Simons now has 6 consecutive games in double figures, and 10 out of 12. Becoming reliable, or just a hot streak?
Ant is actually advancing at a really impressive pace. Obviously he has a ways to go before he's a major contributor on both ends. I think most of us had given up on him because he basically didn't progress at all during his first two seasons and because of Olshey's grossly hyperbolic spin about him. I don't think this team needs two ball dominant small guards that are no good on defense... let alone a third but Ant's doing really great.
Every young end-of-the-bench guy needs to add just one rock-solid skill that makes it easy for the coach to sub him in. If you are a guard playing for Stotts, that skill is always three point shooting. Crabbe did it, Napier did it, Connaughton did it, Trent did it, and now Simons is doing it. (Nassir Little is about a millimeter away from doing it too.) You can pick apart every aspect of the Blazers, but it is utterly undeniable that young guards come to Portland and become NBA-caliber shooters. Now that he's getting regular minutes, he seems to be working more on his defense. I mean he set the bar so low that any improvement is glaring in my eyes. He's by no means good right now, but he's not Mario Hezonja-bad anymore. He tries hard and he has the athleticism and length to make you think he could be decent if he just worked at it. It's easy to forget that after 3 seasons he's still only 21. But he ain't a natural point guard. Well, on a second unit where the game plan is to dribble it up, pass it to Gary or Melo and watch them chuck, I guess he can be. That will get you 2.4 assists per 36 minutes if they chuck it fast enough, which is what he averages. A few extra jab steps from Melo and that number drops even farther. Dame said over a year ago Ant would be running this team after Dame is an old man, and I don't know if I completely agree yet, but I'm starting to see what he was seeing. But he's a shooting guard.
Do you think it's just development by necessity? What I mean is, do you think that we have some kind of great shooting coach or do you think it's just as simple as Stotts saying, "If you want PT then you better be able to hit open threes." or even Stotts saying nothing and the players just seeing that the guys who can hit the three get PT so they work on it on their own?
I often wonder about that. Is it correlation or causation? Are we really good at identifying guys who will blossom into shooters? Does Terry's offense just give shooters tons of reps, so they get better faster? Does practicing with Dame and CJ just open your eyes to every little trick elite shooters use? Does having Dame as your role model just ingrain in you an I-don't-give-a-fuck shooter's attitude? Is it the coaching behind closed doors? Man, I don't know what it is but Portland absolutely has it. Every non-lottery guard in the draft should pray to every deity they can think of that they get picked by Portland. Because it is absolutely the most likely way to earn a guaranteed contract in the NBA. It is the fucking Harvard of unheralded guards.
I don't give Stotts too much credit honestly because he seems to just let players do their thing but one thing you kind of alluded to is something Stotts definitely should get credit for. Every player on the team, especially perimeter players, have the green light. Look at DJ this season or RoCo for the majority. They have been aloud to unload misses with impunity and they remain the starters. Sure they are extremely disruptive on defense and both guys hustle but I have to think that most coaches would have told DJ to rotate the ball by now and not just keep missing open shots or he'd be out of the starting lineup.
....on the court in games. I think it's easy to assume that 98% of the coach's job is performed on the court during the game. It's only natural--it's the only part of the NBA we generally get to see. Never having been an NBA player myself, I don't know what the actual percentage is. But I suspect it's probably around 5%. It may be the most critical 5% and the most open to scrutiny, but particularly when it comes to developing young players it's probably even a tinier percentage. For guys like Nassir it's basically just a few scraps of garbage minutes here and there. Stotts has always struck me as an easy-going, happy uncle kind of guy. He strikes me as the sort who would put insecure shooters at ease during practice drills and scrimmages. I have no idea if what he generally does behind the scenes is much different from other head coaches, but it's undeniable that his young shooters often exceed expectations. If you are 22 and get your first reps in an actual NBA game, would you be more comfortable taking a three with this guy as your coach or this guy as your coach? One of these two has a better track record with developing shooters, and I can kind of see why... I think Portland has had an excellent record of player development during Terry's term. Like I said, I don't know how much credit is owed to him, but certainly some amount of it at least. (To be fair, Snyder has a much better reputation for coaching defense. I think you can also see why by looking at these pictures.)
Simons has improved a lots on both ends. Does he burn sure but what NBA doesn't. One thing I think he took the off season last year more serious then he did before and plus got stronger.
Improvement is only natural. Many of these draftees go from working out 2-3 hours/day and eating burgers and pizza to working 6 or 7 hours a day, and taking care of their bodies. Simons is shooting 41.2% from 3, which imho is elite (44th in the league, 21st in league among those with 5 or more attempts/game). I'm very happy with this development! However, I do see him getting blown by on defense, though hi defense overall is improving.
I think Simons’ defense is baaad, but he does at least flash SOME ability on that end. I also like what he’s done on the boards. Defense is one thing that players usually get better at as they get older, so I don’t think its a huge concern. The problem is it gets compounded when he plays next to Dame/CJ. So with that in mind, I still believe his best value to Portland is as a trade asset. And there’s no doubt he’s increased his value. I would love to see if he could help land the blazers a power forward.
Oh, 6'3" is a big guard now? I mean the guy looks about CJ's height so he hasn't grown since his combine and even though he's filled out a little he is still probably under 200 lbs. I realize he has a 6'9" wingspan but that's not going to keep a 6'3" guard from being considered small.
