ker and other Suns playe
Wysłany: 8 Sierpień 2018, o 09:41
Deandre Ayton spent Wednesday with the Phoenix Suns with the feeling that this was the start of a beautiful relationship.
The 7-foot-1 Jeff Locke Color Rush Jersey , 250-pound center went through what he said would be his only pre-draft workout and expressed supreme confidence that the Suns will use the No. 1 overall pick to select him.
”I know I’m going No. 1,” he told reporters.
Not that the Suns have assured him of that, he’s just that confident that the team won’t pass on his combination of size, strength, athleticism and shooting touch.
”Nobody told me,” he said. ”That’s just me. I think I deserve that. I’ve worked hard.”
It would be a comfortable fit for Ayton, who was born in the Bahamas and moved to the Phoenix area during high school. He said most of his family now lives here. Ayton played his one year of college basketball a couple of hours down Interstate 10 at the University of Arizona.
”Everybody knows us now,” he said. ”This is our second home so we just feel welcome, and it would be a blessing if I become the No. 1 pick and stay here and make this home.”
Ayton said teaming with young Suns star Devin Booker would be ”Shaq and Kobe 2-point-0.”
”We could really make something happen in Phoenix,” he said. ”We could really have a spark and start a winning legacy.”
There hasn’t been much winning in Phoenix lately. The Suns have missed the playoffs eight years in a row and had the NBA’s worst record last season at 21-61, second-worst in franchise history.
But there is a young core of talent and most of those players http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jeremy-kerley-jersey , including Booker and Josh Jackson, watched what Ayton described as ”a pretty intense” individual workout.
For nearly an hour, Suns coach Igor Kokoskov and his staff put Ayton through a series of game situations, as much as possible given the fact no other players were on the floor.
”It was everything that we expected form Deandre,” general manager Ryan McDonough said. ”Obviously we’ve watched him closely at Arizona and we’ve scouted him heavily in person in games, at practice and on film. He showed us what we expected to see.”
McDonough said ”it’s pretty rare” to find such a player.
”I think this is my 16th draft in the NBA,” McDonough said, ”and you can probably count on one hand the number of guys with his size, athleticism, footwork, balance Ryan Switzer Color Rush Jersey , touch. It’s a unique package.”
He was particularly impressed with Ayton’s outside shooting touch.
”We knew he was big and strong and athletic and moved well at that size, had good length, had great hands,” McDonough said, ”but to see him make shot after shot in a workout in different scenarios.”
And he’s just 19 years old.
The Suns plan other workouts with candidates for the No. 1 pick later this week. The group won’t include Luka Doncic, who is still playing in Europe.
Phoenix is not tipping its hand, but Ayton will be hard to pass up.
”The strength of our team right now are young perimeter players, led by Devin Booker, Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren,” McDonough said. ”We’ve been looking for a center to kind of anchor our team offensively and defensively. We think Deandre has that kind of potential. … He’s certainly a unique player and a unique talent that I think would fit in great with the rest of our roster.”
Ayton averaged 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds in his one season at Arizona. He brushed aside questions about his defense.
”I don’t think that’s a weakness,” he said. ”I haven’t had the opportunity to really guard any bigs in college. I was always on the perimeter with the guards.”
Still Richard Rodgers Color Rush Jersey , he pointed out, he averaged 2.3 blocked shots per game.
On offense, Ayton said, ”I can score inside and out.”
”There will be a lot of mismatches because if I guard them they have to guard me at the end of the day,” he said. ”I can score, I can pick and pop, I can pick and roll, I can put the ball on the ground, rebound, push the ball. It’s an open floor now. Nobody is really double-teaming or triple-teaming.”
He said there is no current player on which he patterns his game. But he mentioned two pretty good ones from the past.
”Kevin Garnett, his intensity on both ends of the floor Authentic Alexander Alexeyev Jersey , how he changes the game, rebounding. From offense to defense, him starting the pick and roll, stuff like that,” Ayton said, ”how he’s so vocal with his teammates. And Hakeem Olajuwon, with his footwork down low, I try to really pick up a lot of stuff with those guys.”
Ayton called himself the most competitive player in the draft. He said there’s none of the laid-back attitude that’s a trademark of his homeland.
”I left at age 12, so I got a little Americanized with the competitive level,” he said.
Ayton planned to get together with Booker and other Suns players to watch Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
—
Joel Embiid is done with Philadelphia’s latest process.
Listed as doubtful in the morning, Embiid was upgraded to probable and eventually put in the starting lineup by the 76ers for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
Embiid participated in the team’s morning shootaround http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-logan-paulsen-jersey , and apparently coach Brett Brown saw enough from his All-Star center to approve his return.
”We like what we have seen over the past few days,” Brown said.
Embiid has missed Philadelphia’s last 10 games while recovering from a concussion and surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone around his left eye. He’s no longer in the NBA’s concussion protocol, and took to social media after Philadelphia’s Game 2 loss to Miami to announce that he is ”sick and tired of being babied.”
Translated: Embiid was declaring himself ready to play, and now the 76ers agree. So does the NBA, in the sense that the league needed to approve the style of mask that Embiid will wear to protect his face. It’s composed of both polycarbonate and carbon-fiber material and is shaded dark but still is translucent enough to meet league guidelines.
The 76ers’ medical staff collaborated with the league’s independent medical experts on the makeup and design of the mask, all that work done with the hope that Embiid won’t be re-injured if struck in the face.
”We’re just trying to move forward in a positive way,” Brown said.
Embiid wore the mask and went through practice Wednesday, getting used to contact again. His initial playoff appearance this year will be the first postseason game of his career.
”I want Joel Embiid in this mix,” Brown said. ”He has a chance to make us different. … He is as driven and as competitive as any player that I’ve been around.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Miami was prepared for the possibility that Embiid would play Thursday.
”You can’t spend too much time on an uncertainty,” Spoelstra said. ”But you have to spend a little bit of time.”
Embiid averaged 22.9 points and 11 rebounds in 63 games this season.
—
More NBA basketball: .
The 7-foot-1 Jeff Locke Color Rush Jersey , 250-pound center went through what he said would be his only pre-draft workout and expressed supreme confidence that the Suns will use the No. 1 overall pick to select him.
”I know I’m going No. 1,” he told reporters.
Not that the Suns have assured him of that, he’s just that confident that the team won’t pass on his combination of size, strength, athleticism and shooting touch.
”Nobody told me,” he said. ”That’s just me. I think I deserve that. I’ve worked hard.”
It would be a comfortable fit for Ayton, who was born in the Bahamas and moved to the Phoenix area during high school. He said most of his family now lives here. Ayton played his one year of college basketball a couple of hours down Interstate 10 at the University of Arizona.
”Everybody knows us now,” he said. ”This is our second home so we just feel welcome, and it would be a blessing if I become the No. 1 pick and stay here and make this home.”
Ayton said teaming with young Suns star Devin Booker would be ”Shaq and Kobe 2-point-0.”
”We could really make something happen in Phoenix,” he said. ”We could really have a spark and start a winning legacy.”
There hasn’t been much winning in Phoenix lately. The Suns have missed the playoffs eight years in a row and had the NBA’s worst record last season at 21-61, second-worst in franchise history.
But there is a young core of talent and most of those players http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jeremy-kerley-jersey , including Booker and Josh Jackson, watched what Ayton described as ”a pretty intense” individual workout.
For nearly an hour, Suns coach Igor Kokoskov and his staff put Ayton through a series of game situations, as much as possible given the fact no other players were on the floor.
”It was everything that we expected form Deandre,” general manager Ryan McDonough said. ”Obviously we’ve watched him closely at Arizona and we’ve scouted him heavily in person in games, at practice and on film. He showed us what we expected to see.”
McDonough said ”it’s pretty rare” to find such a player.
”I think this is my 16th draft in the NBA,” McDonough said, ”and you can probably count on one hand the number of guys with his size, athleticism, footwork, balance Ryan Switzer Color Rush Jersey , touch. It’s a unique package.”
He was particularly impressed with Ayton’s outside shooting touch.
”We knew he was big and strong and athletic and moved well at that size, had good length, had great hands,” McDonough said, ”but to see him make shot after shot in a workout in different scenarios.”
And he’s just 19 years old.
The Suns plan other workouts with candidates for the No. 1 pick later this week. The group won’t include Luka Doncic, who is still playing in Europe.
Phoenix is not tipping its hand, but Ayton will be hard to pass up.
”The strength of our team right now are young perimeter players, led by Devin Booker, Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren,” McDonough said. ”We’ve been looking for a center to kind of anchor our team offensively and defensively. We think Deandre has that kind of potential. … He’s certainly a unique player and a unique talent that I think would fit in great with the rest of our roster.”
Ayton averaged 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds in his one season at Arizona. He brushed aside questions about his defense.
”I don’t think that’s a weakness,” he said. ”I haven’t had the opportunity to really guard any bigs in college. I was always on the perimeter with the guards.”
Still Richard Rodgers Color Rush Jersey , he pointed out, he averaged 2.3 blocked shots per game.
On offense, Ayton said, ”I can score inside and out.”
”There will be a lot of mismatches because if I guard them they have to guard me at the end of the day,” he said. ”I can score, I can pick and pop, I can pick and roll, I can put the ball on the ground, rebound, push the ball. It’s an open floor now. Nobody is really double-teaming or triple-teaming.”
He said there is no current player on which he patterns his game. But he mentioned two pretty good ones from the past.
”Kevin Garnett, his intensity on both ends of the floor Authentic Alexander Alexeyev Jersey , how he changes the game, rebounding. From offense to defense, him starting the pick and roll, stuff like that,” Ayton said, ”how he’s so vocal with his teammates. And Hakeem Olajuwon, with his footwork down low, I try to really pick up a lot of stuff with those guys.”
Ayton called himself the most competitive player in the draft. He said there’s none of the laid-back attitude that’s a trademark of his homeland.
”I left at age 12, so I got a little Americanized with the competitive level,” he said.
Ayton planned to get together with Booker and other Suns players to watch Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
—
Joel Embiid is done with Philadelphia’s latest process.
Listed as doubtful in the morning, Embiid was upgraded to probable and eventually put in the starting lineup by the 76ers for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
Embiid participated in the team’s morning shootaround http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-logan-paulsen-jersey , and apparently coach Brett Brown saw enough from his All-Star center to approve his return.
”We like what we have seen over the past few days,” Brown said.
Embiid has missed Philadelphia’s last 10 games while recovering from a concussion and surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone around his left eye. He’s no longer in the NBA’s concussion protocol, and took to social media after Philadelphia’s Game 2 loss to Miami to announce that he is ”sick and tired of being babied.”
Translated: Embiid was declaring himself ready to play, and now the 76ers agree. So does the NBA, in the sense that the league needed to approve the style of mask that Embiid will wear to protect his face. It’s composed of both polycarbonate and carbon-fiber material and is shaded dark but still is translucent enough to meet league guidelines.
The 76ers’ medical staff collaborated with the league’s independent medical experts on the makeup and design of the mask, all that work done with the hope that Embiid won’t be re-injured if struck in the face.
”We’re just trying to move forward in a positive way,” Brown said.
Embiid wore the mask and went through practice Wednesday, getting used to contact again. His initial playoff appearance this year will be the first postseason game of his career.
”I want Joel Embiid in this mix,” Brown said. ”He has a chance to make us different. … He is as driven and as competitive as any player that I’ve been around.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Miami was prepared for the possibility that Embiid would play Thursday.
”You can’t spend too much time on an uncertainty,” Spoelstra said. ”But you have to spend a little bit of time.”
Embiid averaged 22.9 points and 11 rebounds in 63 games this season.
—
More NBA basketball: .