Luis Scola Arrives in Phoenix Following Strong London Olympics

Phoenix Suns forward Luis Scola arrived in Phoenix on Wednesday for a team photo shoot and to meet with Suns' staffers.

The well-traveled Argentinian has had a busy summer that included being amnestied by the Houston Rockets, playing in the London 2012 Olympic Games and changing his mailing address. Given the obvious challenges, he's kept a positive attitude throughout it all.

"It's an exciting time for me," he told reporters. "It's a change and I always take change in a good way. You can make it good or bad so I think you have to make it good."

Scola has reason to feel good about the potential to build on a solid performance in the Olympics, where he finished fifth in scoring average with 18 points per game. If Phoenix can get that type of production out of the 32-year-old, then all of the moving will be well worth it.

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The Suns End Summer League With A Win Behind Marshall And Morris

It is never fun dropping three straight games in any setting so the Suns were looking for some vindication in their final Summer League game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

This game seemed to have a better offensive flow that the previous four.

The team got up and down the floor more behind the promising play of rookie Kendall Marshall. It didn't take long for the Suns to establish an up-tempo style as the first quarter was a back and forth affair with each team getting into a rhythm.

When the season starts the duo of Marshall (15 points 10 assists) and Markieff Morris (25 points 11 rebounds) will be playing a lot together on the second unit. They showed a lot of chemistry and flow on offense while on the court together.

"I tried to learn his game quick and get him in position to be successful," said Marshall after the game about Morris. "He is a great player so it makes it easy."

Building that chemistry came in several loses, but culminated in a victory against Memphis. The final score ended up with the Suns (2-3) on top of the Grizzlies (2-2) 96-87.

Extremists are going to run with this game -- as they did the three previous subpar games - saying that Marshall is a budding superstar after this performance. Overall this was a solid showing for Marshall mainly because of the confidence he played with.

Having the proper amount of expectations after a Summer League game is tough because of the excitement of watching the future of basketball. This was against some quality athletes in Josh Selby (23 points 6 assists) and Anthony Wroten (19 points 2 assists) so there is something to his performance in this game more than others.

This was his first double-double as an NBA player, but the points and assists were not the most impressive aspects of his game. Marshall was very active on the glass (4 rebounds), which he used to create fast break opportunities. That combined with his shot falling (3-4 from deep) for the first time in Vegas and Marshall was as effective as can be.

"I am going to do whatever it takes to win," said Marshall about his performance. "Defenses weren't respecting me at all this week so I just have to adjust to the game and do whatever it takes to win."

Beyond Marshall having his best performance this was overall the best game Morris played. He was able to play off of the playmaking of his point guard and scored inside out. Whether it was from three or in the paint Morris was able to score in a dominant fashion.

"Markieff's great, he has been playing great," said Majerle after the game. "He has to keep working on his overall game and not settle."

That about summed up the way Morris played out there. He was able to facilitate off of the elbow for teammates keeping the defense on their heels. This bodes well for the future of the team as they now have two young players that have some chemistry and will play a pivotal part of the teams present and future.

A Lack Of Energy Buries The Suns Against The D-League Select Team

Four games in and now three games down in Las Vegas during the Summer League for the Phoenix Suns as they try to integrate some of their new pieces. This time around it was a foray against the D-League Select Team that provides more proven athletes and experienced professionals.

That element was the determining factor in this game where the D-Leaguers held a commanding double-digit lead throughout the game.

In this type of environment you see players looking for a roster spot in the big leagues as they go hard after lottery picks like Markieff Morris and Kendall Marshall. That is exactly what they did from the opening tip to the end.

Leo Lyons -- former Missouri big man -- went right at Morris every time he caught the ball. That attacking style put the Suns on their heels as he scored in bunches in the first quarter. Lyons play rubbed off on his teammates as Andre Emmett (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Chris Daniels (20 points and 8 rebounds) took the reins in the second and third quarters to expand the lead.

"He is a good player," said Daniels about Morris. "He is young, talks a lot of trash" With the mentality of just relentlessly attacking you make a name for yourself, "I am not trying to make friends out here I am trying to make a team," said Daniels after the game.

In the end the Suns (1-3) dropped their third game in a row as the D-League Select Team (2-2) won 89-75 in a route.

Yes, that is not a typo - 75 points total for the Suns.

With two pure, playmaking point guards on the roster the team has really struggled to score. The lack of pure shooters doesn't help matters either especially when the lone inside presence is floating around the perimeter like a guard.

Part of the lack of scoring was due to the D-Leaguers effort on defense. Take nothing from those guys as they won this game by earning everything they got. One nice highlight of the game came from point guard Jeremy Wise as he chased down a fast break layup LeBron James style for a block. All 6-2 inches of Wise was needed for that rejection.

This summer was supposed to be an opportunity to for Morris to play in the paint and develop interior moves. Last season he spent the year spreading the floor with his shot, but that cannot be his indelible trait on a team trying to make the playoffs. Morris finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds, more importantly with a third straight game shooting under 40% from the field.

His perimeter counterpoint Marshall played well when the game sped up, but overall was not very impressive finishing with 10 points 6 assists and 3 steals. He was more aggressive in an efficient manner looking for his shot in this loss. In the previous game it seemed like he shot to appease his coaches whereas in this game the shots were more strategic.

The flow of a game is a direct effect of the point guard on leading the show. In terms of flow there was none tonight. The team ran in spots, settled in to the half court in others, and played street ball the rest of the time. Marshall looked comfortable when the Suns had shooters spread out in the corners for him to attack and create for, but that is hard to do with no elite shooters on the roster.

Summer League comes to an end for the Suns as they face their last opponent in the Memphis Grizzlies just 24 hours after this affair. Thunder Dan (Majerle) might consider suiting up to create some offensive balance for this team to salvage a second win.

With No Offensive Flow The Suns Lose To The Hornets In Summer League Action

Kendall Marshall was more aggressive, but it made no difference as the the Suns could not get any offensive rhythm.

Kendall Marshall Shoots Blanks In His Summer League Debut

With the expectation of fireworks Phoenix Suns rookie point guard Kendall Marshall's Summer League debut fizzled out with a dud. Not good, not bad, but a lot to dissect.

Summer League: Morris Shines In Loss Against Cleveland

Markeiff Morris followed up his 21 point effort against the New York Knicks with an even stronger effort in a loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Morris ended with 24 points, 17 rebounds, and six blocked shots in just under 30 minutes. He also fouled out and had only two turnovers.

Unfortunately for the Suns, Morris was pretty much the lone bright spot on the summer team's 89-74 loss to the Cavs. First round draft pick Kendall Marshall had a debut to try and forget as quickly as possible, going 0-1 for a grand total of zero points. On the plus side he had five assists. On the negative side he also had five turnovers.

Marshall on his first game:

.@KButter5 on his debut: "I was excited, nervous and anxious. It was just a whole bunch of feelings rolled into one." #SunsInVegas

— NBA Phoenix Suns (@PhoenixSuns) July 18, 2012

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