Ben Simmons

[crazy_me_87]

You aren't alone. I don't think Ben is the second coming of Lebron though. Strangely I think he's a bit of a Jabari/Giannis hybrid. And just for interest sake, since many posters here are quite dubious of LSU's combine numbers, thought I'd ask everyone's opinion on this. Apparently Blakeney went for a 45' vertical. Any experts out there able to tell if this is accurate based on the linked pic?

https://twitter.com/LSUBasketball/status/623286218021679104/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

that very well could be a 45' Jump. thats crazy high. But again its hard to tell from a picture.

Actually i dont think that the recent combine numbers are that crazy. With modern practise,medicine etc Kids are faster,stronger and jump higher then even 10 years ago on average.

The last 2 or 3 years we have at least 1 Player per draft with a 44' Vert or above. that was not the case 10-15 years ago.

I think for Ben a 41'5 Vert is absolutly realistic considering he had the same Vert at the hoops summit. The speed numbers seem crazy thats true^^ But its easy to just dismiss them. They might aswell be true wich would mean Ben is propably just as fast as lebron in a full sprint. We dont know yet. But thats the exciting thing for me. getting hyped for what a exciting young Kid COULD become if all goes well.

[TheSuzerain]

I doubt Blakeny actually jumps 45". If he actually touched 45", it's probably because he sandbagged the initial stand and reach.

[No-Man]

Blakeney is a terrific athlete, I have no doubt that his vertical is somewhere along those lines, he is not the one I have doubts about.

[splendidham]

Why would you sandbag the stand and reach just so your vertical can look better? There is no point. He still jumps high. Scouts would be more interested in his length than his leap I'd have thought. No one wants to be classed as the dude with T-rex arms. Take 5 inches off his reach and he still jumps 40'


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[splendidham]

Blakeney is a terrific athlete, I have no doubt that his vertical is somewhere along those lines, he is not the one I have doubts about.

I just posted that because there were some casting doubts over LSUs testing. I don't doubt Blakeney jumped 45' either because that dude really bounces effortlessly. So why would LSUs testing be inconsistent?

Looks can be deceiving. Kevin Love posted a 35' max vert for crying out loud. So I wouldn't put it beyond Ben to have a max that betters that. Ben is very smooth rather than explosive. I think that camouflages his athletic ability somewhat. Plus, I've seen Ben have his vertical measured at 40+ on more than a few occasions.

I suppose having more than just a few guys post 40+ jumps is a bit hard to believe but it's not implausible. I don't doubt the vert testing in any case. Its the 3/4 court sprints and agility runs I have my doubts over. I figure that would be the easiest thing to screw up.




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[Waynearchetype]

Comparisons need to stay as quick and dirty estimations, instead of "this player will be exactly like this other player" because those never actually pan out. Don't think too long on these things, they aren't worth it.

That said, I really don't see him as physically imposing as Lebron. Even if you want to make comparisons about size/weight, he just doesn't play that way. That said, he is obviously athletic and big enough that I don't think NBA players will slow him down.

I'm guessing it will be like this: Simmons will as similar to Lebron as Chris Paul is to Westbrook. They're both fast, they both can score and assist a lot, but that is about where similarities end. Chris Paul is still athletic, but not a phenom like Westbrook. He plays more calculated, and is a better shooter, while Westbrooks elite athleticism makes up for for the discrepancies there. They both have different scoring styles, passing styles (Chris paul is going to thread the needle while Westbrook is going to beat you off the dribble then kick it out).

I don't think Simmons will be as good as Lebron, that is a long shot, but I think he can definitely be an All Star caliber player.

[TheGoodDoctor]

Grant Hill 2.0

[Zeitgeister]

The haters are just getting in their final jabs now , no biggie , in a few months after Ben's had a few games in the NCAA they will either disappear or be joining the bandwagoners telling us how their fav NBA team is either tanking or doing some whiz bang trade to get a shot at that no1 pick!

thanks nice to hear that i am not alone here^^

I think people are just nervous comparing him to Lebron because its a huge comparison.

But the thing is i dont know if Ben can ever be as good as Lebron. But to me it doesnt even matters. He is stylistically and with the combination of size,speed,strenght,athletism and BBIQ,Passing etc the closest thing to Lebron we had in 12 years. Thats enough for me. if he is quite as good is not the point. That he is the closest thing we've got is more than enough to excite me.

Also if and only if he truly has Kobe like mindset and will to win and work ethic does it even matter if he is only "Lebron lite" on paper?
Players with legendary work ethic usually overcome their weaknesses and exeed their expectations.

This is the problem with player comps. Too often you see a few things that are similar between two guys but you ignore the things that make them different or you ignore how big the gap is between their strengths and weaknesses in order to make the comp work. Even saying Ben is Lebron lite, you have to establish what that means exactly because even calling him that is probably far too high of a task to live up to.

[Undefeated]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SeanFarnham/status/655541652501585920[/tweet]

[splendidham]

He gets a reasonable height off the floor I suppose


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[NO-KG-AI]

He gets a reasonable height off the floor I suppose


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If he were 6'10, he'd need a 38" vertical to get his head at the rim. His head is a few inches below the rim there. That's probably not his best leap, but it's a far cry from 42 inches.

[Mattya]

Double post

[Mattya]

I'm not sure if I trust the LSU #s either, but you can't really judge based on a photo. To me, it looks like he probably took off of one foot. I'm guessing his max vert at the LSU combine was off 2 feet. He might still be going up to, or he could be coming down. The only thing you can tell is that when that picture was taking his head wasn't at the rim. It is also much different going for you max vert without a basketball in your hands.

Edit. Just saw the video. He isn't super high off one foot, but there really isn't anything you can take from this.

[TripleA1]

I saw him play live he is a one foot jumper and he is really fast in the open court and laterally.
He jumps high too at least a 36 inch vert

[splendidham]

[img]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/18/4ae193267a5322c1302044eea35cc1ea.jpg[/img]

He gets a reasonable height off the floor I suppose


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If he were 6'10, he'd need a 38" vertical to get his head at the rim. His head is a few inches below the rim there. That's probably not his best leap, but it's a far cry from 42 inches.

He tossed the ball to himself, caught it, put it through his legs and dunked. I would personally think there is a lot going on there to get a max jump. It would have to be a pretty straight forward dunk to get your head up to the basket wouldn't it?


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[NO-KG-AI]

I just responded because it seemed like a snarky response to the peoplea that were disputing a 41+ inch vertical, and it's shown nothing. We've seen guys that can hardly crack 30" do the between the legs dunks.

Ben is obviously a great athlete. I'd be pretty worried if he couldn't do that dunk.

[crazy_me_87]

Found his Highlights from the latest LSU scrimmage.
The Passes are unreal.. this is Magic/Lebron quality playmaking right there.
didnt look to score at all but had a nice dunk at the end and one nice post move.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLX6seHH-zQ

the commentator said something like "Ben has an amazing self awareness that allows him to exactly know ho good he is and this allows him to be unselfish because he knows if needed he can get his easily"

[Marcus]

the commentator said something like "Ben has an amazing self awareness that allows him to exactly know ho good he is and this allows him to be unselfish because he knows if needed he can get his easily"

this is the part i'm waiting to see. outside of his jumper i think this is the most important question he'll need to answer. If he can prove all-season (or at the very least in the biggest games when his team needs it) that he can just turn it on and get his and be that killer on the court then the "potential" of the other kids projected for the top spot no longer matters.

[Upperclass]

Nothing in that video was impressive imo. Has above average vision for his height/position, but he made some basic plays and his teammates were making shots. He's a talent.. but he is more Lamar Odom, than he is anywhere near LeBron or Magic. He also has an average handle and what appears to be average quickness.

[Aintnohater]

Why do I keep hearing that Skal Libissiere or w.e his name is gonna go number 1 in next years draft? Then I see you guys saying Ben simmons will go number 1...I just dont see what is so special about Ben and how you guys can even try comparing him to Lebron lol...Best comparison is definitely Lamar Odom. I see him averaging stats around 17,8,5 like lamar with a couple of steals and blocks.