Actually I have never listened/watched the kid’s show and know if that’s true or not, but still that was funny.
Look, before you can pass you have to be able to shoot. A pass is really just a shot to a teammate. But the basket is a much easier target to hit. It is much bigger than the hands of your teammate, and its also stationary instead of a moving target. Once Ant has refined his shooting then I will work with him on passing. Getting shots up is more important for us than making passes. Every shot has a chance of going in but every pass has a chance of being stolen.
Nah, knowledge of the game and whether you have it or not isn’t how I decide to respect somebody or not.
Of course not. It's quantity of shoes and national origin of vehicles that really matters. I have like 6 pairs and drive a Dodge, so I'm deserving of being cracked on daily.
I don't think he's terrible in terms of potential and disagree about his BB IQ. His shooting percentages are almost on par with Dame's first year. 50% from 2 and 34.5% from 3 vs Dame 47% and 37% so it's not like he's taking stupid shots. He doesn't get fouled as much so his TS% is slightly worse than Dame's first year 53.4% vs 54.6%. Of course he's no where near as good as Dame was his first year, but in terms of shot selection and makes, he's about the same. He was passing really well early but lately he hasn't. So I think he's got it in him. People give him slack because he's young these are basically his first real NBA games - last year was mostly garbage time. If he's doing exactly the same after a full season, yeah then we start to question.
The title of the thread is “Simons is not ready.” I’m not comparing him to Dame in his rookie year, I’m comparing him to Dame now. of course he could be amazing in the future. He has a lot of raw talent.
I love how guys like Labinot and the crew of habitual debbie downers have already given up on a clearly talented 20 years old after about 2 months of playing time. I waited 7 year for Meyers, I can give Ant a year or two
Simons is a future PG starter somewhere in the NBA, but not a leaguewide star. Shooting: Lillard: fantastic dribbling, fantastic shot range, creates his own layups at will. McCollum: fantastic dribbling, excellent but erratic shooter, ordinary range, nervously misses layups and most clutch free throws. Simons: great unconscious shooter from range or close, best Blazer rookie shooter I've seen except Lillard. Playing PG: Lillard: adequate facilitor, adequate creator, far from a pure PG, rookie Sergio Rodriguez was much greater. McCollum: garbage at court vision, and at thinking of 2 things simultaneouusly, like the shoot or pass decision. Don't quit your day job at SG. Simons: instinctively methodical at carefully searching for pass recipients while dribbling or shooting, but has no PG experience, having skipped college. Compared to McCollum, Trent, Crabbe, Connaughton, etc., Simons is clearly a PG, not a SG.
Damn, besides misspelling "simultaneously," I forgot to make my point: Simons will eventually be a fine shooter, but ordinary dribbler. In his 2nd season, coaches have told him to emulate our 2 great dribblers, and he looks like a cheap facsimile. Practicing fancy dribbling prematurely is necessary to evolve in the Stotts heroball system, and be bigtime in his 3rd season.
Bingo. If you add up what the Blazers invested in Leonard (and not just in salary) and compare it to his contribution to the team (measured in team victories) - the results would make any rational fan puke.