He's not doing much more than score right now, but he looks more comfortable each game. Now is the time during the season to see what he's got and let him make more mistakes, but Terry seems to have a quick hook with him. He's lost on defense frequently, but the only way for him to learn is to play. Scoring wise, he looks so smooth and reminds me exactly of Lou Williams. I think the rotation now is for Ant to get PG minutes whenever Dame sits, and on occasion he plays WITH Dame. But 17 mpg is just too few I feel. Can we play him at SF next to Dame/CJ for a few minutes?
Was about to say that that's about the only way. Or if the Blazers start doing the Kawhi thing with Dame.
Don't really mind Dame's early re-entry in the fourth the last few games (as it seems situational), but feel like we could get away with taking him out earlier in the first. He can come out along with CJ around the 3-5 min mark of the first and let Ant cook with Baze at his side. Given Simons' scoring skill, it seems criminal to not even have him out there for 20-24 mpg, even with all his other weaknesses.
It'll never happen but on a night like last night when CJ is struggling pretty bad I'd love for Stotts to leave Simons in longer to see what he does in a close game in crunch time. Also, Dame has been struggling in the first half of games. I hate that Stotts plays him the whole first quarter no matter what occurs on the floor. If he's not in a good flow early in the game take him out with 2-3 minutes left in the first then he gets an extra break. I don't understand playing him the whole 3rd quarter instead of more in the 4th either. I don't think having all 3 in the game would be very good on the defensive end.
We keep expecting all our players to improve, but don't hold our coaches to the same. Terry is still so rigid with rotations and makes changes at such a glacial pace. Without our guard whisperer and Terry's close confidant Vanterpool on the sidelines, hopefully Terry recognizes what he has in Ant. Dude is dripping with talent. The way he took CP/Schroeder/etc to the rim to score in multiple ways last night was just eye opening.
As long as Stotts is set on staggering the starters, taking CJ out earlier in the first (& third) and putting Dame in later in the second (& fourth) seems to be the most reasonable way to do it. I think we could get Ant a solid 24 mpg that way if we wanted.
I suspect that what you call rigid and slow to make changes - the organization calls stable and consistent - and there is something to be said about giving the players as much stability as possible - given that basketball games are volatile anyway with fouls, injuries etc... - there is an advantage to minimize chaos on the long run. They know exactly what they are having with Simons and they are bringing him slowly. I am sure they have a plan and go according to it.
Dame is averaging 38 mins per game and CJ 37. Safe to say you could spot some more of those minutes to Ant in the first half. But I understand we’ve been getting kicked in a lot of first halves so far.
Well, the easy answer is you reduce Dame and Cj minutes a bit. right now Dame is at 37.4 a game and CJ 36.8. That's too much. so that's already 4-5 minutes we could give to Simons. We were gassed in the WCF and giving our backcourt 37 minutes a night is not gonna help this. Let give some of those minutes to Simons and reep the benefit: Development and fresher legs
the theory I heard around here all off-season was that between Ant, Bazemore, and Hezonja the Blazers would have enough play-making and shooting on the floor for the 2nd unit. So far, in 61 combined minutes those three are averaging 2.4 assists vs 3.6 turnovers while shooting 41% on FG's and 32% on three's. And Tolliver ain't helping shooting 23% on FG's and 25% on three's. Portland needed every second of Dame's 38 minutes last night to get the W. And for Ant to get more minutes the bench has to not play like crap and Ant has to establish he's a better option than CJ or Bazemore at SG. Hasn't happened NBA bench production: http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/teamstats/20/7/diffeff/1-1
Small forward? The kid doesn't have the size, strength or ability to guard small forwards as he struggles against players closer to his size as it is. He needs to be able to play better defense to get more minutes and as time goes on I would expect that to improve and his minutes grow. I will repeat what I have said from the beginning of the year. It is way to early in the season to worry about playing time and rotations as that will work itself out.
So far this season, outside of assists and FTs, how has CJ been better than Simons? Overall, neither has been particularly good.
3 point shooting. I will also add that teams plan defenses around McCollum, but I doubt teams are scheming for Simons. Players like Lillard and McCollum can be effective on the floor as they get the majority of attention when they are on the floor so it helps others to be open. Simons doesn't bring that same intangible right now. He may get there, but not yet.
you do know I'm not a CJ fan, and yes, he's been crappy so far still, he has a resume of 4 years of starting and 5 games this season isn't going to move Ant ahead of CJ's 350 games in the mind of Stotts. By the way, I'm fine with Ant getting more minutes, and I'm fine with those minutes coming from CJ
Not enough sample size for me to consider stats as of yet. My argument for Ant to get more mins is simply based on eye test and the ease with which he's scoring over really good defenders.
