I remember Manu making a big impact against the lakers in the 03 playoffs. Manu was more decorated and seasoned, but Simmons is showing some similarities. He can hit the timely 3's. He has a super quick twitch penetration step. He dunks with ferocity and is crafty near the basket. He forces fouls with his penetration. He has an above average passing ability. Of course manu is a hall of famer and his will to win and clutchness is legendary. Anyone else get the feeling Simmons can be that secret weapon Manu was back in the day?
He obviously is more athletic than Manu was even in his prime.
What he doesn't have is the cat like reflexes, an outworldly sense of passing angles and the creativity.
Still, his ability to use either hand in traffic and his athleticism... that is special. Dunked 3 times on the young athletic Bucks team... I don't know if that deflated their egos.
Of course Manu was/is a special player. I'm with you on the dunks having a recoiling effect on the Bucks. When you get the opposing crowd oohing and ahhing... Another similarity is the timing of that impact. The game was close last night till Simmons busted it open. Manu was always a clutch player. Didn't Simmons contribute in a tight game on Christmas v rockets?
I dont know if he is ready to be a game changer in the playoffs this year but I wouldn't be surprised.... His trajectory is pretty incredible to this point in the season.
This came up in the game thread last night.
It should have died there.
Oh really? No one is replacing Manu. But he is progressing in a very particular and needed way. This team needed another athletic player off the bench. Is Simmons not exactly that?
Maybe not but I think it depends on pop. Simmons has shown no fear.
hummm... ok
Simmons with highest +- at 22 tells you his presence busted the game wide open.
He played against the Rockets, but other players the backs of the Rockets.
Well I'll be the first to admit that I don't know all the ins and outs of NBA analytics. I watch and my eyes tell me that he's a player this team hasn't had in a long time. Well as far as someone knew goes. I like what he's doing and hope he keeps developing. He could be someone to lean on unexpedly in those dog fights.
The last game was ridiculously impressive. 6-7 shooting, 6-7 FTM.
This against a Bucks team that has a lot of length and athleticism. The kind of team that historically has given the Spurs lots of problems.
Something just clicked that Simmons found the lane wide open. Not sure if you can blame it on poor Bucks defense or on offensive execution. If it is the latter, then the league should be really worried.
Simmons, the best since MJ hang it up, HE IS READY!.
Well I think Sean broke down the first dunk and highlighted 2 bucks being sucked in by lamarcus. This opened the lane wide open. It was a break down on defense. But I think that breakdown is a product of every other player on the floor for the Spurs. There isn't one player you can sag off of except maybe Duncan.
What? Someone on Spurs talk who doesn't know everything....
Simmons is contributing more than (nearly) anyone expected. Enjoy that.
Manu had the best court vision I have ever seen - ever. He made passes that nobody else could make. When he didn't have the angle, he would throw a bounce pass with english, so that it would skip left or right when it hit and get to his target in stride for an easy score. He made other players better, right from the start.
He was also much, much more elusive going to the basket. When he was perfectly defended, he would spin and come up on the other side of the basket and leave the defender(s) holding their jocks. When there was just time for one more possession, and the Spurs were down by 1 or 2, Manu would stand out beyond the arc and wait for the clock to run down, and then run through the defense like through a goose. Everyone in the arena knew he was coming, and they still couldn't stop him often.
Manu sucked out so many offensive fouls that George Karl actually complained that his long hair flying made it look like he had been hit by a truck. An opposing coach reduced to ing about a player's long hair? That's a compliment to his D, which was considerably better than Simmons' so far.
If you want to talk about Simmons' "impact" reminding you of someone, it's a lot closer to Derek Anderson. And that's not a bad thing for a guy who worked his way into the lineup, from virtually nowhere. Anderson was quick and athletic, forced the ball up the court and finished well at the rim, played above the rim A LOT, and defended a lot like Simmons at this point in his career.
Simmons impact is just not very similar to Manu at all, except for the fact that all points count. But, hey, fire away. At least you dilute the Apolisoc threads.
Sorry, then, if I was too harsh. When it came up in the game thread, I just cringed. Shouldn't have blamed that on you. But, as per above, I really don't think there are a lot of similarities in their impact. Not being protective of Manu, I just don't see it.
Last edited by GSH; 01-05-2016 at 04:17 PM.
No I actually don't follow the statistics for NBA like I would for the NFL. I've actually learned a lot about specifics of the game from ST. But like I said I watch and I enjoy and I lurk for info. But for some reason I felt compelled to start this thread to see if others agreed.
OMG... have you been watching these teams just stand and leave Duncan alone to shoot? Not in the paint, obviously. But out at about 15 feet, they don't even move in his direction. There was one shot last night, I swear he had a 10 foot cushion in every direction, and they just waited for him to shoot. It made me a little sad.
I hope he starts making them pay for that.
Sorry i was being sarcastic. People should be willing to admit to things they don't know. You will get on but he does have some similarities to a young manu .
Now that you mention it, I do see a lot of Derek Anderson in Simmons' game. Good call.
When Manu first hit the league, he reminded me of Sarunas Marciulionis- which made me ecstatic back then as he was one of my favorite players to watch and, of course Manu proceeded to blow me away with how he was even better than Marci.
Good times... Poor George Karl still probably has debilitating nightmares of Manu from back then at least twice, or thrice a year.
Hey I'm not trying to be a pest. So don't take the thread in that light. I made it clear that he wasn't replacing Manu. However after reading your detailed post in regards to Manus playing style it makes the similarities in my mind seem silly. I've been a fan for a long time and have seen so many games. I guess I forgot just how great even the little things Manu did. But my intention was not to compare only to note some basics. That's all.
Now as far as Derek Anderson I remember him as a slasher scorer that could put up 30. If Simmons could keep that trajectory it would be a win either way.
Nah man were good. I'll defer to the experts on here when it comes to stats. No shame here. I just felt like talking a little ball.
Haters gonna hate. I am a huge Manu fan. I remember being excited when we signed him. I said the same about Simmons too though and people started flipping their . Of course nobody is going to replace Manu as a player but at the same time we will probably never see a player like him again for YEARS if ever. All OP is saying is that he can see similarities in his game/heart.
People think too much into stuff.
Manu was a beast even before he came to the NBA. From 00-03 he was probably the best player in Europe. And I don't agree that Simmons is a better athlete than Manu ever was, cause I guess not a lot of people saw Manu before he played for the Spurs. Let me just tell you that he could also dunk the ball, even better than what we saw last night from Simmons. Yes his slashing to the rim does remind me a little bit of Manu but that's probably it. He still needs to work on his game a lot and I hope he becomes a great player. But I don't think he will ever be more than a role player... and I'd be happy with that tbh.
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