2023 Playoffs: Suns-Clippers Round 1 News Thread

[Superbone]

When you get very specific, it’s easy to narrow down stats to just 1 or 2 guys

Oh, yeah. Those playoff numbers are easy to come by.

[Split T]

Just saying in general…this was my favorite:

[Superbone]

Just saying in general…this was my favorite:

Well, yeah. That's silly. The 30% three point percentage really modifies it.

[Kryptonic]

[JeremyG]

Something that I think most people miss is the fact that Ayton may have the most mileage/steps of any player on the team during most games. Is there a stat that tracks that?

Yes. Booker leads the nba in mileage this postseason. Here’s the suns numbers:

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed ... DIST_MILES

Ayton comes in 4th. But minutes played is a huge factor. Avg. speed might be a better indicator. By average speed all the role players jump to the top. Ayton is 3rd among starters. Craig and Booker ahead of him.

If we go regular season:

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed ... =AVG_SPEED

Mikal was clearly 1. Booker/KD still ahead in total mileage. Ayton passes KD in average speed.

Thanks, I remember looking for it awhile back and didn’t find anything. My guess was based off of how much he inbounds the ball (I wonder if that counts toward the stat?), and the fact that he’s constantly coming out to set screens, etc.

So in the playoffs Ayton is second among the big 4 in feet per minute, just barely behind Booker. And yet people say he’s not active and just stands around. Just today I saw a clip of Wolfley saying that he looks like he doesn’t even want to move out there. I don’t see anyone saying Booker looks like he’s refusing to move on the court.

This is a real stretch, my man.

What's a stretch? Proving that he doesn't just stand around? In the radio clip I mentioned, they were talking about what if Ayton moved around like Westbrook. Well Westbrook is literally averaging fewer feet per minute than Ayton.

[Shabazz]

Something that I think most people miss is the fact that Ayton may have the most mileage/steps of any player on the team during most games. Is there a stat that tracks that?

Yes. Booker leads the nba in mileage this postseason. Here’s the suns numbers:

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed ... DIST_MILES

Ayton comes in 4th. But minutes played is a huge factor. Avg. speed might be a better indicator. By average speed all the role players jump to the top. Ayton is 3rd among starters. Craig and Booker ahead of him.

If we go regular season:

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed ... =AVG_SPEED

Mikal was clearly 1. Booker/KD still ahead in total mileage. Ayton passes KD in average speed.

Thanks, I remember looking for it awhile back and didn’t find anything. My guess was based off of how much he inbounds the ball (I wonder if that counts toward the stat?), and the fact that he’s constantly coming out to set screens, etc.

So in the playoffs Ayton is second among the big 4 in feet per minute, just barely behind Booker. And yet people say he’s not active and just stands around. Just today I saw a clip of Wolfley saying that he looks like he doesn’t even want to move out there. I don’t see anyone saying Booker looks like he’s refusing to move on the court.

This is a real stretch, my man.

What's a stretch? Proving that he doesn't just stand around? In the radio clip I mentioned, they were talking about what if Ayton moved around like Westbrook. Well Westbrook is literally averaging fewer feet per minute than Ayton.

For starters, big men run basket to basket, so it makes sense that they'd have more total miles logged or whatever.

The main thing is, I have eyes. We all do, you included. We can tell when Ayton is engaged and playing "with force" as Monty likes to call it and when he's passive and playing soft. It's clear as day. Every respectable local and national NBA analyst sees it, too and they've been calling it out. Monty declining to throw him under the bus and praising his gravity doesn't change any of that. He was better last game, FWIW, but he's still a far cry from having the physical impact that the so called "playoff Ayton" had in '21 or the New Orleans series last season. If you disagree, you're just not being genuine. And if your counter is that his role has changed, then that may be true, but it has nothing to do with his effort level.

[Nodack]

I like Ayton. He’s a great guy. If you were to pick the perfect body for an NBA Center it would be Ayton. He is a great mid range shooter. He has so much potential but, he lacks aggression most of the time. He prefers to lay it up instead of dunking, adding up to a lot of misses and blocked shots that should be dunks and and free throws. Booker is much smaller but, he goes in looking for contact and a chance for an and one. That frustrates Suns fans that witnessed Amare in his prime. Sometimes Ayton is engaged in the action and sometimes he just seems like a bystander that happens to be on the court. If you are the starting center and your point guard gets more rebounds than you, you are failing.

Ayton should be punishing people inside. Sometimes he does. Most of the time he doesn’t. Booker has been giving 110% on both ends. Ayton’s 110% is 60% of Bookers 110%.

[Superbone]

I like Ayton. He’s a great guy. If you were to pick the perfect body for an NBA Center it would be Ayton. He is a great mid range shooter. He has so much potential but, he lacks aggression most of the time. He prefers to lay it up instead of dunking, adding up to a lot of misses and blocked shots that should be dunks and and free throws. Booker is much smaller but, he goes in looking for contact and a chance for an and one. That frustrates Suns fans that witnessed Amare in his prime. Sometimes Ayton is engaged in the action and sometimes he just seems like a bystander that happens to be on the court. If you are the starting center and your point guard gets more rebounds than you, you are failing.

Ayton should be punishing people inside. Sometimes he does. Most of the time he doesn’t. Booker has been giving 110% on both ends. Ayton’s 110% is 60% of Bookers 110%.

And yet he thinks he's giving 100% when asked.

[SunsRIt]

I like Ayton. He’s a great guy. If you were to pick the perfect body for an NBA Center it would be Ayton. He is a great mid range shooter. He has so much potential but, he lacks aggression most of the time. He prefers to lay it up instead of dunking, adding up to a lot of misses and blocked shots that should be dunks and and free throws. Booker is much smaller but, he goes in looking for contact and a chance for an and one. That frustrates Suns fans that witnessed Amare in his prime. Sometimes Ayton is engaged in the action and sometimes he just seems like a bystander that happens to be on the court. If you are the starting center and your point guard gets more rebounds than you, you are failing.

Ayton should be punishing people inside. Sometimes he does. Most of the time he doesn’t. Booker has been giving 110% on both ends. Ayton’s 110% is 60% of Bookers 110%.

And yet he thinks he's giving 100% when asked.

I just don’t get that. Doesn’t he hear all the praises he gets when he scores 25 and gets 15 boards? How could he possibly think he’s playing hard right now? I’ve been one of the biggest Ayton supporters on here, but his schtick is getting very old.

[Split T]

Did you know Booker has the 15th highest playoff win% since the merger of players who’ve won at least 20 games and averaged 35 minutes per game.

1. Klay
2. Curry
3. Kyrie
4. Magic
5. Worthy
6. Jordan
7. LeBron
8. Pippen
9. Grant
10. Bosh
11. Norm Nixon
12. Kawhi
13. Isiah Thomas
14. Tim Duncan
15. Devin Booker

[Kryptonic]

Yes. Booker leads the nba in mileage this postseason. Here’s the suns numbers:

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed ... DIST_MILES

Ayton comes in 4th. But minutes played is a huge factor. Avg. speed might be a better indicator. By average speed all the role players jump to the top. Ayton is 3rd among starters. Craig and Booker ahead of him.

If we go regular season:

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed ... =AVG_SPEED

Mikal was clearly 1. Booker/KD still ahead in total mileage. Ayton passes KD in average speed.

Thanks, I remember looking for it awhile back and didn’t find anything. My guess was based off of how much he inbounds the ball (I wonder if that counts toward the stat?), and the fact that he’s constantly coming out to set screens, etc.

So in the playoffs Ayton is second among the big 4 in feet per minute, just barely behind Booker. And yet people say he’s not active and just stands around. Just today I saw a clip of Wolfley saying that he looks like he doesn’t even want to move out there. I don’t see anyone saying Booker looks like he’s refusing to move on the court.

This is a real stretch, my man.

What's a stretch? Proving that he doesn't just stand around? In the radio clip I mentioned, they were talking about what if Ayton moved around like Westbrook. Well Westbrook is literally averaging fewer feet per minute than Ayton.

For starters, big men run basket to basket, so it makes sense that they'd have more total miles logged or whatever.

The main thing is, I have eyes. We all do, you included. We can tell when Ayton is engaged and playing "with force" as Monty likes to call it and when he's passive and playing soft. It's clear as day. Every respectable local and national NBA analyst sees it, too and they've been calling it out. Monty declining to throw him under the bus and praising his gravity doesn't change any of that. He was better last game, FWIW, but he's still a far cry from having the physical impact that the so called "playoff Ayton" had in '21 or the New Orleans series last season. If you disagree, you're just not being genuine. And if your counter is that his role has changed, then that may be true, but it has nothing to do with his effort level.

Nicely put and pretty much echoes everything 99% on this board have said....

[JeremyG]

If he was playing so much harder in 2021 playoffs, then why didn’t he average more rebounds per minute than he is this year? Why did he average fewer points? Why did he average less than two thirds the FT attempts?