Suns News: Week 4 (11/7-11/13)

[TOO]

One guy is 37 and the other one is a career underachiever thus far, I'm way more concerned the about the 2nd one. Father time is undefeated, it was bound to catch to Paul at some point.

[Shabazz]

Hmm. I wonder if he would have done that if it weren't a contract year? Hope it doesn't come back to haunt him.

I do think in general that he has been driving to the basket too much and too recklessly. I know we want our shooters not to be so one-dimensional, but I think of CamJ as a 3-point specialist. I just want him camped out at the 3-point line the whole game. I don't really need him to attack the basket. He can take one dribble in for a mid-range jumper sometimes, but I don't need to see him down under the basket banging into guys and taking hard falls like he's been doing. I don't think his body is really built for that kind of play and I would prefer to see him stay healthy and focus on what he's best at. This is in contrast to Mikal Bridges, who I think has improved his dribbling and driving to the basket lately and seems to be incorporating that well.

Yeah, he probably needs to adapt. It never looked like a sustainable part of his game. He lands worse than TJ does. There are other ways to take it to the cup with more finesse or improved pull up middy. Fingers crossed for him. I hope it was just a small tear. Either way, he’s sort of older so I can see why he wants his next contract. If he can come back and still put up buckets then he’ll still get a sizable deal.

What's funny is for all of our fretting about Cam getting hurt on one of his precarious drives to the basket, he tore his knee up on what was basically a non-contact play.

[Superbone]

Injured Suns team needs more from Deandre Ayton

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/in ... db8266722a

[JeremyG]

When can we start a dialogue about how bad and lazy Ayton has been?

Just know that if you do, you'll have to suffer the copious responses from you know who.

I think even Jeremy knows Ayton has been pretty much mailing it in.

You guys are hilarious. When Ayton used to have 0-foul games, everyone said it proved he was mailing it in. Now that’s he being more physical and getting in foul trouble, it proves he is mailing it in.

[TOO]

When can we start a dialogue about how bad and lazy Ayton has been?

Just know that if you do, you'll have to suffer the copious responses from you know who.

I think even Jeremy knows Ayton has been pretty much mailing it in.

You guys are hilarious. When Ayton used to have 0-foul games, everyone said it proved he was mailing it in. Now that’s he being more physical and getting in foul trouble, it proves he is mailing it in.

Him not fouling was never an issue, picking up dumb fouls doesn't mean he's being physical, just means he's taking dumb fouls.

[JeremyG]

When can we start a dialogue about how bad and lazy Ayton has been?

Just know that if you do, you'll have to suffer the copious responses from you know who.

I think even Jeremy knows Ayton has been pretty much mailing it in.

You guys are hilarious. When Ayton used to have 0-foul games, everyone said it proved he was mailing it in. Now that’s he being more physical and getting in foul trouble, it proves he is mailing it in.

Him not fouling was never an issue, picking up dumb fouls doesn't mean he's being physical, just means he's taking dumb fouls.

Him not fouling was a huge issue on this board, and was used against him as a negative and proof he’s a soft player. (There were comments like, “How do you play 35 minutes in a game and not pick up a single foul?”)

From what I’ve seen, about 0.5 fouls per game are dumb/lazy fouls. The rest are him being more physical. But if the refs don’t adjust to him, he will have to adjust his play, and I’m sure the coaching staff will guide him on that.

[specialsauce]

Just know that if you do, you'll have to suffer the copious responses from you know who.

I think even Jeremy knows Ayton has been pretty much mailing it in.

You guys are hilarious. When Ayton used to have 0-foul games, everyone said it proved he was mailing it in. Now that’s he being more physical and getting in foul trouble, it proves he is mailing it in.

Him not fouling was never an issue, picking up dumb fouls doesn't mean he's being physical, just means he's taking dumb fouls.

Him not fouling was a huge issue on this board, and was used against him as a negative and proof he’s a soft player. (There were comments like, “How do you play 35 minutes in a game and not pick up a single foul?”)

From what I’ve seen, about 0.5 fouls per game are dumb/lazy fouls. The rest are him being more physical. But if the refs don’t adjust to him, he will have to adjust his play, and I’m sure the coaching staff will guide him on that.

Ok ok now do number of fouls vs FTAs

[ShelC]

"Averaging 4 fouls a game is just more proof that I'm Dominayton. Coach says 'play with force', well that's me playing with force. If I average 4 fouls a game, that just means I'm 2 fouls away from being All-NBA" - Deandre Ayton

[Shabazz]

I think even Jeremy knows Ayton has been pretty much mailing it in.

You guys are hilarious. When Ayton used to have 0-foul games, everyone said it proved he was mailing it in. Now that’s he being more physical and getting in foul trouble, it proves he is mailing it in.

Him not fouling was never an issue, picking up dumb fouls doesn't mean he's being physical, just means he's taking dumb fouls.

Him not fouling was a huge issue on this board, and was used against him as a negative and proof he’s a soft player. (There were comments like, “How do you play 35 minutes in a game and not pick up a single foul?”)

From what I’ve seen, about 0.5 fouls per game are dumb/lazy fouls. The rest are him being more physical. But if the refs don’t adjust to him, he will have to adjust his play, and I’m sure the coaching staff will guide him on that.

Ok ok now do number of fouls vs FTAs

You'd think the increased aggression would also come with more than 1.1 combined blocks and steals per game, but what do I know?

I do think Ayton is taking a little too much heat right now for his averages. If you toss out the game where he got hurt and another where he sat because we were blowing out the other team, he's at ~19/9 per game.

[specialsauce]

DA had 4 fouls and 2 FTAs last night.
Against the blazers he had 3 fouls and 2 FTAs
The night before against the blazers he had 5 fouls and 2 FTAs

Lmao “tough” more like “puss”

[specialsauce]

You guys are hilarious. When Ayton used to have 0-foul games, everyone said it proved he was mailing it in. Now that’s he being more physical and getting in foul trouble, it proves he is mailing it in.

Him not fouling was never an issue, picking up dumb fouls doesn't mean he's being physical, just means he's taking dumb fouls.

Him not fouling was a huge issue on this board, and was used against him as a negative and proof he’s a soft player. (There were comments like, “How do you play 35 minutes in a game and not pick up a single foul?”)

From what I’ve seen, about 0.5 fouls per game are dumb/lazy fouls. The rest are him being more physical. But if the refs don’t adjust to him, he will have to adjust his play, and I’m sure the coaching staff will guide him on that.

Ok ok now do number of fouls vs FTAs

You'd think the increased aggression would also come with more than 1.1 combined blocks and steals per game, but what do I know?

I do think Ayton is taking a little too much heat right now for his averages. If you toss out the game where he got hurt and another where he sat because we were blowing out the other team, he's at ~19/9 per game.

His points and rebounds don’t matter as much as HOW he gets those points. Mr. Max can’t just be a junkyard dog. He has to live up to Mr. Max. He has to initiate his own offense and be a force. His pussy ball is not going to scare anyone and does not get a pass as Mr. Max.

The targets this year are on three people: James Jones, DA and Mikal Bridges. It’s time to earn your dollars or be used as assets to acquire people who move the needle for their relative $$. You can’t take up an enormous percentage of our cap and NOT be a focal point on offense in todays nba.

[AmareIsGod]

Would be nice if he could carry some of that dumb foul aggression towards the rim and slam dunk a basketball instead of missing countless bunny layups by going soft. He probably has more 3 point attempts this season than FT attempts which is embarrassing.

[AmareIsGod]

The offensive inconsistency by Bridges is maddening.

[ShelC]

With the cap going up in a few years, Mikal's deal should seem in line with his production. If he were getting $120m, it'd be a much tougher pill to swallow.

[specialsauce]

With the cap going up in a few years, Mikal's deal should seem in line with his production. If he were getting $120m, it'd be a much tougher pill to swallow.

This is a hilarious thing that keeps coming up, like his pay this year is justified by the cap going up IN A FEW YEARS. In 2044 this deal will look great!

[Split T]

Mikal is great value, even without the cap spike. Ya I’d love if he was more consistently able to create offense, but he provides a bunch of value. Our problem is paying max money to a C that can’t stay out of foul trouble and can’t create his own shot. That plus CP3 looks like Rubio so far and we’re paying him 30 million.

Also paying 30 million combined to Crowder/Saric/Shamet and getting nothing out of them.

[TOO]

The offensive inconsistency by Bridges is maddening.

It really is because he's shown he can shoot it at a high level. At least we know though that he'll always give the Suns elite defense.

[AmareIsGod]

Shamet sucks. He spends all of the pregame time doing a bunch of dunks. Cool. You're more athletic than you look. IDGAF. Make your 3's and stop causing Booker and our guards to burnout because we can't give them a break.

[ShelC]

Shamet is really below average. He's not strong enough to muscle anyone and isn't quick enough to get by anyone so he's always going east-west and then passing it off. And for a guy with a rep of being a shooter, he's a "hard" shooter with no touch - line drives and rim outs. There's no way we pick up any of those extra years/guarantees. Lee is giving us much more at this point.

[Wally_West]

Would you trade Ayton for Julius Randle, Immanuel Quickley + 2 1st round picks?