![]() Ayton recognising this and having other ideas is a huge step for him.Īnd there it is - Deandre Ayton just ticked every box I’ve been looking for in just 35 minutes of play. Watch as Paul George shades over on Cam Payne, undoubtedly because he expects to have time to cover ground to Ayton - who is more likely to just be a connector via another pass. So it’s fair to suggest that putting the ball down on the hardwood is rare for the Suns Center. He has 25 field goal attempts with 1 or more dribbles. What was more impressive though, was how he was getting his points and stopping the Clippers on the other end.Ĭhecklist Item - Attacking Off The Dribble (Raise The Alarm Package)Īs of writing this sentence, Ayton has 99 field goal attempts in the Playoffs that have come off 0 dribbles. Ayton’s first half numbers were 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting, with 6 rebounds. Why? He set the tone from the beginning by busting out some of the more difficult items from his rarer packages. ![]() The signs of a big game were there early with Ayton. A night where all the work he has put in recently, culminated in a game winning moment that he thoroughly deserved. So what better way to look at Ayton’s impact than by using the checklist and going through his WCF Game 2 film?Ī game I would classify as easily the best of Ayton’s 190 game career to date. And the Playoffs can be the end to the argument. Whilst it’s often an intangible measurement that is harder to quantify - made even harder by a world obsessed with stats and tangible results - the checklist can be the means to fix that. Impact in the areas his team needs him most, and more importantly, when the team needs him most. Instead, impact will always be the lens to look through when assessing Ayton’s game. Especially not during the Regular Season. So here’s the real argument - Deandre Ayton will never be defined by stats during his career with the Phoenix Suns. When the moment comes, when the lights shine brightest, when there is the most on the line - Deandre looks ready to do what it takes for his team. Then came Ayton’s debut Playoffs appearance and that question has quickly been answered. Was this something Suns fans were just going to have to get used to? Although Ayton had a solid end to his Regular Season campaign, the lack of aggression and inconsistency still reared its ugly head at the occasional inopportune time. It appeared to just be a tease of what was to come. Again, I highlighted how Ayton had managed to tick off that same checklist in roughly 100 minutes of play, when it took over 100 games previously. During a stretch of just 4 games, Suns fans saw a revitalised DA show the aggression we all craved. Yet.įast forward a few months to Ayton’s third and current season, I got prematurely excited Ayton may have in fact finally woken up. It just wasn’t coming with enough consistency. Included in it was a stack of impressive plays that Deandre had flashed throughout his first 2 seasons, proving what he was capable of. I outlined a list of sorts - let’s call it a What Deandre Ayton Should Focus On Checklist. ![]() Last off-season I wondered whether we might see the sleeping giant Ayton appeared to be, finally wake up from his Sophomore slumber. In fact, an argument can be made that statistically speaking he has regressed overall during his first 3 seasons in the NBA. There is a statistical argument that Deandre Ayton has not made a leap at all during his first 12 Playoff games for the Phoenix Suns.
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