Filed under: Suns, NBA D-League, Iowa Energy
Gani Lawal, the Phoenix Suns second-round draft pick this season, may have finally found his focus after struggling through the first four games of his NBA Development League assignment to the Iowa Energy.Lawal, a 22-year-old power forward out of Georgia Tech, was assigned to the Energy because he wasn't in Phoenix's rotation so the Suns' brass decided the rookie needed to get some minutes. While Lawal is getting plenty of playing time as coach Nick Nurse's sixth man, he hasn't been able to do much with it as he was averaging just 9.8 points on 39 percent shooting in his first four outings in the D-League.
Friday night, however, with the Energy traveling to Tulsa, Okla. to play the Oklahoma City Thunder-owned Tulsa 66ers, Lawal may have reached the low point of his young professional career: Lawal fouled out in just 10 minutes and 17 seconds of court time. Matched up against fellow second round Ryan Reid, the former Yellow Jacket managed just two points and one rebound before picking up his sixth foul with 9:33 left in the game.
It seemed almost as if it was an entirely different player that took the court in Lawal's No. 24 jersey Saturday, though, as the power forward scored 23 points and added six rebounds in 31 minutes and 36 seconds of playing time looking particularly impressive in the fourth quarter where he'd score 13 points while trying to keep the Energy from losing their first game of the season.
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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/11/28/gani-lawal-phoenix-suns-nba-d-league-iowa-energy/
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