It’s still not mad love between Monty Williams and Deandre Ayton. The end of the game against Washington proves it again. The two men had a collision on the bench, during a time-out.
To understand this moment, you have to go back a few moments, when Deandre Ayton would have forgotten to put a screen for Mikal Bridges. The action continues and Chris Paul finally serves Torrey Craig who is countered.
In the aftermath, the Wizards attack and the pivot makes a mistake. Mikal Bridges takes advantage of the free throws to talk with his teammate and probably blame him for forgetting (perhaps even two omissions because an action before, Mikal Bridges had also made a gesture of humor after a screen from Deandre Ayton on Chris Paul ). A discussion that amuses in particular Bradley Beal, who chambers his opponents.
.@DuaneRankin and I watched this back, and on the Suns’ offensive possession before this, it looked like Ayton didn’t set a screen for Bridges when he was supposed to. Bridges was pointing at the other end just before this clip. DA referred to messing up on a play postgame. https://t.co/ciJ20L5inO
—Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) December 21, 2022
Then, a few seconds later, during a time-out, Monty Williams raises his voice to Deandre Ayton.
Uh oh pic.twitter.com/ZCtkWTYgJ7
— andrew leezus (@AndrewLeezus) December 21, 2022
Invited to react to this sequence, the Phoenix coach did not want to point the finger at his pivot in particular. “It was for the whole team”, he explains at Arizona Sports. “In those moments, it’s not just Deandre, it’s the whole band that wasn’t playing well. There was a bit of frustration, but it happens. »
Same speech with the player, who did not want to make tons of it on his discussion with Mikal Bridges, then on that with his coach.
“We are a family so he knows how to talk to his players. The whole world saw this moment, but it’s only love. He wanted to bring us together. There was emotion, everyone saw the tension, but we know each other. The coach clarified things during the time-out. he thus concluded.
| Deandre Ayton | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | PHX | 71 | 31 | 58.5 | 0.0 | 74.6 | 3.1 | 7.1 | 10.3 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 16.3 |
| 2019-20 | PHX | 38 | 33 | 54.6 | 23.1 | 75.3 | 3.9 | 7.6 | 11.5 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 18.2 |
| 2020-21 | PHX | 69 | 31 | 62.6 | 20.0 | 76.9 | 3.3 | 7.2 | 10.5 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 14.5 |
| 2021-22 | PHX | 58 | 30 | 63.4 | 36.8 | 74.6 | 2.6 | 7.7 | 10.2 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 17.2 |
| 2022-23 | PHX | 27 | 29 | 62.5 | 33.3 | 71.1 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 9.6 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 17.2 |
| Total | 263 | 31 | 60.2 | 26.8 | 74.9 | 3.2 | 7.3 | 10.4 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 16.4 | |
