I don't think you need every player to be dominant at both ends. But at least dominant at one end and consistently effective on the other. Steph Curry is a great example. Great at stealing the ball and dominant on offense. The problem is that Ant being established here is going to put him in the way of Sharpe or Scoot, or whoever we get who can be that guy. Unless maybe we can get the next great big... It's just my read on Simons. I could be wrong. I just don't see him as a leader on a great team. And I don't see him being interested in taking a back seat to one of the younger guys, either. So unless we're going trade for an established superstar to put us over the top I don't see how it works for him here, that is, assuming our goal is to build a contender.
Yeah, I weas wondering about that. But then he did win finals MVP. But not sure anyone was dominant on that team, just built very well.
that next to last column there shows that opposing offenses are about 10 points better when he's on the floor than when he sits. opposing offense net rating when player on floor: Toumani Camara-4.3 Malcolm Brogdon-3.2 Deandre Ayton-1.5 Shaedon Sharpe-0.8 Matisse Thybulle-0.6 Jerami Grant+1.5 Duop Reath+2.0 Jabari Walker+3.2 Scoot Henderson+4.6 Anfernee Simons+9.8 https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/2024/on-off/ defensive rating: Moses Brown 111 Deandre Ayton 115 Matisse Thybulle 115 Jabari Walker 116 Duop Reath 117 Toumani Camara 117 Shaedon Sharpe 119 Malcolm Brogdon 120 Jerami Grant 120 Scoot Henderson 121 Anfernee Simons 122 DBPM: Matisse Thybulle 3.0 Toumani Camara 0.3 Duop Reath -0.1 Deandre Ayton -0.3 Jabari Walker -0.6 Malcolm Brogdon -0.7 Shaedon Sharpe -0.9 Jerami Grant -1.0 Anfernee Simons -2.3 Scoot Henderson -2.4 defensive stats are often noisy, sometimes misleading, usually favor bigs, and are rotation based. But when a group of stats say the same thing about a player, and that mostly matches the eyeball test, you have to assume there's some weight in the numbers I would say, based upon those numbers that an Ant/Scoot back court is a terrible idea defensively
seriously? off the top of my head, Magic, Kareem, Bird, Billups, MJ, Pippen, Shaq, Kobe, Admiral, Duncan, Lebron, Kawhi, Giannis, AD don't have to be completely dominant on both ends. Just dominant on one end and solid on the other
I don't care about wins and losses. We were competitive in so many more games. That doesn't mean we won't get better as the season goes on. I think Ant's play is mostly better and more team oriented now than it was when he came back, but his defense is still going to be a problem. Especially when playing with Scoot or Shae.
We're playing better now than the first few weeks when Ant came back for sure. He's a good player for sure, but so was CJ. Some players aren't as conducive to a winning team. Ant might be that. It's a little early to say. I would say for sure he can't be a starter next to Scoot or Shae without suffering dearly on defense. Rip was a good defensive player that held his own. It's also a more perimeter oriented game so it's more important to have perimeter defense than the time when Rip was playing. Ant off the bench if you want to keep him is the way to go long-term.
Are you serious? I never said there weren’t players dominant on both ends….. I just don’t and never have believed Ant was headed to the HOF and should be compared to them. Lighten up son.
Ant defense is getting better. That being said, you can mask a bad defender if you have great defenders around him.
Draymond Green like, only more rebounds (including offense) but less passing. He certainly was a role player on offense and a dominant superstar on defense.
oh for fuck sakes...I don't keep track of your arguments or which poster you're busy trashing for their ignorance you had a post...It said "So who HAS been dominate on BOTH ends and led their team to a championship?" that was the sum of it and was all it said. I answered the post without trying to extract the mystery context
Ant's shooting has been explosive lately. He's barely hitting the rim on his makes. He's splashing shots with a wow factor attached. He's also been $money$ in the rare Blazers clutch time situations. Yes, Anfernee is an undersized 2 guard, and his incredible offensive talent has not yet obliterated his bad defensive awareness. But he's still young, and has shown steps towards improving his overall game. We've seen more Ant glimpses of brilliance compared to many starters on other tankers of the league. Anfernee is ideal for a rebuilding team. We're getting free chicken nuggets for 2 dollars, and the Blazers can sometimes play competitive basketball. Add in the fact that Simons contract is far less then Lillard's. Happy owner = Happy fans If/when Cronin pulls the plug on the starters, Anfernee is awarded the best incentive of the Blazers A team. Getting full salary to wear warmups in the final month, wave towels, and howl like a wolf, may once again be beneficial for the Blazers future.
Simons defensive metrics look really bad, and it's probably safe to say he's a bad defender, but this is the worst offensive team in the league, and we have no idea what Scoot will become. But I'd agree that Simons and Scoot are probably not an ideal long term pairing, unless Scoot becomes like a great defender and we get good defensive forwards.
