uh, we already did? Without Book for a half?
Lakers @ Suns Sunday game thread 3-21-21
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uh, we already did? Without Book for a half?
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Booker played 24 minutes and the Lakers were without AD and Kuzma. And that Suns team was a lot better than the Suns team we've seen since the All Star break. If Ayton ever returns from the All Star break, maybe it will be different, but I'm not counting on it.
Ouchie-Z-Clown
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Man that 3 1/2 game spurt of his seems eons ago.
Why must you always knock the defensive player of the year like that?
I can't recall who it was but I remember there being a poster who seemed convinced that Ayton was on track for that award through the first month of the season and then that talk disappeared.
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it is bewildering how much that kid keeps regressing when at this point in the second half of his third year he should be ascending and really coming into his own.
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Suns have no one on the injury report. Cam Johnson should be eligible to play.
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I've found myself watching Ayton's foul situation throughout the game as an indicator of his play.
It's not 100% but if Ayton can make it to the second half particularly the 4th quarter with only a couple of fouls, be prepared to see the Ayton of old.
When he is not in foul trouble he is a different player offensively and defensively. If he gets into foul trouble early he becomes hesitant.
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but that’s all on him. He gets those early fouls because he’s either lazy or stupid on plays.
the truly eye opening thing for me is how his rebounding has fallen off a cliff. He started the season strong in that area at least and went on a big double digit rebounding streak from early Jan to beginning of February.
in the 17 games since then, he’s only gotten double digit boards 6 times. 6/17 good rebounding games. That’s brutal for a guy not giving you much anywhere else at this point.
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I'm just saying watch his foul situation throughout the game.
Sometimes after a good streak in the first half where Ayton only gets a couple of fouls I keep wanting Monty to take him out of the game so he doesn't go into the second half with more than two personal fouls.
After he gets that third personal in the first half he is often tentative in the second half. IMO, personal fouls has a correlation to how he plays.
Ouchie-Z-Clown
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It’s why EJ keeps saying he needs to learn to play with fouls.
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Unfortunately he is not there yet. He is trying to play defense more which differs from the first two seasons. It's the silly fouls that drive me crazy.
However, opponents are looking to get him into foul trouble. Sometimes I almost wish Monty would save him for the second half when he gets two fouls but he has to learn. This is where the Suns could use another center. I like Saric with the second unit.
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I think he was trying to play more defense the first six weeks of the season, but he’s been just as average as he had been in year one and two since then, if not more so as far as rebounding.
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Maybe so. Now every game I'm locked into his foul situation. I'm guessing if I'm constantly thinking about it, he has to be as well. I don't remember watching that stat much before this season.
I think 4th quarter Ayton is pretty good when he can play loose and free.
Btw, I'm not trying to make excuses for him, I'm only telling you the way I see it.
Perhaps fouls are only a symptom of a different problem. I do think Ayton tries but he is not helped by poor hands and less than stellar basketball IQ.
JCSunsfan
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No LeBron, no Gasol, no Davis. And the big one--no Dudley.
This is the type of game where this team loses focus--and loses. It will be interesting to see whether the recent loss to Minnesota reminds them that they have to be on the A game every night.
This is the type of game where this team loses focus--and loses. It will be interesting to see whether the recent loss to Minnesota reminds them that they have to be on the A game every night.
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I thought Marc Gasol might play but I haven't seen an injury update for them. He has been cleared of health and safety protocols.
Lakers are still a very talented team with Kuzma, Harrell and Horton-Tucker.
GatorAZ
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I'm excited to see Torrey Craig play. Solid defender.
Ayton still cruising with 121/107 RTG splits. 63% TS. Leading 4th ranked defense. Leading in unreasonable dumb haters. 22.
He's not leading anything from the bench in the 4th quarter.
Sunburn
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Ya he's really shown to be an unquestionable cornerstone for this team. Nothing to worry about there.
You think the guy playing freaking center 30mpg for the 4th ranked defense is bad at defense.
You may want to pause before hitting “post”.
The best part is that the like three games Dario closed caused all the screeching losers to wax histrionic about THE BIG FAILURE, and Dario was meanwhile playing as the legit best impact player in the NBA.
Did I say he was bad at defense? I said he's not a leader when he's on the bench. Big difference.
He's 6th in the league in fouls, according to another post here. He's definitely not 6th in minuted played. There are plenty of other C's who don't pick up the dumb fouls Ayton does.
I won't take advice about when and what to post from someone who gets banned regularly either. The way you're going now, I'd be shocked if you make it through the Lakers game without getting another.
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