Bucks @ Suns Thursday game thread 2-10-2022

[Mainstreet]

Yeah but some teams it’s fluky. The heat are a great three point shooting team. Are they going to regularly drop 22-44? Of course not. But they’ll pepper us if we leave their shooters wide open.

The Suns like to sag their defense but some nights or during certain parts of a game it's nice to be able to get out on the shooters when they are not missing. I'm mostly talking about strategy for those fluky nights where it happens.

The Suns are blessed to be able to go big or small and hardly miss at beat but their size inside is a huge advantage. They should stick with it unless circumstances dictate a change during periods of a game.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

So after the sixers game I commented at some point Ayton was going to have to put his big boy pants on against the biggest baddest bigs he was going against, pointing out that it’s great to make embiid work for his 30+, but if Ayton only goes 10 and 6 it isn’t going to cut it.

Well, he responded much more quickly than I ever would’ve expected. He actually legitimately outplayed giannis last night. He found his big boy pants. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of the kid than all the times he abused holiday in the post. Freaking fantastic!

 

[Mainstreet]

So after the sixers game I commented at some point Ayton was going to have to put his big boy pants on against the biggest baddest bigs he was going against, pointing out that it’s great to make embiid work for his 30+, but if Ayton only goes 10 and 6 it isn’t going to cut it.

Well, he responded much more quickly than I ever would’ve expected. He actually legitimately outplayed giannis last night. He found his big boy pants. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of the kid than all the times he abused holiday in the post. Freaking fantastic!

Ayton was a supermax player last night against the Bucks.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Ayton was a supermax player last night against the Bucks.

That can be him every night. No reason it can’t be. Once CP3 retires, there’s no reason Book and Ayton can’t be like Kobe and Shaq. And before the comments flood in. I’m not saying Book is better than Kobe but he can be more efficient and Ayton can be more versatile than Shaq even though he can’t overpower people like Diesel could.

 

[Finito]

That can be him every night. No reason it can’t be. Once CP3 retires, there’s no reason Book and Ayton can’t be like Kobe and Shaq. And before the comments flood in. I’m not saying Book is better than Kobe but he can be more efficient and Ayton can be more versatile than Shaq even though he can’t overpower people like Diesel could.

Yeah we just don’t play through him every night but when we do he usually comes up big

Some nights it’s Ayton some nights it’s Booker and some nights it’s Paul

This team can be scary good

 

[Mainstreet]

That can be him every night. No reason it can’t be. Once CP3 retires, there’s no reason Book and Ayton can’t be like Kobe and Shaq. And before the comments flood in. I’m not saying Book is better than Kobe but he can be more efficient and Ayton can be more versatile than Shaq even though he can’t overpower people like Diesel could.

Maybe. These are stats for both Booker and Bryant at 25.

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[Cheesebeef]

For those claiming that Ayton has sacrificed, could always play in the post if we actually featured him, etc. Monty and even Ayton disagrees with you, both of them saying ALL the things that those frustrated with him on offense have been saying:

“Williams spoke on that process to have Ayton and the team improve at running the offense through him when the defensive matchups warrant it.

“I think his ability to continue to grow as a player,” Williams said. “Our first year here, we didn’t see that. And now he’s starting to understand that jump hook in the paint, just powering over people is a lot better than fading away.”

“Last year that was one of the things I was not exhausting,” Ayton said. “Just constantly putting my body on them dudes when they switch and not letting them off the hook. That’s what I’m starting to realize this season.”

Phoenix Suns engulf Bucks with complete effort in Finals rematch

The Phoenix Suns fully sustained a strong two-way effort on Thursday night to eventually blow out the Milwaukee Bucks.

arizonasports.com

This is the first year we’ve seen Ayton really believe in his body and use it in the post. And what we’re seeing is that when he does believe in himself, we are unstoppable.

 

[Bufalay]

Ayton was fantastic last night. He punished the switch. And the team REALLY looked to take advantage of it. No more letting holiday get away covering our bigs in the post!

Cam was a revelation. When he put the ball through his legs and pulled up and canned the 3 I was thinking “if that’s a thing now defensed are in BIG trouble.”

Book has a tough time against this team because there’s literally no one on the bucks squad he can bully. Middleton and holiday are just as big and strong and tough. He just has to be a threat and the rest of the team can do heavy lifting.

Bulls - W
Sixers -W
Bucks - W

That’s quite a run

Booker was able to bully Middleton in the finals.

 

[JCSunsfan]

So after the sixers game I commented at some point Ayton was going to have to put his big boy pants on against the biggest baddest bigs he was going against, pointing out that it’s great to make embiid work for his 30+, but if Ayton only goes 10 and 6 it isn’t going to cut it.

Well, he responded much more quickly than I ever would’ve expected. He actually legitimately outplayed giannis last night. He found his big boy pants. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of the kid than all the times he abused holiday in the post. Freaking fantastic!

Like I said in another thread, I think having JaVale and Biz playing behind him has helped him. He does not have to play tentatively worrying about fouls. Tentative play, trying to avoid fouls, often gets even more fouls called on you. This is nice.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Like I said in another thread, I think having JaVale and Biz playing behind him has helped him. He does not have to play tentatively worrying about fouls. Tentative play, trying to avoid fouls, often gets even more fouls called on you. This is nice.

He also finally gets some legit competition in practice and can learn from legit big men who use their size inside in a way he hadn’t learned yet.

 

[Dr dumas]

It's not a fluke that Ayton could put up big numbers. But will the Suns give him the ball in the post again is the question. It's nice to know they can.

Ayton also has to want the ball down low and seal off his man. I see so many games where he settles for the mid range shot versus putting in a little work down low.

Last night was different. You could see that he wanted the ball down low. Hopefully he keeps it up..

 

[Covert Rain]

He also finally gets some legit competition in practice and can learn from legit big men who use their size inside in a way he hadn’t learned yet.

No offense to CP3 but a little guy getting on you about playing big is not the same thing. Having other bigs in your face telling you to stand up and go hard while practicing is another thing entirely. I am sure knowing there are another 12 fouls behind you at that position is great as well.

 

[Hoop Head]

Like I said in another thread, I think having JaVale and Biz playing behind him has helped him. He does not have to play tentatively worrying about fouls. Tentative play, trying to avoid fouls, often gets even more fouls called on you. This is nice.

Ayton seems to play a lot like his backups and practice probably plays a role in that as much as watching them while he rests. Year 1 he was all over the place like Holmes was. Year 2 he was more of a shooter like Baynes and Frank. Year 3 he was more like Dario, inside he'd try to fight but didn't seem to know how. Would frequently settle for whatever the defense gave him. And now this year he's more of a rim runner and post threat which is more in line with Javale and Biyombo. It'd be nice if he put it all together but I'll take this Ayton over the previous versions.

 

[Covert Rain]

Any word if Holiday and Craig will be available for this game?

 

[Mainstreet]

Any word if Holiday and Craig will be available for this game?

We should hear sometime today but since the trade is official I expect to see them against the Magic.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Ayton also has to want the ball down low and seal off his man. I see so many games where he settles for the mid range shot versus putting in a little work down low.

Last night was different. You could see that he wanted the ball down low. Hopefully he keeps it up..

Yup last night was the best I’ve seen of him really fighting for, and establishing REALLY low box position. It was glorious.

 

[Sunburn]

Another thing about Ayton I've noticed is he's keeping the ball high when receiving an entry pass or off a rebound. He used to bring the ball down low to gather and inevitably get stripped. Extremely pleased with this development.

 

[GatorAZ]

Maybe. These are stats for both Booker and Bryant at 25.

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Versus Finder is a comparison tool by Stathead.com that lets you compare players and teams across basketball. If you're looking for head-to-head comparisons, the Versus Finder is your go-to tool

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Pace and space is so different it’s kinda pointless to compare numbers from different eras.

 

[Mainstreet]

Pace and space is so different it’s kinda pointless to compare numbers from different eras.

I thought it was interesting to see the stats are so close at the same age.

 

[GatorAZ]

I thought it was interesting to see the stats are so close at the same age.

There are some similarities.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I thought it was interesting to see the stats are so close at the same age.

There are a lot of similarities between the two, especially since Book has stepped up his defense. That's a legit comparison and many have made it outside of Suns fans.

 

[Ronin]

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