TBpup
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I am loving the retooling of the roster and it is my belief that while the players involved might be only overall incrementally better than those departing in some cases, that their fit is much better for Portland and their star Damian Lillard.
However, there are some gaps. Yesterday, the focus was on Zach and if he can step in at PF and do what the Blazers need him to do to take the next step beyond being swept in the WCF's. Even if he can, I believe they need a little more help at the 4/5.
That brings me to the next biggest area of need. If starting PF is first on that list, back up PG and the quarterback for the 2nd unit is a close second. Turning that over to a 20 year old who never played college ball and who TOTALED 141 minutes last season seems optimistic.
Of course we loved what he did in his one start against Sacramento and are forever thankful the result of that game got us to the WCF or we would have faced GS in the Semi's and there would have been no 2nd round victory for the first time since 2000.
Ant showed he could shoot and we know he can definitely fly so those two things aren't something Blazers fans should be too worried about. But that is a long way from playing PG for 12-15 minutes on a nightly basis for a team trying to get to the NBA Finals.
There is little to go on other than the 9 assists he got in his one start. He did play against starters for part of the 1st half but after that, it was a collection of talent that only the Knicks could love. However, I'm going to focus on one play and WAY over extrapolate trying to get an idea of his vision, decision making, 'feel' and ability to make teammates better. (Couldn't figure out how to embed this video so you'll have to click on the link for the specific play.)
blob:https://www.nba.com/6255f8ae-4d8d-4934-8112-da90fe1284af https://www.nba.com/video/2019/04/10/0021801230-sac-por-leonard-dunk-q2
Vision - Simons seems to identify Leonard and what he is going to do before the trap even comes. The trap comes not off a normal trap on a PnR but when the Kings blitz off of a slip from Meyers. That is the much more rare play but Simons handles it like he's seen it a 1000 times.
Decision Making - There is no hesitation. Ant knows what he is going to do and puts himself in position to make the correct pass on time and on target.
'Feel' - Not a lot of PG's are making a wrap around, off-handed bounce pass from 27' on the money to a cutting big man that hits him in the perfect spot. Even if they attempt the pass, it is often off line, and even more often, too low when it's a bounce pass from that far out to a 7'er. Nailed it.
Ability to make teammates better - In this case, he made it very easy for Meyers to catch in stride, elevate and finish with a nice revers jam. Finding open teammates often isn't that hard if you keep your head up and are looking for them and at a higher level, anticipating them being open. In this case, mission accomplished.
Doubtful Anfernee will be on the court very often without one of Dame, CJ or Hezonja to at least help out and as Mario indicated, be a 2nd ball handler. But there will be times that Simons needs to be the man, run the offense and make decisions while keeping the turnovers that you would normally expect from a 20-year old to a minimum.
He is going to need to grow up very quickly. He has some of the skills and doesn't seem afraid of the challenge. There will be growing pains, but for this season to take the next step, he is going to have to get through those...in a hurry.
However, there are some gaps. Yesterday, the focus was on Zach and if he can step in at PF and do what the Blazers need him to do to take the next step beyond being swept in the WCF's. Even if he can, I believe they need a little more help at the 4/5.
That brings me to the next biggest area of need. If starting PF is first on that list, back up PG and the quarterback for the 2nd unit is a close second. Turning that over to a 20 year old who never played college ball and who TOTALED 141 minutes last season seems optimistic.
Of course we loved what he did in his one start against Sacramento and are forever thankful the result of that game got us to the WCF or we would have faced GS in the Semi's and there would have been no 2nd round victory for the first time since 2000.
Ant showed he could shoot and we know he can definitely fly so those two things aren't something Blazers fans should be too worried about. But that is a long way from playing PG for 12-15 minutes on a nightly basis for a team trying to get to the NBA Finals.
There is little to go on other than the 9 assists he got in his one start. He did play against starters for part of the 1st half but after that, it was a collection of talent that only the Knicks could love. However, I'm going to focus on one play and WAY over extrapolate trying to get an idea of his vision, decision making, 'feel' and ability to make teammates better. (Couldn't figure out how to embed this video so you'll have to click on the link for the specific play.)
blob:https://www.nba.com/6255f8ae-4d8d-4934-8112-da90fe1284af https://www.nba.com/video/2019/04/10/0021801230-sac-por-leonard-dunk-q2
Vision - Simons seems to identify Leonard and what he is going to do before the trap even comes. The trap comes not off a normal trap on a PnR but when the Kings blitz off of a slip from Meyers. That is the much more rare play but Simons handles it like he's seen it a 1000 times.
Decision Making - There is no hesitation. Ant knows what he is going to do and puts himself in position to make the correct pass on time and on target.
'Feel' - Not a lot of PG's are making a wrap around, off-handed bounce pass from 27' on the money to a cutting big man that hits him in the perfect spot. Even if they attempt the pass, it is often off line, and even more often, too low when it's a bounce pass from that far out to a 7'er. Nailed it.
Ability to make teammates better - In this case, he made it very easy for Meyers to catch in stride, elevate and finish with a nice revers jam. Finding open teammates often isn't that hard if you keep your head up and are looking for them and at a higher level, anticipating them being open. In this case, mission accomplished.
Doubtful Anfernee will be on the court very often without one of Dame, CJ or Hezonja to at least help out and as Mario indicated, be a 2nd ball handler. But there will be times that Simons needs to be the man, run the offense and make decisions while keeping the turnovers that you would normally expect from a 20-year old to a minimum.
He is going to need to grow up very quickly. He has some of the skills and doesn't seem afraid of the challenge. There will be growing pains, but for this season to take the next step, he is going to have to get through those...in a hurry.
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