Shaquille O'Neal was not happy with Deandre Ayton's performance.
Deandre Ayton is widely considered one of the best young centers in the league, and he is well known for his athleticism and efficiency near the rim. As of right now, Deandre Ayton is averaging 17.5 PPG, 10.1 RPG, and 2.1 APG for the Phoenix Suns.
During the recent Phoenix Suns matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, Deandre Ayton had a tough night, only going 6-20 from the field. After the game, Shaquille O'Neal had some criticism towards Ayton, telling him that he has to "dominate" since he is "the biggest guy" on the floor.
No excuses for missing them baby jumpers... You got to dominate! You're the biggest guy out there.. they're not doubling you like, Chuck, got doubled. They're not tripling you like Shaq got tripled. You're one-on-one. You publically say that "hey I'd like to be more involved", you having fights with the coach and other players. When you get your chance to be involved you have to dominate.
There's no doubt that Shaquille O'Neal has a point here. The Phoenix Suns rely on Deandre Ayton to shoulder the scoring load for them while Devin Booker is out, and he didn't exactly rise up to the challenge. Hopefully, we see Ayton step up offensively going forward, and show that he can be a dominant interior scorer. There are definitely teams that would trade for him even with his flaws though, and he was notably linked to the Toronto Raptors.
Monty Williams Wasn't Happy With Deandre Ayton For Missing A Crucial Rebound Against Mavericks
It is clear that Shaquille O'Neal didn't like Deandre Ayton's performance, and it seems as though he's not the only one with that sentiment. After the game, we saw Monty Williams call out Deandre Ayton for missing a key rebound against the Mavericks.
“In that situation, it was not as important to us as it was to them to get the ball. Period,” Williams said per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
As a center, it is crucial for a player to grab as many rebounds as possible, especially the important ones. In this situation, Deandre Ayton missed a defensive rebound off a missed free throw which is unfortunate, but he did have a fantastic rebounding night overall with 20 overall rebounds. It is clear that this was a small lapse from Ayton, but perhaps he can learn from that in the future.
The Phoenix Suns are currently 25-25 in the Western Conference, which has them as the 9th seed. There is definitely a chance that they will end the season as a top-6 seed and bypass the play-in tournament, and Deandre Ayton will be crucial to that happening.
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