark did not play due to back spasms.

First Impression of Earl Clark:

Just had many had predicted Earl Clark is incredibly athletic, but he seemingly has issues keeping his head it the game.  In 4 games, Clark averaged 11.3 ppg and 7.0 rpg to go along with 2.25 turnovers per game. Clark’s 7 rebounds a game finished first among the Summer Suns. This is good news for a Suns team that is lacking in rebounding with the departure of Shaquille O’Neal.

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Comments
  • den
    Adam,
    Whew, sure glad that the Suns and Steve Nash have come to an agreement for a few more years. Would hate to see what they could put out there without Steve running the show.
    I didn't realize that the Spurs took Blair. With all they have in the front line, perhaps they could hide an undersize 'big'. Pop will get him in shape or he will be long gone.
  • Den,

    Yeah San Antonio as much as I hate their guts, has run their team to perfection in the last 10 years. They did draft a player (Blair) who is only 6'5" at Power Forward this year. I think sometimes a great player regardless of size can get it done at the next level. However, you are absolutely right Tucker is a forward by trade and transitioning to a new position is pretty tough in the NBA. He will make the team because of his buyout is high; but he won't play much and will go elsewhere after his contract expires.
    I hope the Suns go after at least one more free-agent this summer, however I doubt it with the way Sarver wants to save money.
  • den
    Hey Adam,
    Nice to see that Lopez is going after it. Perhaps he is going to take advantage of his opportunities this year. I certainly wouldn't be concerned with Dragic at this point. He played much better toward the end of the season and he could be one of the most improved players in the league this year. They are both so young. It is difficult to know just what they are capable of producing. Taylor Griffith will not make the Suns roster. I doubt that they will keep Tucker either. Both are undersize for their positions. I realize that Tucker is trying to make it at the 2 guard but he is a natural forward which is where he played at Wisconsin.
    The Suns and other teams in the NBA continually take players that are two small for their positions. You don't see this happening at a place like San Antonio. You don't see the NFL teams drafting offensive linemen who weigh less than 300 pounds. You don't see them taking skill position players who are slow. Why do the Suns continue to pick players who have an immediate disadvantage in height for the position? If only you were the GM.
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