Deandre Ayton news and discussion

[Bogyo]

It was obvious they were force-feeding Ayton early in this game thus he appeared more engaged than usual. His inconsistency is really overblown. I bet next season he puts much better PPG number because of contract year, increased role, normal development and chemistry growth with CP3, to please a few posters here.

And I'll be happy as a pig in sht if that happens - and I'll comment so here and in other threads, like I did when I complained about CP's old man play at the begining of the season, and his bad shooting, then I praised him when he got over it. Same thing with Book's bad play and turnovers, then him correcting it. Monty's bad decisions and when he righted them. Heck, I complained a lot about Ayton too at the begining of the season, then praised him when he went through the proverbial 5 game strech around the Denver games (if I recall correctly the timing of those 5ish games). Noone said a goddmn word about it. But panties are all up in a bunch when he gets called out again for regressing for (almost) the whole month of march.

Anyhow, I hope you are right, then we'll be a legit contender.

[Wilber85]

Good Morning Haters. It is pathetic that now people are down on Saric lol. It is one game. Chill Pill

[Wilber85]

It was obvious they were force-feeding Ayton early in this game thus he appeared more engaged than usual. His inconsistency is really overblown. I bet next season he puts much better PPG number because of contract year, increased role, normal development and chemistry growth with CP3, to please a few posters here.

And I'll be happy as a pig in sht if that happens - and I'll comment so here and in other threads, like I did when I complained about CP's old man play at the begining of the season, and his bad shooting, then I praised him when he got over it. Same thing with Book's bad play and turnovers, then him correcting it. Monty's bad decisions and when he righted them. Heck, I complained a lot about Ayton too at the begining of the season, then praised him when he went through the proverbial 5 game strech around the Denver games (if I recall correctly the timing of those 5ish games). Noone said a goddmn word about it. But panties are all up in a bunch when he gets called out again for regressing for (almost) the whole month of march.

Anyhow, I hope you are right, then we'll be a legit contender.

You are the type of guy that looks at the negatives but doesn't appreciate any of the positives. Need to change your outcome in life brotha or you will be miserable.

[Wilber85]

It’s going to be very interesting when Ayton is showing out in the WCF and Luka is watching from home after getting bounced in the first round.

Box score babies are going to be clutching their precious counting stats.

but but but Luka scores points lol.

Not going to lie, Luka is a stud, but I would hate to be watching him every single game. He cries, flops, and complains, and his style is not something I am a fan of.

[Bogyo]

It was obvious they were force-feeding Ayton early in this game thus he appeared more engaged than usual. His inconsistency is really overblown. I bet next season he puts much better PPG number because of contract year, increased role, normal development and chemistry growth with CP3, to please a few posters here.

And I'll be happy as a pig in sht if that happens - and I'll comment so here and in other threads, like I did when I complained about CP's old man play at the begining of the season, and his bad shooting, then I praised him when he got over it. Same thing with Book's bad play and turnovers, then him correcting it. Monty's bad decisions and when he righted them. Heck, I complained a lot about Ayton too at the begining of the season, then praised him when he went through the proverbial 5 game strech around the Denver games (if I recall correctly the timing of those 5ish games). Noone said a goddmn word about it. But panties are all up in a bunch when he gets called out again for regressing for (almost) the whole month of march.

Anyhow, I hope you are right, then we'll be a legit contender.

You are the type of guy that looks at the negatives but doesn't appreciate any of the positives. Need to change your outcome in life brotha or you will be miserable.

There is truth to that obviously - I've gotten used to good stuff in my private and professional life too, and I've done worked my ass off for both, as I'm not the smartest guy in the room (or maybe I just work with too many "rocket scientist" in my field, I did really good in all my schools) nor the most handsome. So I do take the "good" for granted a bit, and get down if something goes bad - but I do try to correct it and overcome it. This is setup of mine is obviously one point where our view differences come from. But then again I do enjoy the good stuff - like this game (or most of this season). This game was just simply awsome.

[Bogyo]

Good Morning Haters. It is pathetic that now people are down on Saric lol. It is one game. Chill Pill

See - for example you'll never see me call anybody out or "hate" for one (or 2) bad games. If they suck for 10ish, then I'll get on him, even if he is god almighty, until sht changes. Then I acknowledge it, and give credit where it's due. But when the next 10 bad games come I'll get back as well with the criticism. I don't see anything outrageous in this...

[Fo-Real]

Ayton looking GREAT the last 2 games, like he is too big to handle (even for Bam in this one)!!! Has having a child somehow accelerated his maturation process?!?! He actually looked dominant in stretches in the last two!!

[TouchPassDario]

It’s going to be very interesting when Ayton is showing out in the WCF and Luka is watching from home after getting bounced in the first round.

Box score babies are going to be clutching their precious counting stats.

but but but Luka scores points lol.

Not going to lie, Luka is a stud, but I would hate to be watching him every single game. He cries, flops, and complains, and his style is not something I am a fan of.

Suns fans have been conditioned to ignore defense for almost 20 years. It’s half the game! Ayton is massively more impactful on that end than Luka (will ever be), and he’s just scratching the surface of how good he will be on that end.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Ayton gets doubled every time he gets the ball anywhere near the basket. He's getting much better at holding onto the ball in that situation, but it will always be a struggle. No one gives our boy any space.

Makes me wonder how he'd look before the illegal defense rules were scrapped. His post hook is freaking lethal.

[Mulhollanddrive]

10 lowest scores are vs Gobert, Horford, Valanciunas, Towns, Plumlee, Lopez, Turner, Holmes, Vucevic, Kleber.
- Opponents are experienced big bodies that a 22 year old will struggle to move.

10 highest scores are vs Adebayo, Tillman, Caulie-Stein, Kanter, Towns, Carter, Jokic, Ibaka, Harrell, Wood.
- Can use his size and skills to exploit defensively.

So the key seems to be getting stronger so he can match physicality and then he'll be able to repeat his good performances against more opponents.

[Fo-Real]

That moment!!!

Watch on YouTube

[cberry78]

10 lowest scores are vs Gobert, Horford, Valanciunas, Towns, Plumlee, Lopez, Turner, Holmes, Vucevic, Kleber.
- Opponents are experienced big bodies that a 22 year old will struggle to move.

10 highest scores are vs Adebayo, Tillman, Caulie-Stein, Kanter, Towns, Carter, Jokic, Ibaka, Harrell, Wood.
- Can use his size and skills to exploit defensively.

So the key seems to be getting stronger so he can match physicality and then he'll be able to repeat his good performances against more opponents.

Hmmm....so maybe our 22-year-old center just needs more time and experience?

[TouchPassDario]

James Jones

Ayton was “his usual self” on defense against Miami. Gets it.

[lilfishi22]

It's all about consistency with the guy. People think his critics hate on him because he isn't some 30/15 guy but it's really frustration (shared even among the Suns coaching staff) that comes when he has a couple of really good games then that Ayton just disappears for another 5. Everyone knows what he's capable of, it's whether he can do it consistently. Like Booker didn't suddenly become this elite scoring machine because he put up 70 in a game against Boston, he became an elite scoring machine after doing it game after game, month after month and season after season. And similarly, he's not going to be a defensive player just because he records a couple of nice highlight blocks.

Consistency is not a 2 game stretch or a 5 game stretch, it's a season by season thing. That's not to say there won't be some hiccups along the way but as long as Ayton is consistently putting up good performances with effort and focus more far more often than the no-show games then he's gonna get a TON of his critics off his back and who knows how far we'll go.

[RunDogGun]

It's all about consistency with the guy. People think his critics hate on him because he isn't some 30/15 guy but it's really frustration (shared even among the Suns coaching staff) that comes when he has a couple of really good games then that Ayton just disappears for another 5. Everyone knows what he's capable of, it's whether he can do it consistently. Like Booker didn't suddenly become this elite scoring machine because he put up 70 in a game against Boston, he became an elite scoring machine after doing it game after game, month after month and season after season. And similarly, he's not going to be a defensive player just because he records a couple of nice highlight blocks.

Consistency is not a 2 game stretch or a 5 game stretch, it's a season by season thing. That's not to say there won't be some hiccups along the way but as long as Ayton is consistently putting up good performances with effort and focus more far more often than the no-show games then he's gonna get a TON of his critics off his back and who knows how far we'll go.

From the games I have seen this season, I felt Ayton played his best when the rest of the team didn't try and force passes into him, but rather Ayton attacked the rim and got his own shot. He seemed more engaged, aggressive, and in better position to get the easy basket. But Monty needs to have players ready to attack the hoop if Ayton shoots his fade aways, and players need to recognize when that play starts. I understand that often that shot comes quickly, so it might be tough. Plus with someone slashing towards the hoop, it gives DA an opportunity to make a good pass.

Overall, we need to get DA a solid back up. I like Saric, but he has been just as inconsistent. Frank not playing minutes or even games is concerning.

[Bogyo]

It's all about consistency with the guy. People think his critics hate on him because he isn't some 30/15 guy but it's really frustration (shared even among the Suns coaching staff) that comes when he has a couple of really good games then that Ayton just disappears for another 5. Everyone knows what he's capable of, it's whether he can do it consistently. Like Booker didn't suddenly become this elite scoring machine because he put up 70 in a game against Boston, he became an elite scoring machine after doing it game after game, month after month and season after season. And similarly, he's not going to be a defensive player just because he records a couple of nice highlight blocks.

Consistency is not a 2 game stretch or a 5 game stretch, it's a season by season thing. That's not to say there won't be some hiccups along the way but as long as Ayton is consistently putting up good performances with effort and focus more far more often than the no-show games then he's gonna get a TON of his critics off his back and who knows how far we'll go.

From the games I have seen this season, I felt Ayton played his best when the rest of the team didn't try and force passes into him, but rather Ayton attacked the rim and got his own shot. He seemed more engaged, aggressive, and in better position to get the easy basket. But Monty needs to have players ready to attack the hoop if Ayton shoots his fade aways, and players need to recognize when that play starts. I understand that often that shot comes quickly, so it might be tough. Plus with someone slashing towards the hoop, it gives DA an opportunity to make a good pass.

Overall, we need to get DA a solid back up. I like Saric, but he has been just as inconsistent. Frank not playing minutes or even games is concerning.

Saric is a very intelligent ballplayer, who is also a good playmaker. He is a backup, and paid like one, and he always had slumps like this, even back in Philly, and he can't jump over a folded newspaper (or iPad for the youngsters here ) - that is why he is only a backup. But he is very valuable to this team, and adds a nice wrinkle to our offense with his passing, that not many other teams have. But we do need another athletic big - hopefully we are adding him today.

[RunDogGun]

I like Saric a lot, and thought he did a great job in the bubble as the back up 5, but when he slumps, he really sucks. I hope for an athletic big as well, or start giving minutes to Smith if we don't make a trade involving him.

[bwgood77]

It's all about consistency with the guy. People think his critics hate on him because he isn't some 30/15 guy but it's really frustration (shared even among the Suns coaching staff) that comes when he has a couple of really good games then that Ayton just disappears for another 5. Everyone knows what he's capable of, it's whether he can do it consistently. Like Booker didn't suddenly become this elite scoring machine because he put up 70 in a game against Boston, he became an elite scoring machine after doing it game after game, month after month and season after season. And similarly, he's not going to be a defensive player just because he records a couple of nice highlight blocks.

Consistency is not a 2 game stretch or a 5 game stretch, it's a season by season thing. That's not to say there won't be some hiccups along the way but as long as Ayton is consistently putting up good performances with effort and focus more far more often than the no-show games then he's gonna get a TON of his critics off his back and who knows how far we'll go.

From the games I have seen this season, I felt Ayton played his best when the rest of the team didn't try and force passes into him, but rather Ayton attacked the rim and got his own shot. He seemed more engaged, aggressive, and in better position to get the easy basket. But Monty needs to have players ready to attack the hoop if Ayton shoots his fade aways, and players need to recognize when that play starts. I understand that often that shot comes quickly, so it might be tough. Plus with someone slashing towards the hoop, it gives DA an opportunity to make a good pass.

Overall, we need to get DA a solid back up. I like Saric, but he has been just as inconsistent. Frank not playing minutes or even games is concerning.

Saric is a very intelligent ballplayer, who is also a good playmaker. He is a backup, and paid like one, and he always had slumps like this, even back in Philly, and he can't jump over a folded newspaper (or iPad for the youngsters here ) - that is why he is only a backup. But he is very valuable to this team, and adds a nice wrinkle to our offense with his passing, that not many other teams have. But we do need another athletic big - hopefully we are adding him today.

Saric has to be on one of the best contracts in the league. He is a solid player...when he is on. When he is off I'd simply play Frank for now, hopefully Jalen next year.

[Bogyo]

^^Yup. Along with Crowders and Galloways contracts. But I still hope we are adding that other bench big nowish.

[lilfishi22]

I don't understand why we don't play Frank when Saric is playing like crap and Ayton had played like 34min in two B2B games.