For those of you who value analytics, Anfernee Simons is having one of the worst seasons of all time

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by A$AP Meyers, Feb 23, 2020.

  1. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Hello darkness, my old friend
    Well, I don't think they're going to cut him in the next month or two (nor do I think they should), so we'll definitely get that chance to see what he does. It'll be great if he actually becomes a solid or better player but, given what he's shown so far, I'm not optimistic (and I don't think I generally have a history of being wildly pessimistic or optimistic).
     
  2. e_blazer

    e_blazer Rip City Fan

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    He's never looked comfortable playing actual games except for that one game against the Kings at the end of the season where he played virtually the entire game and scored 30-something points. I'll take the word of guys like Dame and Melo that he kills it in practice, but we all know that there are some guys who never get beyond being practice players. I really hope that won't be the case for Ant and I think this is a good chance for him to showcase his game. Despite what I've been saying above, I'm a skeptic at this point too. I'd just love for him to prove all of us doubters wrong.
     
  3. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

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    Simons is the offensive force that Lillard and McCollum are, though not as good of a dribbler. He'd show it under any coach other than Stotts. Now that I set you guys straight on that, are you ready to admit you were wrong about Callabro, too?
     
  4. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    Coming as a surprise to nobody but Olshey and Stotts, Simons plays really well as a shooting guard.
     
  5. AmirIcon

    AmirIcon Well-Known Member

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    Do we actually want to run an offense or Stotts is just going to expect to ISO with a chucking 3 to save us everytime down the floor?
     
  6. mook

    mook The 2018-19 season was the best I've seen

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    That move tonight where he drove the baseline with a right hand dribble, elevated and did a reverse flush with his left off the wrong leg was crazy. He really does have an amazing set of tools.

    I dunno. Maybe he's got a little too much Meyers Leonard or Martel Webster in him. There's so much there to like, he'll have a big game or two where you think he's going to break through, but the mental part keeps him on the fringe.

    On the other hand, if a young guy can provide rock-solid reliable three point shooting on the court, he can build on that. Ant is shooting 41% right now on 53 attempts.

    Martell Webster hung around for 5 years in Portland while shooting 37%, back when the three was seen as less important. Of course, he was out of the NBA by the age of 28.

    Any way you look at it, Ant is really an undersized shooting guard. Trying to force him to play point guard isn't working.
     
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  7. royo

    royo Well-Known Member

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    I think he got to much Stotts in him actually. CJ only became find after Wes injury. Hood playoffs was bc of Hark injury. Ant is suddenly good when CJ went down and it was really predictable.
     
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  8. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    but Marty's and Meyers' problems were all mental as in they'd overthink every play and their skills couldn't manifest onto the floor. I think Simons' issues all stem solely from lack of experience and playing a new position. He's not sitting there confused on the court about what to do next. Rather, he's just trying to score because that's what he knows what to do best. I think the playmaking and game management will come. This CJ injury might be a blessing in disguise, even if it comes with some losses in the short term.

    Also, while saw a lot of his game show up yesterday, but it wasn't the first time:





    etc etc
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2021
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  9. UKRAINEFAN

    UKRAINEFAN Well-Known Member

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    And he needs to score really well every night, because he is still an undersized SG who plays average defense at best. It's great if they have finally realized he can not even think about playmaking because he needs to focus completely on scoring. But that is all he is, a scorer. Adds nothing else to winning basketball.
     
  10. twobullz

    twobullz Well-Known Member

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    I think you are being very generous saying he is a average defender. He is constantly lost on defense and teams do what they can to switch him to be the on the ball defender because he can't stop anyone. I am glad the kid has had two good offensive games in a row, but he has been abused on the other end each of the last two games.
     
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  11. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    I don't think he's undersized. It looks to me like he has grown quite a bit since we drafted him. I'm curious what his current height is.
     
  12. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    I bet he turns out to be a better rebounder and passer than Trent.
     
  13. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    Constantly lost? Yes he got burned a few times, but he also had some good moments on D as well. Far from a finished product, but he sure looks better on D than before. I see no reason why he can't continue to improve on D.
     
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  14. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    but isn't that the problem?

    if he can't play PG, what is his role on a team that has CJ, Trent, & Jones? Does Portland really need another undersized-no-defense-SG? What we saw last night is Portland lose ground when Dame sat and Simons was supposed to run the offense. Simons doesn't appear to have anywhere close to the court vision a PG needs. He plays eyes-ahead like Jarret Jack in his first couple of seasons

    this Blazer team seems torn apart by the competing needs of win-now-for-Dame's-prime and clearing the roster of alternative options for playing time for Olshey's favorites. To make a Dame-CJ-Ant rotation work, Portland needs to completely change the wing rotation...and dump Trent.
     
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  15. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    people are ready to give hot takes and write off a guy in his third year who has no experience, but turn a blind eye when dame is letting guys go to the rim unimpeded for games on end. It's a double standard that baffles me sometimes, and brings me back to my original question in this thread: Had neil not been so standoffish in his claims of Simons being the best player he has drafted, etc, would people be so harsh on judging him?

    Simons is frail and short at age 21. No one should expect him to be a lockdown defender. If he's even a negative defender, that's OK. The coaching isn't helping anyone on that end.
     
  16. twobullz

    twobullz Well-Known Member

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    The kid has played over 100 games with a average of 17 minutes in those games. This hot take that he has no experience is getting old. He has played and in that time he has put up horrible numbers. People want to use the no experience excuse which baffles me, because Olshey has been forcing Stotts to play him by refusing to bring in a NBA ready PG to play when Dame and CJ can't.
     
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  17. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    This has been his gamelog this year, highlighting minutes here:

    upload_2021-1-26_12-38-21.png

    You really think it's useful to nitpick missed defensive rotations in these games this year? Do you see any consistent role here where he can develop some sort of feel for the game, on either end? He probably won't ever turn into a decent defender-- and that's perfectly OK. Dame/Enes/Melo made careers out of it.

    No one should mistake Simons for a PG. That much is clear and Neil was an idiot in that aspect. But my point remains that our defensive issues are systemic, and I don't know if Terry is the right coach to improve us on that end.
     
  18. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    What is the role of a PG on our 2nd unit? It seems to me it has always been to score. I think it is more a coaching issue than who we have at PG. last night Simons had 1 TO in 30 minutes. That works for me if we have ball movement and shooters on the floor with him.
     
  19. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    yeah, Simons shouldn’t be judged as a young player anymore. It’s his third year in the league, second as a rotation player. Whatever he is at the end of the season is most likely going to be what he is the rest of his career.

    The last two games have been encouraging, and if nothing else his trade value has increased. I still don’t see his ceiling in Portland as anything more than a bench player. And considering his defensive shortcomings, he’s not as good a fit to play next to CJ and Dame as Trent is. Ideal scenario to me is he builds his value to the point where we can use him in a trade for something we need more, like a four for example.
     
  20. HailBlazers

    HailBlazers RipCity

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    Melo said himself BBIQ/experience is his biggest hurdle. Kid didn't play a year of college. Analyze him all you want but the fact is until he learns the NBA game the stats are unrepresentative of his potential.
     

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