SwingMan
12-10-2007, 04:21 AM
Suns' Skinner in rotation more (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1209suns1210.html)
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/pics/1210sunsskinner.jpg
The Suns' Brian Skinner ranks in the NBA's top 20 with 14.8 rebounds (17th) and 4.5 blocks (fifth) per 48 minutes.
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 9, 2007 08:10 PM
INDIANAPOLIS - With a shaved head, two-tone goatee and muscles like a boxer's on his 6-foot-9 frame, the Suns' Brian Skinner hardly plays like a big man who has had his toughness questioned.
After nine NBA seasons, it would not seem that the Suns' newfound enforcer ever would have struggled with his place on the court.
But baseball was Skinner's first love in his football-crazy hometown of Temple, Texas. He tried playing football, but nobody on the freshman team could throw as far as the spindly wide receiver could run.
http://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gifhttp://view.atdmt.com/AST/view/cnoccbwr0080000008ast/direct/01/191758786 (http://gcirm.azcentral.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1209suns1210.html/191758786/ArticleFlex_1/OasDefault/bmw_sports_2007_300_fixed/bmw-sports-300x250.txt/34373233333337313436646134623030?191758786)http://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gif
He was no brute. He was a 6-footer put on the third string of a "B" freshman basketball team after playing point guard in junior high.
"I could dribble the ball," Skinner said. "I just got away from it."
Growing 9 inches during high school will do that. His outfielder days ended when Harry Miller, his high school basketball coach and later his coach at Baylor, implored Skinner to commit to realizing his basketball potential, figuring he would grow into his huge hands and feet.
Miller met one day with Skinner's mother, Gladys, and put a pair of scissors on his desk.
"These are to cut the umbilical cord," he told her, or the "apron strings," as she recalls it.
"I didn't really know that much of what I was doing then," Skinner said. "At that time, I was easily influenced."
Gladys and Skinner's father, James, did not know what they had, especially as they watched his older sister, Pam, "beat him up" regularly on the court.
Skinner was uncoordinated, battling knee pain caused by Osgood-Schlatter disease, a condition caused by his growth spurt. He had to learn to be aggressive, difficult for a kid who preferred fishing over other activities.
"I thought Brian would do well to get a scholarship at Temple College," Gladys said, referring to the local junior college. "Harry said, 'I don't think you realize what you have.' "
Skinner hears that now and says, "I still haven't. It's my 10th year in the NBA, and I still look in astonishment."
Miller pushed Skinner, who developed into a mix of court power and off-court respect.
"He never had aspirations of NBA," James said. "It's just something he kept doing."
James, a urology nurse, and Gladys, a cardiology dietician, told their son to give 100 percent to whatever he chose. Work ethic became a staple of Skinner's game when he went to Baylor, and it remained in the NBA, where he has played for eight teams in 10 years.
The Suns signed Skinner to a one-year, $1.1 million contract to replace Kurt Thomas, who would have cost $14 million more (with salary and luxury tax) had he not been traded to Seattle in the off-season.
Skinner's blend of lean muscle and fleet feet fits the Suns' style, an aspect that coach Mike D'Antoni warmed to November. Skinner ranks in the NBA's top 20 with 14.8 rebounds (17th) and 4.5 blocks (fifth) per 48 minutes.
"We're better defensively with him, and he's athletic enough so we can keep running," D'Antoni said. "It's the best of both worlds."
Skinner has shown more than defensive intelligence and timing. Although he is a 56 percent career free-throw shooter, Skinner has been a decent midrange threat and grasps the offense by taking open shots, making quick passes and rolling hard off screens.
"I'm really getting more comfortable with him," Steve Nash said. "He's making an impact offensively. We count on him to make an impact defensively, but he's not afraid to make a play on offense."
Monday's game
Heat at Suns
When: 7 p.m.
Where: US Airways Center.
TV/radio: FSNAZ/KTAR-AM (620).
Miami update: The Heat (5-15) broke a five-game losing streak Sunday by beating the Clippers 100-94 with 35 points from Dwyane Wade, who scored 33 on Friday at Golden State. Tonight, Miami closes a Western Conference trip with its sixth game in nine days. Jason Williams sat out Sunday because of an ankle sprain and likely will be out tonight. Shaquille O'Neal, after complaining about a lack of shots, was 4 of 8 Sunday and sat the final 1:07.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/pics/1210sunsskinner.jpg
The Suns' Brian Skinner ranks in the NBA's top 20 with 14.8 rebounds (17th) and 4.5 blocks (fifth) per 48 minutes.
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 9, 2007 08:10 PM
INDIANAPOLIS - With a shaved head, two-tone goatee and muscles like a boxer's on his 6-foot-9 frame, the Suns' Brian Skinner hardly plays like a big man who has had his toughness questioned.
After nine NBA seasons, it would not seem that the Suns' newfound enforcer ever would have struggled with his place on the court.
But baseball was Skinner's first love in his football-crazy hometown of Temple, Texas. He tried playing football, but nobody on the freshman team could throw as far as the spindly wide receiver could run.
http://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gifhttp://view.atdmt.com/AST/view/cnoccbwr0080000008ast/direct/01/191758786 (http://gcirm.azcentral.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1209suns1210.html/191758786/ArticleFlex_1/OasDefault/bmw_sports_2007_300_fixed/bmw-sports-300x250.txt/34373233333337313436646134623030?191758786)http://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gif
He was no brute. He was a 6-footer put on the third string of a "B" freshman basketball team after playing point guard in junior high.
"I could dribble the ball," Skinner said. "I just got away from it."
Growing 9 inches during high school will do that. His outfielder days ended when Harry Miller, his high school basketball coach and later his coach at Baylor, implored Skinner to commit to realizing his basketball potential, figuring he would grow into his huge hands and feet.
Miller met one day with Skinner's mother, Gladys, and put a pair of scissors on his desk.
"These are to cut the umbilical cord," he told her, or the "apron strings," as she recalls it.
"I didn't really know that much of what I was doing then," Skinner said. "At that time, I was easily influenced."
Gladys and Skinner's father, James, did not know what they had, especially as they watched his older sister, Pam, "beat him up" regularly on the court.
Skinner was uncoordinated, battling knee pain caused by Osgood-Schlatter disease, a condition caused by his growth spurt. He had to learn to be aggressive, difficult for a kid who preferred fishing over other activities.
"I thought Brian would do well to get a scholarship at Temple College," Gladys said, referring to the local junior college. "Harry said, 'I don't think you realize what you have.' "
Skinner hears that now and says, "I still haven't. It's my 10th year in the NBA, and I still look in astonishment."
Miller pushed Skinner, who developed into a mix of court power and off-court respect.
"He never had aspirations of NBA," James said. "It's just something he kept doing."
James, a urology nurse, and Gladys, a cardiology dietician, told their son to give 100 percent to whatever he chose. Work ethic became a staple of Skinner's game when he went to Baylor, and it remained in the NBA, where he has played for eight teams in 10 years.
The Suns signed Skinner to a one-year, $1.1 million contract to replace Kurt Thomas, who would have cost $14 million more (with salary and luxury tax) had he not been traded to Seattle in the off-season.
Skinner's blend of lean muscle and fleet feet fits the Suns' style, an aspect that coach Mike D'Antoni warmed to November. Skinner ranks in the NBA's top 20 with 14.8 rebounds (17th) and 4.5 blocks (fifth) per 48 minutes.
"We're better defensively with him, and he's athletic enough so we can keep running," D'Antoni said. "It's the best of both worlds."
Skinner has shown more than defensive intelligence and timing. Although he is a 56 percent career free-throw shooter, Skinner has been a decent midrange threat and grasps the offense by taking open shots, making quick passes and rolling hard off screens.
"I'm really getting more comfortable with him," Steve Nash said. "He's making an impact offensively. We count on him to make an impact defensively, but he's not afraid to make a play on offense."
Monday's game
Heat at Suns
When: 7 p.m.
Where: US Airways Center.
TV/radio: FSNAZ/KTAR-AM (620).
Miami update: The Heat (5-15) broke a five-game losing streak Sunday by beating the Clippers 100-94 with 35 points from Dwyane Wade, who scored 33 on Friday at Golden State. Tonight, Miami closes a Western Conference trip with its sixth game in nine days. Jason Williams sat out Sunday because of an ankle sprain and likely will be out tonight. Shaquille O'Neal, after complaining about a lack of shots, was 4 of 8 Sunday and sat the final 1:07.