Paul Coro

azcentral sports

LAS VEGAS – The NBA Summer League floor has been smothered in "Big Sauce."

Suns center Alan Williams has posted double-doubles in all of the Suns’ three games. He dubiously capped that with a triple-double in the Suns’ 80-71 Tuesday loss to Miami by reaching the Summer League foul limit of 10 in 25 minutes.

He has put defenders on the floor each game with screens that a right tackle would be proud to call a pancake. Coming from 6-foot-8, 260-pound man, they likely feel like one without pads or warning.

“They’re all legal, too,” said Williams, whose nickname is Big Sauce. “That’s my job, to be an enforcer, especially when guys are pressuring Tyler (Ulis) or Book (Devin Booker) like that. You’ve got to have guys who go out and set good, solid, legal screens. I’ve got a big body so I might as well use it. It’s on the defender of the big to yell out the screen to the guard. If he doesn’t do it, good luck.”

Williams’ foul count was part of the Tuesday night scenery, when his disqualification came with 49 seconds remaining. The Suns fouled 39 times in the 40-minute game, which was the Suns’ first loss in the league and, not coincidentally, their first game without Booker. With Booker’s USA Basketball Select Team duty next week, it is expected that he will not play again in Summer League after scoring 52 points in two appearances.

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Williams tried to pick up some of that scoring Tuesday, showing an adjustment from the weekend games by getting into defenders on the post to draw fouls and take better advantage of his deep position. Williams made 14 of 15 free throws to finish with 18 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. He has averaged 15.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.7 fouls.

“Alan is at his best when he seeks out the contact,” said Suns assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren, the Suns’ Summer League head coach. “Even on rebounds, when he hits first, goes up and grabs it. I’ve been working on him on his spin moves and elbow work. He’s at his best when he’s making contact first, bouncing off and finishing.”

Williams’ end-of-bench energy from his late-season stint with the Suns carries over to his floor style, where he has an enthusiastic boost from former California-Santa Barbara teammate Michael Bryson being on the team.

Williams has to play that way with a job on the line until his 2016-17 salary becomes guaranteed Sept. 1.

“Your mentality is way different going into summer league because you know what it’s like to be a professional,” said Williams, who played in China after starring for Houston’s Summer League team last year. “You know what it takes night-in and night-out to go out there and compete at a high level. I was really ready mentally this year to go out and play a specific role.”

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Dragan training

Suns rookie Dragan Bender is trying to catch multiple balls being thrown at him with a new country, new style of basketball and several Summer Leagues being thrown at the 18-year-old.

Bender had a shooting breakthrough Tuesday. After going 2-for-11 on 3-pointers in his first two games, Bender spent the Suns’ off day Monday shooting and tweaking his mechanics. He made 3 of 4 3-point tries Tuesday.

“It’s a great feeling,” Bender said. “It’s adjustment time. It’s completely different for me. Pretty much everything is different. The court, the players.“

Bender also fouled four times in the game’s first seven minutes and had seven for the game as he adjusts to NBA physical play and officiating. He has been starting at small forward, where he handles the ball, but also winds up defending centers.

“He has a great feel for the game,” Bjorkgren said. “We’re putting him in all kinds of different positions out there and he’s handling it very well."

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Free throws

Ulis has a league-best 14 steals in three Summer League games and has only had two turnovers.

Bjorkgren on Tuesday’s loss: “We didn’t have our assertiveness and our pace. I thought we were playing slow on offense. It wasn’t due to lack of effort. We’ll get back to snapping that ball.”

Bjorkgren on the Suns’ 39 fouls: “It was a physical type of game, a game we like to play. People were re-routing people on screens and there was some holding on both sides of the floor. It’s going to make us tougher.”

The Suns are the No. 5 seed in the 24-team NBA Summer League tournament and get a first-round bye. The Suns play at 3 p.m. Thursday at UNLV's Cox Pavilion against Wednesday's Miami-New Orleans winner.