crazy_me_87 wrote:HotelVitale wrote:crazy_me_87 wrote:I dont know about "exceptionally"
Is Ben really slower than either of them? i highly doubt that.
God yes. Carmelo ate people alive with his first step at Syracuse.
Am i blind? i dont see Ben as "slow" in any way. Why does this Thread make the impression he is at most Boris Diaw and a fringe first rounder?...The Ben bashing is crazy here. Everyone outside of this Thread Loves Ben... hes Compared to Magic and Lebron everywhere. and even if he never reaches those two even a Better Lamar Odom is still a great Player... dont like that he is heralded as one of the best prospects in years?
Slow down, mate, you're skipping lots of steps. First, no one thinks Simmons is at Lebron/Magic level for a prospect, and that's not a bad thing. Those guys were once-a-decade physical specimens and Ben is clearly not that. According to the general consensus, Ben is not 'one of the best prospects' this decade, but he's probably the top prospect this year (definitely top 3) and probably top-15 of the past five years. That's still really great and you can definitely get excited about it.
Second, it's not 'bashing' a prospect to point out flaws and try to figure out where his game is at now. Most of us here know what Simmons does well--he's got great size, is great in the open court and can pass and finish very well--and we understand why he's a top prospect this year. We're interested in getting a balanced view of him, though, not in hyping him up more. (You can check out Slam magazine or the Australian media if you want that.) Lots of top prospects end up being exposed every year, and lots of guys and up being even better than we thought--just this year, Cliff Alexander went from a consensus top-5 prospect to an undrafted player, while D'Angelo Russell went from outside the top 20 to a top-3 prospect). It's worth looking carefully at guys and guessing what will translate and what won't, and that's what we're doing here.
Third, Ben's an interesting prospect because he's got some stand-out skills but doesn't have a clear position or role yet. Lamar Odom and Boris Diaw come up as comparisons because of size and passing, but everyone knows that Simmons will be his own player. But that cuts both ways; just as there's a great chance his speed and hustle make him better than Diaw, there's no guarantee he's as good as Odom--who was a high-level prospect and a 17/8/5 guy in the NBA right away. The comparisons help but only go so far.
Finally, there's no need to get frustrated if something gets in the way of your excitement for a player. I've been getting hyped on Jahlil since PHL took him; after summer league, I have to admit that the dude can barley jump and that his FTs/jumper are a real problem, but I still think he's gonna rip it this year.
