Positive takeaways from the 2015-16 season

[rsavaj]

Here we are yet again not making the playoffs but what are some of the positive things to take away from this season.



5.) Eric Bledsoe - It sucks that he got injured because he was becoming the leader of the team and that started over the summer. He was having an incredible season racking up stats that not many other players can do. Really hopeful that he comes back healthy next season.

Bledsoe was having a good season when he went down, but I would not call it "incredible." The only major difference in his numbers was that he shot the ball from the field a lot more than ever before, thus bumping his scoring average into the 20-points per game range. Otherwise, he was basically the same guy statistically that he had been in the past: the same type of field goal percentage, the same average of free throw attempts, the same average of assists and the same awful assists-to-turnover ratio (awful for a starting point guard, at least).

Bledsoe's offensive skill level (ball-handling, passing, shooting) did seem to have improved. Unfortunately, his judgment had not improved, meaning that his level of statistical value remained static.

Bledsoe could be a really valuable player on the right roster, but he is analogous to a talented pitcher in baseball who is more a "thrower" than a "pitcher." Like many other "point guards" around the NBA these days (Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, Brandon Knight), Bledsoe spent just one year in college and is thus, years into his NBA career, still learning how to try and function as a point guard and how to play the game offensively beyond sheer talent. He would be more viable as a building block with a passing forward such as Draymond Green to complement him.

Maybe "incredible" wasn't the correct wording, perhaps "surprising" fits better. I was overall surprised by his demeanor coming into the season. I felt like he was really focused but became fatigued and distraught with the MoBros drama as the season progressed. I thought he was also more vocal during games and showed more emotions but maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention to him the years before.
If we got lucky enough to get the top two pick, do you feel like Simmons would be the perfect player for Bledsoe to play with?

I think Simmons is the perfect fit for this roster. He/Bledsoe/Booker would make an excellent trio going forward.

[GMATCallahan]

Maybe "incredible" wasn't the correct wording, perhaps "surprising" fits better. I was overall surprised by his demeanor coming into the season. I felt like he was really focused but became fatigued and distraught with the MoBros drama as the season progressed. I thought he was also more vocal during games and showed more emotions but maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention to him the years before.
If we got lucky enough to get the top two pick, do you feel like Simmons would be the perfect player for Bledsoe to play with?

They would need some time to gel, and Bledsoe would need to accept having the ball in his hands less, but Simmons is the kind of player that a team would probably need to thrive with Bledsoe. The latter is an athletic all-around guard who can both score and defend, but he is not someone who should try to control the offense in the manner of, say, Kevin Johnson, Steve Nash, or Chris Paul. Your offense just will not be efficient enough that way. But if Bledsoe is allowed to function more as a "guard" than a "point guard," which is what could happen with Simmons, his weaknesses could be minimized and his assets could be maximized.

[saintEscaton]

Maybe "incredible" wasn't the correct wording, perhaps "surprising" fits better. I was overall surprised by his demeanor coming into the season. I felt like he was really focused but became fatigued and distraught with the MoBros drama as the season progressed. I thought he was also more vocal during games and showed more emotions but maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention to him the years before.
If we got lucky enough to get the top two pick, do you feel like Simmons would be the perfect player for Bledsoe to play with?

They would need some time to gel, and Bledsoe would need to accept having the ball in his hands less, but Simmons is the kind of player that a team would probably need to thrive with Bledsoe. The latter is an athletic all-around guard who can both score and defend, but he is not someone who should try to control the offense in the manner of, say, Kevin Johnson, Steve Nash, or Chris Paul. Your offense just will not be efficient enough that way. But if Bledsoe is allowed to function more as a "guard" than a "point guard," which is what could happen with Simmons, his weaknesses could be minimized and his assets could be maximized.

Bledsoe drasticallly improved his pull up jumper and was stroking it from deep(albeit on a small likely unsustainable sample size) but he isn't much of a cutter or spot up shooter, he tends to fall asleep off the ball. Same applies to Simmons who would be more of a secondary playmaker ala Diaw who racks up most of his assists in transition

[GMATCallahan]

They would need some time to gel, and Bledsoe would need to accept having the ball in his hands less, but Simmons is the kind of player that a team would probably need to thrive with Bledsoe. The latter is an athletic all-around guard who can both score and defend, but he is not someone who should try to control the offense in the manner of, say, Kevin Johnson, Steve Nash, or Chris Paul. Your offense just will not be efficient enough that way. But if Bledsoe is allowed to function more as a "guard" than a "point guard," which is what could happen with Simmons, his weaknesses could be minimized and his assets could be maximized.

Bledsoe drasticallly improved his pull up jumper and was stroking it from deep(albeit on a small likely unsustainable sample size) but he isn't much of a cutter or spot up shooter, he tends to fall asleep off the ball. Same applies to Simmons who would be more of a secondary playmaker ala Diaw who racks up most of his assists in transition

Bledsoe is not a "shooting guard," either. He would still be a ball-handling guard and the leading one at that, but the idea would be to function more interchangeably as part of a more fluid offense, as in '13-'14 with him and Dragic.

With his athleticism and strength, Bledsoe should be better as a cutter, and hopefully he would improve if encouraged in that direction.

But to your last point, Simmons' versatility and transition playmaking would allow Bledsoe to fill lanes more often and enable the Suns to be more potent on the break and in transition, thus masking some of their half-court weaknesses.