jcsunsfan wrote:lilfishi22 wrote:I was very impressed with Ayton. More so than I was with Doncic (for the Doncic haters). Doncic showed a lot of what I expected and played really well but Ayton showed me the defense I wasn't expecting which I was surprised by.
He still has lapses defensively but at the very least, he looked average out there. Now I'm not saying he's going to be a positive defensively in the NBA just yet because it's still the preseason where teams are still working out line ups etc and it was against the Kings (#29 in ORTG last season) but he did well defensively given the competition. Offensively, he showed me pretty much everything. I think he needs to continue working on his footwork because he's basically automatic around the basket but it's in that mid-range where he would really be good if he can hit that 3 but also have the footwork to take his defender off one or two dribbles from the perimeter, like Embiid, KAT, Cousins and AD.
Overall, I give him an A for his performance.
Aside from that:
JJ - Looked pretty good. Slowed his game down and wasn't a ball hog like he was in SL. He made the simple passes and looked great on the defensive end, picking off a couple of lazy passes.
The vets - they did their job, nothing too surprising. I did like that Ariza kinda had an on-court talking to with Okobo when Okobo got lazy and got the ball picked off him. That's what I want to see from our vets. Call out mistakes when they see it.
The PG's - as ImNotMcDiSwear mentioned, neither of our 2 PG's looked like starting calibre PG's and both guys disappointed in their own way. Yogi Ferrell lit them up for nearly 30pts off the bench.
Bridges - virtually invisible
TJ - doing TJ things off the bench which is probably where we can get max value from him
Bender - disappointment of all disappointments. Dude couldn't hit a shot which is bad because that's basically all he does.
Broadcast - what's up with this? Was no one working the commentary booth? And what's with the 8bit text for the box score ? We outta money or something?
I think TJ should start. He is just money on offense, but he also played well defensively. JJ did not just make simple passes, he made very difficult ones. Like an NFL QB, he put passes where Ayton should be, not where he was. He made Ayton go after passes that put Ayton in the position to score. His defense was excellent as well. Ayton was the best player on the floor, but JJ was right behind him. Warren was third.
TJ's no worse than the fourth best player on this roster currently, so for that reason, perhaps he should start. Ultimately, however, I do think projecting him as the 6th man is right, if we're a contender. That's not this season, but that doesn't mean he and we would not be best served by having him be a 6MOY candidate from the jump. Let him come into the game every night with a super green light. Stagger him and Booker so as to always have max pressure on opposing defenses.
I really want to see this team win this year. PG or no PG, this team has the talent to make the playoffs. They lack experience and familiarity with each other and with the system, and that might be enough to keep us out of the playoff conversation, but I have hope.
