Simmons Latest Mailbag Blurb

[carmelbrownqueen]

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I wanted the guy I thought could be the best player in three years i.e. the guy with the greatest potential. After seeing Yi play, I still think Harris and Kohl made the correct choice. However, both the guys you listed are very young and it's possible that Yi's 3-4 years older. That put a dent in the potential argument.

I personally think both of the Wrights should have stayed in college a couple of years longer.. And when I look at them, I still see both of them as more 5 year plan players rather than guys who will be able to do much to help their teams in the next year or so (help with consistent production that is).

Honestly, We didn't have (still don't) that kind of time to wait on a guy to develop.. and neither has shown they were ready to play on this level as of yet (even with a few good games recently) or were even worthy of going as high as they did. They may have potential, but so do most of the guys in the lottery at this point so I personally can't get to excited about a few games of decent production at the moment. If a few games were all it took to prove these guys were ready then Marcus Haislip, who had a few decent looking games where he blocked a few shots, grabbed a few rebounds and scored in double digits.. would have been held in high regard and probably still be on the Bucks roster. He had "potential" too.

Yi really slowed it down and hasn't been productive for the past month.. that doesn't mean he was the wrong pick or is comparable to a guy like Channing Frye.

[midranger]

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I wanted the guy I thought could be the best player in three years i.e. the guy with the greatest potential. After seeing Yi play, I still think Harris and Kohl made the correct choice. However, both the guys you listed are very young and it's possible that Yi's 3-4 years older. That put a dent in the potential argument.

DB, I'm going to call you out, because you were all for the 3 lower picks from Philly deal. Of course, that was after months of talking about getting a superstar here.

[emunney]

CBQ, I don't think we're far apart, and I'm aware of your history of trepidation over guys who haven't done anything in the NBA yet... and I think it's warranted. I agree, for instance, that Yi was the right pick at 6 -- or at least not necessarily the wrong pick; we won't know for sure for a few years -- I'm just saying that to get a trio of guys like that is extremely tempting to me. I also agree that both Wrights are still a couple years off.

The only thing that puts me off about Yi is the volume of games he has to play and will apparently continue to have to play outside of the NBA. I mean, I think he needs to offseason to polish his skills and rest, and that he's got a great future if he's allowed to do that. If the Olympics weren't this year, perhaps the CNT could be persuaded to give Yi a break for the sake of his future, but the Olympics are this year, and there's no break for Yi in sight.

That's a main reason why I'm trying to lead the charge on shutting Yi down for the year. We have to make a move to protect our investment because he's not in a position to do it himself. He can use the time to recuperate and reflect, and then start the charge toward the Olympics with a focus on a breakout next season.

Ultimately, though, I don't know if that's going to happen, and we don't know when Yi is going to have the opportunity for that kind of break. That's why I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have three lesser but still talented prospects.

[Profound23]

Bill Simmons was saying we had the next Larry Bird/Dirk 1 month into the season.

LOL

He was saying he wished the Celtics had taken him and how great he was and now this?

[emunney]

Simmons has the memory of MBBOT, this is nothing new for him.

[SupremeHustle]

Yeah. Simmons was swearing up and down that Rudy Gay would be a bust this season. Never understood why he assumed that.

Sometimes his wit is mistaken for knowledge. Like Bill Cosby or Stephen Colbert.

[europa]

Sometimes his wit is mistaken for knowledge.

This is a great description. He's an entertainment writer and a very good one but he's hardly someone whose NBA knowledge is off the charts. He's fun to read but he flip flops constantly and many of his personnel calls have been ridiculously bad. If Yi plays a good game or two he'll flip back to raving about him and probably forget he ever ripped on him or that he mocked him repeatedly in the weeks leading up to last summer's draft.

I think it's best to take Simmons for what he is - a clever and entertaining writer - and leave it at that.

[HoopsGuru25]

Just be glad that you took Yi. You would be stuck with Corey Brewer if Simmons was your GM.

[schweig]

The same Brewer that Simmons has going above Yi in his redraft haha... I don't think it makes me a homer to say Yi probably wouldn't last halfway to pick 18 even right now.

[carmelbrownqueen]

CBQ, I don't think we're far apart, and I'm aware of your history of trepidation over guys who haven't done anything in the NBA yet... and I think it's warranted. I agree, for instance, that Yi was the right pick at 6 -- or at least not necessarily the wrong pick; we won't know for sure for a few years -- I'm just saying that to get a trio of guys like that is extremely tempting to me. I also agree that both Wrights are still a couple years off.

The only thing that puts me off about Yi is the volume of games he has to play and will apparently continue to have to play outside of the NBA. I mean, I think he needs to offseason to polish his skills and rest, and that he's got a great future if he's allowed to do that. If the Olympics weren't this year, perhaps the CNT could be persuaded to give Yi a break for the sake of his future, but the Olympics are this year, and there's no break for Yi in sight.

That's a main reason why I'm trying to lead the charge on shutting Yi down for the year. We have to make a move to protect our investment because he's not in a position to do it himself. He can use the time to recuperate and reflect, and then start the charge toward the Olympics with a focus on a breakout next season.

Ultimately, though, I don't know if that's going to happen, and we don't know when Yi is going to have the opportunity for that kind of break. That's why I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have three lesser but still talented prospects.

I am also extremely concerned about Yi having the time off he needs to work on his game.. but we knew he wasn't going to get it when we drafted him. That's why I made the statement in another thread that as selfish as it may sound to some of our Chinese fans, there are times when I wish Yi would get some sort of "injury" (doesn't have to be all that serious) that would force him to sit out and start working on improving his body and his game. I know that the Olympics are very important to his country but if they want to really make a major impact then they will need Yi to strengthen his body and develop his game more. It's my belief that he can only do that with some rest and some time spent doing nothing but improving his game. Unfortunately, his commitments aren't going to allow for that this coming offseason.. but I still think he's the right pick for us, and would only consider not taking him if Horford or Conley would have been available at 6. None of the other players that came after Yi are impressive enough to me to consider changing our selection in my opinion.

[ReasonablySober]

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DB, I'm going to call you out, because you were all for the 3 lower picks from Philly deal. Of course, that was after months of talking about getting a superstar here.

I think I remember being a proponent for that deal at one point, but I don't remember clearly enough.

I'm a flip-flopper though. I change my mind almost as much as Sigra. You should read my opinions on the NFL Draft. It's even worse.

[Jollay]

I was all for the Phily deal as I still am.

However, I am fine with having Yi instead.

I wanted a young SF, but at the time I didn't know Mason was en route--although conversely I didnt know Simmons was going to be this bad. Nor did Harris obviously.

You want to pull a thread where people where wrong (apparently)--pull a thread with Al Thornton hate.

There were ALOT of those...

[smokinherb]

definetly have to cut Yi some slack. he's had his moments of brilliance, but the kid has been playing steady basketball for almost a year straight. Let's hold our breath and let him get an NBA off season under his belt
(ala Andrew Bogut and the year he is having now) and then we'll see how good he is. I wasn't on the Yi Bandwagon when we drafted him, but now we're stuck with a guy who could be a really special player, not exactly a worse case scenario.

[europa]

It took Bogut two seasons before he finally had an offseason that didn't involve massive basketball playing. He has responded with his best season by far and making major improvements in his game both offensively and defensively.

Hopefully it won't take Yi as long to make major strides to his game but Bogut's development has certainly provided a look at how valuable having some off time in the offseason can be with a young player's development.

[skones]

It took Bogut two seasons before he finally had an offseason that didn't involve massive basketball playing. He has responded with his best season by far and making major improvements in his game both offensively and defensively.

Hopefully it won't take Yi as long to make major strides to his game but Bogut's development has certainly provided a look at how valuable having some off time in the offseason can be with a young player's development.

It also took Yao quite some time to make that "next step" in his game. He was a good player until year four. In that year he made the leap from really good to one of the best.