bxb
Active Member
- Joined
 - Sep 29, 2023
 
- Messages
 - 350
 
- Likes
 - 181
 
- Points
 - 43
 
Anxiously waiting for the season to begin.  well i guess a 1 point victory isn't destroyed, but it was a major mismatch even with Ayton as tall as he was, playing the role of underdog vs the older favorite
Ayton's 16 at the time, showed up to the gym late, put his shoes on with no warmups and him and this pick-up team of players from the bahamas beat UNC 84-83 in this exhibition. UNC was loaded with McDonalds All Americans, they had 6 actually and they had multiple 1st rd picks i think the clippers took Brice Johnson IIRC. i forgot who took Justin Jackson(Dallas?) but he got traded a ton.. those players are several years older than Ayton!! They were preseason top10 team!! Ended up winning 33 games!!
That UNC team ended up making the national championship!!! they lost by 1 possession to Villanova!!
yet Ayton who was 16, playing with a bunch of pickup players from the Bahamas BEAT them in the preseason... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just one of those funny "defending the homecourt" stories..
But this Portland team will really be a whole different animal if they can get Ayton back to these 12+ rebound games.. He was once compared to David Robinson, really he's built to stuff the stat sheet just gotta get him consistent..
I know his rep has taken a lot of hits since this story from like 8+ years ago but he's still just 25 thats sometimes when 7-footers really take it to the next level, so I'm hoping he regains this "best player on the team" form he always used to play with, that had to take a backseat to all these other stars in PHX..
(people forget Dikembe Moutoumbo didnt enter the league til he was like 25)
				
			Ayton's 16 at the time, showed up to the gym late, put his shoes on with no warmups and him and this pick-up team of players from the bahamas beat UNC 84-83 in this exhibition. UNC was loaded with McDonalds All Americans, they had 6 actually and they had multiple 1st rd picks i think the clippers took Brice Johnson IIRC. i forgot who took Justin Jackson(Dallas?) but he got traded a ton.. those players are several years older than Ayton!! They were preseason top10 team!! Ended up winning 33 games!!
That UNC team ended up making the national championship!!! they lost by 1 possession to Villanova!!
yet Ayton who was 16, playing with a bunch of pickup players from the Bahamas BEAT them in the preseason... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"That was one of the most fun games I've ever played in," Ayton said. "I was beating guys off the dribble, I was shooting jumpers and I was grabbing rebounds over everyone. Every time I scored a basket or got a rebound, I'd look at their head coach. He was red and he was mad."
just one of those funny "defending the homecourt" stories..
But this Portland team will really be a whole different animal if they can get Ayton back to these 12+ rebound games.. He was once compared to David Robinson, really he's built to stuff the stat sheet just gotta get him consistent..
I know his rep has taken a lot of hits since this story from like 8+ years ago but he's still just 25 thats sometimes when 7-footers really take it to the next level, so I'm hoping he regains this "best player on the team" form he always used to play with, that had to take a backseat to all these other stars in PHX..
(people forget Dikembe Moutoumbo didnt enter the league til he was like 25)
			
				Last edited: