Suns Press conference today. 07/16/19

[Dr. Jones]

my biggest reason for worry about Ayton being a low-post defender or shot-blocker is he just doesn't seem to have natural instincts for that kind of play. coaching can definitely help, but there's an apparent lack of those instincts you either have or don't that I fear will limit him.

on the perimeter, he's got GREAT potential though. We saw that in pretty big one game spurts against LeBron and Giannis and I think he WILL even get better there. Unfortunately, we don't have anyone we can put next to him to cover for the other deficiencies.

Agreed.

I also find it curious that so many people are now saying "coaching is going to make a huge difference" considering before Igor got the axe, the overwhelming majority of the board said coaching wasn't the issue, but talent was. Lot of people have done a big 180 on that without even knowing it making the argument now that talent doesn't matter as much because they know we'll have better coaching.

That said, I DO think Monty can make a solid difference because I jumped ship on Igor pretty early. That team, as young as it was, was too talented to be worse than the previous year and not only worse, but get blown the hell out in a bunch of games.

Coaching can help..... I am definitely still on the talent bandwagon. We are not talented enough individually or collectively IMO.

I am going to state the obvious here - but I guess you are not realizing it. When you are down 20 points and you have lost 5 times more than you have won, you are not going to be playing up to your potential defensively. Just being on a bad team makes players defensive effort worse.

Human nature does realistically play a huge role in self motivating yourself. Also from what I could see, Igor was not exactly getting on them about their defense.

It is not a coincidence that during the stretch we were playing .500 ball we were an above average defensive team. Which also clearly indicates the team is capable of better defensive performance than they showed for the majority of the year.

To not expect a dramatic improvement if we are more competitive and have a coach emphasizing the importance defense is ridiculous.

Doesn't that speak to their competitive will to be great? Wouldn't that be an even bigger indicator that this squad is destined to suck?

Defensive rating is a very flawed stat IMO. We won't get into that here. The rest of your stats are about shot-blocking entirely. Historically shot-blocking is only one defensive stat, and sometimes can be an indicator of a bad defensive player (willing to gamble for blocks rather than play good position defense or rebound) rather than a good one. By the way, rebounding might be one of the most important defensive stat.

Shot blocking is a wonderful predictor of Rim protection as well as your ability to rotate and give help defensively. It's the EXACT stat that helps me determine who has instincts at the position and who doesn't.

To me, Rebounding measures your ability to hold and eat up space and anticipation of the bounce of the ball. And in no way speaks to spacial recognition while in rotation, or your ability to change a shot because of your positioning.
Ayton's opponent FG% under 5 feet is 65%. Of the Centers who actually get playing time that places him firmly 12th from the bottom.

As you head away from the rim he gets better and better. This speaks to his lateral quickness and ability to guard as he moves away from the rim.

At the rim is, has been, & probably will be, his biggest weakness as a Center in the NBA. And it's not something that can really be coached.

Link to stats: https://stats.nba.com/players/oppon...on&PlayerPosition=C&sort=5-9 ft. FG PCT&dir=1

 

[BC867]

Agreed.

Coaching can help..... I am definitely still on the talent bandwagon. We are not talented enough individually or collectively IMO.

Doesn't that speak to their competitive will to be great? Wouldn't that be an even bigger indicator that this squad is destined to suck?

Shot blocking is a wonderful predictor of Rim protection as well as your ability to rotate and give help defensively. It's the EXACT stat that helps me determine who has instincts at the position and who doesn't.

To me, Rebounding measures your ability to hold and eat up space and anticipation of the bounce of the ball. And in no way speaks to spacial recognition while in rotation, or your ability to change a shot because of your positioning.
Ayton's opponent FG% under 5 feet is 65%. Of the Centers who actually get playing time that places him firmly 12th from the bottom.

As you head away from the rim he gets better and better. This speaks to his lateral quickness and ability to guard as he moves away from the rim.

At the rim is, has been, & probably will be, his biggest weakness as a Center in the NBA. And it's not something that can really be coached.

Link to stats: https://stats.nba.com/players/opponent-shooting/?Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular Season&PlayerPosition=C&sort=5-9 ft. FG PCT&dir=1

So, and I ask this seriously, are you saying that it would be in Ayton's and the Suns best interests to groom him for Power Forward alongside a role-playing starting Center?

I've suggested the possibility a few times because of the reasons you posted. And because he had never played low post before being drafted #1. Or, really, since. Not on offense.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I am not sure this assessment of the board is correct. It is certainly correct in defining me--I was an Igor defender. But I felt pretty much alone in that role.

nah... there were a lot more than you. to me, the board read that they liked igor but it was really hard to judge him with "no talent" and that he deserved extended run.

 

[Dr. Jones]

So, and I ask this seriously, are you saying that it would be in Ayton's and the Suns best interests to groom him for Power Forward alongside a role-playing starting Center?

I've suggested the possibility a few times because of the reasons you posted. And because he had never played low post before being drafted #1. Or, really, since. Not on offense.

Well..... It can be a consideration if and only IF he get to 38% or higher from the 3pt line. My worry would be that it would kill Bookers mid-range game if there are two dudes that cant shoot clogging the lane. Everything becomes harder if your spacing sucks. Especially since Rubio isn't a world beater from the arc either.

All of this changes if (I know already) we would have just drafted Luka.

 

[Yuma]

I also find it curious that so many people are now saying "coaching is going to make a huge difference" considering before Igor got the axe, the overwhelming majority of the board said coaching wasn't the issue, but talent was. Lot of people have done a big 180 on that without even knowing it making the argument now that talent doesn't matter as much because they know we'll have better coaching.

That said, I DO think Monty can make a solid difference because I jumped ship on Igor pretty early. That team, as young as it was, was too talented to be worse than the previous year and not only worse, but get blown the hell out in a bunch of games.

I think it was both. Not having a PG and PF hamstrung Igor. That being said, it took him a whole season to figure out how to move guys in and out of the game, and how to match up his guys versus the opposition. With all the years in the league, I was disappointed how long it took him to pick up the in game moves. Either that, or he did not trust his assistants, or his assistants weren't able to help him with in game moves. I was one of his biggest supporters at his hiring. I thought the coaching pedigree he had would translate to a good rookie coach. I think we did have to make a change, even with fixing the roster position wise.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I think it was both. Not having a PG and PF hamstrung Igor. That being said, it took him a whole season to figure out how to move guys in and out of the game, and how to match up his guys versus the opposition. With all the years in the league, I was disappointed how long it took him to pick up the in game moves. Either that, or he did not trust his assistants, or his assistants weren't able to help him with in game moves. I was one of his biggest supporters at his hiring. I thought the coaching pedigree he had would translate to a good rookie coach. I think we did have to make a change, even with fixing the roster position wise.

I am not sure Igor's offensive system was flawed. It has worked in other places. Our team did not do very well implementing it. We did not have enough outside shooting to make it effective, and players like Josh Jackson (and others) did not seem to have the IQ to run it. I admit that is still on the coach. You have to coach the team you have, not the system you want. His system can work without a traditional point guard, but not without consistent shooting and passing skills team-wide. After playing so poorly at the beginning, it seemed like they almost lost heart trying to run it. Only when Oubre came along and injected a little optimism, did they pick it up. The psychology of competition is an interesting study.

 

[Yuma]

I am not sure Igor's offensive system was flawed. It has worked in other places. Our team did not do very well implementing it. We did not have enough outside shooting to make it effective, and players like Josh Jackson (and others) did not seem to have the IQ to run it. I admit that is still on the coach. You have to coach the team you have, not the system you want. His system can work without a traditional point guard, but not without consistent shooting and passing skills team-wide. After playing so poorly at the beginning, it seemed like they almost lost heart trying to run it. Only when Oubre came along and injected a little optimism, did they pick it up. The psychology of competition is an interesting study.

I think it was like the last 3 or maybe 4 weeks they finally started cutting back door and getting easy lay ups. In that system, it's designed to get back door cuts. It seemed odd the whole team took that long for the light bulb to go on for a simple read in the offense.

 

[devilalum]

I think it was like the last 3 or maybe 4 weeks they finally started cutting back door and getting easy lay ups. In that system, it's designed to get back door cuts. It seemed odd the whole team took that long for the light bulb to go on for a simple read in the offense.

When the whole team struggles to learn the offense its on the coach.

 

[JCSunsfan]

When the whole team struggles to learn the offense its on the coach.

It could be the team is composed of many young players or players with a low BBIQ, but then, it's on the coach to realize that.

 

[BC867]

It could be the team is composed of many young players or players with a low BBIQ, but then, it's on the coach to realize that.

Especially if there is any degree of language confusion between the Coach and the young players.