Maybe that’s a legitimate excuse, and his college performance doesn’t mean he can’t be a great NBA defender. But it certainly doesn’t mean he can. He has never shown that skill. He has the size, athleticism and work ethic, so maybe it’s possible, but he certainly hasn’t proven that he can master the skill. Any talk of him becoming a DPOY-level defender is wildly speculative at best.
And BTW, I still thInk his size is a little overrated. Standing reach and wingspan are more relevant measures of size than height and weight. By those measures, he’s considerably smaller than guys like Gobert and Bamba.
Check out the Sean Miller interview on the new Suns app podcast, The Outlet when you get a chance (near the end). He was asked about Ayton's defensive capabilities.
care to give a recap for those of us who don't want the app?
Tech rant: They are going to have a heck of a time keeping organized on the backend if they are spelling out numbers.
You could represent them internally as ep001.mp3 or whatever and then just translate to "one" for the URL.
They could! How do you do the translation programmatically? You've got to do a lookup in a table somewhere, right?
My guess: They originally named the page outlet-episode-01. That started an argument because some old dude figured they may have more than 99 episodes. A summer intern said Fuck It and just changed it to "one" thinking that's the easiest resolution to the argument.
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
how terrible was amare at guarding petimeter players?
My memory of Amare's defense was that he either didn't try at all, or he'd try and would commit a foul.
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 6:30 pm
by Split T
He had some moments as a shot blocker, he struggled defending the post though and that's almost exclusively where he played defensively. Would actually be interesting to see how he did now where there isn't many post guys. He'd probably fare better as a switchy 5 defensively
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 7:35 pm
by Superbone
I've heard Ayton described as a big Amare.
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
how terrible was amare at guarding petimeter players?
My memory of Amare's defense was that he either didn't try at all, or he'd try and would commit a foul.
Or he would make a fantastic block at the hoop to save a game. No consistency.
It has been widely claimed that Duncan dominated Amare and that is why we never beat the Spurs. I really do not remember that happening. I rembember Ginobili just absolutely detroying us in every 4th quarter. He would drive and score, he would drive score and get fouled or he would make a back breaking 3 pointer. IMO he was the major factor in us not being able to beat those guys.
Let's draft his look a like - DONCIC
Well it does appear the Donci has more hair.
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
Posted: Sat May 26, 2018 7:12 am
by O_Gardino
Amare almost never guarded Tim Duncan.
Marion or Diaw had that assignment. KT, when Duncan played center. Sometimes the illustrious James Jones.
Amare was matched up on the assortment of no name centers Popovic always had. And they did pretty good against the Suns.
I do disagree with not addressing defense with the Ayton pick, as I think he will improve the interior defense, along with the ability to defend on the perimeter.
Ayton is an improvement over Len/Chandler, but I don't think he turns that area into a plus for the team.
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
I do disagree with not addressing defense with the Ayton pick, as I think he will improve the interior defense, along with the ability to defend on the perimeter.
Ayton is an improvement over Len/Chandler, but I don't think he turns that area into a plus for the team.
I doubt any one player does that, but... baby steps.
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 1:54 am
by Superbone
Kellerman says Ayton is the next unicorn:
[youtube][/youtube]
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 2:04 am
by Superbone
And then 2 days later, Kellerman isn't so sure any more but Stephen A Smith says we HAVE to take Ayton.
[youtube][/youtube]
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 3:04 am
by Flagrant Fowl
Do people still watch ESPN programming? Like, really sit down and watch it. For entertainment?
Re: With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...
Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 4:11 am
by Vladimir_Taltos
For those arguing against Ayton...or quite possibly Bamba...let's remember... SIZE MARTERS! And imagine if he could have shot free throws...it isn't about him...this is just a reminder...