Phoenix Suns

Shooting Guards/Small Forwards: Measurements: Name Height W/O Shoes Height With Shoes Weight Wingspan Standing Reach Body Fat Hand Length Hand Width Shooting Guards C.J. McCollum (SG) 6' 2.25'' 6' 3.25'' 197 6' 6.25'' 8' 0.5'' 8.6 8 9.5 Ben McLemore (SG) 6' 3.5'' 6' 4.75'' 189.2 6' 7.75'' 8' 4.5'' 5 8.75 9.5 Victor Oladipo (SG) 6' 3.25'' 6' 4.25'' 213.2 6' 9.25'' 8' 4.5'' 6.55 8.75 9.25 Small Forwards Shabazz Muhammad (SF) 6' 4.75'' 6' 6.25'' 221.8 6' 11'' 8' 8.5'' 9 9 10 Otto Porter (SF) 6' 7.5'' 6' 8.5'' 197.6 7' 1.5'' 8' 9.5'' 6.65 8.75 9.25 For the shooting guards, Oladipo stood out the most overall with his 6"9.25" reach, making him the longest guard in the draft. While McLemore is technically the tallest, it's hard to call that a win for him being that he is only one-quarter of an inch taller than Oladipo, when many scouts thought he was 1"-2" inches taller. McLemore is the leanest with only 5% body fat, but Oladipo isn't much more at 6.55%, and when you couple that with his weight of 213 lbs, it shows that he has the strongest, most NBA-ready body by far. As for the small forwards, it's a two-man competition for the prospective lottery players with Dario Saric not participating in the NBA Combine. Porter wins the measurabes with ease as he registers nearly three inches taller than Shabazz without shoes. Although Muhammad's 6'11" wingspan is very impressive, Porter still manages to one-up him here registering a 7'1.5" measurement. Muhammad does win the size contest weighing in at 221lbs compared to Porter at a svelte 197.6, but he's also at 9% body fat compared to Porter at only 6.65%. Still, Shabazz calculates to around 20lbs of total body fat compared to Porter at around 13lbs....only a 7lb difference. So Muhammad's weight advantage is still mostly muscle...which is good. Results: Name 3/4 Court Sprint Time Lane Agility Time Modified Time Standing Vertical Max Vertical Shooting Guards C.J. McCollum (SG) 3.32 11.02 2.91 (14th overall) 32 (15th overall) 38.5 (14th overall) Ben McLemore (SG) 3.27 (20th overall) 11.87 3.11 32.5 (13th overall) 42 (Tied 2nd overall) Victor Oladipo (SG) 3.25 (17th overall) 10.69 (11th overall) 3.14 33 (11th overall) 42 (Tied 2nd overall) Small Forwards Shabazz Muhammad (SF) 3.32 10.99 2.93 29.5 37 Otto Porter (SF) 3.4 11.25 3.06 27 36 The story here for the guards is Oladipo's athleticism. While McLemore proved he is no doubt an elite athlete, Oladipo proved he is even more so. McLemore and Oladipo tied for 2nd place overall with 42" max verticals (only PG Shane Larkin registered higher at 44"). While Oladipo registered slightly higher in the standing vertical and 3/4 court sprint, the difference was very minor, so they are both fairly comparable in these regards. The biggest difference was in the lane agility drill, where Oladipo showed his lateral quickness and ability to move side-to-side, forward, and backwards with a substantial advantage over McLemore...who actually fell down at the conclusion of the drill by losing his balance. In contrast, Oladipo stayed very low to the court and showed terrific agility and body control...this was apparent just by watching him. As for the small forwards, Muhammad ran the table on Porter here, but didn't really set himself apart from the rest of the pack in any substantial way. Porter is not an elite athlete, and while Muhammad is more athletic, he isn't considered high-level or elite by any means either. Tim Hardaway Jr. was actually the most impressive small forward in this regard, but is not considered a lottery pick by most accounts, so he was not part of this comparison. Conclusion: If the Suns are going to draft a wing with their first round p

Like so many veterans before him, Jermaine O’Neal came to Phoenix in search of rejuvenation. He had spent his previous two seasons languishing in Boston with seemingly insurmountable injury woes. The... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Since the current iteration of the Phoenix Suns is on vacation during these playoffs, we at Bright Side thought it would be fun to relive the Suns' exciting 1993 playoff run with recaps of each game, starting with Game 5 of the Western Semis. Revisit yesteryear while we wait for the Suns to rise again. After a thrilling come-from-behind first round series win over the Los Angeles Lakers ("and everyone's gonna say what a great series it was"), the Phoenix Suns faced an equally big opponent in the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs had just beaten defending Western Champ Portland Trailblazers in round one, and saw the smaller Suns as their next step on a Finals run of their own. David Robinson was a beast surrounded by role players that made them greater - and more frustrating - than the sum of their parts (where have I heard this one before). Avery Johnson. Sean Elliot. J.R. Reid. Antoine Carr. Dale Ellis. All good players, but all role players around a Hall of Fame center. The smaller Suns had led the league in scoring, by a wide margin, and boasted a passable defense (9th in efficiency vs. 18th in points allowed) to win a club record 62 games before the playoffs started. (again, where have I heard all this before?) Charles Barkley was the Suns Hall of Famer in 1993, putting up 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, along with a block for a good measure. Charles had truly an historic season, one that has not been topped in the valley - either in terms of raw stats or raw impact - since. You could argue that Steve Nash made the same, if not bigger, impact (and certainly a more long-lasting one) but Nash never guided the Suns to the Finals and never in the way that Charles did. The Suns supporting cast was a who's who for Suns fans: PG Kevin Johnson (MIP, 3-time All-Star, 5-time All-NBA). SG/SF Dan Majerle (3-time All-Star, 2-time All-Defensive). F Tom Chambers (4-time All-Star, 2-time All-NBA). Danny Ainge (1-time All-Star). Ced Ceballos (1-time All-Star). Mark West. Oliver Miller. Richard Dumas. Tim Kempton. 4th-quarter Frank Johnson. Man, that was an exciting team. The Suns painted the town orange that year. Chambers, Kempton and West still work for the Suns to this day. Ceballos was their in-game entertainer for years. Majerle was a TV guy, then coach. Barkley still lives in the valley. In many ways, the 1993 team is still part of the franchise fabric. May 18, 1993: Suns beat Spurs 109-97, take 3-2 series lead Boxscore - courtesy of basketball-reference.com The Suns returned home for Game 5 after letting the series get tied up 2-2. "It's never very hard to play on the road," shooting guard Danny Ainge quipped. "It's just hard to win on the road." Feasting on home cooking and a rocking home crowd, the Suns muddled through three tight quarters before Charles Barkley lit up the night with 19 fourth-quarter points, including 16 in a 6-minute stretch. Barkley put the Suns on his back and carried them home when they needed it the most. Barkley finished the game with 36 points (on 16 shots and 15 free throws) and 12 rebounds. He got great support from Kevin Johnson (15 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds) and Dan Majerle (17 points, 4 rebounds). As a team, the Suns shot 59.7% for the game, a huge improvement over shooting less than 42% in each of the losses in San Antonio. The crowd was electric. The Suns attendance ranked 5th in the league that year, with every single game sold out and playoff tickets really hard to come by. My dad went to every game and will never forget that series. Up next: another showdown in the Alamo for Game 6. Could Barkley and the Suns step up on the road?

Mark D. Smith – USA Today Sports Images The Phoenix Suns, based on their performance during the 2012-2013 NBA season, are in a bad place and don’t seem like they’ll be getting out of it anytime soon. They finished the season winning just 25 games and finishing with the worst record in the entire Western Conference. Obviously, they were a far cry from successful this past year. The bad news for the franchise and their fans is that their roster for the 2013-2014 season is largely going to be the same as it was this past season. They have no notable free agents that will be leaving the team and they don’t have as much flexibility with the salary cap as a team in their situation would like to. If they make any improvements next season, it is going to have to come from players already in-house. One player that came on towards the end of the season that could play a much larger role for Phoenix next season and could be big for their improvement is 28-year-old P.J. Tucker. Overall, Tucker played in 79 games on the season and got 24.2 minutes per game of playing time. In that role he averaged 6.4 points, 1.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field. Over the last month of the season, though, Tucker started seeing an increase in his minutes and he absolutely capitalized on the opportunity. In his last 16 games he played 30.6 minutes per game and averaged 10.8 points, 1.9 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field and showing the ability to knock down the occasional long-range jumper as well. Tucker isn’t the caliber of player that’s going to dramatically alter the course of this franchise, but he is a player that will be incredibly valuable to them as they try to improve and rebuild the best they can. He’s a high-IQ player that makes smart decisions on the floor and always seems to give maximum effort. The Suns would be wise to continue to give him more opportunities next season and see what happens. Chances are that the team will benefit from that happening. Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.

CHICAGO -- Some basketball dreamers will tell you that they eat and sleep hoops. It is apparent that Carrick Felix does neither.

Injuries have so profoundly impacted the NBA playoffs this year that one can put together a pretty good All-Star Game made up only of players who are missing the playoffs because of various ailments, or have at least have missed some games or had their minutes dramatically limited because of them. And we're not even counting a lot of players who have sucked it up to play at least close to their normal minutes despite injuries, such as Miami's Dwyane Wade or Golden State's Stephen Curry. Nor are we counting star players whose teams did not even make it to the postseason, such as Kevin Love of the Timberwolves.

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There is hope. It’s faint, barely making its presence known amidst the abyss that the city’s original sports staple finds itself in. I would be lying to you if I didn’t share in the skepticism of the so-called promise of progress after the worst season in franchise history since the team’s inception in 1968. I’m already overtly concerned that I’m relying too much on a 33 year old from Boston, a 21 year old prospect from Indiana, and the ever dastardly ping pong balls that inexplicably hold the threads to each franchise‘s fate at one point or another. So many things have to go right in a time where right is rare. It’s a difficult time for many suns fans. This is not what they’re used to. Being dead last in the Western Conference, pining for ping pong balls, is not what they’re used to. They’re used to heartbreak. To either rooting for a Cinderella and coming up short, or a legitimate contender that suffers a few bad breaks at the worst possible time. They’re not used to rooting for a team that doesn’t even matter come May. Heartbreak is disheartening. Indifference is infuriating. In a city where losing is not expected, losing is not accepted, and heads have been called for, practically on speed dial. Lance Blanks. Lon Babby. Robert Sarver. "Saver" Sarver should sell, Babby should negotiate a ticket out of town, Blanks is living up to his surname. I’ve heard it all. Hell, I’ve said it all. There is no light brighter than the sun, and there is no burn darker than a scorned suns fan. We’ve been on the wrong side of the proverbial coin flip too many times to not be two-faced: We’ll lift you on our shoulders if you do well, and we’ll lift you over a three-story balcony if you fail. 45 years of See U Next Season will do that to you. The NBA Championship isn’t just a championship to us. It’s a catharsis. A release of all the volatile emotions reverberating throughout US Airways Center that is not only palpable, but suffocating. You can feel it in the arena, as if there’s an anti-championship banner hanging over us, constantly reminding the franchise what it hasn’t accomplished. You’re a good franchise, but not elite, it keeps telling us, even though we have had a 45 year run that should be considered the class of the league compared to any team not named Celtics or Lakers. In my opinion, we have consistently put out a winning product on the floor better than any team in the history of the NBA. Always adapting to the trends and playing the aggressor, pulling off moves that other teams wouldn’t even begin to consider. All done to reach the pinnacle of this league that few teams, if any, have worked harder to climb. Nowadays, the zenith is as far a climb this city has ever witnessed. We’ll have to climb just to earn the right to climb. It’s not a position the suns organization has experienced in four decades. The one man that was there then is not here now, although I’m sure he watches from the sidelines with as much vigor as I do. And yet, there’s hope. Even through all the blunders, the trades, the signings, the losses, the embarrassments, the vitriol, the hope that this can be turned around is there. Maybe it’s just naivety on our part; we call for heads because we’re not used to losing, and we just assume that the Phoenix Suns should be better because the Phoenix Suns have always been better. Maybe all the anger and outcry is a result of constantly coming up short time and time again, and now we have a reason to be justified. Maybe we keep calling for heads because we’re still hoping against all hope that the coin that was flipped on 1969 was called "heads" and we just haven’t been awarded yet. Curses are made to be broken after all. In time, I no longer believed in curses. But over time, I lost all

Failure’s traditional plot in the NBA — where niches are as important as the fairytale dreams of superstardom — generally begins with talent and bloated heads. It’s not P.J.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

I LOVE him but I feel that he'll bust if someone tries to force him to play point. He's unselfish, smart (really high BB-IQ), has great handles, has a great feel for the game, understands mismatches and has solid court vision...He's definitely smart and unselfish enough to hit open shooters but I just don't think he has that natural feel for the game (as a PG) that Nash has, he doesn't have elite court vision and I don't think he'll ever be a good enough passer to make highlight dimes like Nash/Rondo/Paul/Dragic and he doesn't have the athleticism to compensate. He can hit open guys and wide open guys but doesn't have more advanced PG skills and I don't think he can make really difficult passes, in this way he reminds me of Sebastian Telfair. He's more a second/third string PG (i.e. Barbosa). He's not the classic idea of a combo guard because he plays below the rim, I'll come back to this idea later. On the PnR he can shoot over the screen or get to the paint but he doesn't seem to know when/where to pass. He had a lot of turnovers but he was also asked to do a lot. He should benefit from better teammates, better spacing and faster pace that we get in the NBA. . One of the knocks on him is that he DEFINITELY doesn't have that electric Westbrook/Rose/Lillard athleticism; he doesn't even have great athleticism. He's a below-the-rim player; his athleticism is more similar to Michael Carter-Williams (not as tall or long though). He's fast but not really fast and he's doesn't have the strength (or length) to play in the paint like Westbrook does. Quicker/faster/stronger/taller/longer players will give him trouble in the NBA. He'll be fine on the perimeter with his ball handling, craftiness and shooting but inside it'll be tough for anything that isn't an open layup. . Now what he DOES do well is that he's smart, unselfish, has a great feel for the game, solid court vision, incredible rebounder for his position (7.9/8.9 REBs in SO/JR years), understands mismatches, high character, hard worker, has okay to good athleticism, has a smooth handle... but the reason he's being talked about top 10 is because this guy can SHOOT! Set, moving, pullup, off the dribble, spot-up, off screens, threes... absolutely a dead-eye shooter (a la JJ Reddick, Ray Allen, Curry-ish). It also seems like he's the only guy in this class that has a really good handle (great crossover and brilliant hesitation) and can create his own shot (ISO). He also knows when he has to take big shots. McCollum is also a beast in transition (20.6% of his total offense). He's not a great finisher but he hustles and outruns the defense, pushes the ball up court, gets easy layups, gets wide-open shots (one of those guys that makes those shots everytime), pulls up when appropriate...he absolutely shreds defenses himself and with his passing when they aren't set. He plays crafty, good at getting fouls, knows when players aren't watching him, good first step (but not great) and like I said earlier he can hit the open man and knows when to feed mismatches (bigs on littles inside or littles on bigs outside). He's not great athletically so quicker, faster players can get around him and tall/strong players can get their shot over him/in his face. He has a lot to learn on defense but I think he will improve in time. . Offensively and defensively he's a fantastic off-ball player. He does the little things: chases rebounds, chases his shots when he thinks they're bad, putbacks, box-out (pretty good for a wing), understands the offense, knows to go to set up plays, knows where everyone else needs be also, knows when to cut to the basket, always ready to receive passes, in the 7SOL Era our offense needed players to be able to "pass or shoot" (understand the offense and where everyone is + anticipate what's going to happen and what you need to do then be able to "pass or shoot" before you even get the ball), McCollum can do that. Defensively he's knows when to get in passing lanes,