WaltLongmire wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:

callmened wrote:i know ben simmons has been hyped to be the #1 pick and savior. but he cant even save his (talented) LSU team from a 16-12 record and NIT bid

Also screwing up in his classes:

bleacherreport.com
Ben Simmons Benched for Academic Reasons
Alec Nathan

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

LSU Tigers freshman forward Ben Simmons was benched for the first four minutes, 30 seconds of his team's game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday afternoon for academic reasons, according to ESPN's Sarah Hart.

"Academic matter, there are some academic things he needs to take care of," LSU head coach Johnny Jones said on the ESPNU broadcast, per DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony. "This is how we're dealing with it"

While the punishment was hardly severe, it should serve as a wake-up call for Simmons as the Tigers try to scratch their way into the NCAA tournament.

Simmons has been the lifeblood of LSU all season long, but his heroics have been able to carry the team only so far.

During a standout freshman season that's seen him average 19.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game prior to Saturday, the phenom has helped lift LSU to wins over the likes of Kentucky and Texas A&M while pushing previously top-ranked Oklahoma in a tight two-point contest.

That said, LSU has some ugly losses on its resume—including defeats at the hands of Alabama, Wake Forest and Houston.

Considering the Tigers have struggled to gain any semblance of consistency in the win column with Simmons active, it's hard to imagine what would happen if he were to be punished further.

For Simmons' sake and the program's, hopefully Saturday served as a minor shock to his system.

What does it tell you when a guy can't even give you a season of effort in the classroom as a prelude to making millions as the potential #1 pick?

He is also a guy who has been known to play with reduced intensity at times during games, and is someone who, despite all his talent, has still not learned to shoot with accuracy from the outside- something that takes a little more commitment and dedication to achieve.

He'll be a good player he's got a lot of physical talent not overly concerned about his school work his team w or l. I just came to conclusion so far that the 2 stud guards have higher valuation and Ingram can shoot from long range so I feel definitive skills there I think Simmons upside is Blake griffin and he will still probably go first the draft gets choppy after 4 it's beauty of the beholder poetl has been really good and could be 5

Character issues...frustration issues...and one of the worst outside shooters we've seen in a long time.

My gut feeling is that he will not live up to the hype.

...And why not look at W/L record? If he was to lead the team to a national title it would be looked at in a positive way...why not take him to task if he can't lead a decent group of players into the Sweet 16 or Elite 8?

Maybe his issues come from having an immature character- something he can grow out of, or perhaps he's just a guy who gets by with a lot of talent but without a great heart, but these are things you look at when evaluating a player who might be the top pick in the draft.

He plays on a bad team. If he was on Kentucky there would be no conversation other than his long range shooting. Hes probably going to go 1 and he does look an awful lot like Blake Griffin but is that a winning type player?

BRIGGS wrote:I looked at a few Bender tapes today.
Hes nothing like KP--KP is much more advanced with basketball skills--hes a basketball player.
Bender is a good looking athlete who can dribble and pass. I see no evidence of any offensive game--but being 7-1 athletic is a skill and he seems to me he could be a fine NBA role player --maybe a guy who plays C on a team like GS or Atlanta. Guy who can rebound start the break and finish opportunistically but I don't think hes an NBA lottery pick right now. Again at 7-1 his skills could develop and being 7-1 coordinated with ballhandling skills passing skills alone --theres room for that on any team.

Any talk about him being injured?

Watched Simmons play against Arkansas- they have a lot of full games on YouTube. Second time I've seen him.

Took one outside shot from the corner, and not only was it off line, but it missed the basket entirely.

Nice ball handler, and sees the court well, but lots of turnovers, too. Missed the rim by about a foot on a FT, too, and just hit the rim on another.

I'm just not that impressed with him at this point-but I will watch some more games. He would have been a later lottery pick in this past draft...glad we got to draft this year and not next.

WaltLongmire wrote:
His stats are very poor this year and he has not played many minutes...I would actually stay out a year like KP did, if I was him, but I have no idea how next year's draft class looks. Any talk about him being injured?

- ILL ANSWER IN CAPS. BENDER MIGHT NOT HAVE THE UPSIDE OF PORZINGUS BUT HES VERY TALENTED. HE DEF NEEDS TO COME OUT IN THE DRAFT BECAUSE THIS CLASS IS WEAK COMPARED TO NEXT YR'S 2017 DRAFT WHICH IS FILLED WITH AMARE 2.0 POWER FORWARDS

Watched Simmons play against Arkansas- they have a lot of full games on YouTube. Second time I've seen him.

Took one outside shot from the corner, and not only was it off line, but it missed the basket entirely.

Nice ball handler, and sees the court well, but lots of turnovers, too. Missed the rim by about a foot on a FT, too, and just hit the rim on another.

I'm just not that impressed with him at this point-but I will watch some more games. He would have been a later lottery pick in this past draft...glad we got to draft this year and not next.

- TALENTED PLAYER WHO IS A ONE MAN FAST BREAK. HOWEVER IN THE HALF COURT, HIS LACK OF SHOOTING AND POST UP GAME MAKES HIM USELESS. HE NEEDS TO BE ON THE RIGHT TEAM TO GET THE MOST OF HIS ABILITIES. ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU INSERT INGRAM AT SF ON ANY TEAM AND YOU HAVE A SOLID WING FOR THE NEXT DECADE

Finestrg wrote:Yogi Ferrell just had 27 against Illinois. Game was close at the half, then Indy just blew it open in the 2nd half..I really like that kid a lot for us--he could be another Kyle Lowry, better maybe.. Everything I'd like our next PG to be..He's tremendous value somewhere in the 2nd round and you figure there's a good possibility Phil can grab a 2nd rounder somewhere. Here's hoping this kid's on our radar.

Yogis a good 3 point shooter and could be a capable back up pg-- energy off the bench. What I like about Felder Valentine and Ullis is their passing abilities. They make other players better they are all big time willing passers. We have some infrastructure in place with Kp Lopez Oquinn-- imagine these guys getting kp tons of easy looks? Felder is a jet with the ball-- if he was 2-3 inches taller hd be a runaway pick 1. I like the possibility of using a multi pg system --if we trade carmelo my hope for the draft would be Valentine Felder Allen with one of Bryn Forbes or Brogdon. Like Ulis to but I would not aqcuire 2 small guards. I like the 4 guards and can see all of them in a 10 man rotation within 2 years and possibly right away

This is kind of how Boston rebuilt their team and why it worked so fast but we have the bigs on place that Boston does not. Do NOT need Carmelo going 4 wRd

callmened wrote:they have 3 first rd draft picks, 5 2nd rd draft picks. the 3 first rd draft picks are in the D league now cuz theres no room for them. so ainge needs to trade those picks. but do you really think melo will waive his NTC to go to boston. lol. dude is from west baltimore, brookyn ny...you think he wants to live in boston. lol

I just hope the 3-team/4-team deals are revisited in the off-season--i.e. the one where Boston may be involved where they get Blake Griffin, Melo goes to the LAC to team up with his boy Paul (I can see him waiving the NTC for this), and we get a couple of decent young players/expiring contracts/a couple of picks. Something like that... To me, it's one side or the other with Melo--keep him or trade him. Nothing personal with him--he's been a great player, a bit immature/moody for me at times and not much of a leader at all but I've usually been able to look past it. Unfortunately, I come down on the latter side and it all boils down to projecting his health and how long he can remain a top player--I don't feel good about either. I just feel if we could grab a couple of good assets for him before he falls apart, it's the way to go. That's the only way I can see coming close to getting all of these picks. Otherwise, he'll be back and we'll need find other ways to add more talent.

If I had to guess, Melo will be back. Remaining hopeful as far as adding all these draft picks and high profile FAs, but if Phil could do the following bare minimum, I'd be happy (keeping it realistic):

• If we could add a high 2nd round pick and draft Yogi Ferrell, I'd be ecstatic. I think this dude's vastly underrated and a future starting PG in the NBA. With Ferrell/Grant (who I'm still high on--he just needs to build confidence and keep improving/developing), the future at the point would suddenly seem much brighter. I'd be fine with Ferrell/Grant/Travis Trice as my 3 PGs for next yr, although I understand Calderon probably won't be stretched and may very well still be here. Personally, I think the only way Calderon is stretched is if we get 100% assurance Durant's in the bag (which ain't happening)...I don't want Mike Conley Jr. This guy's gonna want top dollar and he just isn't a top dollar player. Not to me anyway.. I also still like Darren Collison as a vet PG trade target. This guy would be a good solid pickup if we didn't have to give up too much. Better contract than Jeff Teague, doesn't have the baggage Ty Lawson has. Otherwise, I'd like to see more of a commitment toward youth/upside at the point next year.

• Sign Willy H. If he really is anything like Luis Scola, again -- ECSTATIC. That would be a big improvement over Seraphin (who I still like, but whatever--he's never gonna get a legit shot here) and probably over KOQ as well.

• Improve the SG spot. Listen, at a bare minimum, even if we resigned AA and added a capable backup (again, I like Terrico White or Sean Kilpatrick here. Also like TA a lot--sometimes it's more than sheer numbers to determine a guy's value. I want this dude to get a shot. I understand TA's not perfect but I love what he brings to the table), I'll be OK with that. I even think there are minor deals we could look into around the league to get better here as well (call up DET about Spencer Dinwiddie; call up Portland about Pat Connaughton, etc.). I don't think this is a position we need to throw a ton of money at in order to improve.

• Further on TA -- interested in Thanasis to take over Lance Thomas' spot possibly if we wind up losing LT in FA.

• Interested in adding Jordan Bachynski as a legit backup 5-man.

So yeah, even if we can't add 3-4 1st round picks and wind up striking out on the Durants, the Batums, Conley Jr., etc. in FA, I'd still be happy with these moves.. These improvements are my floor--no reason why we couldn't at least put these players in place. Tells me even with minimal tinkering, we can get better...Hopefully Phil could surprise us and do even better but these would be good fortifying moves to get better. Setting my bar on the low side I guess. Just don't wanna set it too high and then be let down. We've all been down that road too many times with this team, I can't even count anymore..

BRIGGS wrote:At pick 1 pass on Jamal Murray at your own risk. I've seen both Ingram and Simmons a lot and Murray is clearly better than both. He doesn't have the athletism of jaylen brown but I think he's clear number 1 pick no brained in my book

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