Video: Can Ant take another leap this season?

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maybe he will add more to his game or improve the current skill set, but i dont think he will take a leap statistically playing with dame, nurk & grant

id like to see more balanced scoring, hopefully dame gets to be a difference maker, rather than having to carry the team
 
he can certainly get better; he's only 23

"leap"...? I don't know about that; not if you're gauging him by the last 27 games when he averaged around 23.5 points and 5.5 assists in 35 minutes. But then, he was basically it. He had the freedom to go high usage and he had the ball in his hands all the time. That's not going to happen with Dame, Drant, Nurkic, and Hart around. Hopefully he settles into a semi-CJ role that doesn't include CJ's over-dribbling and tunnel vision. If he does, while he might not make a big statistical leap, he might have a big impact and remove some of the burden from Dame
 
wizenheimer said:
he can certainly get better; he's only 23

"leap"...? I don't know about that; not if you're gauging him by the last 27 games when he averaged around 23.5 points and 5.5 assists in 35 minutes. But then, he was basically it. He had the freedom to go high usage and he had the ball in his hands all the time. That's not going to happen with Dame, Drant, Nurkic, and Hart around. Hopefully he settles into a semi-CJ role that doesn't include CJ's over-dribbling and tunnel vision. If he does, while he might not make a big statistical leap, he might have a big impact and remove some of the burden from Dame
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He's going to be playing a lot of time in bench units and shot 48% on catch and shoot 3s last year so being able to get more spot up looks because he has more talent around him might not hurt him as much statistically as you imply.
 
That spot up shooting. Teams will not be able to leave him on the floor. What I'm looking for is the direst effect playing on the road seemed to have on him. He was really really good at home but faltered on the road. Great players play well on the road. Role players very rarely produce in another teams gym.
 
BonesJones said:
He's going to be playing a lot of time in bench units and shot 48% on catch and shoot 3s last year so being able to get more spot up looks because he has more talent around him might not hurt him as much statistically as you imply.
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I was specifically talking about his 27 game stretch when Dame was out. Statistically, in that stretch, he averaged 23.4 points & 5.8 assists with a usage rate around 28%. As a starter, in 30 games, he averaged 22 & 5.5 with a 27% usage. He also had a TS% of .600 as a starter

I do not see how he can make a big leap from those numbers. Those are better than CJ ever produced, and unless the Blazers are struck by massive injuries, with Dame-Grant-Nurkic-Hart, Simons will be hard-pressed to come close to that 28% usage rate. Now, if your baseline is he season average, when he was about a half-time starter, of 17 & 4, then yes, he should increase those numbers quite a bit. But that's not really taking a leap as much as changing a role
 
I was watching Ant's catch and shoot motion and he looks a whole lot like Pete Maravich with that stroke...some Steph Curry mixed in too...he has a really, really quick release
 
THE HCP said:
If we can get 22/5.5 from Ant with all the guys back, I'd be super happy. He is the one thing about this season I'm excited to see.
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The assists will be interesting this year. As long as the team numbers are adequate I don't care where they come from. Between Dame, Ant, Nurk, Hart, and Gp2 they are all capable. Not sure about Grant, but the backup PFs, like Winslow and Watford, could help as well.
 
THE HCP said:
If we can get 22/5.5 from Ant with all the guys back, I'd be super happy. He is the one thing about this season I'm excited to see.
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22/5/5 is a fairly lofty goal. only 12 players put up these stats last year:

LeBron James
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Kevin Durant
Luka Doncic
Ja Morant
Nikola Jokic
Stephen Curry
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Paul George
Pascal Siakam
Brandon Ingram
James Harden
 
Playing next to Dame, Ant needs to work on his Reggie Miller / JJ Reddick impression. He needs to move constantly off the ball so Dame can find him for assisted 3s. If he does that, the Blazers are going to be super-dangerous.

The place where CJ was really spectacular was at creating shots for himself from nothing. The place Ant can be spectacular is by being a target of assisted 3 points. This is where he can be an even better back-court mate to Dame than CJ was.
 
illmatic99 said:
22/5/5 is a fairly lofty goal. only 12 players put up these stats last year:

LeBron James
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Kevin Durant
Luka Doncic
Ja Morant
Nikola Jokic
Stephen Curry
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Paul George
Pascal Siakam
Brandon Ingram
James Harden
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I don't think rebounds were part of the equation; I assumed he meant 22 points and 5.5 assists. Still, 5.5 apg for Ant seems pretty high to me. He barely reached that (5.8) in his 27-game breakout.
 
HailBlazers said:
Be a big help to limit Dames mins
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I love how this is such a popular topic with star players every year and yet it rarely happens that they play under those minutes.

Dames probably going to have to play 38-40 a game many games this season. But it really would be nice if he could play less and win.
 
PDXFonz said:
I love how this is such a popular topic with star players every year and yet it rarely happens that they play under those minutes.

Dames probably going to have to play 38-40 a game many games this season. But it really would be nice if he could play less and win.
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Unless this team is contending for home court, what would be the point of having Dame play 38-40 minutes in any games, let alone many of them?
 
PtldPlatypus said:
Unless this team is contending for home court, what would be the point of having Dame play 38-40 minutes in any games, let alone many of them?
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I seriously doubt Billups will play him that much. he knows what it is to be a 32 year old PG
 
PtldPlatypus said:
Unless this team is contending for home court, what would be the point of having Dame play 38-40 minutes in any games, let alone many of them?
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Same reason most stars get those extra minutes. Close games in the 4th quarter.

Need one of those years where we are the team who closes out our opponents. Until then…
 
Fairly-Hard said:
That spot up shooting. Teams will not be able to leave him on the floor. What I'm looking for is the direst effect playing on the road seemed to have on him. He was really really good at home but faltered on the road. Great players play well on the road. Role players very rarely produce in another teams gym.
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He was statistically basically the same player last year on the road and at home.
 
RR7 said:
He was statistically basically the same player last year on the road and at home.
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Maybe? It’s truly hard for me to take any stats seriously from last year. Great players make clutch shots on the road. Average to good players struggle with high pressure shots on the road.
Last year there were no high pressure shots or even games except trying to lose a few more than the next guy?
 
Fairly-Hard said:
Maybe? It’s truly hard for me to take any stats seriously from last year. Great players make clutch shots on the road. Average to good players struggle with high pressure shots on the road.
Last year there were no high pressure shots or even games except trying to lose a few more than the next guy?
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ok? You were the one saying he faltered on the road. For his whole career that's just not been the case statistically.
 
PDXFonz said:
Same reason most stars get those extra minutes. Close games in the 4th quarter.

Need one of those years where we are the team who closes out our opponents. Until then…
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I think you missed the point of the question. If we're a PIT-level team, then there's really nothing to be gained by playing Dame 40 minutes to try to pull out close games.
 
RR7 said:
ok? You were the one saying he faltered on the road. For his whole career that's just not been the case statistically.
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But your saying statistically and what I meant was clutch. Not so much numbers. I'll rephrase it if you wish. Players get numbers during games. I have yet to see Simons come up big or even carry the team to a win on the road. My point is lets all hope he has improved enough to be that guy at times.
 
PtldPlatypus said:
I think you missed the point of the question. If we're a PIT-level team, then there's really nothing to be gained by playing Dame 40 minutes to try to pull out close games.
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Assuming the western conference is as close as it has been the last handful of seasons, the incentive to play Dame heavy minutes will be to avoid being a PIT or (hopefully not) make sure we are a PIT.

In an 82 Game Season that = being up by 4 against the pistons at the end of the 3rd. At which point you hope the team can close it out and you can sit Dame at the end of the 4th.
 
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