Deandre Ayton news and highlights

[Saberestar]

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[ImNotMcDiSwear]

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What's funny is how earnestly Embiid's defending himself. It suggests that he views Ayton's contention seriously.

[MathiasPW]

I love this. The league needs a ton more of that.

[oddity]

If you actually listen to him he says he loves Ayton, that he's gonna be very good and has a ton of potential. He's not wrong about the defensive issues, but honestly this is great (and entertaining) for Suns fans to hear

[bwgood77]

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What's funny is how earnestly Embiid's defending himself. It suggests that he views Ayton's contention seriously.

I don't know about that, but he wasn't totally trash talking and he was saying Ayton's really going to be good but didn't like the comparison because of the defense which is fair.

[Qwigglez]

I like the rivalry, and hopefully Ayton lives up to his potential so we can maybe have a Christmas game against the Sixers next year.

[BigTimeFA2LA]

I like the rivalry, and hopefully Ayton lives up to his potential so we can maybe have a Christmas game against the Sixers next year.

Forget Christmas, I see Suns having few matchups with 76ers in the finals next decade.

[Book1Nation]

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Can't wait

[Djedefre]

I expect only his rebounding to translate immediately. Everything else is going to present a challenge.

[Saberestar]

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Can't wait

[ATTL]

I expect only his rebounding to translate immediately. Everything else is going to present a challenge.

I expect 10 ppg from lobs and dump offs. He has bettrr hands than len and better finishing than chriss.

[jcsunsfan]

He took four steps (not including a stutter step) from the half court to the layup and did not look like he was stretching at all. He dunked like he was on a 6 foot rim. He catches the ball with ease--very soft hands. I get your low expectations. It is always nice to be positively surprised, but this kid is going to have big impact immediately.

[TASTIC]

He reminds me so much of Patrick Ewing. Size, athleticism and even the way he shoots and runs.

[Saberestar]

“Today was a hello, it wasn’t that bad,” Ayton said. “It’s a lot of details, they are throwing a lot of stuff at you. Lot of defense. Lot of sets and plays. You just gotta stay dialed-in today.”

Booker, who said he’s already developing great chemistry with Ayton, mentioned the 20-year-old Bahamian big is picking things up so quickly that he’s doing exactly what Kokoskov wants him to right away, without issue. Heading into his fourth season, Booker has never had a big like Ayton to work with. Gone are the days of Alex Len fumbling away possessions, and in are pick-your-poison pick-and-roll and alley-oop situations at a fast pace.

“Just a willingness to learn, picking things up quick,” Booker said of Ayton. “Coach tells him one thing, then I watch him the next five plays he does exactly how coach says. Being able to pick things up like that young and being a big. Usually bigs can’t pick up on things like that from my experiences, but he’s really intelligent, really smart. That’s important for him.”

Ayton spoke Tuesday morning about how he’s a completely different version of himself compared with July. That was still the college version of Ayton, and the newest upgrade is supposedly a lot better.

“I’m a whole new person now.” Ayton said. “Summer League, I was still Deandre from U of A. Now, I’m changed, like now I think my game upgraded a lot more.”

“Rules are changed, I’m more down low now this year. For the rest of my career,” Ayton said. “Ryan (Anderson) won’t ever come in the paint unless he has a blow-by or a mismatch. The spacing is amazing. I have a lot more time and room to myself. I draw a lot more attention when it comes to pick-and-rolls. Trust me, there won’t be any double-team, I can tell you that. That’s good. It’s going to be fun this year.”

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com

[Saberestar]

No PUMA when he plays basketball.

[TASTIC]

No PUMA when he plays basketball.

Hopefully Williamson gets some nasty into him, I don't want a big cream puff. I want someone who wants to punish defenders inside and use his size as a weapon

[DirtyDez]

He looks like he’s in great shape. His face even looks thinner. No more junk food?

[gaspar]

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[TASTIC]

This is cool too.

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018/9/26/17906174/shaquille-oneal-to-deandre-ayton-dont-be-the-next-shaq-phoenix-suns-los-angeles-lakers-orlando-magic

I think Ayton's being smart - not being overly cocky or bragging or saying he's going to kill X or Y, he's being humble.

[lilfishi22]

What's surprised me is Igor putting such a big emphasis on defense with Ayton. He's clearly a really smart coach. I think a lot young coaches would just get his players to do what they are good at so they can have some impact on the court but Igor is looking further than everyone and recognises that for Ayton to be a truly elite player down the road he needs to play high level defense. A lot of young players with rookie coaches ends up only doing just what they know (like Booker being offense only) and they end up picking up bad habits because they just play to their strengths without a coach reinforcing the importance of having a well rounded game. So for Igor to instill the importance of defense very early on with Ayton and bringing what knowledge he's picked up coaching Gobert, I think Ayton is in a really good situation to become an elite two way player.

I will fully admit, I wasn't a huge fan of the pick (non-defensive C) and Igor being a primarily offense coach made me think there's potential Ayton will never become the two way player he needs to be to reach the upper echelon of elite players. So this could all just be talk but so far, I like what I've heard from everyone regarding Ayton focusing on defense.