Game Day: Magic (10-17) @ Suns (16-9), Sun 2/14/21

[Furlanfufi]

About Ayton's offense, Mikal tried to lob the ball to Ayton a couple of times (one was waived as interference). It seems to work.

[Split T]

Ayton is developing as a lob threat

[Nodack]

Slowly but surely.

[Superbone]

About Ayton's offense, Mikal tried to lob the ball to Ayton a couple of times (one was waived as interference). It seems to work.

I noticed that Booker has improved his lobs to Ayton. Getting them higher up where they need to be.

[Mori Chu]

Ayton being better at P&R and lobs is kind of a two-way street. Yes, it comes partly from Ayton running those plays better, setting better screens, knowing when and where to roll, catching the ball and finishing better, and so on. It also comes from his teammates (notably Chris Paul, but also guys like Bridges and Booker, as others have said) improving at throwing him proper entry passes and finding him. I've seen plenty of plays in the past where Ayton rolled but nobody threw it to him, or threw it badly and it went out of bounds, etc. So I think everybody is learning together how to run this particular play, even though it feels like it is an Ayton thing.

[Shabazz]

The problem is Ayton can’t reliably catch bounce passes on the move. That means you can only go over the top and takes away a lot of pass opportunities.

[LazarusLong]

Ayton still thinks too much, instead of instinctively reacting.
Perhaps a matter of reps over time.
One can only hope ...

Meanwhile, Orlando has Mo Bamba, with the wingspan of a pterodactyl, who prefers to hoist 15-18 foot bricks ...

[Flagrant Fowl]

Ayton still thinks too much, instead of instinctively reacting.
Perhaps a matter of reps over time.
One can only hope ...

Meanwhile, Orlando has Mo Bamba, with the wingspan of a pterodactyl, who prefers to hoist 15-18 foot bricks ...

This can't be overstated. I'm sure many of us are watching him closely every game, so just count the number of times he has to look at a teammate, coach, or the ballhandler before making a decision. He's currently incapable of playing with instinct in almost any situation. Sometimes he even hesitates with something as simple as sprinting down the court to beat his man for position. I thought that kind of thing was an effort issue, and it still is sometimes, but I've noticed he'll sometimes look at the bench or guard for a second or two before making his way up the court.

[Split T]

I’ve noticed a few times that if his man is slow coming back on offense, he doesn’t sprint back...he just loafs with his man.

[Charlie Smithy!]

Ahh, just give him some Adderall!