ARCHIE GOODWIN
Info: 6-5, 198 pounds, 19 years old
NBA seasons: 1 (1 with Suns)
2013-14 numbers: 10.3 mpg, 3.7 ppg, 45.5 FG%
BEST GAME OF THE SEASON
April 16 at Sacramento. With their playoff hopes dashed, the Suns let their youngsters loose in the season finale against the Kings. Goodwin was the biggest beneficiary, erupting for 29 points on a ridiculous 11-of-13 shooting. He got to the rim at will through a combination of speed and mid-air alterations that left the Suns salivating over his potential heading into the offseason.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR
OFFSEASON GOAL
Put on weight and develop his jump shot further.
Goodwin showed great strides in obtaining the NBA strength necessary to attack the rim as much as he'd prefer. His 29-point outburst at Sacramento proved as much. The potential is there for him to become an unstoppable slasher at the professional level, but even he knows he’ll have to branch out of his eating comfort zone to reach it.
“I’m trying to add weight now,” he said. “It’s so hard because my metabolism is so high. If I miss one meal, I won’t gain any weight. I have to eat like a pig to gain any weight right now.”
Nailing down a solid jump shot will open up the lanes further for Goodwin, as well as help balance the floor for whatever five-man lineup he joins on the court. He went just 5-of-36 from three in his rookie year, but Hornacek seemed confident that it’s a matter of when -- not if -- Goodwin’s jumper will start falling on a consistent basis.
“Archie’s changing his shot up some. That’s a very difficult thing to do,” Hornacek said. “I told Archie, ‘when you start doing this, you’re probably going to be a worse shooter than you were before. You’re going to have that little downfall and then you’re going to go back up.’ He’s really worked on it. Even in that last game against Sacramento, when he took his jump shots they looked much better than they did earlier in the season.”
HEARD FROM HORNACEK
“Archie, all year long, he might know the plays better than anybody on the team. When we call a play, he always knew not only what he was doing, but what everyone else was doing.”