I’ve been a star before. Steve has never really been a star.
This is all you need to know about why the Suns should right now, today, hire Charles Barkley as their GM. In fact, that quote is part of the first of five big reasons why Sir Charles would be the perfect hire for the Suns in (very late) June of 2010…
#1:
He tells the truth. He says what’s on his mind. He doesn’t bullshit. It doesn’t matter whether he’s talking about the Suns’ former GM or about the reason he ran a stop sign and got a DUI. Chuck tells it like it is (!) and doesn’t care about who’s listening. I don’t know about you, but I get awfully tired of every status quo GM interview. I mean, Mark Cuban answering the same bullshit questions with the same bullshit answers while on a Stairmaster qualifies as interesting? Please. Let’s hear Chuck talk about a trade he made or how he really feels about the officiating after a game. And those trades? That reminds me of
#2:
He’ll be accountable. This piggybacks on the whole truth thing, but if Chuck makes a trade or signs a guy or hires a coach who sucks, he’ll be the first one to say so. And if he was forced to make Charles wouldn’t hesitate to call anyone out…from the player to the coach to Sarver hizzownself. Or maybe you’d prefer the Suns hire some wishy-washy loser who will stand up in front of reporters and give bullshit excuses in response to softball questions lobbed his way. Yeah. That would be fun. But seriously…
#3:
Wouldn’t it be nice to have something different for a change? All the crap cliches and double-talk and mumbo-jumbo outta these guys mouths ceased to be interesting a very long time ago. And this might not have been a big deal 15 years ago, but there is so much coverage of everything these days that GMs are constantly expected to give press conferences and interviews and all that other garbage. Wouldn’t it be nice if one of those interviews featured a guy who didn’t spend the entire time saying, “Well, uh, we just have to, um, you know…play better and if we do we’ll win some more games and we need to play better defense and crash the boards.” Yeah, nice. So insightful. That really gives me a window what it’s like to run an NBA team. Charles would say things like, “He completely sucks right now,” and “Steve Javie is a asshole.” Now, that’s just a for-instance, of course…nobody would ever call Steve Javie a asshole.
#4:
It’s entirely possible that the Suns aren’t going anywhere fast anytime soon. Look, I don’t know that Amar’e is the long-term answer for the Suns. I’ve been over that before. But they cost more money than their owner seems to be willing to spend, and without some creativity, they’re most likely gonna get worse before they get better. But hey…Sarver knows the value of publicity, and Charles would definitely hook the Suns up with plenty of publicity whether they’re winning or not. And besides that…if Chuck really wants to dive in and give it a go, he may be willing to work cheap (I’m not saying he will, I’m saying he may) and Phoenix just happens to have an owner who loooooooooooooves people who will work cheap (and don’t count against the luxury tax!). And besides that…if anybody would stand up to Sarver in that position, it’s Chuck. It wasn’t Kerr.
#5:
This one is actually in two parts; first, it’s not like he’d be going it alone…there’s a reason teams employ an entire front office featuring assistant GMs and capologists and what have you. This is the same reason all the lamentations over David Griffin leaving the Suns were so weak–Kerr didn’t suddenly become a great GM because the Suns had a good season, and Griffin didn’t suddenly become a viable GM because Kerr left. Griffin was part of the Kerr team, and as we say here at Sun-N-Gun: Good Riddance To The Kerr Team! Second, it’s not like he’ll be here forever; either he’ll get bored or tired of Sarver’s shit or, you know, working…and he’ll just go back to working one day a week for TNT (although it’s unfortunate that he’s not with ESPN…he could just keep working for them at the same time since they have no trouble whatsoever with conflicts of interest [and while we're on that subject, how cool would that be if a GM were also an analyst at the same time? I think it could be awesome if it were someone like Charles]) and all the haters could be right.
Seriously, though, I guess my only question would be Why not try it? Give it a shot and see where it goes. Chuck For GM! I’d vote for him.
Last night in New York City, Steve Nash held his annual Showdown charity soccer event. You can see more about it at Nash’s website…that video at the bottom of Nash doing some recruiting is pretty sweet. Also, ESPN’s Henry Abbott was there and shot this video featuring the Suns’ own Jared Dudley doing, well, not so well on the ol’ pitch:
AUTHOR: nate dion | IN: Suns | COMMENTS: Comments Off
I was briefly internetless there (what a terrifying experience that was), so I’ve been trying to catch up on all my Nash-At-The-World-Cup videos. You can check out all of them here if you want, but here are the best ones:
Oh, those wacky vuvuzelas:
It’s entirely possible that he’s a little bit retarded. That’s why he’s great:
Did I say a little bit retarded? He needs to be careful, though…everybody knows you never go full retard.
So, as I imagine you’ve heard by now, Steve Kerr is done as Suns GM at the end of this month. You can get all the news here if you want, but I don’t imagine you showed up here at Señor Sun-N-Gun’s place to get some news, did you? If you did, I imagine you’re pretty regularly disappointed.
Anyway, so Kerr’s decided he’s out. Now, there are many possible reasons for this decision. Let’s check out a couple of ‘em, starting with the man’s own words:
After much thought and deliberation, I have decided this is the right time for me to move on both professionally and personally.
Ok, so that’s Kerr’s official reason. I think there’s probably some truth to the first part of that. I mean, Kerr doesn’t even live in Phoenix. He and his family live in Cali and he commutes. His oldest kid is in high school, so I buy that he wants to have more time with his family. But he wasn’t done yet:
The past three years have been exceptional for me.
Fair enough. He was sort of a surprise hire, was pretty much reviled throughout the Phoenix area for doing lots of stupid things to the Suns, but then the Suns started winning and the new conventional wisdom is that he’s done a good job. I’d say that’s fairly exceptional.
The work and dedication of everyone with the organization is tremendous…
I’m sure that’s true. It seems like there are plenty of decent Suns employees…at least on the Twitter anyway.
…and I appreciate the passion and commitment that Robert Sarver has for the Phoenix Suns and creating a perennial winner.
I imagine it was hard not to laugh while saying that, especially given the news that part of the reason Kerr decided to leave is that Sarver told him he wanted him to take a pay cut. Good move, Bob.
I feel the team is well poised for the future, with strong leadership both on the roster and in the front office, and a good mix of veterans and young talent that will continue to grow together and succeed at the highest level.
Ok, now this is where things start to get interesting. Because hey–if this team, as currently constructed, was coming back whole next year, I’d agree with that statement wholeheartedly. But.
As you may also be aware, one of the Suns’ top players, a Mr. Amar’e Stoudemire, is on the verge of opting out of his contract and becoming a free agent. He wants the max. Two of this season’s prominent supporting players, Channing Frye and Lou Amundson, are free agents as well. The Suns don’t have a first-round draft pick, and there are big questions about what they’re going to do with Leandro Barbosa–whether they’re going to keep him or do whatever they can to get rid of his contract.
That’s a lot of stuff right there–and that’s not to mention the talking job that just came up what with Doug Collins headed off to ruin the 76ers and all. Does anyone find it outside the realm of possibility that Sarver said something like…
“Ok, Steve, here’s the deal. Your contract’s up. Look, you’ve done a great job. But I can’t afford to continue paying you the exorbitant sum I’ve been paying you. So you’re gonna need to take a small paycut of only 47-or-so-percent. Also, I’ve decided that we’re not going to be able to re-sign Amar’e. We’re either going to let him go or sign-and-trade him to the Knicks–I hear they’ve still got Eddy Curry’s Expiring Contract on their roster. Maybe we can get Marbury back, too. People seemed to like him and he’s gotta be cheap too. Now, don’t think this will change my expectation that we win a championship RIGHT NOW. So are you in?”
I imagine Kerr thought about it for a good 11 seconds or so, then decided that he, like George Costanza, was going to get out on a high note.
Obviously, every imbecile out there (including, of course, yours truly) thinks he or she knows what the Suns oughta do about Amar’e Stoudemire. Sign him or let him walk? Give him the big bucks or try to replace him? It seems to me that all the opinionizers out there make their arguments based on at least one, and possibly all four, of the following “question areas”: Head/Heart, Health, Production, and Overall Value. Let’s take ‘em in order, shall we?
Head/Heart:
I put this one first because, for me, it’s the easiest question of all: What’s the question? Since the day Amar’e got drafted by the Suns, “people” have wondered about his drive, his dedication, his will to succeed. “People” wonder about his “character” based on his mother’s extensive, well-documented legal problems (there’s a pretty good piece on the issue here if you’re interested). But here’s the thing: has Amar’e had a lot of legal problems? No. DUIs? No. Gettin’ in fights up in da club? No sir. So what people are afraid of is the apparently never-ending possibility that Amar’e will wake up one day and be his mother. And that’s some bullshit right there. Amar’e ain’t trying to shake his shady past and youthful mistakes…because that’s baggage he doesn’t carry. But he will apparently forever need to try to shake his mom’s shady past. Amar’e has never been anything but dedicated to the Phoenix Suns and to the Phoenix community. For me, there’s no question. Amar’e’s not one of those head cases who people keep hoping will get it together because maybejustmaybe he’ll be able to put his enormous talent to good use. He’s a put-together dude who has shown nothing but love to PHX since the day he came to town.
Health:
I think there’s probably a legitimate question here (and I’m not talking about the eye; that was a freak occurrence which has been dealt with and has not impeded him one bit), just because of the history of NBA players who have microfracture surgery. They tend to lose explosiveness, and the surgery tends to be the beginning of the end. However, that isn’t the case as much as it used to be; while Chris Webber and Allan Houston were pretty much done after the surgery, Amar’e (along with other players like multiple-microfracture pioneer Kenyon Martin) have regained much (if not all) of their explosiveness post-surgery. Amar’e’s thunderous dunks made many highlight reels (and shamed the houses of many posterees) this season. I think it would be fair to say that Amar’e’s explosiveness is still there. The man is only 27, and because of time missed with injuries, he’s only played 516 games so far in his career. And while it’s impossible for me to know the real dirt on his medical status, he certainly seems healthy–and the Suns’ crack training staff is known as one of the very best. If anybody can keep the man on his feet, it’s them.
Production:
STAT had an excellent all-around season this year, especially considering how slowly he started and how it took him about half the season to really round into game shape after missing so much training time last summer (he had to spend the majority of several weeks lying down while recovering from his eye surgery). He finished the regular season with 36-minute averages of 24 and 9 on .557 shooting. That’s pretty damn good. Would I like to see a couple more rebounds per? Why yes, I would like to see a couple more rebounds per. But again…I think that will come with a totally-in-shape-and-ready-to-start-the-season Amar’e. He’s a big-time producer.
Overall Value:
How many columns were printed this year about how special and unique this Suns team was; the way they worked together both on and off the court and what a family they were? Seven or eight thousand? Yeah, that sounds about right. This team, with Amar’e, was a helluva lot of fun to watch. It was cool to see a team really enjoy each other that way. Do I place that above winning? Hell no. But it’s not all that far off. STAT was a big part of that, and I think a big piece of that goes away if he walks. So in terms of Overall Value, considering production and everything else, I think I’d have to say that Amar’e is pretty damn valuable to the Suns.
So what’s the answer? When I really think about it, I think that Amar’e is, at this point in time and for the forseeable future, irreplaceable. He works well with Nash. The Suns have the kind of squad that can play help defense and cover some of Amar’e’s shortcomings (and if you’re going to tell me a guy with “shortcomings” isn’t a max player, I’m here to tell you that every NBA player has shortcomings, even the max guys. Get over it), and he’s a dominant offensive player. I know it ain’t my money, but I think you’ve gotta…
So I mentioned the other day that Steve Nash was going to be reporting on the World Cup for CBS Sports. Here is the first video; Steve’s journey to South Africa…or something like that.
Yeah, nice weird beard, Steve. I guess that’s one of the hair things you haven’t really rocked yet. I mean, you’ve done the hair-in-a-variety-of-awkward-lengths thing, and the expertly-groomed-body-hair thing, but you haven’t done the facial hair thing. I think maybe he oughta try rockin’ the ’stache this year. That’d be a good look.
Anyway, this commerical is also out there; that Steve’s a funny sumbitch:
The bra, of course, is a tribute to Brandi Chastain, of whom I’m sure you can find a video on the youtube or whatever if that’s what you want to see (personally, I think Steve looks better in the bra than she does, but that’s neither here nor there). What’s worth putting right here on the ol’ Sun-N-Gun, however, is the excellent Nike commercial that followed:
And see, this is where yer ol’ pal Señor Sun-N-Gun wraps it all up for you. Because starring in that spot is none other than KG hizzownself who, of course, is currently appearing in the NBA Finals if you’re into that kind of thing. That’s called keeping it current.
And to really tie this room together, I present the following ode to Team USA. Who cares if it’s not the futbol Team USA? This is a basketball blog, for cryin’ out loud.
That’s right, people. Basketball is going to have to take a couple days off, as it is time for the World Cup! I know there are plenty of haters out there who think that soccer is a bunch of crap, and Hey! I understand–I used to be one of you. I used to say all sorts of ridiculous, irresponsible, uninformed things about soccer being boring and stupid and what-have-you. But then I watched soccer. I watched the World Cup. And hey! Soccer kicks ass! But I’m not the only one who thinks so…your boy and mine Steve Nash thinks so. Stevie loves him some soccer. And hey! He parlayed his love for soccer into a free trip to South Africa to cover the world cup for CBS! Very shrewd, Mr. Nash, very shrewd.
Seriously, is there a better scam for a famous person than that? Hmm…I love soccer. I am recognizable. I am funny and I am good on camera…surely SOMEBODY must want to pay me to go to South Africa and spend 15 minutes a day saying dry, pithy things about the World Cup. Oh! Look! CBS Sports wants to pay me to say those things on camera! Tits!
Seriously, though…enjoy the World Cup. At least watch the US play England, because they’re gonna need all the good vibes they can get. Maybe these videos will help you make the basketball-to-soccer transition:
Good, right? You remember that. How about this one?
And to make the transition, you should check out this video of Nash training with the New York Red Bulls. He’s the man. Watch the soccer, peoples.
So after comparing Gordon Hayward to a guy who can’t get any minutes in the NBA, I thought I oughta give it another shot with a couple other players. Let’s dive right in, shall we? Here are the NCAA career stat lines (here’s a hint: they’re both big men):
Ok, so Player 2 doubles up Player 1 on a lot of those counting stats; obviously he played a lot more minutes, although he only played for one more season. Player 1 was obviously a more prolific rebounder and shotblocker. But just because yer old pal Señor Sun-N-Gun is nothing if not fair, here are their career rate stats:
Now Player 2 had big advantages in minutes and points per game, and small bumps in field goal percentage and rebounds. Player 1 had the advantage in free throw percentage, and almost doubled Player 2’s blocks per game. As I pointed out earlier, Señor Sun-N-Gun is nothing if not fair. So I feel that I must, in the interest of full disclosure, point out that I watched both of these players play in college, and I’m not sure if I enjoyed a single minute of either of their college careers. You know why? Because I do not appreciate watching big slow dudes play basketball. And don’t worry; I’m an equal opportunity hater of big slow dudes. White? Black? Asian? Whatever. Guys like this:
or this:
do not pique my interest whatsoever. Seriously…watching them slog around the court like the mob has fitted them for cement shoes…praying that my further existence will never hinge on them winning a footrace with Dick Bavetta…no thanks.I guess what I’m saying is that I write this with the utmost prejudice. Call me a hater if you like; in this instance it’s true. I hate what these guys do to a basketball game and I hate that their only discernible “skill” is being tall (or “long,” as it’s now fashionable to say).
So who are these two fine specimens? Well, Player 1 is Cole Aldrich. And before I get to Player 2, I just want to say that the Cole Aldrich thing really bothers me. Why? Because Player 2 was drafted 15 years ago…and despite their similarities, it doesn’t seem that NBA GMs have learned a GODDAMN THING about the kinds of players that ought to go in the lottery. Despite their statistical (and physical) similarities, Aldrich is being talked about as a lottery pick. I’m not saying that Aldrich will be 100% useless in the NBA. It would be disingenuous for me to do so since I have based this post on the comparison of their college careers. Here are Player 2’s stats from his first three NBA seasons:
Hey, not too bad, right? Especially those second and third seasons…149 starts, 35.5 minutes per game, 50.5% shooting, 70.5% from the line, 8 boards/game, 1 block/game, 16.3 points? Not bad at all. Totally useful. I suppose, that while I might like to get more out of a lottery pick than “useful,” I would accept that as good enough. A nice first three years for an NBA player.
However. There are years that come after that. Many, many years, if you pick well. But our buddy Player 2? Here are his next three seasons:
129 starts, about 26 minutes per, 44% shooting, 68% free throw shooting, 5.7 boards, half a block, 9.3 points.
Yeah, that’s not what I want out of my lottery pick for his second three years. Those first three useful years do not begin to excuse the downfall afterwards, do they?
So what happened to our boy Big Country (that’s right, it was Big Country)? Well, two things happened. First, BC got a monster contract extension (6 yrs, $61MM). Whoops. Second, the NBA lockout happened. And when the lockout happened, our boy Big Country took his downtime as an opportunity to EAT. When the NBA finally decided to play that ‘98-’99 season, BC showed up to training camp 40 pounds overweight…and somehow developed chronic knee and back pain. Weird that that would happen to a 7-foot tall guy who weighs over 300 pounds. Probably just a coincidence. This is significant because there may be an impending lockout.
It’s also significant because Aldrich, to me, does not look like a guy who’s in NBA shape. If you watched any of KU’s games against teams that did lots of running or had lots of super-athletic players, guess who spent a lot of time on the bench! You think that gets any easier in the NBA? Seriously, Aldrich is a guy who played pretty well against kids and amateurs. What the hell makes anyone think he’s going to succeed against the best of the best? I mean, I understand that guys like Chad Ford and The Sports Douche like him because he’s white; both of them immediately glom on to any quasi-talented white guy that comes down the pike. But is there any right-thinking person who considers Cole Aldrich a viable lottery pick?
Learn the lesson of Big Country, people. Unathletic white dudes who happen to be tall aren’t gonna cut it in the NBA…especially when you consider the possibilities for, um…body trouble down the road.
So I’m not ready to talk about the Suns’ offseason quite yet. I have some thoughts about some things, but nothing that’s ready for posting yet. But hey–it’s still the offseason, right? So let’s talk about some other things. As much as I love the NBA, I feel sometimes like the non-game aspects of the league are becoming more fun than the actual games. Why? You know why! Because games are moving further and further in the direction of the WWE, with predetermined outcomes handed down by Papa from on high. But the offseason and the draft and the trade deadline and what-have-you? Still fun, because they don’t feel rigged! Awesome, right? Right. So over the next couple weeks, we here at Sun-N-Gun will be putting together some commentary on various teams and free agents and draftees and so on. Sounds fun, right? Right!
Let’s start off with a fun one…compare, if you will, these two stat lines. Each stat line belongs to an NBA draft prospect in his final year of NCAA play:
Ok, so those two dudes seem fairly comparable, right? Player 1 was a slightly better shooter from the floor, but a significantly better shooter from both lines–3-point and free throw. Player 2 had an edge of just over 2 boards per game, but in the rest of the categories, the differences are pretty negligible. Player 1 has an advantage in that he graduated from college, so these statistics are from his senior season, while Player 2 is departing after his sophomore year. Player 1, however, played in a better conference (the Big East) while Player 2 played in the Horizon League.
Player 1 was picked in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft. Player 2 is being discussed as a likely lottery pick in the 2010 NBA draft. Player 1, for his NBA career (4 seasons so far) has averaged 10.1 minutes per game in 195 games played. He shoots decent percentages, but has averaged only 4.1 points per game.
Maybe my expectations are off, but if I were picking in the lottery, I’d certainly want a hell of a lot more out of my top pick than 791 points over four seasons. I mean, I know NBA GMs aren’t always known for their smarts when making lottery picks (see The Kandi Man and Darko and Kwame Brown and so on and so on), but I’d like to hope that maybe they’re getting just the tiniest bit smarter as time goes by. Just kidding. I know they’re not.
You know how I know? Because some lottery team is probably going to draft Player 2. And if Chad Ford knows anything (which he occasionally does), the Clippers are going to draft Player 2 at Number 8 Overall. Player 2, of course, is Butler’s Gordon Hayward. He seems to me a potentially useful complementary player who’s leaving college too soon because somebody’s going to pay him a lot of money to sit on their bench. But many players seem to think of him as a lottery-worthy potential star. Me? I’m not seeing it.
Oh, and Player 1? Well, the interesting part of this is that the same Clippers who may draft Hayward already have Player 1. He’s Steve Novak.
FanSided
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