PushDaRock wrote:DusterBuster wrote:PushDaRock wrote:
Basically the poster child for empty stats
Yes and no. I've seen first hand Ayton be impactful. The problem with Ayton's game is, unless you play and structure the teams offense entirely around his skills, then he's
absolutely an empty stats dude.
Unless he's the focal point of a teams offense, he will disengage from games for LLLOOONNNNNNGGGG stretches. JJ will 1000% be breaking clipboards this season because of Ayton specifically.
You're not winning when you let him get his numbers, so I'd say that qualifies as empty stats.
The Blazers winning streak in the middle of last season when they won 10-11 coincided with Ayton being the teams leading scorer through that stretch. Part of why that stretch stopped and they kinda stumbled til the end of the season was Ayton got injured and was out for 4-8 weeks at the end of that 11 game stretch.
So that's not 100% accurate that you're losing when he's scoring. That's a uneducated and lazy take, far more nuanced than that.
Why you can't win with him as your leading guy is he's simply not strong or skilled enough and isn't driven enough. He's got an amazing mid-range game, best arguably of any big, but he's not a 3pt shooter and not particularly skilled near the rim as a big man should be. He's never worked more on his game since he got to the league.
If you had a big rebounding defensive PF/C next to him and twin towers it and had a lot of shooting 1-3, it coulllld theoretically work, but even in that situation - Ayton's work ethic is cheeks. You can't build a franchise around a guy who's just there for the checks and to play games.
Get ready to learn Chinese buddy... #YangBang
