Game Day: Knicks (10-24) @ Suns (13-21), Fri 1/3/20

[Superbone]

Also wondering if Monty is trying to keep Baynes in the starting lineup for a certain reason? I thought I remembered seeing something that he wasn't happy moving back to the bench? Are we trying to placate him? Are we trying to keep him happy so we have a shot at re-signing him in the summer? Can't imagine Ayton/Baynes is the long term solution.

Do you think left Baynes in the starting lineup to appease Ayton (allow him to be slotted as a PF). My guess is that this is a way to pander to Ayton.

From what I read, it was James Jones idea to start Ayton at PF. He brought it to Monty and he agreed to give it a shot.

From the Athletic:

The idea to start Deandre Ayton and Aron Baynes together Friday against the Knicks had already crossed Monty Williams’ mind. A Thursday conversation with general manager James Jones pushed Williams closer to that lineup shift. And an enthusiastic response from Williams’ staff when the head coach proposed the change confirmed the decision.

[Phoenix219]

I like the move. Reminds me of my 2K teams, where I paired Gortat and Amare, with Nash, JJ and Marion.

[Superbone]

This quote from the Athletic sums up the difference between Baynes and Ayton:

Baynes was breathless nearly 30 minutes after the final buzzer, the result of a postgame weight room workout. Yet when Ayton emerged from the shower, he chomped on a giant bag of cheddar popcorn.

“Let me know if y’all enjoyed the show,” Ayton said. “Because I sure did.”

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[LazarusLong]

Yeah,that was a BS call. The ref thinking he was calling a junior high game?

[JeremyG]

How many rebounds do you guys want Ayton to get? Ayton is already at 12.4 per game, in 29 mpg. Dwight Howard led the league with 12.4 in 2012-13. Nobody has averaged over 16 rpg since Rodman.

[AmareIsGod]

How many rebounds do you guys want Ayton to get? Ayton is already at 12.4 per game, in 29 mpg. Dwight Howard led the league with 12.4 in 2012-13. Nobody has averaged over 16 rpg since Rodman.

He should be BOXING OUT and getting 25 a game! It's pathetic the effort he gives, the yawning on the bench sometimes, the humor in the locker room, his inability to be serious. If Doncic was 7ft tall, you know he'd easily average 30 rebounds a game and block 10 shots. Such a bust. I'm sick of his effort, attitude and underwhelming production.

[specialsauce]

It’s not a rebound if he doesn’t rub his butt up against someone. I am desperate to see some butt rubbing

[JeremyG]

Here are some interesting official NBA box out stats:

Of the 6 players averaging more than Ayton's 12.4 rebounds, 4 of them have fewer box outs per game, including Drummond, Whiteside, Sabonis, and Giannis.

Ayton is #40 at 3.2 box outs per game. Giannis is #112 at 1.8 box outs per game.

Aron Baynes is #5 at 5.6 box outs per game, almost as many box outs as his rebounds, #76 at only 5.9 rpg in 24 mpg (only 8.8 rebounds per 36 minutes).

[Drewsprocket]

Get out of here with the Ayton criticism re rebounding. It just makes for lame discussion, like somebody’s mother in law walked into the conversation and started talking about Ayton’s lack of boxing out.

[Cap]

Wanna dis Ayton, here’s how to do it:

Code: Select all

                                                 
                         Crit Crit Crit Tota Tota
Player                Tm   MP USG%  FTA    G   GS
Dewayne Dedmon       SAC  312 20.0  2.1   23    4
Deandre Ayton        PHO  147 22.1  2.9    5    3
Aron Baynes          PHO  626 20.6  3.7   26   20
Jonas Valaninas      MEM  804 22.2  3.9   32   32
Nikola Vuevi         ORL  753 25.4  4.6   24   24
Nikola Joki          DEN 1053 25.7  5.1   34   34
Boban Marjanovi      DAL  167 23.6  5.8   17    1
Hassan Whiteside     POR  979 20.4  5.9   33   33
Cody Zeller          CHO  796 20.7  6.7   34   20
Andre Drummond       DET 1108 24.8  7.3   33   32
Karl-Anthony Towns   MIN  779 28.5  8.5   23   23
Joel Embiid          PHI  930 31.7 12.8   30   30

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/4/2020.

Centers with USG% of at least 20%, sorted by FTA/100poss.

We already have Ayton and Baynes, and people are talking about trading for Dedmon? Ouch.

The way non-ASCII characters are handled? Also ouch.

[JCSunsfan]

Also wondering if Monty is trying to keep Baynes in the starting lineup for a certain reason? I thought I remembered seeing something that he wasn't happy moving back to the bench? Are we trying to placate him? Are we trying to keep him happy so we have a shot at re-signing him in the summer? Can't imagine Ayton/Baynes is the long term solution.

Do you think left Baynes in the starting lineup to appease Ayton (allow him to be slotted as a PF). My guess is that this is a way to pander to Ayton.

n? And this is their 5th season. Ayton isn’t going to be perfect every night. He is allowed to be mediocre sometimes. I get criticisms but some of them are plain silly. Yawning before a game, eating popcorn after. Come on.

I don't appreciate your rational response to Ayton's behavior.

They are playing Ayton with Baynes because our pf play has been poor. AND they just got done playing the Lakers and watched AD at PF and asked themselves why can't Ayton do that.

Ayton is more engaged on defense at pf. It is a worthwhile experiment.

[SunsRIt]

How many rebounds do you guys want Ayton to get? Ayton is already at 12.4 per game, in 29 mpg. Dwight Howard led the league with 12.4 in 2012-13. Nobody has averaged over 16 rpg since Rodman.

He should be BOXING OUT and getting 25 a game! It's pathetic the effort he gives, the yawning on the bench sometimes, the humor in the locker room, his inability to be serious. If Doncic was 7ft tall, you know he'd easily average 30 rebounds a game and block 10 shots. Such a bust. I'm sick of his effort, attitude and underwhelming production.

Just stop

[Superbone]

Here are some interesting official NBA box out stats:

Of the 6 players averaging more than Ayton's 12.4 rebounds, 4 of them have fewer box outs per game, including Drummond, Whiteside, Sabonis, and Giannis.

Ayton is #40 at 3.2 box outs per game. Giannis is #112 at 1.8 box outs per game.

Aron Baynes is #5 at 5.6 box outs per game, almost as many box outs as his rebounds, #76 at only 5.9 rpg in 24 mpg (only 8.8 rebounds per 36 minutes).

Great find! Good to be able to put these thing into numbers.

[JeremyG]

Here are some interesting official NBA box out stats:

Of the 6 players averaging more than Ayton's 12.4 rebounds, 4 of them have fewer box outs per game, including Drummond, Whiteside, Sabonis, and Giannis.

Ayton is #40 at 3.2 box outs per game. Giannis is #112 at 1.8 box outs per game.

Aron Baynes is #5 at 5.6 box outs per game, almost as many box outs as his rebounds, #76 at only 5.9 rpg in 24 mpg (only 8.8 rebounds per 36 minutes).

Great find! Good to be able to put these thing into numbers.

Here's the link: https://stats.nba.com/players/box-outs/ ... r%20Season

It's strange, though, because comparing it to last season, everyone seems to be getting way fewer box outs. Maybe they have a stricter definition now?

[Danimal]

Just reading through the thread. People, we won! Won 3 of the last 4. I know it hasn’t been pretty and there is some obvious flaws but can we not spend half a game thread of a WIN shitting on everything. If we don’t already can we have agents ayton banter thread like the Doncic one so we don’t turn on each other every game?

[Shabazz]

I think Ayton's D has been quite encouraging. Miles ahead of where he was last year.

[Vladimir_Taltos]

Vlad: Okobo runs the offense better than Jerome, at least for now. Jerome has looked a bit tentative last couple of times out.

Laz...I think they need to put some responsibility on him and work with him. The raw talent is there! Our other PGs suck
...let's see if they can get him on his feet. Sitting him on the bench isn't going to make it happen.

Still want to see more use of Cameron for kick out 3s...he is supposed to deliver in that role, but don't seem to even try...

[Nodack]

Was happy to see Okobo out there. I think he has earned the BU spot more than any other so far.

I was excited to see the Ayton Baynes combo as were many I’m sure. The experiment was ok for a first time. It seems to force Baynes into the side threes where he is much less accurate than his straight away ones. Maybe he can practice those more or maybe he should stick with the straight away threes.

I thought Ayton is doing fine. He is a little bit of a puss about contact I think, but is starting to feel more and more comfortable it seems.