Phoenix Suns 7-footer Deandre Ayton’s talent and athleticism alone can regularly lead to double-doubles, but Monty Williams demands more from him.

"We need him to play with a high level of force and dominate the paint," Williams said. "He's had his moments, but most second-year guys struggle with that. You don't sneak up on anybody anymore, or you won't."

Ayton scored 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting in Monday’s 107-102 preseason loss to the Denver Nuggets, but he had just four rebounds, didn’t attempt a free throw, committed four turnovers and was called for five fouls.

"The issues we had tonight weren't Deandre-laden, but for us to be a really good team, he's got to dominate consistently," Williams continued. "He's got to own the paint and that's on both ends of the floor."

Ayton is coming into this season looking to expand his game. As a rookie, he averaged 16.3 points on 58.5% shooting from the field and 10.3 rebounds per game and earned NBA First-Team All-Rookie honors.

He's worked on his 3-point shooting and ball handling, but didn’t attempt a 3 in three preseason games, but Ayton said he isn’t going to just "jack one up" in a game.

"Once I know I'm dominating inside and they can't stop that, I might not even go outside," Ayton said Monday. "I might stay in there all games. That’s just me. That’s just old school for me. That’s how I was raised."

Dominating. That’s what Ayton said he plans to do this season. That what Phoenix needs him to do.

The question is can Williams bring that out of the 21-year-old on a consistent basis.

"If you're going to ask somebody to be the leader of a young team and a young organization, to lead guys like Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, who better than Monty Williams," said Denver coach Michael Malone, who was an assistant under Williams in New Orleans during Williams' first year as an NBA head coach in 2010-11.

With preseason games behind him and the Suns, Ayton can now focus on the regular season, which doesn’t begin for Phoenix until Oct. 23 when they host the Sacramento Kings at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

"All of us are on the same terminology," Ayton said. "We just go out and play hard a lot. We just got to really like lock in on the small things, you know, to be great and finish off games."

The challenge facing Williams is getting Ayton to consistently play at that "high level of force."

For Ayton, that doesn’t just mean scoring more points.

More rebounds

Ayton had just seven total rebounds in his last two preseason games.

He's the Suns' primary rebounder and will have to gobble it up on the glass because the Suns have more shooters, who typically aren’t as aggressive on the boards.

More free throws

Ayton didn’t attempt a single free throw over three preseason games.

Not one.

He averaged just 2.7 attempts last season. He's drawn fouls as was the case Friday when getting grabbed in the paint before receiving the ball, but Ayton should average more attempts.

More physicality

This one can be tricky at times.

Playing inside requires more contact, but it can also lead to more fouls. Ayton was saddled with three fouls in the first half against the Nuggets.

"I wanted to be really physical," Ayton said. "They let me start out; I was being really physical, but I guess it turned down a little bit or the momentum of the game changed."

Rebounds, free throws and physicality aside, Ayton said Williams challenged him to more "rim runs," or sprints down the floor to take advantage of his speed against big men.

Ayton is often faster than the opposing big and can get easy baskets if he runs the floor. He now has a point guard in Ricky Rubio who thrives in open court and will look to find his teammates in transition.

"He told me like, you, you're going to be playing a lot so run, get in shape right now," Ayton said of Williams "I try to get 10 rim runs a game just to keep that cardio and endurance up. That's all I was really focused on in during preseason games. Just sprinting and catching my wind to see how much I can keep up running back on defense."

Devin Booker told Ayton last season he should be a "30 and 20" player.

"I always tell him, man, don't get comfortable with success," said Booker after Ayton went for 26 and 10 in win over the Lakers last season. "What is it, 16 and 10? You're not a 16 and 10 player. That's really good, first rookie ever to do it, but that's not you. You're 30 and 20."

Ayton averaged 16 and 10 and set the Suns rookie record for double-doubles (39), but Booker wanted more.

His new coach does too, and he might get it.

Phoenix needs Ayton to dominate to be a “really good” team Williams said.

"He needs to get better," Williams said. "He knows that."

Have an opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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Beyond the Gridiron: The Mountain — Episode 4