Deandre Ayton and his first evening in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform didn’t go in accordance with plan.
The 7-foot middle completed with 10 factors, six rebounds, and one block in a 119-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors, and afterward, his personal feedback raised eyebrows.
“Right this moment I used to be realizing, I’m most likely a complicated huge,” Ayton stated. “The place I can roll or stand within the pocket. It most likely will get slightly troublesome for them generally. I’m so used to the league having that low man on me, generally I can’t even end a roll and, a tiny bit, linger across the free throw space simply to be accessible for him. There’s occasions I can end my roll. You bought to play some extra and play in opposition to some extra nice groups like how we did tonight to actually see what’s the frequent protection for these groups, actually making an attempt to place us on their personnel what they received on us.”
His remarks left many followers puzzled, with some decoding the self-proclaimed “complicated huge” remark as an indication that he’s nonetheless adapting to the Lakers’ system.
Doncic took the blame for Ayton’s restricted involvement on offense, telling the media, “Need to do a greater job, simply speaking to him, like what I would like and what he desires. Right this moment was on me, not getting him sufficient touches most likely. Gotta assist him.”
In the meantime, Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal didn’t maintain again throughout ESPN’s postgame present, difficult Ayton to play with extra physicality.
“Pay attention, DeAndre, ‘Domin-Ayton,’ that efficiency you had yesterday, I want you to step it up, my boy,” Shaq stated. “You’ve received to do three issues. You bought to rebound, and you bought to dam pictures, and you bought to dominate… You had a small man guarding you within the put up. You flip round and shoot a fadeaway. That’s not going to get it achieved.”
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