Last season,
* Simmons had a usage rate of 20%; CJ had a usage rate of 27%
* Simmons averaged 15 FGA/100 possessions; CJ averaged 27 FGA per 100/possessions
* Simmons had 82 touches a game with 4.24 sec/touch; CJ had 65.1 touches a game with 4.79 sec/touch
* Simmons averaged 3.24 dribbles/touch; CJ averaged 4.30 dribbles/touch
that means, on average CJ had the ball in his hands for 312 sec/game and dribbled 280 times. Meanwhile Simmons had the ball in his hands 347 seconds a game and dribbled 266 times.
so this overblown worry about fit and taking the ball out of Dame's hands comes down to 35 seconds a game....LOL. Just maybe Billups can find a scheme that can limit the damage that 35 seconds will do to Dame's production
not only that, while CJ is pounding the air out of the ball, Simmons is finding passing lanes. That's why his career assist rate is 34.5% while CJ's is 17.5%
maybe Simmons wouldn't work out well in Portland. There is some reason for concern. But the last 6 years have pretty much proven that the Dame/CJ team has little chance of magically becoming a contender. It's entirely possible that Dame/Simmons could get the Blazers closer than they've been since Dame arrived
One player can shoot. One player cannot.
One player provides spacing, one player does not.
It’s not just about “taking the ball out of Dame’s hands”. It’s once you put it in Dame hands, what happens to the rest of the team.
With Simmons, you take away his greatest strength and arguably the only good thing he does offensively is with the ball in his hands. Off the ball, he is a mess. Destroys spacing. Will clog the lane. Then to accommodate him, you’ll move Dame off the ball (for some time) and turn him into a spot up shooter which minimizes his greatest strengths.
Meanwhile with CJ, you don’t have to worry about spacing. Or the lane being clogged. Or if he will shoot.
So while you produced a bunch of numbers about how much they both touch the ball, none of them show how each player would a) react in our offense and b) how each player affects our offense, especially spacing wise, WHICH IS A KNOWN MASSIVE ISSUE FOR THE 76ers, particularly with Embiid and Simmons.
further, you chop of my quote where it says “more than a few people question the fit.”
So, once again I ask… LONG before this quote came out. Many people questioned the fit. Taking the ball out of Dame’s hands AND how it ruins the spacing of our offense AND refusal to shoot AND apparently lazy (and his bitchy attitude too but that’s not basketball related.) How is this Olshey spinning when these concerns were brought up *months* ago?
And the bolded just isn’t true based on what I said. “Fit” isn’t just about who has the ball. Fit is about spacing. Fit is about what happens when your best players play with each other — something the 76ers are learning about. Do they fit? Can they play together? Are they synergistic? It’s not just about how many dribbles or how many seconds they touch the ball.
When Dame is doubled by Simmons guy, he will use him as an outlet and instead of taking a wide open 3 he’s gonna ram it inside straight into Nurkic guy allowing one defender to guard both of them. This also shortens ALL defensive rotations since everyone knows Simmons won’t shoot a 3. Easier to recover and help in the paint. Just so many examples and issues I don’t know where to begin.
meanwhile, hate him or love him, CJ is finding a way to take the open 3.
BuT cJ dRibBleZ mOrE aNd PaSsEs LeSs. Who gives a fuck. One player fits and the other doesn’t. And unless you’ve got the BBIQ of a fish, it’s pretty easy to see which player fits and which is a round peg in a square hole. (Unless Nurk is traded.)
of course, I also say in that other thread I’m open to the trade solely for something new. It’s just ridiculous you think Olshey is plotting in his Scrooge McDuck cave how to leak info so it looks like he is covering his ass for when CJ isn’t traded when it’s been covered in depth why there may be reservations. In fact, you have people like BJ wanting Siakam instead. And a bunch of 3 way trades. Wonder why that is.
maybe, just maybe, Olshey and the blazers management think like some of us do. Simmons won’t do shit for us and may actually cause more issues. But because you disagree with Olshey, all you do is bitch about what he is or is not doing by creating narratives in your own head. Like I said, confirmation bias, we know you hate him.
