lilfishi22 wrote: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.
The general consensus right now seems to be that Luka was the better pick, but this was always the problem with passing up on Deandre: he has the physical tools to dominate his position. If a staff successfully taps into his potential on both ends and he stays healthy, he'll be the draft's best player. The only way any other player can be better is if Deandre fails to make the most out of his extraordinary gifts. Most people seemed to think that his D simply will stink. I don't know. He hasn't blocked a shot yet so I can't say anything.
and some nice ball handling for a dude his size
