Game Day (Preseason): Lakers @ Suns, Fri 12/18/20

[Split T]

I’m glad I missed the 2nd half...everyone seems upset, but I left feeling good. We looked great in the 1st half. Booker is going to be really good this year.

[INFORMER]

It feels like we have a roster full of guys whose ceilings are 10 ppg.

[Superbone]

Saving it for the season. Obvs.

[carey]

It feels like we have a roster full of guys whose ceilings are 10 ppg.

Aside from the Big 3 that seems about right.

[INFORMER]

It feels like we have a roster full of guys whose ceilings are 10 ppg.

Aside from the Big 3 that seems about right.

It's a shaky Big 3. Who knows which Ayton will show up most nights, and how much will Coach Paul need to rest? His ability to run the offense will always be there, but I'm not sure how much scoring we will be able to count on him providing.

[SunsRIt]

I’m glad Bridges is okay.

Nice shove to the back to put him on the floor. And Lebron didn’t even get called for the foul.

[ShelC]

Missed the 1st half but luckily was able to catch the 2nd half when the Lakers started hitting every 3 they looked at.

In general, I don't care about the 0-4 record. I like how the starters looked the other night. The offense can hum when everyone's doing their thing. When the ball sticks is when we get into trouble. Last night Book started overdribbling and forcing things, Carter's done that in the past, Payne gets a little dribble happy. I'm not worried about Paul and I think he'll play most nights. But we definitely need someone else to step up as a scorer. Mikal? Cam? Jae? None of those guys feel like 18-20ppg scorers to help carry the load. And Ayton more or less gets his points in the flow of the game off dunks and layups. But we're playing quick and can score a lot of points quickly when the ball is spread around.

The 3pt defense has to get figured out tho, not sure how or why that's become an issue and Ayton still doesn't really do any dirty work inside. Jae is a physical interior defender but smaller. Maybe Motley sticks just to provide a spark like Carter does as a guard.

[ShelC]

Need more of this from Cam this season

[Split T]

[Split T]

[INFORMER]

Random thoughts:

-It was really nice to see Jevon Carter play well. The D was there, the shot was there, and he made a number of excellent passes. Wish this was the norm.

-Devin had some major acceleration/deceleration issues that led to turnovers and a few missed shots. And he still had a very good night overall. Point Book is responsible for some of the bad, but other times, he just needs to learn to decelerate right before he needs to pass or shoot.

-Ayton had some really good moments. JVG called out his nice pass off the pick and roll. I don't see any twitter clips of this, but he had a great one on one score on Montrezl Harrell at the 8 minute mark in the 2nd quarter. It was the kind of one on one scoring ability we need from Ayton that I think he is capable of. He can develop the offensive game of a poor man's Hakeem Olajuwon. He just needs focus and increased aggression. And I love the Devon to Ayton lobs.

-Just about every foul called on Damian Jones was crap.

[AmareIsGod]

Random thoughts:

-It was really nice to see Jevon Carter play well. The D was there, the shot was there, and he made a number of excellent passes. Wish this was the norm.

-Devon had some major acceleration/deceleration issues that led to turnovers and a few missed shots. And he still had a very good night overall. Point Book is responsible for some of the bad, but other times, he just needs to learn to decelerate right before he needs to pass or shoot.

-Ayton had some really good moments. JVG called out his nice pass off the pick and roll. I don't see any twitter clips of this, but he had a great one on one score on Montrezl Harrell at the 8 minute mark in the 2nd quarter. It was the kind of one on one scoring ability we need from Ayton that I think he is capable of. He can develop the offensive game of a poor man's Hakeem Olajuwon. He just needs focus and increased aggression. And I love the Devon to Ayton lobs.

-Just about every foul called on Damian Jones was crap.

Are you intentionally spelling Devin Booker's first name wrong?

[INFORMER]

Are you intentionally spelling Devin Booker's first name wrong?

No. Honest mistake. I know a few "Devon"s.

[ShelC]

Yea Devin looks a lot quicker but thought it was just me. I didn't think guys could get that much faster, quicker, more explosive (unless they were just out of shape or something) but it looks like he definitely has. When he plays too fast or starts overdribbling, the TOs start happening.

[bajanguy008]

Phew, some frustration takes in the 2nd half and I'm not gonna act like they weren't warranted cuz it did get ugly there but I was so caught up watching this "Mikal and Cam development of being the ball handler in PnR and really liked what I saw.



this decisiveness and usage numbers for Mikal is good to see and I think Cam is gonna do well (know me when it comes to him )in the 2nd unit now and seeing them running set plays for him instead of just spotting up is

[Danimal]

I hope to never see Motley after tonight. He’s awful.

Jones is hot garbage too.

James Jones really fucked up not getting a solid 4/5 backup after letting Baynes go. These guys are not NBA level players. We could really use. Baynes/Holmes as a third big man behind Ayton and Saric to use in case of injury or foul trouble

Motley just seems like a smaller version of Jones. Neither can hit a jumper and will struggle without a decent backup pg spoon feeding them. THe bench needs more O. Backup pg and back C will remains points of discussion for sometime. Motley isnt the solution though.

[virtual9mm]

Random thoughts:

-Ayton had some really good moments. JVG called out his nice pass off the pick and roll. I don't see any twitter clips of this, but he had a great one on one score on Montrezl Harrell at the 8 minute mark in the 2nd quarter. It was the kind of one on one scoring ability we need from Ayton that I think he is capable of. He can develop the offensive game of a poor man's Hakeem Olajuwon. He just needs focus and increased aggression. And I love the Devon to Ayton lobs.

I was thinking Olajuwon...but then I went back and looked at Ewing highlights. They have nearly identical body types and have the same kind of bounciness -- Ayton doesn't nearly have the agility and wiry body of an Olajuwon. The difference between Ewing and an Ayton is that Ewing liked to power dunk and believe it or not -- Ayton is a much better early career rebounder.

[ShelC]

He's got the fadeaway like Ewing. He's got a great feel in the post, we just hardly utilize it. His turnaround fadeaways are probably his bread and butter.

[virtual9mm]

He's got the fadeaway like Ewing. He's got a great feel in the post, we just hardly utilize it. His turnaround fadeaways are probably his bread and butter.

I wonder if there's a way we could maximize that besides the light bulb clicking for him.

[specialsauce]

Ayton is the most talented big man in the league in the post IMO. His footwork and touch are incredible. Everything with him is desire and aggression.