Yeah they even mentioned that Pop told Simmons "calm down young fella" when he got that offensive foul.
Laker fans are even talking about Simmons hehe thank goodness the Spurs signed him in the offseason. Nice pickup. He is not afraid to attack the basket that's for sure. His hustle and aggressiveness is great. He can still improve on his defense but I like that he isn't afraid to score.
Yeah they even mentioned that Pop told Simmons "calm down young fella" when he got that offensive foul.
Pop seems to treat Anderson differently. Anderson is on a very short lease. Simmons has leeway and needs constant encouragement. Simmons also gets upset on himself on the court when he makes mistakes.
These two players are going to be very good. There needs though are complete opposite. Anderson needs to be aggressive, Simmons needs to calm down. Both however need to practice their 3s.
"Simmons needs to calm down."
yep, he got carried away, needs more control, smarts, intensity is great, emotions sorta dicey.
Pretty much what I said in a post earlier today. Everything else he has to work on. Getting to the rim and passing seem to be his two strengths right now. I mentioned defense as his biggest priority to work on, then shooting as his next.
I agree that he needs to tone it down a bit as I don't like over celebrating, but this is a guy that was thinking about quitting basketball a few years ago until he went to a open tryout for the Austin Toros - possibly viewing it as a last chance, and now he is in the NBA getting minutes on one of the best teams in the NBA. They can't all act like robots out there. I think he should be allowed to show some excitement.
Pretty good take. He does need to keep these things you mentioned in check if he wants to reach his max potential.
Last edited by Ice009; 12-12-2015 at 06:49 AM.
Isn't it time to put this idiotic take to rest? At what point do you guys transition from just repeating this to actually watching the games?
Too bad he's 26, which is near the end of an athletic prime. Guy has beastly athleticism. Love to see a 22-23 year old Simmons developed in the Spurs program. That said, his development needs to be fast tracked. The Spurs desperately need another athlete and penetrate who can attack and draw fouls.
No reason he can't become a great defender, either. He's got quickness and decent length.
He's 26 but does not have a lot of mileage, so unlike guys like McGrady who started the NBA after high school, he's got a lot more years left.
Exactly
He needs to work on his lateral quickness and watch months worth of film
If only this were his 2nd year in the system smh, but that always happens with spurs up and comers
I have noticed these two things too.
Anderson will coast offensively if you let him. . . which is funny bc he was heralded as being ball dominant coming into the league. I am pleased that he's not. He actually likes to pass, a whole lot, maybe too much, maybe all the time.. OK, maybe he should take a shot every once in a while...you get me?
I think Pop doesn't want him to force a single shot of his own. He's coming in only taking a wide open shot for himself and looking for shots for others. That is really a development phase. Pop is having him work on his decision making and focusing on making the right passes for that he's got to be on a short leash. Because if Pop gives him the ball, he's got to earn Pop's trust that he's not going to be jacking up shots. So he's doing at this point what Pop wants.
He does strike me as tough minded. He was the captain of an NCAA team that made it to the Sweet 16 after all, and he really was the captain of that SL team over the summer. They relied on him for much of their offense, but more so for leadership. He's got to be one tough compe or underneath all that slowmo unassuming shtick.
Simmons, yea he's more vulnerable to frustration. In the preseason he was under threat of being cut and he could barely cope with the pressure. I think he made more mistakes due to the mental aspects than lack of skill, bc he has improved considerably in a short time. It shows that to a degree he was very nervous. Pop doesn't want to compound that with his intense coaching while the guy is playing. He's played better when allowed to play through mistakes.
In a lot of ways, being a coach and being an elementary teacher are similar.
You realize you have students at varying degrees development, and raw potential, and backgrounds... you try to give everyone what they need to blossom and not feel neglected, from the class wiz, to the daydreamer, to the kid who has to dress his little sister for school and make breakfast because mom or dad still passed out from last night...
while at the same time, instilling in each one of them a sense of care for each other, to be happy for one another's successes, to be a family.
Has Simmons been working on his shot with Chip?
He's definitely not good right now. He can be good if he develops a shot though. So that was an overstatement.
Lots of praise from teammates: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...s-opened-eyes/
“He’s got huge potential in the fact that he’s young, athletic, gets out on the break,” Mills said after shootaround Monday morning. “He can get to the rim with ease it seems like with his big steps, which leads to him shooting a lot of free throws."
“He pressures the ball,” Ginobili said. “He goes hard to the boards. He runs the fast break and is able to finish in traffic. He is able to finish in traffic above the rim.”
I don't think Anderson is prone coasting offensively. When he has gotten the ball late in the clock and been forced to make something happen it has usually ended with good results. The rest of the time he gets pulled pretty quick he tries to be aggressive offensively. I think it was 3-4 games ago he put up a contested 3, made it, and got pulled. He's been an offensive focal point in college, D league, and SL. I think Pop isn't worried about his offensive game and has him on a very short leash until he can learn to consistently be aggressive and focused on the defensive end. That's where he is prone to coasting.
It is interesting how Pop is coaching KA and Simmons so differently. KA played under Bob Hurley so there's no doubt he can handle being coached hard so he is getting the Danny Green treatment. Meanwhile Simmons is getting the kind teacher Pop. Last game Simmons made a mistake and Pop just had is hand on his shoulder while he calmly explained his mistake to him. Maybe he thinks coaching Simmons hard will break his confidence or maybe it's just that this is Simmons last shot at having an NBA career. After last game Pop said he was trying to teach Simmons to just be solid without trying to show everyone how good he was. I thought that was an interesting comment from Pop.
Good observation!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Yes Pop is teaching each guy individually according to what they need, I agree with you there. Anderson is also younger, Simmons is a developed young man, by that I mean he's already grown into his body and he is strong and obviously atheltic. Being 26, if you are going to use that explosiveness to win games you better start now. His game does reply on his explosive first step, and he's close to getting to his athletic peak if not already on it. Anderson is a younger kid with a light frame and no one knows what he can really do.
Pop said early this season he was going to play different positions, so I think Pop is on the mindset that they can afford to see where he does best, and they don't yet know. Maybe they project internally what he could be in the future, but he's obviously not there yet. He's developing and a player like that, yea you have to be more strict, particularly if he's not putting points on the board, he has to hustle.
Very interesting for me to see Pop coach them for sure.
I'd say Simmons is a victim of trying to do too much because he's afraid if he doesn't show out he'll be sent out. Pop's handling it the right way, I think the more comfortable Simmons is the better he'll play.
You got it.
I think that is exactly what Pop meant when he said wanted J.Simms to be "solid." He doesn't have to come in trying to do too much or trying to impress, but just play well within the system and off others.
I think he surpassed Anderson in the rotation because he's more aggressive and plays with more confidence. Kyle is still developing clearly and getting to mature into his game.
You can see sometimes what he can do, particularly with posting up and shooting over others with that length, and he's obviously a good passer, but he's still insecure and hesitant to shoot or be aggressive. That is where Simmons edged him out...
Now that he has edged him out, he has to be "solid"... that means avoid the TO, avoid the mistakes, be good on defense, etc. All the little things that win you games.
By the way, it was garbage time but Kyle had a good showing tonight. Precisely didn't try to do too much, and most of what he did was to good use. He was also about the only guy still playing defense and getting back in transition during garbage time.
It's official.. Simmons is now better than Anderson.. All skills aside, biggest difference? Simmons playing with balls now.
Seamonk is great, the way he plays with grit and and yes he is a little reckless but he wants to be part of this team so badly, the total opposite of DG and game after game we are seeing improvements, Spurs are lucky with their new players, even Bon Bon is resembling Karl Malone.
Kyle plays a solid game already. The stats do show that across the board improvement of the team when Kyle is on the court. Kyle's problem is that he is redundant with Boris Diaw. He's a rookie Boris Diaw without the athleticism.
Simmons is however the only off-the-charts athletic player on the team. It gets worse when you compare to the non-starters. Who in the non-starters are athletic?? Only one... Ray McCallum and he barely even plays.
Well this is the Vicaroge of Simmons, ...
but since we are talking about Kyle...
in terms of guys in the team who score unassisted field goals, the leader is Tony: with 66% of his shots being unassisted.
Then you have Boban with 52%
The next two guys up are Boris and Kyle at 46% of their field goals unassisted each. Everyone else gets a lot of shots out of ball movement and being set up. See here: http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612...UAST_FGM&dir=1
Simmons is at only 16% of his field goals made being unassisted. I think it is a myth then that he gets his own shots.
He actually scores best in transition and off actions initiated by others. His dribble penetration is the best for setting others up out of his own penetration but him him trying to take all these contested shots at the basket, against 1-3 guys and dunk on shot blockers is I think going to be coached down a little bit by Pop. He has lately been trying to show off SL style and it has only resulted in him reducing his shooting percentage. He will not be rewarded with foul shots either when he's going against a couple of guys forcing up the action himself. Last game he forced too much and missed open teammates.
Kyle, reminds me so much of Boris. Not the exact same game as Boris but so similar in so many ways.
For one, they both have very low usage, and yet as the unassisted field goals made % I cited above show, they can pretty much get their own shots when they want, they just choose not to, and prefer to set others up.
Kyle with a 13% usage, and Boris with a 15%.
Simmons with a 22% usage.
I am still more intrigued by Kyle overall. I feel like in the end due to his youth he has more potential to add things to his game and I feel like to a degree he has held himself back by not wanting to force up shots or press the issue offensively. It has made him look passive, but he can get his own shots when needed, as the number of difficult shots he has hit to avoid shot clock violations attest.
I said last year that Kyle is a future star for the Spurs and I haven't seen anything to make me change my mind. The way he is being developed/coached makes me think the Spurs believe that too. It's just not going to be this year. Everyone is down on him for being "passive" offensively but I have yet to see Pop pull him for not being aggressive on that end, it's been just the opposite. I seriously doubt Pop is begging Kyle to take more shots and he's refusing to.
Simmons on the other hand is getting the now or never treatment. I have my doubts about his bb iq but the last couple of games he has looked to be playing smarter, although he still has a long way to go. It will be pretty awesome if the Spurs can turn him into a smart player, his athleticism cannot be denied.
All I know is simmons needs better shoes.
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