Watson impressed with Summer Suns’ performance
Jul 20, 2016, 2:20 PM
The Phoenix Suns might not have won the Las Vegas Summer League, but for head coach Earl Watson, he has “supreme confidence” in his young players after the way they handled themselves throughout the week.
“You see them play at a high level whether they played well, or they dominate, or had their moments of uncertainty, they always came back and played stronger,” he said on Off The Edge with B-Train on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “The energy was there, the passion was there, you can see the continuity within the entire group.”
The Suns ended with a 4-2 record, losing in the semifinals to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In two games, Devin Booker averaged 26 points with 6.5 assists, while rookie guard Tyler Ulis played six games and scored 14.5 points with 6.3 assists per game. Booker was second in scoring average in Las Vegas and both he and Ulis were in the top five for assists per game.
Some people felt rookie forward Marquese Chriss’ rebounding ability was not ready for the NBA, but he left Sin City averaging nine rebounds and 10 points in three games. Alan Williams led the way for the Suns and the rest of the Summer League with 11.2 rebounds a game.
With the bright spots the team had, they still have some work to do with their fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Rookie forward Dragan Bender struggled to find his shot in the five games he played. He scored 8.6 points per game and shot just .265 from 3-point range. He wasn’t able to control the boards either, only averaging 5.6 a game.
Bender’s struggles aside, Watson feels that the Summer Suns showed enough to believe they will make some noise in the regular season.
“Our young guys just led the way and the future is going to be exciting, but the future is now,” he said.
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