tiderulz wrote:pepe1991 wrote:tiderulz wrote:potential? he is exactly the same player he was 5 years ago. hasnt really improved any facet of his game in 5 years.
If player gives you effective 15-8-7 and happends to be one of most versitale nba defenders, i really don't care if he never improves.
It's a shame that he never took game to next level because his physical profile + incredible instics he could have been one of best players nba has saw ( Lebron- Giannis type talent) but what he is today ( or in his rookie year) still makes him top 20 player in nba.
15/8/7, who cant shoot FT's very well and is a liability to close games is not a max $$ player
That's fair. But vast majority of nba stars have some sort of clear weakness in their game. Lillard is trash defender so is Young, so is Curry at times, Kawhi is injury prone, Jokić is awful at switching, GIannis is career 61% FT shooter in playoffs.. It's normal.
Ben Simmons problems are bit overblown. I'm not denying them, but they are indeed, overblown. Year prior winning MVP in finals, GIannis had same narrative " muscles don't work in playoffs,just build a wall" as he shot 58% FTs. Year later he wins a title and all his vocal critics are back in rebbit holes.
It's obvious that you need to adjust roster to him, but let's face it, you have to adjust roster to almost every superstar. Jokic needs defenders, so do Luka, Dame, and Trae. Ben, Lebron, Westbrook, Giannis need shooters, Gobert needs scoring punch...
We can argue is he worth adjusting roster to him and i tihnk that's fair point. But you mentioned salary. His salary is pretty much identical to cumulative salary of Fultz and Isaac who are nowhere near as good and even when you put them together on most nights don't give you gravity nor versitality of Simmons.
A LOT of negativity about Ben Simmons is fabricated from series vs Atlanta. Do you know his plus minus for whole series there? + 29.
There is ongoing youtube meme about him passing open layup, and in reality you see Lebron, Luka doing it on nightly bases, their players just don't blow a damn dunk and it's not their fault if they do.
Even last game, where it was very obvious Simmons confidence is shot and he is not looking to score at all, it really wasn't only his fault they lost. Harris shot 8-23 (33% FG) , Embiid had 8 turnovers. Whole 76ers bench scored 15 points, Galo had 17 alone for Atlanta.
Game prior they lost, game 5, same story, Hawks gets 38 points from bench, 76ers gets 13... But it would be soooo broing for media to adress
actual basketball issues with lack of 76ers bench when you can have hot take how " Ben Simmons should do more". Yea, i mean, ofc he should have do more, but is it really his fault that Tybulle, Milton and George Hill combine for 2 assists, 2 rebounds and 11 points while playing 26,12 and 12 min while Danilo Galinari on his own has 16 points and 8 rebounds? But no, biggest story was Ben's FTs . And sure 4-14 FTs is pathetic, but Ben only took 4 actual FGA, again Harris was godawful ( 2-11 FG) but nobody wants to hear Stephen A Smith, Max Marselles , Skip Clueless and those NFL former players who all have zer0 basketball knowledge talk about- Tobias Harris or George Hill. Fans want to hear them trash superstars. So they do. And that's how narratives are born. That's why Lebron for career was most "clutch " player in basketball but aura about him is that he melts under pressure, while Kobe was biggest brick machine but he was " clutch" because some fool once said so on open air and it got popular.
I'm 100% confident that Ben will change team and will have excellent season and look great and most of his critics will try to spin in into " i told you he has that potential, i did it to motivate him " BS like they did with Anthony Davis, who was also reciving incredible amount of bull**** blame for lack of talent on Pelicans.
Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. -John Lennon
