Actually, here's the single-paragraph version for SirStefan, so he can read it. Wouldn't want to tax that attention span.
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And you should face it that the Suns are the only team that would play Alton Ford, who is just maybe 6 feet, 8 inches tall, as a back-up or any other center. I love, though, how everybody talks about players developing by getting minutes in NBA games. However, unfortunately this is not 3rd grade Bitty-league basketball, the is the National Basketball Association. In a schedule where every game counts, like that of the Phoenix Suns, you don't have time to put your scrub players in the game for long stretches of time if that player is going to act as a detriment to the talent of the unit on the floor. Jake Tsakalidis is a serviceable center, and his body is very big which helps in basketball, but you have to face reality and stop kidding yourself if you think the guy can have the stamina to not only play, but be effective (and that's the key) in 35+ minutes of work over an 82-game season (that's another key). Couple that with the fact that he brings down about 4 rebounds a game, with his 7'2 stature and all, and hasn't blocked a shot cleanly in who knows how long. As far as developing is concerned, however, improvements are made from June to October (or as it's looking more and more possible for the Suns, from April to October), not from October to June. If Jake Tsakalidis ever has a chance of becoming an above average center in the league, who is comparable to at least an Olowakandi or Yao Ming, he is going to have to put in work over the summer. Game play helps some, but Jake gets enough minutes now that he could very easily become accostomed to the NBA game, and as far as familiarity and understanding of the game is concerned, I'm sure he already has. Nevertheless, it is the dedicated players who develop and take their games to the next level out of desire to be better basketball players. Call me crazy, but I don't see Big Jake as much of a gym rat in his free time. If Jake wants to be more productive, or rather, if you guys want Jake to be more productive, he needs to become a better basketball during the offseason. Then, and only then, the minutes will obviously increase. Now, as far as just playing small-ball is concerned, if you turned the game last night on in the middle of the fourth quarter and watched from there, I can definately see where you're coming from. Having Bo Outlaw at 6'8 as our center obviously would never really work, and the Utah Jazz getting layups every trip down the floor is only proof. However, if you had watched the game before that point in action, you would know that it wasn't the coaching staff's plan throw a front court of Amare Stoudemire and Bo Outlaw onto the floor when the Suns needed to get key stops. Two minutes from the opening tip-off, Jake Tsakalidis was already in foul trouble, and would be all game. No worries, though, because we have two other 7+ footers to man the paint in Jake's absence. Well, that doesn't work when 2 minutes later Scott Williams collected 2 fouls of his own and had to sit as well. That leaves Jake Vohskul, who, even if he could play 45 minutes a game, wasn't really doing anything to warrant that kind of playing time last night anyway. Even still, he got into relatively early foul trouble. From then on, whenever Jake Tsakalidis got into the game, he would just pick up quick fouls and have to sit again. Big Jake may not be much of a rythem guy, but if you were somebody who turned the game on in the middle of the fourth quarter, understand that bringing Big Jake into a game that he has not gotten much of a chance to get into would not only be unfair to Jake, but it'd be downright stupid. The guy is a stiff after 20 minutes of stretching and stationary bike-riding, I don't think he'd be able to contribute much against a tandem of the old-yet-mobile-and-crafty Karl Malone and a surprisingly effective Greg Ostertag. Scott Williams isn't much of a defensive presence anyway, but we wouldn't really want him out there jacking up 15-footers all fourth quarter in a game where we struggled to score as it was. Maybe we should've put in Casey Jacobson, who although certainly is not the sharp-shooter people describe him to be, might possibly be able to give us some scoring off the bench. Of course, he's 6'7, so that'd only be contributing to the small-ball problem we're all so adamant about abolishing in the first place. Our problem isn't that we play small-ball, that's just another symptom of our real concerns. Our centers have trouble at times staying out of foul trouble, and when they aren't, they don't really contribute on a consistent enough basis to warrant them real minutes. Our 3 centers have all gotten many opportunities this year at showing what they can do on the floor, and many times they've done quite nicely. However, they have never shown that we can truly rely on them to help us night in and night out. Bo Outlaw, while he may not be extremely tall for the position he plays on this team, but he gives the team other things that are very valuable, or perhaps even invaluable at times. He does get out of position a lot of times when he hedges on screen-and-roles, but that is an entirely different issue that needs to be dealt with. The point is, the Phoenix Suns centers don't play a lot of minutes at times because they aren't great centers. It is not, as some may think, that the Suns centers aren't good because they don't play a lot of minutes. If they want to improve, they have to put in the hours, and hard work into those hours, over this summer to achieve such a goal. As far as fathering their development, this team just doesn't have time during the season.
