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Rewatch the game please.

Deandre Ayton was owning Domantis Sabonis. I heard wincing from Sabonis. Ayton screaming. Getting rebounds. Controlling the paint. Looking big out there.

What I really paid attention to was Aytons intensity. You can’t teach or coach preseason compare it to scrimmage and regular season. You have to see it.

Ayton looks so dialed in. He looks intense. Great to see. Playing with that fire. He can get a comeback player of the year award and defensive player of the year award.

He really looked athletic in that Kings game. And I was thinking wow we got that from a buyout.

 

If Ant has any other injuries the rest of the season, I concur. Even if he's healthy they're not in an ideal spot. It's early but Conley looks 100 years old out there and the wings they have stepping up to replace NAW do not look like NBA level players. Gobert is one of the biggest frauds in the NBA.

 

Wemby has the DPOY in the bag every year he is healthy. Ayton isn’t even close.

 

Okay man, but you have to admit there’s levels to this, right?
When people make comps in basketball, they try and come close.
I don’t, and nobody else, thinks that Shaq would ever be a comp to what Ayton has done throughout his entire career. I mean, he’s not even a poor man’s David Robinson yet.
Yea, I’ve seen “Inside” hundreds of times since its inception.
20 and 10 is very nice, but Shaq had entire defenses schemed to stop him and would often go up with two defenders draped all over him and jam it home.
My point is numbers will never tell the entire story.
Ayton is a complimentary piece and Shaq, when I’m shape, was the focal point of an entire offense until Kobe started to draw just as much attention.

 

I agree. Gobert winning all of those “DPOY” awards just goes to show that award is just as much of a sham as the MVP one.
We all know that AD, in his prime, was literally guarding positions 2-5 and sometimes even PGs. He was the most amazing defensive big I’ve seen since Hakeem. Gobert has never had that kind of range when guarding any group of players.

 

Gobert’s defensive presence lowered attempts at the rim and percentage at the rim - which is basketballs most efficient zone.

The problem is teams just started scheming against him. Pulling him out of the paint, making him switch and take advantage with back door cuts. But the real paint point came when he wasn’t doing anything on offense.

Wemby as a point of contrast, is a significantly better defender, who can put 40 on you.

 

Agree trust me I saw it all from when Shaq was 275 pounds on the Orlando Magic. He was pure muscle. I was at game 7 at staples in front of Leonardo DiCaprio and behind Vanessa Bryant.

I saw the Kobe Alley oop to Shaq nothing in my experience basketball experience. Basketball in game experience compares to that. Loudest Staples Center has ever been.

There is no comparison to Shaq. People tried to do it with Howard.

I think Ayton with his type the way he plays can be a David Robinson if he stays with his defensive craft that was always the comp in College. But not as skilled but I’m super impressed how he is hitting his jump shots. He looks great offensively. I haven’t seen him this great since he’s been in the league. I mean he looks better than he has in Phoenix.

As for Shaq league dominance no answer to him. You could compare Wembyana just in regards to like coaches having no answer to defending him.

 

Load management has destroyed the credibility of the league every player has a DTD back soreness ankle soreness. It’s a joke.

if the league if Adam Silver wants credibility. Get back to players playing. Enough of this load management b*******.

this is me talking a guy who saw Kobe Bryant play every game. You’d have to pull Kobe off of a court. We didn’t appreciate it. But now we see with the players of today.

BTW Luka is not load management.

 

Hey now!! Good for Mac!! He's been grinding for years.

 

Covid year totally messed up the draft. Halliburton going 11.
Then again they're always bigs who miss at the top of the draft board. Kandi man, Kwame, Kwiseman

 

Feels like today is going to go bad.
With all these injuries AR needs to go for 50 again and Ayton and Rui at least 20 each.

Then on the other side Blazers have a lot of good defenders to throw out AR: Jrue, Avidja, Camara, Thybulle. I would full court press the s*** out of the Lakers like one of Rick Pitino's Kentucky teams if I was them. They got enough bodies to do it the whole game and the Lakers have AR and Bronny? Yikes. When you start wondering if Vando can bring up the floor against pressure it ain't looking pretty.