Ayton sorta sucks

[Finito]

Ayton

32 points 18 rebounds last night. Wow.

 

[pokerface]

Ayton

32 points 18 rebounds last night. Wow.

But he still sorta sux....in a great way

 

[Mainstreet]

But he still sorta sux....in a great way

Aorta sucks in a good way. Boo... hiss... boo

 

[Chris_Sanders]

But he still sorta sux....in a great way

Agreed

 

[Chris_Sanders]

U of A got screwed in the tourney. Screwed. A round 2 matchup with Kentucky???

 

[Superbone]

U of A got screwed in the tourney. Screwed. A round 2 matchup with Kentucky???

Doesn't matter. Gotta win 'em all.

 

[Chaplin]

Is anybody getting reminders of the 1997 run? Arizona had to go through 3 juggernauts en route to the title. Not in round 2, of course, but they had to beat 3 big boys to get there.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Maybe I should have tried to hex him again today. Damn I had U of pAy in my final 4

 

[Hoop Head]

Maybe I should have tried to hex him again today. Damn I had U of pAy in my final 4

Ugh, I had the same. I had Kentucky originally but after reading the Ayton hype the other night I went and had them taking Kentucky down and making it to the final 4. Shouldn't have done that. It's my only loss so far in my bracket.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Pac12 is garbage this year.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Sean Miller is garbage in the tournament.

Fixed

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Deandre Ayton | C | Arizona
14 points (6-for-13 FG), 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 block in 38 minutes in a loss to Buffalo


Arizona ended its season on as disappointing a note as possible. Ayton entered this game with huge momentum, recently recapturing the No. 1 spot in our 2018 mock draft, but he showed all of the red flags that NBA scouts have been concerned about since his emergence as a prospect, again reopening the conversation about the top pick.

Ayton played embarrassingly poor defense all night, giving up 23 points to Buffalo JUCO transfer power forward Jeremy Harris, and looking lost in pick-and roll and help defense. Numerous times, Ayton was caught spinning around aimlessly, unaware of where he was relative to the ball, his man or his place in the defensive scheme, showing that same lack of awareness and overall instincts that makes it difficult for many scouts to see him ever emerging as a plus defender at the pro level. The NBA game is about being able to defend in space, and Ayton's well-documented struggles here are something the team that drafts him will simply have to live with.

Unfortunately for Ayton, he didn't compensate for that by dominating offensively the way he normally does. He surprisingly elected to pop out on screens rather than roll to the basket and try to overpower a physically inferior opponent. He missed some good looks around the rim that he normally makes, as well as free throws.

Looking forward: Ayton and Arizona's meltdown can happen at times to higher seeded teams in the tournament staring down the possibility of an unlikely upset. There is no questioning Ayton's physical gifts, offensive skill level and tremendous rebounding prowess, but he may not be the can't-miss future Hall of Famer that some college basketball analysts painted him as in the lead-up to this game. He still has a great chance to be the No. 1 pick, and will have a long and excellent NBA career, but it's important to remember that, like everyone else, he has plenty of things to work on. -- Givony

 

[Praxis]

I'm not worried about Ayton. He did have a bad game but his "inability to defend in space" is a product of the pack line and personnel for Arizona this season. He was defending all five positions and will be fine under the rim playing man-to-man defense.

 

[TJ]

Harris is a guard playing the 4 on Buffalo. Ayton could've done a better job on defense in the game, particularly help defense, but asking a 7'1" big to play the perimeter for close to 40 minutes in a game is not ideal.

Ayton is still the unquestioned top pick in this draft and I hope the Suns continue to tank to get him.

 

[TJ]

Fixed

This narrative is seriously overinflated. Five elite eights is better than a lot of college head coaches. Miller is a Jamelle Horne shot and a bad call against Nick Johnson away from two Final Fours.

Whether it's at Arizona or elsewhere, Sean Miller will break the seal.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Harris is a guard playing the 4 on Buffalo. Ayton could've done a better job on defense in the game, particularly help defense, but asking a 7'1" big to play the perimeter for close to 40 minutes in a game is not ideal.

Ayton is still the unquestioned top pick in this draft and I hope the Suns continue to tank to get him.

I hope everyone hates him in case we fall to 2. Nit pick to death!

 

[Russ Smith]

I'm not worried about Ayton. He did have a bad game but his "inability to defend in space" is a product of the pack line and personnel for Arizona this season. He was defending all five positions and will be fine under the rim playing man-to-man defense.

I think playing with Ristic so much all season really hurt his defense. I think if he were playing the 5, with someone else at the 4 he'd have looked better. I do think though he's just not nearly as good a shot blocker as he should be at that size, length and jumping ability. He just seems to lack timing and awareness on blocking shots.

 

[Praxis]

I think playing with Ristic so much all season really hurt his defense. I think if he were playing the 5, with someone else at the 4 he'd have looked better. I do think though he's just not nearly as good a shot blocker as he should be at that size, length and jumping ability. He just seems to lack timing and awareness on blocking shots.

He averaged 2 blocks/game guarding on the perimeter much of the time. I think he'll be fine in that department.

 

[GatorAZ]

I think playing with Ristic so much all season really hurt his defense. I think if he were playing the 5, with someone else at the 4 he'd have looked better. I do think though he's just not nearly as good a shot blocker as he should be at that size, length and jumping ability. He just seems to lack timing and awareness on blocking shots.

Miller never challenged him either. He’s benched/ripped highly ranked kids before but he was checked out and not his usual controlling self this year. Who knows how Ayton would’ve responded to some hard coaching like Cal did with Cousins.

 

[Praxis]

Miller never challenged him either. He’s benched/ripped highly ranked kids before but he was checked out and not his usual controlling self this year. Who knows how Ayton would’ve responded to some hard coaching like Cal did with Cousins.

Because we had guards who couldn't get him the ball consistently. No amount of yelling was going to fix that.

 

[Praxis]

And Ristic was our second best option on offense. He was clutch except the game at Colorado. I agree that playing them together did hurt Ayton on defense though.

 

[Russ Smith]

He averaged 2 blocks/game guarding on the perimeter much of the time. I think he'll be fine in that department.

Yeah that's true but I'm not just talking about at Arizona. That was one of the knocks on Ayton in HS too, he looks like he should average twice the amount of blocks he did. I did notice as the year went on he seemed more engaged, earlier in the year it was quite common for guys to shoot right over him and he'd never even raise his hands. There were a couple of articles on him earlier in the year where people pointed out how low his "block rate" was and said generally speaking players who don't block shots in college, don't become shot blockers in the NBA.

He certainly has the tools to do it. Again it sounds stupid but if you saw how many times this year he lost a jumpball I think he just lacks timing, and that's one of those guys who just doesn't get up quickly from a standing start, but then jumps out of the gym with a moving start. he had some offensive rebounds this year that were just scary as to how high he was off the floor. When they beat UCLA he got one over Welsh that he was so far above Welsh you could see the look on Welsh's face, he couldn't believe how high Ayton was.

There's a famous picture of Lew Alcindor in college, one of the guys who posts on Bruinzone actually took the picture and with the angle and everything it's stunning how high he was. Ayton had some rebounds like that this year.

Here's a link to the picture I didn't find a version of it I could actually cut and paste and if you read the link I think it explains why.

https://petapixel.com/2017/03/21/credited-iconic-photo-half-century-later/

 

[Praxis]

Yeah that's true but I'm not just talking about at Arizona. That was one of the knocks on Ayton in HS too, he looks like he should average twice the amount of blocks he did. I did notice as the year went on he seemed more engaged, earlier in the year it was quite common for guys to shoot right over him and he'd never even raise his hands. There were a couple of articles on him earlier in the year where people pointed out how low his "block rate" was and said generally speaking players who don't block shots in college, don't become shot blockers in the NBA.

He certainly has the tools to do it. Again it sounds stupid but if you saw how many times this year he lost a jumpball I think he just lacks timing, and that's one of those guys who just doesn't get up quickly from a standing start, but then jumps out of the gym with a moving start. he had some offensive rebounds this year that were just scary as to how high he was off the floor. When they beat UCLA he got one over Welsh that he was so far above Welsh you could see the look on Welsh's face, he couldn't believe how high Ayton was.

There's a famous picture of Lew Alcindor in college, one of the guys who posts on Bruinzone actually took the picture and with the angle and everything it's stunning how high he was. Ayton had some rebounds like that this year.

Here's a link to the picture I didn't find a version of it I could actually cut and paste and if you read the link I think it explains why.

https://petapixel.com/2017/03/21/credited-iconic-photo-half-century-later/

He got better with jump balls as the season went on. Part of the problem was Pac-12 refs suck at everything, including throwing up the ball. For real, it looked like some of them had never done it before. I think he will be a beast in all facets but he is of course still developing in some areas.

 

[AZ Native]

If by chance we get Ayton, wouldn't it be a great move to trade the 15th and 16th pick (if we land there) to move up to a point guard, around number 10? We could actually forget the tank discussion.

 

[Hoop Head]

If by chance we get Ayton, wouldn't it be a great move to trade the 15th and 16th pick (if we land there) to move up to a point guard, around number 10? We could actually forget the tank discussion.

I think every one would like to see something like that happen, whether Ayton is selected or not. Draft the best big available with the 1st pick and package the later picks to try and get Young, Sexton, or Shai around 9 or 10. I think everyone here would be elated if the Suns left the draft with Ayton and Young without giving up a player or one of their own future picks.