Brad Cesmat
It’s the dead of summer, but that doesn’t mean that our busy little slice of heaven stops sports. If anything, things are busier than ever in the world of Arizona fun and games.
I was listening earlier this week to Sirius XM NBA radio interview Frank Vogel at the Las Vegas Summer League. His candor on the subject of Deandre Ayton was refreshing. There’s been no middle ground on the man in the middle. A former top pick in the League, who has become the focal point of a player who’s worn out their welcome in a certain city. Hearing the new Suns bench boss tell it, Ayton has become priority number one. “There’s been a little bit of a disconnect last couple of years with DA and the Suns, I’m off to a great start with him from a relatioonship standpoint in terms of understading that if we want him to defend and rebound at an all-star level then we are going to have to involve him a little bit more in the offense”. Sounds plausible, but when you have three players named Booker, Beal, and Durant(sounds like a law firm), getting Ayton a certain number of shots to keep him engaged isn’t a sure thing from my view. “We’re definitly more offensively talented than defensively talented on this team”
But Vogel doubled down in his belief in getting Ayton to a new level, almost making him sound like a catalyst to the season.
“If the big fella plays this year the way I think he can play, and really anchors our defense, you know I think that we can have guys really scrambling around the perimeter, flying around and compeeteing on the basketball and knowing that they got that giant behind them ready to block shots , rebound, and get us out on the break”.
What is said on sattelite radio in Vegas stays in Vegas? Suns fans hope not..
No one should be shocked by what is happening in media these days. The New York Times sports page going away, the LA Times dropping box scores, the San Diego Union Tribune sold, ESPN cutting body count, the arrival of Threads, the Pac-12 still without a media deal, Bally Sports contracts up in the air, sports radio stations running “programming” just to get to the next commercial break. There’s more schlock stuff than ever, but if you take the time to search for what you want to consume you’ll find it. Boxscores aren’t going to disappear…
A true success story in Valley media is The WOW Factor(95.1 and 94.9 FM radio stations). #1 time spent listening station in Phoenix…
If you didn’t like the MLB All-star game uniforms, I hope you turned the channel. It’s just not that hard. Things change. I didn’t have one thought of the Diamondback players not wearing their colors. The game is still the game. What colors a team wears for a contest seem more important to some than even the outcome of the game. Not in our garden…
A hearty congrats to Valley QB legend Brock Purdy. Engaged!!
Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – opens today. Saw it earlier this month in IMAX. Don’t scrimp on the ticket, see it on the biggest loudest screen possible. It’s work the price of admission. Gentle reminder, it’s long(2:40)…
Seeing “Oppenheimer” early next week. Any of you doing the BarbieHeimer thing? (seeing both on the same day)…
