Deandre Ayton news and highlights

[Jstock12]

Shooting free-throws at almost 80% is really, really good for an offensively gifted center. But you need to be aggressive down there and exploit this advantage! Take Embiid for example, he gets to the free-throw line 10 times each game and punishes the opposing teams severely. I think that's Kokoskov's thinking as well... Try and dunk as much as possible - if you miss, there's a good chance it's because you got fouled in the act of shooting. Establish yourself as a dominant big, none of that finesse BS

[bwgood77]

I'm hoping the front office is looking for a defensive PF to pair with Ayton.

Short videos of great plays....

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1773095#p70650239

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1773095&start=20#p70784000

[bwgood77]

Read on Twitter

[bwgood77]

Read on Twitter

So things aren’t going well right now for the No. 1 overall draft pick, but Ayton was adamant following the game about a promise he and his fellow Suns rookies made to each other.

“The only thing we can possibly do is to show effort and we can change this someway and somehow,” Ayton said. “That’s what I just telling Mikal. Mikal, Elie and I made a promise. I made a big promise with them that no matter what situation we’re in, we’re going to play hard. Make sure no fingers are pointed at us. We are talking and showing everybody we’re ready to play and we’re all about business.”

That led to Ayton talking about being an “emotional guy,” which showed itself when he and Booker, who is out with a hamstring injury, exchanged words with the media present in the locker room following the 10-minute cooling off period.

While they didn't scream at each other, Booker and Ayton clearly were at odds.

Ayton reiterated the point that this is the first time he's been in a losing situation, as Phoenix lost its seventh consecutive game Thursday, but also said the Suns are “his team” despite Booker being the face of the franchise who signed a $158-million contract extension in the offseason.

“I feel everything in life,” Ayton said. “When we lose and stuff like this, I’m hurt. I take it in practice because I’m the guy that’s going to be here for seven-plus years.”

But so far, things aren’t going as planned and Ayton is trying to handle it.

“You start to feel the load,” Ayton said. “You start to feel everybody’s energy and you start to sense it’s not there.”

Suns first-year coach Igor Kokoskov said before the season this was Ayton’s team.

So Ayton's been talking that talk all season.

“For me, just trying to establish and show everybody how to be a pro and how to win the right way and not be negative and not really worry about the record,” Ayton said. "Just go out here and do our job. Everybody has a job. Everybody is fighting for a job. Just got to stay positive.”

He’s just not walking the walk right now and is clearly a work in progress.

“Expectations are very high,” Kokoskov said before Thursday’s game. “We ask a lot, but we’ve got to be realistic. You don’t ask what you don’t get. As a coach, as a team, we demand, we ask, and then we have to also be patient and understand that he’s still a young player as far as time for him to mature and get stronger mentally, physically.”

Ayton has recorded 13 double-doubles in his first 25 games, but has taken his lumps against some of the NBA’s elite big men, and hasn’t been aggressive enough on offense, especially with Booker and TJ Warren, the team’s second leading scorer, out with injuries.

However, Ayton felt like he took a step forward Thursday.

“In the beginning, when somebody stops me from my move or I’m missing shots, I tend to step away from that,” Ayton said. “Try to figure out something else, but no, today, I just kept on going. Yeah, I missed a few easy shots that I usually make, but I just kept on going at them. That’s something I learned.”

Ayton said he learned that mentality from playing against perhaps the game's best big man, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who dropped 33 and 17 on him and Suns in last month’s road loss against the 76ers.

“I just seen how he keeps attacking over and over,” Ayton said. “I took that away from him. How he keeps attacking them no matter how many shots he miss. He’s going to keep going. He knows what’s his bread and butter. That’s what I’m going to keep doing, no matter if I’m not getting calls. I’m going to keep going, be aggressive and set my tone early in the league and have a reputation.”

[bwgood77]

Shooting free-throws at almost 80% is really, really good for an offensively gifted center. But you need to be aggressive down there and exploit this advantage! Take Embiid for example, he gets to the free-throw line 10 times each game and punishes the opposing teams severely. I think that's Kokoskov's thinking as well... Try and dunk as much as possible - if you miss, there's a good chance it's because you got fouled in the act of shooting. Establish yourself as a dominant big, none of that finesse BS

Yeah, you saw them get him the ball at least twice in the position to dunk tonight and they just fouled him. That needs to happen more often and likely will when TJ and Booker get back.

[Saberestar]

I think that Ayton played a decent game against the Heat.

OK, I know that it is not enough, but at least he played better than in the last 5 games.

I want to watch his performance in the next game against the Clippers. Boban and Harrell gave him a tough time ten days ago.

[JDJ26]

It may seem like Ayton isn't aggressive but I wonder if its mostly his personality or orders from the coaching. Its like he is afraid of picking up fouls most of the time.

[Archx]

I think that Ayton played a decent game against the Heat.

OK, I know that it is not enough, but at least he played better than in the last 5 games.

I want to watch his performance in the next game against the Clippers. Boban and Harrell gave him a tough time ten days ago.

That's the problem. He shows fire in 1 out of 5 games now. So we can expect to be angry at him again for the next couple of games. What worries me though, game vs Mavs is coming up soon and if he doesn't perform and Suns lose by like 20-30 again, it will be a blood bath in social media.
But apart from making Adebayo look like an all star, he had a decent game.

[Son of Ra]

Interesting to go back and read through the draft threads...

Drafting a big man ahead of Doncic and Young in an era where big men are largely irrelevant could be disastrous.

Ayton can be sooooo awful defensively. I really want to like him but bigmen with questionable defense and motor issues don't fit in today's NBA, even if they're awesome on offense.

Hopefully the Suns.

Ayton's defense isn't as bad as people make it out to be. After Canaan was dropped from the starting lineup, team defense & Ayton improved sharply until Booker's injury forced Igor to put Okobo (like Canaan is a defensively liability) on the starting lineup. If Ayton is playing with decent defensive guard, his defense is middle of the pack and acceptable. People wonder why he looked so great during Summer league but dreadful during the season? Well, its Shaq Harrison guarding the PNR vs Isaac Canaan, its a huge difference.

I was browsing on the main forum and someone posted that the Sixers' defense has dropped to 27th after the trade. The reason from what I gathered is not just the trade but poor guard defense overall during the season. This is a team with three elite defenders (Embiid, Simons, Butler/Covington). The Jazz is another team that defensively underperformed this year despite Gobert and Favors anchoring the middle. Still a good defensive team, but no where what fans expect to be (and a key reason why they're playing 0.500 ball). Again, the issue is poor guard defense.

Gobert, Embiid, Butler/Covington are the elite of the elite when it comes to defense. DPOY caliber players. If their defense is impacted by poor guard play, what chance does Ayton have with piss poor guard defenders? I'll reserve judgement until he's surrounded by plus defender

Whenever I read stuff like this I'm like "Are you actually watching our games or just trying to find angles and stats to make the shoe fit?". He's **** terrible.
He guards the rim like a matador passing the bull, like a gentleman chivalrously saying "after you".
It's like his work is done once he has jumped. Jumping a second time for a rebound? Nope. Trying to block the opponent who grabbed the rebound from him? Nope. "hey I jumped once, I'm done here."
It is infuriating. To me this is the worst part about watching the Suns play. It makes me go crazy during games.

[Son of Ra]

Read on Twitter

Spoiler:

So things aren’t going well right now for the No. 1 overall draft pick, but Ayton was adamant following the game about a promise he and his fellow Suns rookies made to each other.

“The only thing we can possibly do is to show effort and we can change this someway and somehow,” Ayton said. “That’s what I just telling Mikal. Mikal, Elie and I made a promise. I made a big promise with them that no matter what situation we’re in, we’re going to play hard. Make sure no fingers are pointed at us. We are talking and showing everybody we’re ready to play and we’re all about business.”

That led to Ayton talking about being an “emotional guy,” which showed itself when he and Booker, who is out with a hamstring injury, exchanged words with the media present in the locker room following the 10-minute cooling off period.

While they didn't scream at each other, Booker and Ayton clearly were at odds.

Ayton reiterated the point that this is the first time he's been in a losing situation, as Phoenix lost its seventh consecutive game Thursday, but also said the Suns are “his team” despite Booker being the face of the franchise who signed a $158-million contract extension in the offseason.

“I feel everything in life,” Ayton said. “When we lose and stuff like this, I’m hurt. I take it in practice because I’m the guy that’s going to be here for seven-plus years.”

But so far, things aren’t going as planned and Ayton is trying to handle it.

“You start to feel the load,” Ayton said. “You start to feel everybody’s energy and you start to sense it’s not there.”

Suns first-year coach Igor Kokoskov said before the season this was Ayton’s team.

So Ayton's been talking that talk all season.

“For me, just trying to establish and show everybody how to be a pro and how to win the right way and not be negative and not really worry about the record,” Ayton said. "Just go out here and do our job. Everybody has a job. Everybody is fighting for a job. Just got to stay positive.”

He’s just not walking the walk right now and is clearly a work in progress.

“Expectations are very high,” Kokoskov said before Thursday’s game. “We ask a lot, but we’ve got to be realistic. You don’t ask what you don’t get. As a coach, as a team, we demand, we ask, and then we have to also be patient and understand that he’s still a young player as far as time for him to mature and get stronger mentally, physically.”

Ayton has recorded 13 double-doubles in his first 25 games, but has taken his lumps against some of the NBA’s elite big men, and hasn’t been aggressive enough on offense, especially with Booker and TJ Warren, the team’s second leading scorer, out with injuries.

However, Ayton felt like he took a step forward Thursday.

“In the beginning, when somebody stops me from my move or I’m missing shots, I tend to step away from that,” Ayton said. “Try to figure out something else, but no, today, I just kept on going. Yeah, I missed a few easy shots that I usually make, but I just kept on going at them. That’s something I learned.”

Ayton said he learned that mentality from playing against perhaps the game's best big man, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who dropped 33 and 17 on him and Suns in last month’s road loss against the 76ers.

“I just seen how he keeps attacking over and over,” Ayton said. “I took that away from him. How he keeps attacking them no matter how many shots he miss. He’s going to keep going. He knows what’s his bread and butter. That’s what I’m going to keep doing, no matter if I’m not getting calls. I’m going to keep going, be aggressive and set my tone early in the league and have a reputation.

”

How long have we been hearing comments like this from him now? Since the beginning of the season.
How often has he actually come out to do what he said? Not once.
It's all lip service to me at this point. He's just trying to say the right things.

[lonea]

I think ayton is a dud... Not like Anthony bennet type of dud, but just not worth of #1.

Dude can't handle playing with real nba players. Thinks he's still in college

[Frank Lee]

He might want to scale back his rhetoric.... seems like he is declaring this 'his' team... and he really hasnt done enough for that claim. Plus, news flash.... no guarantees he's around here for the duration.

But really, just pipe down and play ball. I know he has mics in his face after every game... but he doesnt need to run his mouth about 'the team' needs.... take care of your own business DA, you have a ways to go before you get in the ears of others.

[bwgood77]

It may seem like Ayton isn't aggressive but I wonder if its mostly his personality or orders from the coaching. Its like he is afraid of picking up fouls most of the time.

They said a few games ago they'd rather see him get fouls...when Holmes fouled out and Ayton had zero. There is no reason he should have zero fouls.

[Jstock12]

Question - has Ayton lost weight since college? He looked pretty jacked then:



Or maybe it just looks that way because of all the flexing

[Boxy99]

Read on Twitter

Spoiler:

So things aren’t going well right now for the No. 1 overall draft pick, but Ayton was adamant following the game about a promise he and his fellow Suns rookies made to each other.

“The only thing we can possibly do is to show effort and we can change this someway and somehow,” Ayton said. “That’s what I just telling Mikal. Mikal, Elie and I made a promise. I made a big promise with them that no matter what situation we’re in, we’re going to play hard. Make sure no fingers are pointed at us. We are talking and showing everybody we’re ready to play and we’re all about business.”

That led to Ayton talking about being an “emotional guy,” which showed itself when he and Booker, who is out with a hamstring injury, exchanged words with the media present in the locker room following the 10-minute cooling off period.

While they didn't scream at each other, Booker and Ayton clearly were at odds.

Ayton reiterated the point that this is the first time he's been in a losing situation, as Phoenix lost its seventh consecutive game Thursday, but also said the Suns are “his team” despite Booker being the face of the franchise who signed a $158-million contract extension in the offseason.

“I feel everything in life,” Ayton said. “When we lose and stuff like this, I’m hurt. I take it in practice because I’m the guy that’s going to be here for seven-plus years.”

But so far, things aren’t going as planned and Ayton is trying to handle it.

“You start to feel the load,” Ayton said. “You start to feel everybody’s energy and you start to sense it’s not there.”

Suns first-year coach Igor Kokoskov said before the season this was Ayton’s team.

So Ayton's been talking that talk all season.

“For me, just trying to establish and show everybody how to be a pro and how to win the right way and not be negative and not really worry about the record,” Ayton said. "Just go out here and do our job. Everybody has a job. Everybody is fighting for a job. Just got to stay positive.”

He’s just not walking the walk right now and is clearly a work in progress.

“Expectations are very high,” Kokoskov said before Thursday’s game. “We ask a lot, but we’ve got to be realistic. You don’t ask what you don’t get. As a coach, as a team, we demand, we ask, and then we have to also be patient and understand that he’s still a young player as far as time for him to mature and get stronger mentally, physically.”

Ayton has recorded 13 double-doubles in his first 25 games, but has taken his lumps against some of the NBA’s elite big men, and hasn’t been aggressive enough on offense, especially with Booker and TJ Warren, the team’s second leading scorer, out with injuries.

However, Ayton felt like he took a step forward Thursday.

“In the beginning, when somebody stops me from my move or I’m missing shots, I tend to step away from that,” Ayton said. “Try to figure out something else, but no, today, I just kept on going. Yeah, I missed a few easy shots that I usually make, but I just kept on going at them. That’s something I learned.”

Ayton said he learned that mentality from playing against perhaps the game's best big man, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who dropped 33 and 17 on him and Suns in last month’s road loss against the 76ers.

“I just seen how he keeps attacking over and over,” Ayton said. “I took that away from him. How he keeps attacking them no matter how many shots he miss. He’s going to keep going. He knows what’s his bread and butter. That’s what I’m going to keep doing, no matter if I’m not getting calls. I’m going to keep going, be aggressive and set my tone early in the league and have a reputation.

”

How long have we been hearing comments like this from him now? Since the beginning of the season.
How often has he actually come out to do what he said? Not once.
It's all lip service to me at this point. He's just trying to say the right things.

The exact samething I thought when i read it. He's all talk and no action. What worries me is that he actully thinks he is acting on his words

[TheLogician]

Question - has Ayton lost weight since college? He looked pretty jacked then:



Or maybe it just looks that way because of all the flexing

There's probably a lot behind that, but I will say Zona's strength and conditioning program and facilities are top-notch. Suns are not.

[Hesh]

I've been away a couple of days and missed the back2back. What happened with Booker and Ayton?

That entire GB thread on it is full of posters talking s*** on Booker, Ayton or the Suns without any actual follow up news or articles about the altercation lol. It's 5 pages of suns bashing without reference to the actual topic

[bwgood77]

I've been away a couple of days and missed the back2back. What happened with Booker and Ayton?

That entire GB thread on it is full of posters talking s*** on Booker, Ayton or the Suns without any actual follow up news or articles about the altercation lol. It's 5 pages of suns bashing without reference to the actual topic

Nobody really knows what words were said between Booker and Ayton.

[Saberestar]

I've been away a couple of days and missed the back2back. What happened with Booker and Ayton?

That entire GB thread on it is full of posters talking s*** on Booker, Ayton or the Suns without any actual follow up news or articles about the altercation lol. It's 5 pages of suns bashing without reference to the actual topic

Not too much info about it.
Here a couple of tweets about that...

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Hesh]

I've been away a couple of days and missed the back2back. What happened with Booker and Ayton?

That entire GB thread on it is full of posters talking s*** on Booker, Ayton or the Suns without any actual follow up news or articles about the altercation lol. It's 5 pages of suns bashing without reference to the actual topic

Not too much info about it.
Here a couple of tweets about that...

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Yeah, I saw these tweets, but thanks man

Seems no one really knows what happened.

This team just keeps digging, something's gotta give from all this. But it was expected with the way things are going, this won't be the last of it lol