I thought bayless was good and needed more pt. Then rich cho comes along and gets rid of him as his first order of business.
That's funny because never felt like Layman was nothing. I was always felt like he played above his draft slot and wasn't utilized by Stotts, case in point, the quadruple-OT game against Denver that would've likely been won in two overtimes if Stotts had brought in some energy. Speaking of bringing in energy, here is an excerpt from an article about the game: "After not seeing any minutes in the first three overtime periods, Hood was called on after the Blazers missed six of their first seven shots. With players logging monster minutes, Hood put his fresh legs to good use, providing a seven-point burst in the final two minutes of the game. He finished with a playoff career-high 19 points in 23 minutes off the bench on 6-of-8 shooting."
Skill set right now is very limited strengths good spot up 3 pt shooter Super athletic (slam dunk champ) weaknesses Bad defensively (lateral movement seems slow) Always seems to be step behind or chasing his man. For as athletic as he is he doesn’t get many steals, is rarely on a break away for dunks (might be because of our defense) Rarely drives to basket (this is my biggest concern for him offensively) a kid that athletic should be getting baskets at the rim. While this is my biggest concern it’s the one area I could see him improving since he’s young and playing a little scared he will mature He’s gifted, my concern is he’s played enough that we should have seen a few more breakout games. If they are great players you usually see more glimpses of greatness. Also guys who are great believe in themselves and don’t shy away from things like driving to the basket.
I have to say that I think a lot of it is system oriented because I saw a lot more flashes of greatness when he first entered the league. Him growing taller, getting stronger, becoming a better shooter should translate into more greatness, but in my eyes it hasn't because something in his head is playing to the system. The system as it were is C.J. and Dame as alphas and Ant as a subordinate neophyte. In a lot of ways this is to be expected because of Ant's youth, but the torch will have to pass at some point so that systemically Ant is allowed to be an alpha if he has the ability. Will that happen? It's not just Ant that has to be on board, but you are right in that he has to add necessary components to become great.
You're really selling the kid short calling him only spot up shooter who's athletic. Your analysis is pretty lacking... Strengths: He's capable of creating his own shot. Deceptively quick (1st step is really quick) He has good footwork. He's a very solid ball handler. Has good offensive instincts by being in the right place at the right time. Shows pick and roll potential with a good understanding of how to use on ball screens. In your weaknesses you missed his biggest one, STRENGTH. That's what most of his defensive deficiencies are caused by (lack of strength and COACHING) That is also why he doesn't drive to the basket much. He needs to put on about 15 lbs of lean muscle.
I wish Ant had the confidence in himself that Olshey has in him. The guy gets lost on defense a lot and I think it's because he second guesses himself. He turns down open driving lanes on offense because he doesn't think it's his place. Maybe coach Billups can get in his ear and get him to try to do all of the things he should be doing. Then we can see if he even has these deficiencies. Right now there's assumptions about what he can't do but all I see is a guy who doesn't think he can so he isn't trying... not out of laziness but out of a lack of confidence. The only thing he has confidence in right now is his spot up jumper and that's working.
wait though. id like to point out that msot of us agree Stotts sucked at defense. Osnt it possible he was lsot because he had no direction? Im thinking Ant is one going to be one of the biggest benefactors of the coaching change. Still young and impressionable and if he buys in, i think his defensive positioning will be vastly improved as the season goes on. Im really excited about what Billups might be able to do with the kid.
100% Someone earlier was talking about how Ant lacked lateral mobility and I was pretty shocked. The only thing that has caused people to blow by him or get off wide open shots is his positioning so hopefully now that we have a coach that cares about defense we'll see Ant in the right places at the right times, so he can be more successful.
I just want to say that the thread title has “Simmons” misspelled and that it’s a bit harsh comparing Ben with Jake. Ben is a much better defender.
This is a ridiculous take. Sorry it just is. He's never been afraid to shoot the ball. The kid needs strength. Plain and simple. Lower and upper body strength will make him a better finisher. He gets bumped off his route to the rim because he needs to get stronger.
this and he needs to learn to playmake...passing..throwing a lob, driving and dishing...he is not a great passer
PG is the hardest position to learn offensively and defensively. He now has one of the best defensive, team orchestrating PGs of all time to teach him now. Not the coach that doesn't hold players accountable and doesn't seem to be able to teach PG play. Like @Orion Bailey said, I'm excited to see what coach can do with the kid. I think a 3rd PG (playmaking) would even push him to get better in this area. God I want to trade CJ pretty bad now... Even for Tobias Harris at this point.
The most recent pic of him leads me to believe he has been working out hard. Imagine if he attacked the rim like Norm, who is FEARLESS.
my analysis isn’t lacking it’s just different then yours. I want the kid to be great and hope he improves but at this point that’s how I see him. Again no knock on him tough to develop with limited time and touches with two great players in front of him
As someone who played, shooting an open outside shot and missing it is perceived differently than driving to the basket and missing a shot, and they should be. They are two very different things. One can quite easily be described as a ball stopper depending on how often they attack the basket, whereas a shooter is always expected to shoot an open shot.
A ball stopper is one who does nothing with the ball when they get it. Holding it without shooting or driving is ball stopping. Brandon Roy was a bit of a ball stopper. The ball is moving when you attack the basket (without holding it) and people can react based upon that type of movement of the ball. This is completely different from what I'm saying. I'm saying he is reluctant to drive because he isn't strong enough.
Regardless of weight he’s scared to drive because he’s not confident. He can overcome that but needs to happen this year ball stopper is someone who doesn’t pass once they get it. Melo was a ball stopper his whole career
Lack of confidence? Yes, probably so. But the good players fight through that and figure it out. The fact that Simons hasn’t figured it out in three seasons is telling. He’s got some skills, but I’m not sure he’ll ever have an NBA game.
One thing I haven’t seen talked about much is his upcoming free agency. Team already has so much money invested in guards, if simons can’t show improvement playing point, what’s his future in Portland? Wouldn’t be surprised if he was used similarly to Trent at the deadline.