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Pop is giving Forbes a chance to push Simmons out the door.
Is he gonna have a standout next game?
Pop is giving Forbes a chance to push Simmons out the door.
That quick hook on him at the start of the fourth doesn't bode well..
Haven't checked the box score, but I bet Simmons saw less than 2 minutes of game time.
He doesn't need a signature game, but he should aim to be playing better than he is right now.
Pop is less reactionary to a single poor game than guys here anyways otherwise Forbes would have been cut long ago.
Last edited by SAGirl; 03-13-2017 at 11:02 PM.
I laughed about it in the game thread. There was a point where his line on NBA.com showed 0 minutes, 0 everything, and a -3 on the +/-. I know they round the minutes, but it still looked funny as . Like the guy was a net negative while sitting on the bench.
Maybe ... I saw it differently. Forbes got a shot bc both Tony and Murray were injured. When To y specially comes back Mills goes back to the bench and Mills, Forbes Manu are way too undersized... but frankly it's tough to tell. I still think he'll get chances there's matchups he's been groomed for and he's still a nice hustle and energy guy. Much as I am critical of him I don't think Pop has given up on him...
but playing time time is hard to come by and he needs to get it together.
I noticed. Pitiful. I've been in Simmons' corner for two tantalizing years, but the last 8-10 weeks have been a steady, not-so-slow decline. At his current usage, he has no chance of redeeming himself before the playoffs. He is gone after this season. He is too old for a stint in Europe and a return to the NBA. But I no longer see him as a real NBA prospect.
Pop has given Simmons time as a PG. He should have been first up spelling Manu and Mills. When he got in, he was yanked almost immediately for a missed defensive assignment and a turnover.
Sick of the drive / turnover.
When he drives and it's not there he needs to learn how to do the Ginobili type assists.
A midrange jumper would really help. Teams are on to him.
I didn't think Pop had him as PG per se. It's been Mills but there a lot of misnomers, and a lot of arguments about it. He's been given chances with the ball bc that's supposedly his best feature but he's obviously no PG.
edit I do think Pop is getting more strict with him, the unnecessary fouling, etc. Time will tell, much as I wasn't a fan, I also wasn't wishing for him to implode.
Is it actually possible Pop could try TP off the bench when he comes back?
Anyway, in regards to Simmons, I don't know what more to say. I didn't give up on him after another terrible pre-season (not as bad as his first pre-season, still not good, though), but he always seems to regress towards the end of the season when the games start mattering. He does well in the games against average teams the first half of the season, but then it seems that his game starts dropping.
I'm pretty disappointed in him so far. The stupid turnovers, the poor ball handling, the fouling too much on defense, the not taking open shots and then having zero confidence when he does take those shots, the faking a shot and driving into trouble and turning it over or taking a worse shot than the open one he passed up, yeah, he's not doing too well at all, and it's almost money time. Simmons has to pick it up 100% and clean all that up before the playoffs, otherwise, I wouldn't even give him anything other than spot minutes. Unfortunately, there's not much time left for him to do that. I hope he realizes that his stock is dropping and his NBA career could be on the line. That promising payday that it seemed like he was sure to get this off-season could slowly vanish for him.
All that D-Wade swag and not a tenth the talent of the former. He's a scrub. At his best, he's a fringe NBA player.
Tough to say. That's another whole can of worms. He did allegedly brought Gasol off the bench initially while he was coming back from injury. Considering how brittle and prone to injuries Tony is, the fact the 3rd and 4th string backup PG are rookies, etc... it might actually be for the best. Mills is healthy playing great and if Tony gets injured midplayoff you only need that 3rd string PG to give you some minutes next to Manu against benches. It's a much better proposition than moving guys up and down. I am not coach Becky though, so I can't advice Pop.
Simmons in March: 37.8% from the field, 25% on the 3, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1 TO 1.9 fouls... worst impact than Bryn Forbes. -0.4 +/-
You go back and add the month of February and he turns into the absolute worst impact player for the Spurs... negative impact. 38.9 from the field, 13% on the 3 almost as many TO as assist and a -0.9 in +/-.
You add January and it doesn't get much better, just a slight uptick. He's been on a downward spiral which is disappointing.
He may still have some uses on defense (for which he must stop the fouling).
Stats don't always tell the story, but they help. The way Simmons started the season, I thought he was much improved from last year and getting better. But there's no doubt in my mind that he's gone the other way. Those numbers pretty much confirm that.
My gut feeling is that he's trying hard to be un-selfish and play a style that he's just not good at. But even that may be wishful thinking. He may have just gotten by with a lot of because nobody had paid much attention to him before.
To be honest I always imagined the Spurs having two totally distinct units. One of the young guns who play the way they play now. KingSlayer, LMAlpha, Dewayne, Dijon and Verde (younger athletic and ISO centric). Then having a 2nd unit that played the beautiful game way, MVParker, Pau, Manu/Microwave, DLee and then Simmons would be the 3 in that unit. It could use his ultra athleticism and their centuries of basketball IQ would more than make up for any deficiencies he might have on that front. It would be hard for a team to prepare for two totally different teams each and every night. Plus all the players from both of the units have experience playing in the other units style of play so they could do it as well as matchups health or fouls dictate. And we still have Davis who can either be the 4 if LMA plays the 5 or with the beautiful game squad.
Either pop finds a way to convince him to be more assertive on offense or he will be out of the rotation by the playoffs.
Forbes has shown that while undersized and with bad handles he knows his role and will focus on fulfilling it.
Simmons on the other hand wants to force issues that are not there and refrains from taking the shots that the game gives him.
It's like the an hesis of "take what the defense gives you", he is so insecure that he doesn't take those shots and forces others that are not there.
Yeah, it is pointless to argue semantics. Pop has given Juice plenty of opportunities to establish himself as a principal (if not the principal) ball handler. He has literally fumbled them away. Forbes is not necessarily pressing Simmons to take his role but his minutes. The Spurs have quite a few wings/combo guards who are not complete ball players, but do have overlapping skills, such that replacements/subs utes do not necessarily duplicate the skill(s) of the guy they replace.
On the other hand, perhaps Pop just wants to see a little more of Forbes to see what he has to offer in the big league. But the way he inserted Simmons into the lineup and yanked him immediately argues against that. I have been rooting for Simmons because I thought that a fully actualized player with his skill set would be a huge asset for the Spurs. Unfortunately Simmons isn't close to being that "actualized" player.
Just no let up..I think I have given up on him..
I don't know what to tell you,.. I wasn't a fan but I also didn't want him to flame out. What's a shame is that Pop kept spoon feeding him minutes and he only got worse as the season wore on.
Right now they didn't make any other moves bc he was their guy.
It's nuts how much his game has regressed. Did the pressure just get to him?
What a pathetic paradox but unfortunately true.
I hope he has saved almost every penny he's earned these past two seasons. I think that once promising big payday during the off-season for him is rapidly declining. Do you guys think any team/s would give him bigger offers than the minimum at this point?
I'm not sure if I'd even want him back at his current salary. Right now, I'd say "no". What would you guys pay for him, or would you not want him back even for the minimum?
I'd take him over Fathead, Forbes, and Anthony for sure
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