Suns’ Ryan Dunn not backing down to anyone in the NBA

Suns’ Ryan Dunn not backing down to anyone in the NBA

now of course lots of suns talk with the draft last week they make two draft picks including our next guest first round pick from the University of Virginia Ryan Dunn joins us here on the Arizona Sports Line Ryan good morning thanks for joining us and welcome to Phoenix morning guys how are you thank you guys for having me doing good I heard you during the press conference yesterday and the the way you said it Phoenix is hot but I love it here you can’t it is hot it is hot though I’ll give you that it is hot out here here for 45 years Ryan I’m not used to it yet so uh but I wanted to go back and uh what this I’m always I Marvel at the the draft process you go from pre-draft mode and then you’re right into it what has this last week been like for you it’s just got to be a whirlwind doesn’t it yeah a little bit but it’s it’s been it’s been great um like you said I I went from traveling from City to City to you know find a home to be at now so being able to you know solidify being in Phoenix and get opportunity meeting new people meeting fans meeting the coach staff in organization it’s been great um now I gued just to do what I love to do and let go to work now Ryan one of the things that uh that that we learned about you that I thought was unbelievable and super cool is that when you were a kid you used to put on a suit during the NBA draft to kind of simulate what it would feel like to walk across that stage tell our listeners about that yeah so when I was younger um I want to say start when I was around like 10 or 11 years old this is like what I had first had the Little Dream um it was just me and my mom when the draft came just being able to you know watch it on TV and um you know just being able to see it and I always used to I always used to um just like have the suit and just have a jacket so I always used to have the suit go on and just wear it and sit down in front of the television and just watch the draft picks go by and then either when the first pick or another great pick came on I used to just I used to just watch that um and then as that pick got on you know I just manifest myself you know just getting up and walking across that state with my mom watching so it’s kind of cool you know being able to do it now it was great it was great to experience that talk Ryan Dunn of the Phoenix Suns here on the Arizona Sports Line you talked about going from City to city and and I know you spoke about this at the press conference yesterday and you’ve been asked a lot about three-point shooting it’s it’s a musthave now in today’s NBA as you well know but I was reading in doing research on you Ryan I I read um somewhere that in a two-year stretch of your high school career you hit 40% of your three-pointers was that was that high volume uh I was wondering how many times you shot the three in in high school yeah it was it was it was pretty high volue um that was my kind of role going at luhigh my junior senior year I wasn’t in po but I can only shoot it so that’s what that was my that was my job for them to send the corner and shoot three so you know like yeah what people were saying questioning my shooting ability it’s it’s something that you know is is understandable um I didn’t shoot that much of a high volume when I didn’t go in but you know this whole process now which is getting back to that point like you said it’s um a lot of Threes going around the league right now a lot of shooting so being able to knock it knock it down and hit shots so right now for me in this process just you know getting a lot of shots up a lot of Threes up and just you know keeping that confidence keep going high yeah well W with with your work ethic and with your defensive tenacity if if you get that shot working uh you’re going to be a star in this league what is the plan to to get that to a functioning it at at an NBA level you know like I said before just getting a lot of reps in that um you know catching shoots you know in the corner and the wing you know on the move and stuff like that just you know just being able to simulate just being in a game and you know getting the pass from from these great players and knock it down R and D the Phoenix Suns Our Guest here on bleam Mara mornings you come in with the reputation as a Lockdown Defender all ACC Defender second in the ACC Defensive Player of the Year voting and only to your teammate you guys deed up with the Cavaliers your defensive skill set coming into the league has been talked about a lot but what is your favorite thing to do on defense is it locking somebody up on the perimeter is it you know a weak side block shot jumping into a passing Lane what what gives you the biggest thrill defensively Ryan uh I think it’s some of those like weak side blocks shot that I had you know coming out of nowhere with someone doesn’t expect it and being able to you know just block it from us when week saw you know locking somebody else in the perent also gr as well you know getting a shot violation you know being being a major factor that’s key thing for me but I think the best thing in the playing defense you know getting those blocks and getting the crowd excited make more Mone do there what do you uh so what do you make of your opportunity of being part of a team where clearly there’s some minutes here for you there’s a role here for you um there’s a need that you’re gonna feel what are you what what are your thoughts about being with the Suns this year I’m I’m excited to be here I can’t I can’t tell you um it’s it’s great you know like you said like having this role you know just keeping that defensive mindset and having these great players to learn from um I’m I’m very excited for that you know just coming in just trying to learn this this scheme and the system and even testing my defense against the best players and how can I not do that with having the three best scorers in the world um on my team so I practiced to start with them but it’s going to help me throughout the leag so you know just having that mindset you know being able to knock down shots and just keep developing the offensive game as well you talked yesterday too about you know not being able to wait to go up defensively against some of the elite scores in the league is there a player currently in the NBA that you kind of envisioned that doing that against leading up to this point Ryan uh it’s a I can’t tell you one player it’s a lot of good players I can’t even I’ll would say like you know like people I used to grow up grew up watching like LeBron PG you know even Tatum um even guys like an and Shay like all those great players just being able to you know test my ability you know just go up against them and take that challenge I’m just excited for it all one of the things that are that’s interesting to me is you come from a coach in a program where where you you’re like the perfect prototypical fit hard-nosed great defensive player what are your thoughts about making the adjustment to the NBA from a confidence level is that an issue because like you said suddenly you’re in a league with dudes you’ve been watching on TV for years yeah um like you said it could be a conv issue but at the end of the day you gota I gotta take that mindset of they’re they’re just people I’m going up against now it’s not people that I used to grew up watching I’m idong here you know that’s what the un drafted before so you know this kind of just a confidence thing it’s that motor of of not backing on from nobody um obviously there’s great players in League they might get the best of me sometimes but you know at the end of the day you just got to get back up and bounce back so whatever happens you know I’m I’m I’m proud of myself for being in this position you know I’m ready just to you know F these great players and get this opportunity sounds rookie Ryan D Our Guest here on the Arizona Sports Line before we let you go uh I’m a numbers guy so I was looking forward to the press conference when you hold up your jersey what number you’re going to wear you guys were both wearing 24 yesterday and I know the reason for that but I find it interesting you wore 13 in college Oso wore 13 in college and neither one of you is going to get it here because it’s up in the rafters have you have you considered a number Ryan uh no not yet um still trying to figure that out right now me also we kind of devastated when we couldn’t get 13 fight for it but um but no we’re just just I’m grateful to be here you know ready get to work and you know just figure all that stuff out right now well Ryan great to talk to you for the first time I can’t wait to see you play in in in the summer league and hopefully we chat again soon yes sir thank you guys so much thank you Ryan Dunn Suns rookie forward first round pick out of Virginia Our Guest on the Arizona Sportsline thanks for watching Bickley and marada click to see the latest Bley blast and hit the button in the middle to 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Phoenix Suns rookie forward Ryan Dunn spoke with Bickley & Marotta about his excitement of joining the team and said he hopes to be a defensive force this coming season.

Video: Jeremy Schnell and Ed Cole/Arizona Sports
Photo Credit: Ryan Hunt/Getty Images, Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images

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