bwgood77 wrote:sunsbum wrote:Nurk already does so much more for this team than Ayton ever has, dudes allowed to be a basketball player with weaknesses and mistakes.sunsbg wrote:Nurkic impersonating Ayton with losing the ball on post up and then passing out when he should have tried to score inside. Should be in game thread, but will be interesting to see if people who'll post in such thread have same criteria for our new C.
Nurkic is great at some things, particularly screening and is a pretty solid passer, though he turns it over a lot. Ayton is better at things as well.
I mean that's a big quote considering Ayton had many monster games and was crucial in our 21 playoff run. He was shooting 63 and 65% even though only 1/3 of his shots were at the rim..and had many games with high 20s and rebounding in the teens...with solid defense, until last year and the slow decline the year before.
Nurkic will have some nice games but he has the same motor problems and his finishing and turnovers will be frustrating. I really like a lot of what he does, but we can't act like he has always been a player that is super engaged (ask Portland fans) and doesn't have his own weaknesses. He is one of the worst finishers in the league, very rarely dunks (since people care about that), and turns it over a ton. As a 7 footer who for the majority of his career only worked inside, he barely shoots over 50% for his career, which is very bad for a C. Last year was the first year he shot 3s really, but he only hit like 43 of them.
I like a lot of what he does, but he has his own weaknesses.
And to say he already has done more in 2 games than Ayton ever had, is frankly, absurd.
That's 43 more threes than DA's whole career. The fact is he has the ability to hit them.
Every player has their weaknesses and the fact remains DA was a one trick pony on offense and a guy who's not COMMITTED to always bringing it on defense (only when he feels like it). The Suns anticipate outscoring opponents quite a bit so they're willing to live with Nurk's limitations on defense because of what he unlocks on offense particularly from his passing ability and screening. The guy also actually puts his body on people - something DA never did and isn't willing to do.
Btw the dunking thing only mattered because it was an extension of DA being soft as charmin. Nurk would never be confused as soft - dunk or no dunk.