Minnesota Sports Forum

As the year goes on I keep feeling more and more that Simmons is the second coming of Beasley. Not that he has the same problems, but will have the same type of career. Time will tell. Looking back though Beasley was a beast in college.

While I know that basketball is a team sport, it is a huge concern that a guy of Simmons reputation couldn't pull his team into the tournament. Now I haven't watched a single LSU game, are they that terrible?

Skal's lack of rebounding is almost disqualifying. He has a nice stroke and he is a good shot blocker, but having a big who doesn't rebound is concerning.

In Simmons' defense, arguably his best talent right now is passing the basketball, which means that you're putting a whole lot of trust in your teammates to make shots. I wonder if he would have looked to do more with the ball himself in terms of scoring if that would have helped the team more. His team was also pretty rough defensively, he contributed to this a bit, and didn't have much help offensively either (no real PG).

Not trying to make excuses for him, but his situation wasn't as comfortably set up as it would have been at Kentucky or Kansas where they had more talent. Much harder to make tourney with that LSU team and its coaching.

I still really like Simmons as a prospect despite him missing out on March Madness. Overall, he had a really nice season.

Any concerns about his non-basketball skill set? Demeanor/etc

Camden wrote:In Simmons' defense, arguably his best talent right now is passing the basketball, which means that you're putting a whole lot of trust in your teammates to make shots. I wonder if he would have looked to do more with the ball himself in terms of scoring if that would have helped the team more. His team was also pretty rough defensively, he contributed to this a bit, and didn't have much help offensively either (no real PG).

Not trying to make excuses for him, but his situation wasn't as comfortably set up as it would have been at Kentucky or Kansas where they had more talent. Much harder to make tourney with that LSU team and its coaching.

I still really like Simmons as a prospect despite him missing out on March Madness. Overall, he had a really nice season.

Cam do you know what else changed in LSU other than Simmons from last year? I believe they made NCAA tournament last year without him, i expected so much more from them .. i am not expert of college basketball though :-)

m4gor wrote:

Camden wrote:In Simmons' defense, arguably his best talent right now is passing the basketball, which means that you're putting a whole lot of trust in your teammates to make shots. I wonder if he would have looked to do more with the ball himself in terms of scoring if that would have helped the team more. His team was also pretty rough defensively, he contributed to this a bit, and didn't have much help offensively either (no real PG).

Not trying to make excuses for him, but his situation wasn't as comfortably set up as it would have been at Kentucky or Kansas where they had more talent. Much harder to make tourney with that LSU team and its coaching.

I still really like Simmons as a prospect despite him missing out on March Madness. Overall, he had a really nice season.

Cam do you know what else changed in LSU other than Simmons from last year? I believe they made NCAA tournament last year without him, i expected so much more from them .. i am not expert of college basketball though :-)

Their head coach is terrible and took advantage of an NBA frontcourt last year to make the tourney. They had no rim protection this year and had some problems rebounding as well which is what both Mickey and Martin were good at. Honestly it didn't work this year because a combination of things, but the two big ones were the defense fell apart with a new frontcourt and Simmons couldn't dominate offensively because he couldn't shoot which would have opened everything up to work better. It's just hard having a primary ball handler who can't shoot especially in college when it's easier to pack the paint.

m4gor wrote:

Camden wrote:

m4gor wrote:guys can you tell me if there was top1 pick not playing March tournament before? (not counting high school and international kids obviously) ..

Not since 1980. No. 1 overall pick Joe Barry Carroll from Purdue. Thanks for asking that, m4gor.

Thanks for your research Cam. Yea i thought that number1 guys should be at least able to get their team into tournament no matter what basically, esp. Simmons who should be able to run whole NBA offense

m4gor,
See bold. You have made this statement a couple times about Simmons. You do realize he is a 6'10" PF, correct? While he has superb handles and dribbling capability for anyone over 6'6", he will NOT be asked to run an NBA offense. Not sure where this is coming from.

While on subject, Cam made a point about why he may have struggled a bit to get team into tourney. Simmons is a very well rounded offensive player. As stated, he has supreme handles and also showed to be a very willing and creative passer. Those skills, along with being a great rebounder, are probably his top assets at the moment. He is a good scorer as well, but he did not always show that killer scorer mentality. His team was poor, and he looked to facilitate often, with little to show. I don't hold that against him. He could have chosen to hog the ball and jack up unwarranted shots, but the games I saw, he continued to keep teammates involved. I haven't noticed a passive side to Simmons....he just might not be a #1 scoring option at the next level. With everything else he brings, I don't see any red flags here.

bleedspeed177 wrote:As the year goes on I keep feeling more and more that Simmons is the second coming of Beasley. Not that he has the same problems, but will have the same type of career. Time will tell. Looking back though Beasley was a beast in college.

To be fair, it wasn't ever Beasley's skillset that stopped him from becoming a great player in the NBA. It was Beasley's makeup that stopped him from succeeding. He was successful early in his career with many facets of the game, but he couldn't seem to get out of his own way mentally to make it all work.

BTW, he is showing some life in his 6 games with Houston. 12 ppg (15 in last 4), 52% FG with almost 5 rpg in only 15 mpg....wish we could get Wiggins to rebound like this. I have always thought that he might be a player that succeeds at an older age in the NBA. He is still only 27. His brain and maturity just needed MUCH more time to catch up to his skills on the court.

I just don't see the same personality problems with Simmons. Anything is possible, but their character and makeup feel very different to me. We shall see...

bleedspeed177 wrote:As the year goes on I keep feeling more and more that Simmons is the second coming of Beasley. Not that he has the same problems, but will have the same type of career. Time will tell. Looking back though Beasley was a beast in college.

Yeah, I have no interest in Simmons. I realize if we get a top 2 pick and he's available, we need to take him. But I'd immediately get on the phone and shop him. I also think similar to Beasley, Simmons' physical gifts will stand out less at the next level.