Also, even if you still don’t like him as a fit on this team, thoughts of trading him for a 1st and a prospect are long over. Ant is going to continue to show his potential to be a 30ppg kind of guy. Those guys are not cheap. Cronin showed he’s not in the business of accepting trash in returns anymore. Multiple 1sts from a bad team and a prospect would be the cost. Ant is a superior talent to Herro and on a way better deal. He’s already showing he could be a better than Lavine, and is on a much better deal. He’s a Trae Young level scorer, on a much better deal.
I'm honestly not in any kind of rush to trade Simons. Not unless we can get an elite wing for him, but it's so nice to have three guards who are just completely different. Scoot is full speed all the time, Shae is just power, and Simons can score from anywhere. That's so hard for teams to defend.
I’m not either. I feel like I’ve been higher on Ant than ever. We have a legit three guard rotation that can grow from within and be really good. Kings drafted Fox, Hali, and OffNights in hopes of achieving this—not only did they not let the cake bake, I still feel like they chose the wrong guard to trade. We have what they wanted, I think we could compete really early (OKC-level contending this year, not sniffing the playoffs-level contending) if Scoot embraces the Harden role and continues to develop. If we keep adding shooters to this bench, I think Scoot could average 6-8apg off the bench. I think he could be a 6MOY next year. I love the dynamic between the three guards right now. One of the best parts of seeing the Mavs game was seeing Scoot crash into the paint, with Ant and the ref standing side by side motioning and-1 at the same time. The vibes are good. A team that is ready to move on from their AS in a few years will at least be offered a top tier floor spacer and one of the best scoring guards in the league.
You mean since the starting front court went down? The Blazers got absolutely hammered in points in the paint (66! To 32) last night. Was that because of Simons? Or the absence of Ayton and Grant? I'd guess it has much more to do with the latter. They were still 10th in Drtg before last night, including the 3 games of Simons being back. Last night is what crushed their rating, and it looked pretty obvious, to me anyway, that their defensive problem last night was front court related. Simons has been putting in the work defensively since coming back. He's not Camara, but he's not a cone anymore.
It is almost like they are taking every opportunity to tank. I bet if they wanted to make the playoffs Grant, Brogdon, and Ayton would be back sooner. I am okay with that strategy but it is frustrating in crunch time every game.
The payoff may look better than advertised. I’m starting to really like what I’m seeing from Risacher and Topic as two guys at the top of the draft. Topic looks like he could have Luka’s impact as a passer right away, still looking more into Risacher.
I look at it like if he hadn’t of had the first 3 quarters he had, we wouldn’t even have been in the game.
for the most part, he played within the offense in the first 3 quarters. Then, he went full-bore-no-regret-MeJ in the 4th quarters, freezing Sharpe completely out of the offense...such as it was. From what I saw, Ant dribbled as much in those three 4th quarters as he did in the other 9 quarters I don't know if Ant just decided to try and take over the games, or Chauncey told him to try. Whoever made the decision needs to re-think
Or the simple explanation. The defenses place more effort on shutting him down. It takes some practice playing against more intense defense to learn the counters to still get good shots. These games are 'practice' for Ant and Shae. Give them a bit more time in this environment.
Wasn't there talk on this board of Sharpe's teammates trying to freeze him out last year as well? Is it possible that Sharpe doesn't want the ball? Or at the very minimum is ok not getting the ball in these moments? We know Billups has made comments about getting frustrated with him when they go out of their way to put him in an advantageous positions and he wouldn't attack.
Fun fact, Dame has had 2 seasons where he shot better than his season 3pt% in the 4th quarter. His rookie year, and his injury shortened season of 21/22. Dame has had 2 seasons(3 counting this current season) where he had a higher AST% in the 4th quarter than he did throughout the season as a whole. 3, 4 counting this season, where his FG% was higher in the 4th than throughout the whole year. It's almost as if it's more difficult to perform under the pressure of the 4th quarter. But if he's trying to prove he can be Dame by having a little bit of struggles in the 4th, than he's doing a good job of it!
I don't need theories about what I saw; especially not one that somehow twists around and blames Sharpe for Ant channeling MeJ in 4th Q's. Ant had near-total hooplock....it was a Jeckl&Hyde difference between Q1-3 Ant and Q4 Ant, and it's happened in 3 straight games. I'd blame Ant first and Chauncey 2nd now, if you want to argue that Sharpe should assert more and defer less, then sure...that's a valid debate. But Ant showed no inclination to give up the ball until he was trapped and couldn't maneuver anymore. I'm inclined to think Sharpe making himself more available wouldn't have mattered
I don't think we need to blame a player/coach after every game. Especially road losses where we are overmatched and end up being far more competitive than I would anticipate. I think Ant is good (not great). This team doesn't have a player I would consider great. I don't think there is a #1 player on this roster. I think Ant, Sharpe, Grant, Brogdon, and Ayton all have noticable flaws if we were to run offense through them at the end of the game.
I think the team missed his shooting when he was out. So many nights, the Blazers put up abysmal shooting numbers and had no chance to win. If Simons were a new rookie we had just drafted #3, everyone would be raving about him. But since he's not a new shiny toy, they complain. We don't even know if Scoot will ever bee an above average starter. At least we know Simons will bring premium scoring ability. You have to be able to score in today's nba.
