Phoenix Suns Mid-Season Grades Part 1/2
By Lucas McLean
Alex Len
7.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, 19.6 minutes per game
Four years into the league, Alex Len has progressed steadily. Defensively is where Len shines. He is among some of the best interior defenders in the league. His aggressiveness on defense is a great attribute and is reflected in the steals and clocks column. Len’s progression, some have argued, has been stalled because of the addition of Tyson Chandler. Although Chandler’s presence does take minutes away from Len, Len can not stay keep himself on the court long enough to justify more minutes. Len is 3rd on the team in fouls, 4th in turnovers, and rebounds at a worse rate than P.J. Tucker.
On offense Len is a black hole. In the post, Len turns the ball over a horrid 21% of the time and scores a poor 0.76 points per post-up. His rebounding is also an issue. Len might be 3rd on the team in rebounds but there is a major asterisk: 61% of his rebounds are uncontested. This means that roughly only 2 of his rebounds per game he has to muscle for; the other 4.5 just fall into his lap.
Len needs to show major improvement during the second half of the season if he is going to demand Timofy Mozgov money from the Suns.
Grade: D+