What in the...how long do you think this guy has played? He's a freshman, of course you look back at his pre-college resume. Stacked team? As if his team was the only stacked team and that he didn't personally slay the other stacked teams around the country. Stop. This kid's body was NBA ready by his junior year and nobody could fuck with him and that's that. What big games? LSU sucked, his teammates had no business even being on the floor with him. " Knuckle head weak willed primadonna famewhore "...I don't think you're passionate enough about this ridiculousness. Lol LSU had meh recruits outside of him, you cannot be serious. And so what if he had family on the staff? I'm sure he got paid too like every other top notch recruit ever, good grief. These narratives, man. All this Simmons hate is madness, good to see who buys it and who doesn't and get a feel for what's what tho. Again, he's far from a non-winner. Kareem won 1 national title in high school his junior year and was a runner up his senior year. Simmons won 3 straight national titles in high school and went out a winner, went up against all the other stacked high school teams in america and beat them with MVP honors, led Australia's national team to the silver medal basically by himself, etc. And so what if he wants to call his shot on where he plays in the NBA, does it make less sense than being forced to go to college 1 year? People are finding ridiculous reasons for not wanting the player with the most superstar potential in the draft...like because " he can't shoot ", as if there's no improving a jumpshot. People think LeBron can't shoot right now, it was far worse when he 1st came into the league, but he worked at it. Hell, we talked about Clarkson's improved jumper all year. And the same was said about Magic when he came in, " he can't shoot ". Smh Scouts even say Simmons' inability shoot is overblown, that he just doesn't take many jumpshots in games because he's so physical and skilled that he can just go wherever he wants with the ball and chooses to be more efficient and closer to the basket. Plus, he shot 75%+ from the FT line in high school, so that evaluation would sync up a bit, the FT line being a pretty good barometer for a guy's touch as a shooter. And stop calling him a " power forward ", he can and has played 1-5 and will likely play plenty of 5 in this era. A very good chance that he changes the game at the 5 position even moreso than Draymond Green. What #1 overall player was a perfect/choirboy/finished product coming out? Even Duncan had points within his game that needed work. And even if he is interested in fame like a Melo or a Griffin, hell, that level of fame comes with being a successful/productive ballplayer and panning out. Melo went to college for a year, won it all and had everyone hanging from his sac, and he still eventually became a fame whore, right? So obviously Simmons' time @ LSU can't tell you what's going to happen in the future. It's all madness regarding these knocks on Simmons. Randy Savage level madness. As mad as all the worries about DLo after a few summer league games.
Hello. Brad Turner: Brian Shaw and the Lakers are nearing a deal for him to become Luke Walton’s lead assistant coach, according to several sources. 12 mins ago – via Twitter BA_Turner Brad Turner: Shaw had always been the coach Walton wanted on his staff. Shaw was an assistant when Walton won his 2 titles with the Lakers. 12 mins ago – via Twitter BA_Turner Love BShaw in this role, always have. Welcome back, LAL movin and groovin
http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/...lakers-draft-news-ben-simmons-jump-shot-video Kid who can play the 5 with the handle/step back, sick, balance looks OK, release point looks good, more work/more reps. Interested in how he looks coming off the other wing, but he's incredibly ambidextrous, I imagine he's fine going right
If they run him at the 5 and run run run that may be a huge difference maker. Defense will be less important if we bringing back showtime. He would be our Blake Griffin.
Similar to Griffin, but a more advanced ballhandler/passer, better at using his weak hand, well, really doesn't have a weak hand. More fluid than Griffin, Griffin gets tunnel vision sometimes when he goes into his handle/moves in the half court, the Magic comparisons are fair. Simmons' camp put it out late yesterday that they have no problem with Philly, so we'll see. I like both players a ton, Ingram's handle is nice too, he just won't cause as many mismatches.
Showtime played defense (Coop, Worthy, Thompson, Byron, Rambis). They were more than Magic on the break or Kareem in the post. I think a pure shooter like Ingram is a better compliment to the existing talent on the team. Not sure they could survive in the West with two brick chuckers (Randle and Simmons) in the lineup.
No matter who they sign in FA in July or draft in June, they're not surviving in the west or winning a championship the next two seasons. The road to the title is a longer process than that. Best exercise is probably to project where individuals and the team could be by 2019, Luke's 3rd or 4th year as a HC, and go from there. People forget, there was a 12 year gap from Magic's last title to the start of the Kobe/Shaq 3peat era. Obviously let's hope it doesn't take that long.
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Got no illusions about this process to becoming a contender. It's going to take a couple more years. I'd rather that process go ahead with a pure shooter like Ingram.
I meant that our top players don't need to be stoppers as team defense will be employed more than personal defense. And that our defense will rely more on opportunity steals and weakside blocks o spur breaks. Of course of the bench we may have a stopper or two. Bit so far our roster isn't shaping up like that.
Just saying, Simmons is getting LeBron/Magic comps. If you have a chance to get a superstar of that nature, you get him, mold him, and then fit the pieces around him. Jerry West didn't pass on Kobe because he already had an all-star Jones/Van Exel backcourt, he used his foresight, felt like Kobe would eventually be greater than all in the game of basketball and if that's how they feel they have to add that and work around it.
Dude is not a magic a LeBron or a kobe. If he is a mix of blake griffin and domenique Wilkins we should be so lucky.
Really can't say any of that with any certainty. The comps he's getting from the scouts and experts tho is Magic/LeBron, like it or not. He runs past guards @ 6'10" 245 and drops dimes, so it's understandable.
Only scout reporter that's proven to be independent and worth his salt over the years is Jonathan Givony.
I like Givony, he's thorough, as is Mike Schmitz. I wouldn't say they're the only guys who get it done, but they share a ton on their draftexpress site
They as in just Givony and Schmitz? Or just everybody in general like scouts Clay Moser, Trajan Langdon, JR Holden, etc. as well? All of the above have comped Simmons to LeBron. But this hasn't been a case of Simmons vs. Ingram for me, it'd be more in the Simmons vs. Ingram direction for me if LAL had the #1 overall pick, plus I like both guys. But 1 guy's getting LeBron comps from them and the other isn't and the fit theory is just off IMO. Not saying Ingram can't be special, he could be, I was pimping Ingram's Durant-look myself before the college season started, but most agree that Simmons just has more superstar potential/a higher ceiling. He's in essence a point-center in this era, a basketball unicorn, if he acquires a jumpshot it becomes a situation where guys better hope he's just disinterested.
Why Ben Simmons Is Not The Top Prospect in the 2016 NBA Draft by: Jonathan Givony - President, Mike Schmitz March 15, 2016 Long before some of the loudest but most uninformed voices anointed Ben Simmons the next LeBron James or Magic Johnson, there was already a significant debate within NBA front offices about whether Simmons was even the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. As the flaws in Simmons' game became more apparent for LSU this season, the question has never changed: Who's No. 1 in June? For several reasons, Simmons' candidacy as the No. 1 overall prospect is in peril. Video Analysis of the Last Game of Simmons' College Career 1. Simmons' lack of competitiveness in some crucial games has raised questions about his character as a basketball player. While many top picks succumb to the NBA star lifestyle and emerge as average competitors, it's rare to see that at the collegiate level. From Blake Griffin to Michael Beasley to Carmelo Anthony, those elite college players were rarely questioned about their drive during their collegiate careers. Simmons has displayed an apathy for defense, contact and delivering winning plays in crucial moments. Those troubling revelations in Simmons' game are cause for concern among decision-makers on lottery teams with whom we've had contact. Here's what NBA teams wonder: If Simmons cares so little about winning crucial college road games at Tennessee or Kentucky that could have delivered LSU to the NCAA tournament, how much will he consistently care about competing over a far more physically and mentally draining 82-game pro season? Truth be told, Simmons will almost assuredly be on a bad team that will need to fight every night to win games. 2. Simmons' box scores have grown increasingly hollow. One NBA executive described him as a “taller Rajon Rondo, a more athletic Evan Turner, or a skinnier Royce White.” Simmons has displayed a penchant for stat-mongering like few players in recent memory, seeming to pad his numbers in blowouts. At times, it appears he only passes when guaranteed an assist and chases home-run plays at inopportune times in search of a highlight. Simmons seems to value those things over winning. Simmons' porous defense is masked by his gaudy steal and block numbers. But when watching him closely, it's clear that no opposing player or coach fears attacking him. As Simmons rarely makes the effort to close out on shooters, put a body on opposing big men, or offer much beyond gambling wildly swiping for steals, his lack of intensity is amplified. He has wonderful anticipation skills as a rebounder and will wow you with his instincts in passing lanes. But overall, Simmons hasn't shown the length, toughness and inclination to emerge as an asset on the defensive end. Simmons' short wingspan (measured 6-foot-11 at the Nike Hoop Summit in April and the Nike Skills Academy in June) won't help him play power forward on an NBA lottery team. To make up for his lack of length, he'll have to display a much higher activity level than what he's shown in college. 3. The report on defending Simmons in the half-court is well known and was utilized effectively in recent weeks. Teams put smaller players on Simmons, backing off him and daring him to shoot. Simmons seems to have zero confidence in his outside shot and becomes passive when guarded this way. For his size (6-10), Simmons is a gifted ball-handler. He has an incredible ability to change speeds, get to the rim and finish in transition. In the half-court, things haven't been quite as easy against better teams, particularly late in games. There are real questions about pairing Simmons with other ball-handlers or non-shooters in the NBA. Does drafting Simmons in the high lottery mean a team needs to trade the likes of D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jahlil Okafor or Dario Saric? 4. Simmons' teammates aren't as bad as many would lead you to believe. LSU has six consensus top-100 recruits on their roster (and two more who were ranked just outside the top-100 by various outlets), far more than the overwhelming majority of teams that made this year's NCAA Tournament. If Simmons were truly the -transcendent can't miss superstar many would lead you to believe, he would have found ways to win games against the likes of College of Charleston, Houston, Wake Forest, Marquette, Tennessee, Alabama, N.C. State and South Carolina, all of whom are ranked outside of the KenPom Top-50. LSU doesn't lack talent as much as they lack chemistry, and part of the blame for that has to go to their best player. Many will point the finger to LSU's head coach Johnny Jones as the culprit behind his team's underachieving, and there certainly is some truth to that. But Simmons has no one to blame for that but himself. Simmons may never get the chance to pick his head coach again in his career, and he decided to put his faith in Jones and his own godfather David Patrick. If Simmons was so quick to quit on his own self-described family member and the head coach he handpicked for himself to lead him at the college level, as soon as things got a little bit difficult, what will happen when he hits a patch of adversity at the NBA level? Will his future agent demand a trade? Or for the head coach to be fired like Simmons' supposed new best friend LeBron James reportedly did with David Blatt? 5. The concerns about Simmons' character didn't magically appear the moment he arrived on campus in Baton Rouge. Those sentiments also have been expressed by members of the Australian national team who have spent time with him at the junior and senior levels. Australian players and coaches who have been around him don't speak about him in flattering terms, calling him “the Yank” to highlight how different he is compared with most of the players from that country, and perhaps highlight how much moving to the United States at a young age and immersing himself in the AAU world has shaped him. Those who know him best say he needs things to revolve around him on and off the court and that he's often been close-minded to coaching or instruction. Can all this be blamed on LSU? Check out the “mentality” section of Simmons' “weaknesses” breakdown in a video Mike Schmitz created prior to this season. The uncertainty surrounding Simmons has cleared the way for Duke forward Brandon Ingram to be considered the No. 1 overall prospect. Ingram is 14 months younger than Simmons, has a longer wingspan by four inches and a standing reach six and a half inches higher. Ingram is a better shooter – which is perhaps the most important skill in today's NBA – and has shown a much better trajectory throughout the college season. The intel on Ingram as a teammate and competitor has been much stronger than Simmons'. Yes, Ingram has a much more frail frame now, but it's easy to envision him filling out as he ages and matures. There is still plenty of time for Simmons to improve his approach to the game and reach his potential. Although he's not the generational talent he's been sold as by some, he's a unique prospect who could emerge as an incredible asset to a team down the road if he's willing to address his flaws. If Simmons had a far stronger preliminary case in November to become the No. 1 overall pick in June, our recent conversations with NBA executives have offered a far different reality for Simmons. There may never be a consensus choice for the first pick in this draft, but make no mistake: The debate is on, and the overhyping of Simmons has made its reckoning. Ingram has played himself into the debate, and it promises to rage into late June.
