Noooooo! Yuta Tabuse Waived!

[JS22]

This is a sad, sad day in the history of Phoenix sports. A moment of silence, if you will, for our favorite point guard who could, Yuta Tubuse.

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/tabuse_041218.html

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You will be missed!

 

[Mike Olbinski]

That sucks, I liked watching him come in and try to score...what a bummer.

Mike

 

[JS22]

That sucks, I liked watching him come in and try to score...what a bummer.

Mike

"Try and score"

LOL.

 

[George O'Brien]

I hope Yuta signs with Golden State. They have a huge Japanese population in the Bay Area and it would add something to a team that is going nowhere.

 

[SweetD]

So are the Suns making a move to bring in someone? Ala Malone/Mourning?

 

[George O'Brien]

So are the Suns making a move to bring in someone? Ala Malone/Mourning?

In that the Suns had only 14 guys on the team, I'm not sure I see much point in this. Yuta wasn't keeping the Suns from signing anyone, it was just that he was set to be a permanent IR fixture.

 

[Gee!]

lol he was a novelty act. a marketing scheme.. who cares really.. thats what im thinking

 

[thirty-two]

In that the Suns had only 14 guys on the team, I'm not sure I see much point in this. Yuta wasn't keeping the Suns from signing anyone, it was just that he was set to be a permanent IR fixture.

This may be a stupid question but if you are on the IR, does that mean you cannot practice with the team?

Obviously those who are injured really cant practice... I'm talking about those with the suspicious "back pain" or whatever excuse they use to put that player on the IR to gain a roster spot.

 

[jbeecham]

He could practice with the team. I read somewhere that he wasn't getting much time in the practices because the team was usually preparing the players that actually play. Plus if they kept him on the team much longer then his contract was fully gauranteed.

 

[azdad1978]

This may be a stupid question but if you are on the IR, does that mean you cannot practice with the team?

Obviously those who are injured really cant practice... I'm talking about those with the suspicious "back pain" or whatever excuse they use to put that player on the IR to gain a roster spot.

The IR in NBA is different than the one we have at the NFL. In the NFL once you are put in the IR you are done for the season and in the NBA they can put you in IR and can still take you out and your season is not over. But Tubuse is nothing but a bench player anyway and with Nash and Barbosa I don't see where he'll get his minutes.

 

[TRW]

lol he was a novelty act. a marketing scheme.. who cares really.. thats what im thinking

Absolutely correct!

Never should have been on the roster from Day 1!

 

[Mike Olbinski]

lol he was a novelty act. a marketing scheme.. who cares really.. thats what im thinking

True, but it was fun to see the little guy out there....many die-hard Suns fans will remember Greg Grant from years ago, and he was short but speedy...

Mike

 

[jibikao]

I haven't even seen how Tabuse plays but it does seem like a marketing scheme to me and that's why I think Suns SHOULD keep him, just like Yao has helped Rocket tripled their sales.

Come on, NBA is still about business and entertainment and I don't see why Suns let Tabuse go. Maybe the Japanese people are pissed that Tabuse doesn't get any playing time at all. Something tells me this has a lot to do with Suns letting Tabuse go, or another team showing more interest in Tabuse than Suns.
Either way, I was hoping Nash could train Tabuse to be a fast-pace PG.

Jimmy

 

[DevonCardsFan]

That sucks I liked the little fast dude.

 

[Gaddabout]

I think you take D'Antoni's comments at face value on this one: Tabuse deserves a legitimate shot someplace and he wasn't going to get it in Phoenix. The Suns have always, if anything, been a player-friendly place where they won't hold you captive or play games with your career. Unless your name is Jerrod Mustaf, in which case Colangelo will do everything in his power to bankrupt you and make sure you never see the light of an American basketball court ever again. Can't find justice in the court? Find it on it!

Seriously, they did this to make room for Vroman. It made little sense to keep him since D'Antoni seemed to have little faith in him in games that counted.

 

[George O'Brien]

One of the odd things about the Suns is that most teams develop their deep bench guys during games where they are being blown out. Give the guys experience when it doesn't matter.

Problem is that the Suns have not been blown out all season. Their biggest loss was in an overtime game. Every game counts because the Suns are winning every game or getting to within the last minute of pulling it out.

It's dangerous to use scrubs during winning blowouts because they can blow leads. It's catch 22, the deep bench guys don't get enough on court experience so they are too risky to put on the court and thus don't get the experience.

 

[Joe Mama]

Maybe the Phoenix Suns can draft Nate Robinson. He's a better version of Earl Boykins. the fans would absolutely love him.

Joe Mama

 

[TRW]

No more players under the 6 foot barrier please. Not many of them are worth the trouble.

 

[Joe Mama]

Here was SI.com's John Hollinger's take on this.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/john_hollinger/12/21/boston.ainge/index.html

In other news, the Suns waived merchandising mascot Yuta Tabuse this weekend. Oh, his business card said "point guard", but you didn't think he was on the team for basketball reasons, did you? I'm sorry, but this was about the most cynical attempt to sell jerseys I've ever seen (click this link if you don't believe me), ranking about half a notch below "Manute Bol playing hockey" in the catalog of obvious marketing ploys.

I suppose it was brilliant in an evil genius kind of way -- bring in the league's first Japanese player, make big bucks selling Suns gear with his number in Japan (Tabuse is a big, big deal over there, as I learned on a visit this summer -- he's even got his own Coke commercial) and then let him go before contracts are guaranteed. They must have made millions on this. If next week they announce they've signed the NBA's first player from Liechtenstein, I smell a rat.

 

[jbeecham]

I noticed this in a Suns report:

Yuta Tabuse, released by the Suns earlier this month, has resurfaced by signing with the Long Beach Jam of the American Basketball Association.

 

[arthurracoon]

I noticed this in a Suns report:

Yuta Tabuse, released by the Suns earlier this month, has resurfaced by signing with the Long Beach Jam of the American Basketball Association.

Good for Yuta!