Ericb5 wrote:crazy_me_87 wrote:Yeah Ben's Reputation about his Mentallity etc really suffers because of 2 things:
1. Everything looks easy for him as Ericb5 above me said casual. This happens to players that are just so damn good that they are better than everybody on the floor without even trying all that hard. This is why People think Ben is lazy on defense even though every Defensive Stat says that he actually is a very good defender for a 21yo. He has a DPBM of 2.2 so far.. thats Kahwi Leonards Rookie DBPM.. So he is not just "ok" he is good. Yet people think he looks lazy on defense. He looks like he loses focus sometimes because he does.. happens to all young Players.. but the fact is that the 80% of the time he does play defense he plays exellent defense. Its a case where the Famous Eye test simply does not tell even close to the whole Story.
2. He has a very interesting Personallity. He is like a Mix Between Tim Duncan and Kobe in some ways. As someone here said before when Ben said he doesnt care for ROY he wants to be in the MVP Discussion.. Ben has that Kobe like "Death Stare. He always looks unphased.. cold.. and people misunderstand this as not caring. The same way he is actually not all that expressive on the Court.. he doesnt celebrate after Dunks...he doesnt Yell at the Refs.. he doesnt complain about calls .. He has that stoic Precence Tim Duncan had. It took alot to get Duncan really expressing himself. Ben seems to be the same.
Because of both things the casual Fan thinks he does not care when i am absolutely sure he does care alot. In fact i think he has the Mindset of an All Time Great. After dropping 18/10/8 last Game all he said was he would rather have 3 Wins and 2 Total Points .. and that he has the highest Standards for himself so he expects it out of himself to continue to play like this.
To me that sounds like a extremely Mature young Guy who really wants to be great and Win.
Well said. I would just tweak one thing. It isn't that he doesn't have to try hard, it is that it LOOKS like he isn't trying hard when he actually IS. He is very competitive, and is putting in maximum effort.
Iverson wore his heart on his sleeve, but Duncan didn't. I think the comparison to Duncan is an apt one. Duncan was hyper competitive, but he had that quiet sleepy look on his face a lot of the time.
People use to call Mike Schmidt aloof, but he wasn't aloof at all. He was just cool. Simmons is cool, and I don't mean that in the hip sense. I mean that in the "in control" sense.
Oh i didnt meant he doesnt try hard maybe i didnt say it well. I basically ment what you said. T-Mac had that same Problem.. when you are so insanely talented it can look as if the Game was too easy and people only think you put in maximum effort when you make a highlight play.. but all the "unspectacular" things of a Game just dont look as if you tried hard. As you said a guy like AI or today Westbrook or guys like Pat Beverley.. you can just see their effort. No one ever would dare to doubt that they play with anything less than Max Effort. But with guys like T-Mac or Ben "regular" Things like Rebounds, solid help defense, solid Picks. hustle etc dont get noticed at all because of what they can do in their Highlights.
I actually thought when i watched him at LSU that his demeanor reminds me of Duncan so much. He has that stoic coolness where you are suddenly shocked when Duncan screamed after a Dunk or stuff like that. Its just not their Personality.
The thing is with Ben .. i think he might be a true Leader like Duncan.. Stoic... calm .."cool" .. He will destroy you on the Court with his Play.. but he wont taunt you.. wont trash talk you... wont cry to the Refs.. will just Professionally but deadly play his Game.
I am a Social Worker and i think i am quite good at reading people and i always said that Ben is far from Uninterested or doesnt try hard..or want te be great etc... all bullcrap.. I always saw a young Man who is a true Alpha Dog.. and by that i dont mean the clichee "Chest Pounding screaming at you" kind of "Alpha" .. I mean the guy that just commands Respect through his Presense. Someone that is as you said just "cool" in the most classic sense of the word.
He rubbed some Teammates the wrong way with this in the Past though.. not everybody gets that the almost quiet dude is the Leader.. It also was reported that he has that Kobe/MJ side in him in that he demands the highest of himself and his Teammates.. he reportetly has gotten at Teammates that where lazy and didnt work as hard as he did.
If you look close enough you see that Bens Mental Side.. his Character.. in fact is not as some Scouts said a weakness but will propably be the Reason why he has a Chance to become a GOAT Canidate. He absolutely has that drive to become Great and to Win.. combine that with his talent and its clear we are in for a Treat.
