Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego (Merged)

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Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

To his credit, he did call it, and he hopes he turns out wrong.

Decent piece from a guy not that close to the Blazers. Quick's becoming a celebrity.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

BrianFromWA said:
To his credit, he did call it, and he hopes he turns out wrong.

Decent piece from a guy not that close to the Blazers. Quick's becoming a celebrity.
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Call what, exactly? That GO can't run or look like he's supposed to?

Regardless of whatever it is he's saying, it's way too premature to reach a judgement. The same goes for the Thorpe piece that was on Truehoop a few days ago.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

He called pre-draft that he didn't think Oden was the best pick for us. He had concerns about chronic injuries.

I don't agree, but since the mock draft was written, he's had a microfracture and some sprain issues, all in the right leg. To Bill, it's early confirmation.

Now, if he pulls off a few injury-free years, then the stigma might go away. Until the rest of the country sees Oden highlights, they're wondering the same thing. It's to them, not Blazer fans, that Simmons is writing the article.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Hate to admit it but a nice piece. The problem is I've only felt like I've seen him healthy in one game (NCAA championship) and he dominated two legit NBA big men. My money is still on this kid to be one of the elite players in this league. I can't wait to see him play for 20 games because by the 10th game he'll have built up some confidence and we'll start to see the real Oden.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

I like Simmons. He sure drops a nice piece from time to time.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

In that same mock draft Simmons said he thought Durant would be a once in a generation type player.



He wasn't right about that, either.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

He sounds like the "Oracle" from the first Matrix in this article. Remember the part where she says to Neo, "I hate giving bad news to good people"? Anyway, I thought it was well written.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Yeah he is just going threw Martell Webster syndrome. He needs to get some confidence and hit the cardio harder. He will be fine.

That's the thing about first impressions: Maybe they don't say everything, but you can't ignore them. I would've bet my life that Hakeem was going to become a great player, barring injury, in 1984. I don't feel even remotely the same about Greg Oden. We know he's a wonderful person, and a skilled player, but it remains unclear whether his body was meant to play basketball for a living.
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^^^ He is right.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Very nice, but hard to read, article by Simmons. My favorite part:

I can't remember a more fascinating big guy. Shaq was contrived. Robinson was a saint. Ewing was forced. Hakeem was bland. Kareem was a ninny. Wilt was self-absorbed. Russell was angry and defiant. Oden presents the first chance for us to connect with a big guy on a semispiritual level. He's the lovable goofball who could have been your college roommate or next-door neighbor . . . .
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You may not like him, but Simmons is a very gifted writer.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Reep said:
Very nice, but hard to read, article by Simmons. My favorite part:



You may not like him, but Simmons is a very gifted writer.
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That is gifted? I mean... he is no Canzano, but there is nothing gifted about this article.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

He writes about things that are almost entirely irrelevant to me as a sports fan... "connecting to a player on a semi-spiritual level"?

What?

Thinking that a first impression (or at least HIS first impression) of a player is the most important thing and seems to be, based on that article, always accurate?

Ridiculous.

The dude should stick to trying to be funny, because I don't think he really adds a lot about Oden based on a single preseason game he saw in person.

Ed O.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Simmons can be laugh out loud funny - his draft-blogging is must-read. But he can also be sincere and passionate. He can also be a douchebag. This one was the middle one. I read David Thorpe's piece about Oden and I just thought "I always thought you were a moron." I read this piece and I think: "shit. He's right."

Well, maybe not Dampier. But Oden really does not look sprightly. He moves much more like Patrick "huge bags of ice on each knee at every possible opportunity" than Hakeem "impossibly quick" Olajuwon.

Mind you, Simmons also said last year that KG moved like a 50-year-old man, so Oden's in good company.

Sigh. Has Oden lost his 50lbs yet?
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

The long list of injuries is definitely annoying (VERY annoying and angering) but the last injury could have happened to anyone.

Coming down on a foot would roll everybody's ankle. Bill Simmons makes some good points but it's too early to declare Oden as "was his body built to play basketball for a living."
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Who does Oden remind you of, in the games you've actually seen him play? I thought Simmons captured something with his description of Oden producing sudden bursts of amazingness (like that dunk off the Sergio pick'n'roll against Dallas in summer league last year) surrounded by not-so-amazingness, and it occurred to me that he reminded me a bit of Outlaw. Outlaw's all arms-and-legs and never looks graceful, but once in a while can just explode (the dunk on Carney). Hakeem, on the other hand, was like a taller Grant Hill - cat quick and smooth as silk.

Andrew Bynum is a taller...? Monty Williams? Unremarkable in no way, but doesn't look particularly clumsy or athletic.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

bill simmons says a lot of things. a lot of them are wrong. some of them are right.

it's a little early for simmons to be considered right for saying that oden isn't going to be a good player.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Ed O said:
He writes about things that are almost entirely irrelevant to me as a sports fan... "connecting to a player on a semi-spiritual level"?

What?

Thinking that a first impression (or at least HIS first impression) of a player is the most important thing and seems to be, based on that article, always accurate?

Ridiculous.

The dude should stick to trying to be funny, because I don't think he really adds a lot about Oden based on a single preseason game he saw in person.

Ed O.
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for someone who apparently watches basketball so much, he knows so little about it.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

LittleAlex said:
In that same mock draft Simmons said he thought Durant would be a once in a generation type player.



He wasn't right about that, either.
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Well Durant was ROY . . . which is a decent start to being a once is a generation player.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Ed O said:
He writes about things that are almost entirely irrelevant to me as a sports fan... "connecting to a player on a semi-spiritual level"?
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But that's because, as has long been established, Ed, you have no soul. In fact, I believe you are an experimental android. You don't like to watch actual basketball games even: you prefer just to have the statistics fed into your databanks for processing, the most important being the birth date of each player so you can calculate his all-important potential quotient.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

There are probably a lot of posters here who could stroke their own ego by bringing up their prior posts regarding concerns about Oden's health.

It wasn't the hardest or most off the wall prediction to make.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

LittleAlex said:
In that same mock draft Simmons said he thought Durant would be a once in a generation type player. He wasn't right about that, either.
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Agreed. He makes some horrible assessments. But to be fair, he'll cheerfully admit that later - see for example his exchange with Chad Ford over mock drafts before this year's draft. However, he tends to err more towards overpraising than over-damning. He was completely right about Pavel Podkolzine, for example.

My one consolation is that Oden could still turn out to be Bill Russell-esque. Russell never looked particularly graceful, especially on offense. But those 11 rings made up for a lot.
 
Re: Bill Simmons Strokes His Own Ego

Its simple. The NBA is all about "What have you done for me lately?" . It was Red Aurcbach's favorite saying. Oden hasn't done anything lately(or ever for that matter), so he gets ripped. That is reality. It's just like how guys such as KG and Karl Malone took years and years of "They haven't won it all" rips from fans and the press. KG finally broke through, and now he gets the golden treatment. Karl Malone never did, and will always be one of those guys who never lived up to his billing. Look at the treatment Shaq goes through every time a team he is on isn't doing well. "He's washed up". "He's too old". Blah blah blah yada yada yada. Then he swaps teams and wins a finals. What have you done for me lately.

Look at Kobe. A few years ago part of a "dynasty". 2 years ago, he was "tearing his team apart". Now that they are winning and contenders again, he is out of the doghouse once more.

It's all about winning. If Greg comes back and the Blazers win games, it will all be good. Anything else, and he will be a failure. That is the burden he has to shoulder. He will either nut up, or he won't. We have no control over that. No use fretting over it.

So, that being said, Greg, what have you done for me lately? Now, after asking that, what do you expect from the press? Exactly.
 
Re: Simmons: Oden's ceiling is "Erick Dampier on a really good day"

i think he meant it as a compliment. as in he right now is as good as damp on his best day. 15/12/3 blocks.

i get it.
 
Re: Simmons: Oden's ceiling is "Erick Dampier on a really good day"

drexlersdad said:
i think he meant it as a compliment. as in he right now is as good as damp on his best day. 15/12/3 blocks.

i get it.
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No, he said "ceiling." That means that the best he will ever be is Dampier on his best day.
 
Re: Simmons: Oden's ceiling is "Erick Dampier on a really good day"

ha i guess i should have read the story first. i read an article of his a week ago where he said it the other way, as in right now. he also said. "thats a good thing". whatever.
 
drexlersdad said:
i think he meant it as a compliment. as in he right now is as good as damp on his best day. 15/12/3 blocks.

i get it.
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but that as his ceiling or best possible this year?

The first obvious flaw in this comparison is that Erick has maybe the worst hands in the league... and thats a real strength for Greg. You give ED Greg's mitts and you've got a player capable of more then the impressive numbers you posted. Guys with their size who have some coordination are featured players on the low block.

Threre are other problems with this comparison, but whatever... looking forward to seeing how BS writes about this as the season goes along :pimp:

STOMP
 
Re: Simmons: Oden's ceiling is "Erick Dampier on a really good day"

Simmons is humour columnist. He tries to be provocative and funny. I think he fails to be funny, but a lot of people like him. However, taking his writing as any sort of real analysis is a mistake. In terms of knowing sports, he's basically just a regular fan and, on top of that, he's rarely even trying to be serious. That places his "analysis" on the same level as trash talk being tossed around in a sports bar.
 
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