Barkley6 wrote:bwgood77 wrote:DroughtsOverPHX wrote:I'm one who gripes about him and I recognize he is a 20/10 machine. He has the physical tools of a HOF center. I want to see him help on D, tear the rim down on dunks and have a 30/20 game more than once this season. He is completely capable of it. I don't care if he is ever a verbal leader. If he played focused, wanted the ball and wanted to own the lane we would be championship contenders.
While I am complaining about Ayton and people will want to rip me for it -- I question him being touted as "coachable". He doesn't like watching film. He makes poor off the court decisions. He still gets lost. Hopefully it comes with maturity. I'll settle for his 20/10 but he could be so much more. HE could be key to our future more than Booker.
He's still a one and done C. Many of the guys people hope he resembles, like Robinson, Hakeem, Shaq, all played 3 or 4 years in college, as did Kareem. Shaq and Hakeem's rookie seasons were their 4th season post HS, just like Ayton will have this year. Kareem and Robinson had 4 years and Robinson even served in the Navy for 2 more years so was a lot older and far more mature coming in.
Embiid was injured for a couple of years but still was able to watch and be coached before playing. Embiid's first year, when he played 31 games, was his 4th post HS, the same as Ayton will be starting with this year. He only averaged 20 and 8 that 4th year and shot 46.6% from the field.
Aldridge played 2 college years and as a rookie averaged 9 and 5 and 2nd year, 17.8 and 7.6, shooting below 50% from the field.
Bigs do take a little longer, and many of the ones that became decent like Adams, Jordan, Chandler, etc, were not too good starting out.
Even Sabonis averaged 6 and 3 and then 11.6 and 7.7 after 2 years in college. So Ayton goes into a year similar to that 2nd pro year from Sabonis.
The list goes on...Nurkic's first 4 years were very unimpressive.
So I think judging Ayton this early is premature, and he's already at 18 and 12 with solid perimeter defense, switching and rebounding, with skills where he can reach over people and tip it to himself. He will improve on the pick and roll this year, and likely getting to the line with the pressure from Paul and company telling him to.
Hopefully that 3 ball that looked good in the bubble gets even better but the biggest thing is the help defense and protecting the rim.
Anthony Davis averaged 13 and 8 his rookie season, and then 20 and 10 the year after.
DeMarcus Cousins averaged 14 and 8 as a rookie and then 18 and 11 the year after.
Ayton averaged 16 and 10 his rookie season, meaning he had a BETTER rookie year than either Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins. In his sophomore campaign, he averaged 18 and 11, meaning he equaled DMC and was a better rebounder than Anthony Davis.
This is just the reality for big men. The fact is, Ayton is exactly on track with where you'd expect him to be. Yes, I wish he was more dominant inside and would attack the basket a bit more, but it's hard to argue with his current trajectory and what he offers on a nightly basis.
Ayton is doing fine. Had the Spurs drafted him, Popovic would have his new Duncan/Robinson to build a new dynasty with... just need two other stars.
The point is... we all watch the games, Ayton is clearly misused in his rookie year, with poor coaching especially defensively, yet 16/10...
His second year, he is statistically and by eye test.. a top 5 defensive big man... and walking 20/12, and YES, we still all saw how much he was ignored a lot of games.. we saw him get 4-5 blocks but get credited 2.. several games. We all saw him make good passes yet he never gets plays for him as early in the shot clock down low to make plays when defense collapse on him...
Yet he was an easy double double with excellent defense.
Most of the complaints are about him not tearing the rim or dunking and chest pumping and yelling at his opponents like Amare and KG did... basically heaps of fans here want a different person altogether, they want Ayton to behave and act like passionate bigs of the past.... when most of the great bigs like Duncan, Robinson, Ewing, Hakeem etc all have calm demeanor.
The only valid criticism is that he doesnt get to the free throw line enough.... and thats not just him. That is about 50% his fault only.... the referees have not called soft fouls on his favor yet.... Watch Davis, Jokic and Embiid... these three get a finger top on their shoulders and its a foul, they oversell it too... Ayton doesnt, he is doesnt make plays for fouls yet... he plays like most young NBA players... they just play without too much acting or playing up the referees. It will eventually come as he learns.
