Game Thread Tuesday, July 9th, 3 PM PDT: Blazers vs. Jazz on ESPN2

[Jade Falcon]

Simons is gonna take CJ’s role on this team one day.

He certainly passes the ball better than CJ.

 

[blazerkor]

Both Simons and Trent have shown their ability to score during this SL. It's good to see and I think they should both be able to help the team this season. Also looking forward to what Skal can do. Not that he'll help a lot this season but Little's dunk today was nasty.

 

[StumptownHoliday]

He certainly passes the ball better than CJ.

I know it seems like high praise considering thew quality of dame as a PG, but simons honestly reminds me so much more of dame than he does CJ. Maybe it’s his demeanor on the floor, but the impression i get is he’s an interesting hybrid of the two with more dame in him than CJ. People like to discount the quality of CJ as a player and by saying i think simons is more dame is not an indictment against CJ - CJ is honestly one of the most talented scorers ive ever seen on a basketball court. But man, i feel like were watching baby dame. Who knows, maybe simons will start hitting clutch shots like dame too - he has the right attitude.

 

[James lamphear]

Everyone needs to calm down it a summer league game it don't count worth shit. I bet the coaches want Simons and Trent to shoot the ball. Simons really good shooting game and Trent didn't so what. Everyone down on Trent yes he made some bad decision but he also did a lot good things too. 8 boards 5 assist 2 steals and play solid defense. A lot you guys only looking at scoring and that it there a lot more to basketball then scoring.

 

[illmatic99]

Just an ankle sprain. Walk it off. Kid needs to play

 

[wizenheimer]

over the last 20 years or so, I've learned not to believe anything seen in SL will translate to the regular season

one thing that will translate is injury and seeing Simons go down when he's supposed to be a backup PG candidate is just another argument for Portland actually adding one.

 

[BonesJones]

Everyone needs to calm down it a summer league game it don't count worth shit. I bet the coaches want Simons and Trent to shoot the ball. Simons really good shooting game and Trent didn't so what. Everyone down on Trent yes he made some bad decision but he also did a lot good things too. 8 boards 5 assist 2 steals and play solid defense. A lot you guys only looking at scoring and that it there a lot more to basketball then scoring.

Trent has bad habits. This is the perfect time to work on breaking them. He did that in game 2, and then in game 3 with Anfernee hot and him being cold, he didn't look to set up Anfernee at all. He chucked. Up 1 with 38 seconds left and Anfernee killin it and he calls his own number and drives hopelessly into traffic and gets stuffed and it turns into a transition 3. Those types of plays are losing plays. Dude needs to work on playing a better brand of ball. Been talking about it before SL and after that 2nd game I was hoping that he stumbled upon doing so.

 

[TBpup]

Nice one-man show from Ant. Wanted to see if Trent could string 2 good games together....not yet. Simons still without a game of more Assists than Turnovers. Thought this group would be somewhat better.

 

[DDolla]

Gary Trent: Let me be the hero and hit the final shot. lol. Dude drives and if he look in the middle, another guy is running towards the rim and can easily dunk the ball.... shhh go watch the video Gary.

 

[tlongII]

Man if they shut down Ant this team will be unwatchable.

 

[BonesJones]

Nice one-man show from Ant. Wanted to see if Trent could string 2 good games together....not yet. Simons still without a game of more Assists than Turnovers. Thought this group would be somewhat better.

I would've been fine with Trent missing shots that were good shot-selection and if he made an effort to set up Simons. It's more about the way he plays for me. And the way he played today was CJ-esque but worse..

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I know it seems like high praise considering thew quality of dame as a PG, but simons honestly reminds me so much more of dame than he does CJ. Maybe it’s his demeanor on the floor, but the impression i get is he’s an interesting hybrid of the two with more dame in him than CJ. People like to discount the quality of CJ as a player and by saying i think simons is more dame is not an indictment against CJ - CJ is honestly one of the most talented scorers ive ever seen on a basketball court. But man, i feel like were watching baby dame. Who knows, maybe simons will start hitting clutch shots like dame too - he has the right attitude.

Dame has always been more of a score-first PG, but Simons has considerably more TOs than assists at the moment. Right now Simons is Vinnie Johnson.

 

[THE HCP]

This is why guys like Zion and Ja aren’t playing.....this just doesn’t matter.

 

[BonesJones]

This is why guys like Zion and Ja aren’t playing.....this just doesn’t matter.

For those guys it doesn't because they'll get so much leeway and opportunity off the bat to learn from their mistakes. But for a guy like Simons to get reps running a unit as the point, or for a guy like Trent to try and break some bad habits in terms of the way he plays when he likely isn't a rotation player next year, I think it matters. For other players it matters because they have the opportunity to try to push their game and add things that they otherwise wouldn't have the privilege to do. Players just need to focus on getting improving areas of their to make these reps worth it.

 

[wizenheimer]

This is why guys like Zion and Ja aren’t playing.....this just doesn’t matter.

yeah, like somebody said earlier, SL is just eye candy for fans...a chance to go all kinds of homer-apeshit and fantasize incredible futures

somebody already talking about Simons the future all-star. I remember several Blazer fans, when Bayless was going crazy in SL about 10 years ago, just about guaranteeing that Bayless was the PGOTF and a future all-star. Their fantasy-momentum coudn't be stopped till the reality of an actual regular season or two passed by

 

[BonesJones]

yeah, like somebody said earlier, SL is just eye candy for fans...a chance to go all kinds of homer-apeshit and fantasize incredible futures

somebody already talking about Simons the future all-star. I remember several Blazer fans, when Bayless was going crazy in SL about 10 years ago, just about guaranteeing that Bayless was the PGOTF and a future all-star. Their fantasy-momentum coudn't be stopped till the reality of an actual regular season or two passed by

Anfernee >>>>>>> Bayless.

 

[wizenheimer]

Anfernee >>>>>>> Bayless.

not in summer league.

 

[BonesJones]

not in summer league.

Yes, at the NBA level instead.

 

[wizenheimer]

Yes, at the NBA level instead.

wut?

I was talking about how people tend to overrate the meaning of SL. That for damn sure happened with Bayless. He was the MVP of SL his rookie season and set a scoring record at the time. Some Blazer fans went batshit about him and how high his upside was

 

[AldoTrapani]

not in summer league.

All Bayless did that summer is go to the rack over and over again. But yes ur right that summer did generate ridiculous hype.

Why this is different is because Simons is showing valuable skill sets. Step back 3s, pull up jumpers off screens, etc plus there’s been a ton of hype behind the scenes about Simons that made you question if it was real

 

[Mediocre Man]

Little needs A LOT of time, reps, practice, work, coaching, help

 

[Blazers Roy]

For those who missed it (like me)

 

[Jade Falcon]

Little needs A LOT of time, reps, practice, work, coaching, help

This. I see why he fell out of the top 10.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Anfernee >^20 Bayless.

FIFY

 

[noknobs]

Best part of the game was hearing the Jazz general manager, Dennis Lindsey, call Joe Ingles one of the five or six best SF's in the league.

Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Paul George, Lebron James, Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Kuzma, off the top of my head. Joe Ingles had a worse PER than Jake Layman.

 

[James lamphear]

Trent has bad habits. This is the perfect time to work on breaking them. He did that in game 2, and then in game 3 with Anfernee hot and him being cold, he didn't look to set up Anfernee at all. He chucked. Up 1 with 38 seconds left and Anfernee killin it and he calls his own number and drives hopelessly into traffic and gets stuffed and it turns into a transition 3. Those types of plays are losing plays. Dude needs to work on playing a better brand of ball. Been talking about it before SL and after that 2nd game I was hoping that he stumbled upon doing so.

You see our two best players do the same thing in games. Yes Trent made not good decisions but as good as Simons was tonight shooting the ball he also made some bad decisions. But so far the only thing I see Simons do is shoot the ball even he is doing that very well and he playing decent defense but he lacking other areas rebounding and his assist is lacking for a playing the point. But the problem I see a lot in this forum you zero in on one player and usually when they don't shoot really good. But you fail to look at overall game the player plays.

 

[EGame]

Looks like Simons had a nice game stats wise. Not sure how hes doing in the department of being a PG or if hes some sort of CJ lite, but nice to see him fill up the scoring. Something tells me that won't be an issue for him in the NBA.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Looks like Simons had a nice game stats wise. Not sure how hes doing in the department of being a PG or if hes some sort of CJ lite, but nice to see him fill up the scoring. Something tells me that won't be an issue for him in the NBA.

He's not "CJ lite", he's CJ on steroids.

 

[1eyedjack]

Nice one-man show from Ant. Wanted to see if Trent could string 2 good games together....not yet. Simons still without a game of more Assists than Turnovers. Thought this group would be somewhat better.

The game seems to have slowed down for Ant, he picks and chooses his spots (reminds me a lot of Dame and Roy with the speed of which he plays at) Defensively Ant has got the skills to be a great defender but he still gets caught out of position a lot. Trent has got a great shot but forces offense, regardless put him in with Dame and CJ and he could potentially thrive with all the open shots.

 

[kjironman1]

I don't know? Simons can shoot but he can't run an offense. He is too small to be a SG and doesn't seem to be able to control the ball well enough to bee a PG.
Maybe he can continue to progress? But my thinking is he will top out as a rotational guy that can't really run an offense and will end up down the road.
Yep he scored against a Summer League team and he had a good game last year against essentially another bunch of bench players. But i just cannot see him translating into the player the Blazers need right now. Blazers need a PG to back up Dame.