Payton’s defense and Fox

#4
Yeah, Payton is the guy I wish he would model his game after, too. Don’t think Fox has the same edge, but I wish he did. And, Payton is available. From his All the Smoke interview a week or two ago he would love to work with young PGs.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#5
Fox had a defensive mindset before he came to the NBA. I think a lot of young players adapt to fit their environment and we happen to be in an era where hardly anyone plays any defense and if you even attempt it you're likely to get called for a foul so there's not a lot of incentive for him to hone his defensive edge. Scorers get paid and our staff seems to be committed to making him a scorer so that's who he is.

I was hoping he'd turn out more like Gary Payton too but that just doesn't seem very likely with all of the influences pulling in the opposite direction. If we had an elite scorer already and a defense focused coach and we spent the last two years losing in the playoffs then I could see Fox taking it upon himself to be a stopper but as a PG right now with the way the game has changed he'd probably just end up being in foul trouble all the time.