I am loving the retooling of the roster and it is my belief that while the players involved might be only overall incrementally better than those departing in some cases, that their fit is much better for Portland and their star Damian Lillard. However, there are some gaps. Yesterday, the focus was on Zach and if he can step in at PF and do what the Blazers need him to do to take the next step beyond being swept in the WCF's. Even if he can, I believe they need a little more help at the 4/5. That brings me to the next biggest area of need. If starting PF is first on that list, back up PG and the quarterback for the 2nd unit is a close second. Turning that over to a 20 year old who never played college ball and who TOTALED 141 minutes last season seems optimistic. Of course we loved what he did in his one start against Sacramento and are forever thankful the result of that game got us to the WCF or we would have faced GS in the Semi's and there would have been no 2nd round victory for the first time since 2000. Ant showed he could shoot and we know he can definitely fly so those two things aren't something Blazers fans should be too worried about. But that is a long way from playing PG for 12-15 minutes on a nightly basis for a team trying to get to the NBA Finals. There is little to go on other than the 9 assists he got in his one start. He did play against starters for part of the 1st half but after that, it was a collection of talent that only the Knicks could love. However, I'm going to focus on one play and WAY over extrapolate trying to get an idea of his vision, decision making, 'feel' and ability to make teammates better. (Couldn't figure out how to embed this video so you'll have to click on the link for the specific play.) blob:https://www.nba.com/6255f8ae-4d8d-4934-8112-da90fe1284af https://www.nba.com/video/2019/04/10/0021801230-sac-por-leonard-dunk-q2 Vision - Simons seems to identify Leonard and what he is going to do before the trap even comes. The trap comes not off a normal trap on a PnR but when the Kings blitz off of a slip from Meyers. That is the much more rare play but Simons handles it like he's seen it a 1000 times. Decision Making - There is no hesitation. Ant knows what he is going to do and puts himself in position to make the correct pass on time and on target. 'Feel' - Not a lot of PG's are making a wrap around, off-handed bounce pass from 27' on the money to a cutting big man that hits him in the perfect spot. Even if they attempt the pass, it is often off line, and even more often, too low when it's a bounce pass from that far out to a 7'er. Nailed it. Ability to make teammates better - In this case, he made it very easy for Meyers to catch in stride, elevate and finish with a nice revers jam. Finding open teammates often isn't that hard if you keep your head up and are looking for them and at a higher level, anticipating them being open. In this case, mission accomplished. Doubtful Anfernee will be on the court very often without one of Dame, CJ or Hezonja to at least help out and as Mario indicated, be a 2nd ball handler. But there will be times that Simons needs to be the man, run the offense and make decisions while keeping the turnovers that you would normally expect from a 20-year old to a minimum. He is going to need to grow up very quickly. He has some of the skills and doesn't seem afraid of the challenge. There will be growing pains, but for this season to take the next step, he is going to have to get through those...in a hurry.
nice writeup. I agree 100% But man if he makes the leap and Collins does what is needed, we will make the finals!
Long term, it appears Simons is penciled in to replace Dame as the starting PG, (when Dame retires). To get there, he has to work as the BUPG. I like his chances to make it work.
I could see that if Dame is going to leave after his supermax, but if he retires a Blazers that a decade plus form now. Simons will be a vet and I think we would be looking for younger replacements long term. When do you suspect Dame will retire? I think if we win a ring with him, he might consider it a bit sooner than later, but if not, I think he plays until he just cant keep up anymore which I think puts him in the 38-42 age range. If Simon's is that good, how do we sign him down the road when Dame is making $50 mill a year? I'm not sure Simon's remains a Blazers forever if Dame does. I think when we are reayd for a replacement for Dame, we will be looking younger than what Ant will be at that time. Also, Nice to see you back on here more frequently. That internet signal must be getting better out there in the middle of timbucktoo now eh?
When, not if, Simons develops into a starting caliber guard. A three guard rotation of Dame/CJ/Simons will be a beautiful thing to watch. Net only goes down about 10 times a day now.
The issue for Simons is that he's playing for Stotts. There is such a short leash on young players to make mistakes with Stotts, that I worry this will just be a failed experiment rather than a successful transition. I'd worry less if he were slotted as the SG backup, but the PG responsibilities has me a bit less sure. Quinn Cook is a perfect fit for backup, not Rondo. Dude is hungry and won't be an issue in the locker room.
Dont know who quinn is but the word is rondo being a lockerroom buzzkill is fake news. Im betting his vet presence and knowledge would help even if he didnt see a minute. He has one of the highest bbq in the history of the game and has been commented on by players and coaches that he is really another coach. We dont really have that type of vet presence on this team. Something you do see on most championship teams. I say bring him on as a ring chaser.
I voted: Yes - but he will need a lot of on court support Having two other ball handlers on the floor with him should complement his shooting skills. I want to see a Simons- Hood-Mario trio together. But I would still like to see another PG option on the bench just in case.
there's just not enough to base any opinion on, especially if we're talking traditional PG CJ has had 4 different games when he hit the 9 assist plateau and he didn't need 48 minutes to do it. But it doesn't make CJ a PG and in fact, he's weak at that role. Simons might not be any better than CJ at running an offense. That's a low bar so he could step over it fairly quickly, but we will need to see Simon play lots of meaningful minutes in games that matter to get a handle on his actual PG skills. Blazers definitely need somebody because in 4 years of playoffs when teams take Dame out of the equation, none of CJ, Brian Roberts, Turner, Napier, and Curry have been able to fill the run-the-offense void. Now it looks like it will be up to Simons and Hezonja...yikes! that's the thinnest of ice to skate on
At the start of the season, throw Simons into the deep end. See if he can handle BUPG duty. If Simons is not ready, and the Blazers have a good shot at the title, make a mid season trade using one of our extra wings. Example, but not limited to; Bazemore for Teague.
Simons, with some oncourt help, will be fine as a backup PG. The problem with Simons as a PG is that it's not his best position. Usain Bolt could run the half mile, buy why have him do that instead of just sprints? IMHO, Simons is SGotF. In 2 or 3 years, the starters will be Dame, Simons, Little, Collins, Nurk, and we will be kicking major ass!!!!
Not the answer I wanted to hear from him in the video after practice, when asked about playing PG "I think I have been playing the 2 my whole life but it should not be too hard catching on" (or something to that effect) .@anferneesimons talks about leading the summer squad, playing with @2ez_nassie & more after today's practice. #SummerBlazers
