Suns’ Al McCoy: It’s ‘difficult to judge’ Kendall Marshall’s potential
Feb 23, 2013, 7:58 PM | Updated: 7:59 pm
With the trade of Sebastian Telfair to the Toronto Raptors, Suns’ rookie Kendall Marshall will see an increase in playing time, which could prove fruitful for the young point guard’s maturation process.
Suns’ play-by-play announcer Al McCoy told Arizona Sports 620’s Doug & Wolf Show Friday that Marshall’s growing pains could be attributed to his limited playing time with UNC at the collegiate level.
“You really have to look at Kendall Marshall as a kid coming out of high school,” McCoy said. “I mean how many games did he play last year with North Carolina? A handful. So, he’s really just a high school kid coming into the NBA.”
Without more experience under his belt, McCoy thinks it’s tough to evaluate how high Marshall’s ceiling is.
“It’s very difficult right now to really judge what the playing potential is for Kendall Marshall,” McCoy said.
But McCoy thinks seeing more time on the court will do wonders for Marshall’s play.
“I think it’s a good thing for him and for the Suns that he is getting quality playing time now playing behind Goran Dragic and playing with him sometimes also on the floor,” McCoy said.
While Marshall certainly has to hone many areas of his game, McCoy said the Suns’ rookie has shown positive signs of progress.
“His play has been sporadic, there’s no question about that,” McCoy stated. “He’s had a couple of very, very good games. He has shown that he can hit the three-point shot. He needs to improve defensively, he needs improvement in his overall game, but he’s a hard worker and he’s getting the opportunity to play now.”
But McCoy still believes it’s far too early to assess Marshall’s value to the Suns long-term.
“I think he needs another good summer of work, another big training camp next year before you can really evaluate,” McCoy said. “Right now just kind of a borderline situation.”
