Frank Vogel hasn’t twiddled his thumbs since his presentation press conference as the new Suns coach in early June. One of his occupations was to follow his new proteges, engaged on the international scene. Among Yuta Watanabe, involved in the World Cup with Japan, Chimezie Metu, in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament with Nigeria as well as Eric Gordon and Deandre Ayton, it is the latter, involved in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament with the Bahamas , which he most enjoyed following.
In Argentina, the Bahamas, led by the Gordon-Hield-Ayton trio, have beaten the host country twice, including once in the final, to qualify for the TQO and continue to believe in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But before getting there, Frank Vogel especially saw the potential of this association, between a rear capable of being much more than an outside finisher, and his pivot whose career he wants to relaunch.
“This tournament in Argentina was one of the most exciting moments of my summer”, did he recognize. “I saw these two players defending the colors of the Bahamas, getting to know each other and their new teammates. But just the fact that they both showed me things outside of the NBA environment got me excited. Deandre spent two wonderful weeks with them. I spoke regularly with the Bahamas coach (Chris DeMarco, Warriors assistant) and Ayton’s work ethic and energy was really positive. He enjoyed working there and it showed in his game. As for Eric Gordon, he was not always the offensive leader of his teams. He was more of a sixth man, but he showed what he could do when he had the ball in his hands. In the final against Argentina, he multiplied the actions of high class. It was really exciting to see these two guys succeed.”
Role players involved
The other satisfaction was of course to see Yuta Watanabe, also recruited by the Suns this summer, participate in the qualification of Japan for the next Olympic Games thanks to the Japanese course at the World Cup.
Again, the experience has been rewarding with 14.8 points and 6.2 rebounds on average over five games, even if the winger had to deal with a leg injury.
“He had a few little problems, he hurt himself a bit, but he played despite everything. All of that is expected to be minor and behind him when he arrives at training camp. He showed that he was very enduring and that he knew how to gather. He was very important for Japan. His national team has had a historic journey,” added Frank Vogel. “So much joy and excitement for Yuta and for the Japan national team. I couldn’t be prouder of what he did there and can’t wait to see what he will do for us.”
Same goes for Chimezie Metu, who also matched individually averaging 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, even though Nigeria failed to emerge victorious from their pre-Olympic qualifying tournament.
“Chimezie’s journey hasn’t been that long with Nigeria from a team perspective, but he’s also shown us what he brings to the pitch in athleticism and energy”he concluded.
This bodes well for the Suns in view of the recovery for this very special season, where the performance of the “role players” around the famous Beal-Booker-Durant trio will obviously be very important.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Devin Booker | 53 | 34.6 | 49.4 | 35.1 | 85.5 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 27.8 |
| Kevin Durant | 8 | 33.7 | 57.0 | 53.7 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 26.0 |
| Deandre Ayton | 67 | 30.4 | 58.9 | 29.2 | 76.0 | 2.6 | 7.4 | 10.0 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 18.0 |
| Mikal Bridges | 56 | 36.4 | 46.3 | 38.7 | 89.7 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 17.2 |
| Cameron Johnson | 17 | 25.3 | 47.4 | 45.5 | 81.8 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 13.9 |
| Chris Paul | 59 | 32.0 | 44.0 | 37.5 | 83.1 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 8.9 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 13.9 |
| Cameron Payne | 48 | 20.2 | 41.5 | 36.8 | 76.6 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 10.3 |
| Terrence Ross | 21 | 18.4 | 42.8 | 34.7 | 85.7 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 9.0 |
| Landry Shamet | 40 | 20.2 | 37.7 | 37.7 | 88.2 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 8.7 |
| Damion Lee | 74 | 20.4 | 44.2 | 44.5 | 90.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 8.2 |
| Duane Washington, Jr. | 31 | 12.7 | 36.7 | 36.0 | 66.7 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 7.9 |
| Torrey Craig | 79 | 24.7 | 45.6 | 39.5 | 71.1 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 5.4 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 7.4 |
| Josh Okogie | 72 | 18.8 | 39.1 | 33.5 | 72.4 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| Jock Landale | 69 | 14.2 | 52.8 | 25.0 | 75.2 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 6.6 |
| Saben Lee | 23 | 15.8 | 39.3 | 37.9 | 73.7 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 6.3 |
| Dario Saric | 37 | 14.4 | 42.7 | 39.1 | 81.8 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 5.8 |
| Bismack Biyombo | 61 | 14.3 | 57.8 | 0.0 | 35.7 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 4.3 |
| Tj Warren | 16 | 12.3 | 42.9 | 31.6 | 50.0 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.2 |
| Ish Wainright | 60 | 15.3 | 37.0 | 32.9 | 83.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 4.2 |
| Darius Bazley | 7 | 8.7 | 48.0 | 25.0 | 40.0 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
