How do we get Simons more minutes?

[hoopsjock]

It helps that he has better tools than CJ. Ant is 6'4 with a 6'9 wingspan. CJ is 6'3 with a 6'6 wingspan. And that's without even mentioning the quickness and footspeed. Ant definitely moves better laterally than CJ (or even Dame for that matter). With Anfernee, I'm more just concerned about developing good habits, being smart, and putting more muscle on that frame so he doesn't get pushed around as easily by bigger guards.

I agree that especially when the three of them are on the court that I'm fine with Simons taking the toughest matchup. I'm just saying that I'm not going to hold his defense against him when comparing the three if he's the only one actually guarding the other team's best player.

 

[illmatic99]

I agree that especially when the three of them are on the court that I'm fine with Simons taking the toughest matchup. I'm just saying that I'm not going to hold his defense against him when comparing the three if he's the only one actually guarding the other team's best player.

And the fact that he's played in only 10 games this year and 1 last year. Team defense takes a while to master.

 

[Paine Tablet]

With Anfernee, I'm more just concerned about developing good habits, being smart, and putting more muscle on that frame so he doesn't get pushed around as easily by bigger guards.

I don't think any of those things are concerns in the least. He's already smart, he's had good work habits going back to HS, and he's 20, so unless he's an anomaly(directly contradicting the anomaly he already is), he's going to add muscle.

 

[riverman]

I want Ant as a Lou Williams 6 man scoring sparkplug off the bench...I want Hood starting for defense and post up mismatches. I do want Ant finishing close games. Now the best way to get Nas and Ant or Trent and Moses more burn is to blow some teams out early.

 

[riverman]

I mentioned this in the game thread but if we're comparing Simons to Dame and CJ, how many times did they have to guard Trae Young on an island last night? Simons hasn't been hidden on defense like Dame and CJ often are so I'm not worried about the defense as long as he's giving max effort on that end and improving, which I think he has so far in just 10 games.

He's a way better defender than he was first game...I noticed his lateral speed and length...Ant just has great timing which you can't coach...you have it naturally or you don't...I think Mario will be a Pat Connaughton type player when he gets his timing down but Ant was born with it

 

[Blazers1977]

Best answer is to rest CJ and Dame for the playoffs as much as possible and give Ant as many minutes as possible.

Honestly I bet Stotts wants to play Dame and CJ less minutes, but when the entire city of Portland wants him fired for losing a game 8 games in, he’s not really able to do so.

 

[riverman]

Best answer is to rest CJ and Dame for the playoffs as much as possible and give Ant as many minutes as possible.

Honestly I bet Stotts wants to play Dame and CJ less minutes, but when the entire city of Portland wants him fired for losing a game 8 games in, he’s not really able to do so.

Trent has seen the court last two games when CJ rested....mostly because Rodney is out but he played unselfish defense and got 7pts

 

[Blazers1977]

Idk but Simons is gonna be better than CJ.

I’m old enough to remember when people said similar things about Rudy Fernandez and countless other one-hit-wonders.

leave it to blazer fans to abandon a consistent playoff performer for a sophomore who has had like 5 good games in his career. (To clarify, I do think Ant is an excellent young talent, but you’re making a ton of assumptions.)

 

[Scalma]

 

[illmatic99]

ET: https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest...rner-trail-blazers-dame-always-figures-it-out

Turner isn’t one to insincerely butter up his former team. He is refreshingly honest, the type of player who will tell reporters the truth to a fault. If he thought this team was bad, it would be in the headline. Instead he insisted this team will be fine. So what is inspiring Turner about the Blazers who needed an overtime win Sunday to run their record to 4-6 on the season?

Chiefly it’s Anfernee Simons, the 20-year-old guard who scored 20 points against the Hawks, and is averaging just shy of twelve points a game in his second season.

“I thought he was going to hit his stride like this eventually but I didn’t know it’d be this quick. It’s unreal. He will be very, very, very, very, very, very, very good,” Turner said, giving his seven-very seal of approval.

“I think the thing I’m noticing about him now is — his confidence wavered sometimes in and out. Like even in the summer he’d have those big games and stuff. He had like 35 and 10 (at summer league). Now the kid knows he’s got it, and you could see it on the court (Sunday) where he went off and Dame and CJ and the coaches were letting him rock out. I think it’s obvious.”

Turner and Simons developed a close bond last season and Turner was one of the first Blazer veterans to confidently proclaim that Simons was going to be an impact player in the NBA

 

[blazerfan11]

Even with him on fire he was almost giving up as many points on defense as he was creating. That part of his game will come, but I can understand why he wasn't cutting into CJ's minutes. If you give Ant all the minutes he can handle before he develops good defensive habits, it's not always good for the player in the long run.

That said, if we can figure out a way to salvage our season by trading CJ for a decent 3/4, sign me up. Ant is definitely a starting caliber SG.

Seriously? You can say that about almost the entire team. CJ made some shots but he also failed to grab a rebound and made a nice pass to Huerter.
What happens to veterans who play shit defense and stay in the game? Is that good for them?

 

[illmatic99]

View attachment 28422

LMAO literally posted at the exact same time.

 

[riverman]

I’m old enough to remember when people said the same thing about Rudy Fernandez and countless other one-hit-wonders.

leave it to blazer fans to abandon a consistent playoff performer for a sophomore who has had like 5 good games in his career.

When so many guys are shooting badly early in the season, the guy who's putting up big numbers is usually going to be the next Michael Jordan.....CJ will get in a groove but no arguing Ant is special. Rudy changed after Trevor Ariza knocked him out

 

[Blazers1977]

When so many guys are shooting badly early in the season, the guy who's putting up big numbers is usually going to be the next Michael Jordan.....CJ will get in a groove but no arguing Ant is special. Rudy changed after Trevor Ariza knocked him out

Yeah and Ant has played like 11 games in the NBA and is 20 years old. There’s no guarantee he stays injury free or this athletic even two years from now (knock on wood). He isn’t exactly well built, his legs look like toothpicks.

 

[Scalma]

Yeah and Ant has played like 11 games in the NBA and is 20 years old. There’s no guarantee he stays injury free or this athletic even two years from now (knock on wood). He isn’t exactly well built, his legs look like toothpicks.

Ok brick3.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

So many shitty trade pitches from other fanbases on Twitter right now for Ant.

Like I'm so sure we'd deal him to the Lakers

 

[illmatic99]

So many shitty trade pitches from other fanbases on Twitter right now for Ant.

Like I'm so sure we'd deal him to the Lakers

Ya ain't happening. I haven't been this excited about a youngin since Dame/Aldridge. How amazing would it have been if he was 3 inches taller and could play SF full time?

 

[riverman]

Yeah and Ant has played like 11 games in the NBA and is 20 years old. There’s no guarantee he stays injury free or this athletic even two years from now (knock on wood). He isn’t exactly well built, his legs look like toothpicks.

We have so many guys that haven't even been on scouting reports under Stotts system ...they're scouting for Ant now for sure.

 

[hoopsjock]

Best answer is to rest CJ and Dame for the playoffs as much as possible and give Ant as many minutes as possible.

Honestly I bet Stotts wants to play Dame and CJ less minutes, but when the entire city of Portland wants him fired for losing a game 8 games in, he’s not really able to do so.

If Stotts is making a single coaching or rotational decision based on fans panicking then he should be fired immediately.

 

[illmatic99]

If Stotts is making a single coaching or rotational decision based on fans panicking then he should be fired immediately.

Not necessarily fans panicking, but playing Dame the entire second half last night showed how much he/Dame wanted that win last night.

 

[SIeepwalker]

Ya ain't happening. I haven't been this excited about a youngin since Dame/Aldridge. How amazing would it have been if he was 3 inches taller and could play SF full time?

Well, he might hit a late growth spurt...

 

[hoopsjock]

Not necessarily fans panicking, but playing Dame the entire second half last night showed how much he/Dame wanted that win last night.

Stotts is really lucky the Blazers won that game last night. His decision to pull Simons in the middle of his hot streak was very questionable. Instead of using Simons to give Dame a couple minutes to sit down he plays Dame the whole 2nd half in the 3rd game of 5 in 7 nights after already playing Dame 38 minutes and 40 minutes in the 1st 2 games of that stretch.

 

[illmatic99]

Listen to Nique gush about Ant after talking shit about our team the rest of the game.

 

[B-Roy]

Stotts is really lucky the Blazers won that game last night. His decision to pull Simons in the middle of his hot streak was very questionable. Instead of using Simons to give Dame a couple minutes to sit down he plays Dame the whole 2nd half in the 3rd game of 5 in 7 nights after already playing Dame 38 minutes and 40 minutes in the 1st 2 games of that stretch.

I think part of that was Dame's decision. He wasn't losing that game. In his postgame presser he said he wanted to get Ant more minutes, but Baze was playing well defensively. That seems to imply that he see's Ant's minutes coming from Baze, where instead we probably would have had a better chance if Ant was playing over CJ....

 

[hoopsjock]

I think part of that was Dame's decision. He wasn't losing that game. In his postgame presser he said he wanted to get Ant more minutes, but Baze was playing well defensively. That seems to imply that he see's Ant's minutes coming from Baze, where instead we probably would have had a better chance if Ant was playing over CJ....

The problem last night is that we weren't separating from Atlanta in the 2nd half even with Dame staying in and Trae Young sitting a good stretch. I have been saying this several games now but why does Dame have to play the whole 1st quarter every game? If he sits a little more in the first half of these games then he'd be fresher for the 2nd half and his minute totals wouldn't be running up into the 40's.

 

[B-Roy]

The problem last night is that we weren't separating from Atlanta in the 2nd half even with Dame staying in and Trae Young sitting a good stretch. I have been saying this several games now but why does Dame have to play the whole 1st quarter every game? If he sits a little more in the first half of these games then he'd be fresher for the 2nd half and his minute totals wouldn't be running up into the 40's.

He actually did sit more in the 1st half. Came in around the 4 minute mark of the second. He usually comes in during the 6 min mark. I was surprised at the end of the game (before OT) cause I thought Dame would be at 40 minutes or more since he didn't come out the second half, but he was only at 39.

The funny thing is Ant only played 24 minutes, and that was mostly because of foul trouble. I think Stotts only played him around 8 minutes in the first half (he was pulled pretty early in the 2nd). Then he came in early in the third only because Bazemore picked up 4 fouls. Despite this, and despite putting up 20 points he only ended with 24 minutes.

 

[hoopsjock]

He actually did sit more in the 1st half. Came in around the 4 minute mark of the second. He usually comes in during the 6 min mark. I was surprised at the end of the game (before OT) cause I thought Dame would be at 40 minutes or more since he didn't come out the second half, but he was only at 39.

The funny thing is Ant only played 24 minutes, and that was mostly because of foul trouble. I think Stotts only played him around 8 minutes in the first half (he was pulled pretty early in the 2nd). Then he came in early in the third only because Bazemore picked up 4 fouls. Despite this, and despite putting up 20 points he only ended with 24 minutes.

It kind of sucks to be in a situation where if Dame sits too much we would lose too many games but if he plays like last night he will have no energy for the playoffs anyway so does it really matter? I get just needing to feel a win last night and end the losing streak, we just need to find out ways to not kill our franchise player and Simons seems like the best opportunity for that to happen right now.

 

[blazerfan11]

Yeah and Ant has played like 11 games in the NBA and is 20 years old. There’s no guarantee he stays injury free or this athletic even two years from now (knock on wood). He isn’t exactly well built, his legs look like toothpicks.

You mean when he gets "well built" like Zach Collins ? Then he'll be free of injuries?

 

[Blazers1977]

If Stotts is making a single coaching or rotational decision based on fans panicking then he should be fired immediately.

It’s a simple fact that other fan bases do not panic or complain nearly as much as Portland fans (the onto places worse are probably NY and Dallas). When Pop rests his stars and has a mediocre regular season, the entire city doesn’t call for his head. The ownership obviously takes the fans opinion into account, they are the ones making the owners money. You’re basically just victim blaming.

 

[Blazers1977]

It’s interesting how the two most popular opinions on this forum seem to be:

(1) we need to take advantage of Prime Lillard

and (2) we need to develop this 19 year old!

these are basically mutually exclusive goals...By the time Ant is in his prime Dame will be far past his.

Our best option is to trade Ant for someone like Love and keep CJ, and that is the most likely scenario. Sucks bc Ant really does seem like he has superstar potential... but the only other option is sacrificing Lillard’s prime years.