All Things Ayton

[Flagrant Fowl]

Game 2 the Bahamas vs. Argentina -

Argentina are routing them in the first quarter, up by double-digits basically the whole quarter. Hield is getting out played on both ends and the Argentinians are taking advantage of poor perimeter defense and close outs. The Bahamians zone is getting picked a part. Ayton played the entire first quarter.

Defense:
Picked up a foul on poor defense "protecting" the rim against a driving guard on the first possession.

Nice rim contest on a driving guard resulted in a 2-handed block(?). Not sure he got a hand on it, but good defense. Next possession he had his hand contesting the shot but it didn't matter, layup Argentina.

Knocked down a pass in the paint that led to a fast break and dunk for Ayton. I'm not sure I've ever seen him sprint that fast ahead in transition.

Still doing the thing where he waives his arms around in the paint to "contest" a 3-point shooter. I really don't understand it. Effort could be better spent looking for a guy to box out.

Finally puts in a real contest on a 3-point shooter and the result is a missed shot.

Very poor PnR defense on the Argentinians last possession. Caught in no mans land and gave up an easy layup.

Offense:
Nice jab step into a 18-footer. Clean and decisive.

Another elbow jumper. Wide open.

Mid-post wing catch into a missed turn around fadeaway.

Paint catch into a converted short jumper.

Ayton spent a lot of the quarter on offense lingering around the mid-high post and not getting a lot of looks out of that spot. He didn't attempt to dribble or play make at all.

[AmareIsGod]

Game 2 the Bahamas vs. Argentina -

Argentina are routing them in the first quarter, up by double-digits basically the whole quarter. Hield is getting out played on both ends and the Argentinians are taking advantage of poor perimeter defense and close outs. The Bahamians zone is getting picked a part. Ayton played the entire first quarter.

Defense:
Picked up a foul on poor defense "protecting" the rim against a driving guard on the first possession.

Nice rim contest on a driving guard resulted in a 2-handed block(?). Not sure he got a hand on it, but good defense. Next possession he had his hand contesting the shot but it didn't matter, layup Argentina.

Knocked down a pass in the paint that led to a fast break and dunk for Ayton. I'm not sure I've ever seen him sprint that fast ahead in transition.

Still doing the thing where he waives his arms around in the paint to "contest" a 3-point shooter. I really don't understand it. Effort could be better spent looking for a guy to box out.

Finally puts in a real contest on a 3-point shooter and the result is a missed shot.

Very poor PnR defense on the Argentinians last possession. Caught in no mans land and gave up an easy layup.

Offense:
Nice jab step into a 18-footer. Clean and decisive.

Another elbow jumper. Wide open.

Mid-post wing catch into a missed turn around fadeaway.

Paint catch into a converted short jumper.

Ayton spent a lot of the quarter on offense lingering around the mid-high post and not getting a lot of looks out of that spot. He didn't attempt to dribble or play make at all.

Thank you for this!

[AmareIsGod]

[AmareIsGod]

Some good news. Did he look good on this attack and dribble UO?

[JeremyG]

It's refreshing to hear the head coach every timeout tell the players to go to DA.

[Flagrant Fowl]

2nd Quarter

The Bahamians battled back by seemingly cleaning up the 3-point defense. The Argentinians aren't getting the wide open looks they were in the 1st quarter. A really good, competitive game at halftime. Look out for the Gordon blow by and dunk to close the half. That was nice.

Ayton was out to start the quarter but quickly re-entered. He asked to be subbed out around the 6:00 mark and he was clearly gassed, making no effort to offensive rebound or sprint back on defense. It looks like he might've pulled a muscle (groin?). I noticed him kinda holding the area in the first quarter, and then he seemed to be stretching and walking slowly after being subbed out in the 2nd quarter. I can't tell if he's getting any treatment or being evaluated on my 240p stream. He returned at the 4:00 mark and seemed fine for the rest of the quarter.

Defense:
Very good contest on his first defensive possession resulting in a blocked layup.

Finally knocked down a PnR pass in the paint that lead to a turnover. The Bahamian guards are leaving Ayton hung out to dry a bit and the Argentinians definitely know how to be patient for the right pass.

Offense:
Low block mismatch caused Argentina to double. Ayton passed out, ball swung back to him and he hit a turnaround hook over the defending big.

Another wing jab step jumper. Looks easy when he goes quickly.

Good pass in transition that should've lead to a score. Nothing remarkable, but good decision making and not trying to do too much.

Ayton triple-teamed in the post. Passed out and the end result was an and-1 layup for Gordon.

Converted a short hook on a bad pass from Hield in the paint.

[JeremyG]

Ayton single-handedly carried the team back into it early in the 2nd quarter. At halftime, he has 16 points on 8-10 shooting, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, with 0 turnovers (even when triple-teamed), and 1 foul, in 17 minutes.

[JeremyG]

Some good news. Did he look good on this attack and dribble UO?

That was Gordon not Ayton. Kellan's wording is confusing haha. Ayton was able to pass out of the triple-team, though, while literally being surrounded on all sides lol.

[JeremyG]

2nd Quarter

The Bahamians battled back by seemingly cleaning up the 3-point defense. The Argentinians aren't getting the wide open looks they were in the 1st quarter. A really good, competitive game at halftime. Look out for the Gordon blow by and dunk to close the half. That was nice.

Ayton was out to start the quarter but quickly re-entered. He asked to be subbed out around the 6:00 mark and he was clearly gassed, making no effort to offensive rebound or sprint back on defense. It looks like he might've pulled a muscle (groin?). I noticed him kinda holding the area in the first quarter, and then he seemed to be stretching and walking slowly after being subbed out in the 2nd quarter. I can't tell if he's getting any treatment or being evaluated on my 240p stream. He returned at the 4:00 mark and seemed fine for the rest of the quarter.

Defense:
Very good contest on his first defensive possession resulting in a blocked layup.

Finally knocked down a PnR pass in the paint that lead to a turnover. The Bahamian guards are leaving Ayton hung out to dry a bit and the Argentinians definitely know how to be patient for the right pass.

Offense:
Low block mismatch caused Argentina to double. Ayton passed out, ball swung back to him and he hit a turnaround hook over the defending big.

Another wing jab step jumper. Looks easy when he goes quickly.

Good pass in transition that should've lead to a score. Nothing remarkable, but good decision making and not trying to do too much.

Ayton triple-teamed in the post. Passed out and the end result was an and-1 layup for Gordon.

Converted a short hook on a bad pass from Hield in the paint.

I think it might have been a leg cramp.

[Wally_West]

https://x.com/duanerankin/status/169198 ... fwbiOLKJFA

[Superbone]

And now the Bahamians are up 8.

[AmareIsGod]

[AmareIsGod]

Oh my God Gordon. What a dunk!

[Flagrant Fowl]

3rd Quarter

The Argentinians are ice cold. Missing all kinds of shots they made early in the game and being a bit more indecisive. Ayton helped deter a lot of stuff at the rim, but the Argentinians couldn't really do anything at the rim when he was on the bench as well.

Ayton subbed out at around 3:30 and returned at 1:40.

Defense:
Good rim contest and rebound on the first possession. I think it was against Campazzo, so...

Defended Campazzo at the rim again. That little shit certainly isn't afraid of getting to the rim despite not converting twice this quarter so far.

Good fronting defense on the opposing big to shut down the play and Argentina turned it over.

Nice block on a drive. Argentinian rebounded and should've put up something but came up empty.

Much more active defensively this quarter overall, really moving his feet in the paint and closing out shooters. Much better PnR defense this quarter, doing a better job of being big in the open space.

Offense:
Perfect position for a pretty easy offensive rebound put back slam, but the ball went right through his hands.

Mid-post wing catch with one too many jab steps for my liking. I think Ayton was credited with the bucket but it bounced around a bit and a Bahamian might've got a tip on it.

Low post fadeaway miss. The young(?) Argentinian big is battling Ayton pretty well, much more physical and skilled than anyone on the Cuban squad.

Caught the ball at about 25-feet, took one pointless dribble and looked to pass. Where was the ball handling stuff we saw last game? In the timeout huddle immediately after you can clearly hear Hield, "DA... attack him!"

[Superbone]

Up 15 after 3.

[AmareIsGod]

Great recovery for a nice block!

[Superbone]

Oh my God Gordon. What a dunk!

Age is just a number!

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm going to miss the whole 4th quarter so no recap, but it seems like the Bahamians are pulling away and we might now see a lot of Ayton.

[JeremyG]

Caught the ball at about 25-feet, took one pointless dribble and looked to pass. Where was the ball handling stuff we saw last game? In the timeout huddle immediately after you can clearly hear Hield, "DA... attack him!"

The coach told them to stop shooting threes and to let Ayton do the scoring. That's when Hield told him "attack him" and the coach said, "He knows. He knows." Monty would never.

[JeremyG]

Coach drawing up a play for DA in the huddle again!