The future of Australian Basketball feat. Thon Maker

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didaksrightfoot

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Wow thats a very harsh article. None of it is particularly new but it kind of ignores all of his strengths and paints a very bleak one-sided picture.

Other than the question of shooting, the rest really comes down to attitude and intensity, and it will be up to scouts to determine what is behind that: is it something inherent in Simmons, or was it a response to playing in a team that was utlising him poorly and other players not stepping up, all in the context of intense media scrutiny.

And call me cynical, or biased, but much of this season from Ben seems to be very much flavoured by his relationship with Lebron - the superstar who from day 1 has always been more concerned about his legacy and brand rather than necessarily his production on the court. (and a guy who seemed to take forever to decide to work on the 'flaws' in his game)
 

splendidham

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It does paint a very good picture but that's been DX's prerogative recently. There are also two videos on their website highlighting where he gave up in games, plus Givony's recent tweets labeling Ben a disgrace and such. He really lost me at "his Aussie teammates/coaches don't even like him". That's not an exact quote obviously. I'd love to hear some response from his Aussie teammates. Seems like Givony was really reaching there


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Happy Mastenator

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He wouldn't be saying that without some backing. It's not difficult to imagine that there might be a disconnect between bens peers in the Aussie set up and Ben given he's been in the national (American) conversation for a while now, which would be a completely different experience to them. Having said that the senior team seem to be more on board (see boguts comments on Simmons podcast).

Wiggins had similar questions regarding drive and he's been fine since in the NBA. It's hard to know how much of an impact playing on such a bad, and badly coached team, has had on him in that regards.
 

splendidham

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May be the case but he's basing it on a rumor, probably second or third hand even at that . It would be a pretty Aussie thing to do to hope for the failure of one of our own rising stars though. His peers should be excited for him rather than resenting him for taking a different path

Edit* obviously not all Aussies


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Happy Mastenator

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May be the case but he's basing it on a rumor, probably second or third hand even at that . It would be a pretty Aussie thing to do to hope for the failure of one of our own rising stars though. His peers should be excited for him rather than resenting him for taking a different path

Edit* obviously not all Aussies


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He's well connected with the youth teams, he'd be reflecting something that was based in reality.
 

PVF

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I read a few months ago that a few players in the Australian team aren't fans of him due to his attitude.

Think it might be a cultural thing, Ben has been in America for quite awhile now.
 

splendidham

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Anyway, DX has also moved Ben from number 1 to number 2 on their mock. Keep in mind, Ingram who has been moved to number 1, has shot around 35% from the field over his last 10 or so games. DX was also very quick to install Skal Labissiere as number 1 last year after he put up a nice couple of days at the summit. Not entirely sure they've ever liked Ben.


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djrossie

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I read a few months ago that a few players in the Australian team aren't fans of him due to his attitude.

Think it might be a cultural thing, Ben has been in America for quite awhile now.
Is that the Boomers boys or former junior teams? I'd be surprised if any of our better players had a problem. Guys like Mills, Delly and Bogut are used to all this and have seen it all.
 

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Beutbrute

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Anyway, DX has also moved Ben from number 1 to number 2 on their mock. Keep in mind, Ingram who has been moved to number 1, has shot around 35% from the field over his last 10 or so games. DX was also very quick to install Skal Labissiere as number 1 last year after he put up a nice couple of days at the summit. Not entirely sure they've ever liked Ben.


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I'd love to see how Ingram would have gone if he was the one playing for LSU this year.
 

splendidham

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Is that the Boomers boys or former junior teams? I'd be surprised if any of our better players had a problem. Guys like Mills, Delly and Bogut are used to all this and have seen it all.
I'd be surprised too. Most of what I've seen from the youth side is kids aspiring to take the same pathway after seeing his success.

Regarding the senior team, these are guys who, if they are in anyway professional, would have dealt with plenty of egos in their experiences. If they couldn't handle it, I'd be thinking they must be a little soft. And what kind of a nickname is "the yank"? Not only is it slightly derogatory, I'd be questioning who are the immature ones if it were the case.

I don't blame him for skipping class either. Seen plenty of tweets from LSU students calling him out as a douche because he didn't want to sign their precious memorabilia while he's trying to enjoy a meal at a cafe or something. Visit the LSU tigerdroppings board and you'll see how nasty they can be about him. If I had to deal with that every day, I'd probably consider skipping class too


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TheGreatBarryB

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Well Bill Simmons is in his corner. Interesting comments about learning to shoot and that he may be better off is he doesn't go No 1 .....

ONE of America’s most powerful sports media voices has come out swinging in defence of Australian basketball prospect Ben Simmons.

The NBA-bound youngster has been pilloried by US draft analysts in recent weeks but Bill Simmons — the former ESPN media heavyweight who is set to launch his new site The Ringer — defended Simmons in a discussion with author Chuck Klosterman on his podcast.

Asked by Klosterman if he was “kind of off” the Simmons bandwagon after his disappointing finish to the college basketball season, Bill Simmons wasn’t budging.

“No, I’m still on. I’m riding. I’m in the front row. Everybody can f*** off. I’m all in on Ben Simmons still,” he said.

The most frequent criticism of Simmons relates to his outside shooting and lack of aggression. Bill Simmons wasn’t concerned about Simmons only attempting three three-pointers all season for LSU, noting San Antonio Spurs Star Kawhi Leonard — who is second in the NBA in three-point percentage — only hit a quarter of his long-range attempts in college.

“I think if you’re talented and if you care and you just trap yourself in a gym, you can learn how to shoot unless your shot is just so fundamentally broken,” Bill Simmons said.

“Even (former Spurs 3-and-D specialist) Bruce Bowen taught himself how to shoot. I watched Bruce Bowen in Celtics games for two years in the late 90s and the guy couldn’t hit the side of the backboard ...

“I don’t care that he can’t shoot yet, he’s going to learn how to shoot.”

Simmons did believe Simmons was passive in some games — particularly in a marquee match-up against Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield — and questioned his decision to go to LSU.

But he also believed he suffered from poor coaching and being on a bad team.

“I just felt bad for him,” he said. “You could see it early on in the season, the team wasn’t talented and he was way ahead of them from a hoops IQ standpoint. And the coach is just a bad coach.”

The former Grantland editor put forward an interesting theory about the draft, arguing it might be better for Simmons’ future if he was overlooked for the first pick — like Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant.

“The best thing that could ever happen to this guy is if he doesn’t go first. If he goes second, I think that is the thing he needs,” Bill Simmons said.

“If you love Ben Simmons — and I’m still a believer and I’m still in the front row — the best thing that will happen to him is if (Duke star) Brandon Ingram has four good games in this tournament. Or if the Utah centre, who I really like, Jakob Poeltl, if one of those guys goes nuts.

“It was great for Durant. I think it was awesome for him. And Jordan.”

Philadelphia, LA Lakers, Phoenix, Boston and Minnesota are the five NBA teams with the best chance of landing the number one pick in the draft lottery.

Bill Simmons believes Boston and Minnesota — who have other talented young players — are the best fit for the Aussie.

“The better the teammates are the better he’s going to be because he’s such a good passer and he doesn’t care if he shoots 20 times, he’s the guy that’s going to fit in,” he said.

“So if he goes with Towns and Wiggins or if he’s on the Celtics with Isiah as the crunch time guy and Brad Stevens, it could be an awesome situation.

“If he goes to Philly as the ‘number one pick/saviour’ — I think that’s dangerous.”

Simmons received savage criticism on The Vertical on Tuesday as draft expert Jonathan Givony questioned his character.

But on the same website today Chris Mannix suggested some of the criticism of Simmons was nitpicking.

“I still think Ben Simmons is the number overall pick in the draft,” Mannix said on his podcast. “Every college scout that I talk to says all these negative things about Simmons — he’s not aggressive enough, doesn’t play physical enough, doesn’t want the ball at the end of games. But then they end that discussion with ‘but I’d still take him number one’. As improved as Brandon Ingram is this year, I don’t think he’s done anywhere near enough to eclipse Ben Simmons as the number one pick.”

http://www.news.com.au/sport/americ...f/news-story/7d28bc836bfe9945a53693476b63381d
 

splendidham

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Certainly some rubbish articles coming out today. How's this for a headline. "Brandon Ingram saved Duke and proved he's a better NBA prospect than Ben Simmons". So 10+ games leading up to this one of sub 35% shooting, plays one decent game against a team I've not even heard of and suddenly he's outright number 1 lol. Writer even suggests that this game changed many people's minds about BI. Wander who told him that directly. Lot of people looking for anything to prove they are smarter than the average bear so they can say "I told you so" yet again.
I tend to agree that the best thing that could happen for Ben is going 2nd. I think he's the kind of guy who would take it to heart and it could light a fire under him. Also, although it would be cool to see him under Brett Brown, I think Ben would probably fit best with Boston, Pheonix or even the lakers. Him and Russell could be like Steph and Draymond down the road


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Happy Mastenator

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Certainly some rubbish articles coming out today. How's this for a headline. "Brandon Ingram saved Duke and proved he's a better NBA prospect than Ben Simmons". So 10+ games leading up to this one of sub 35% shooting, plays one decent game against a team I've not even heard of and suddenly he's outright number 1 lol. Writer even suggests that this game changed many people's minds about BI. Wander who told him that directly. Lot of people looking for anything to prove they are smarter than the average bear so they can say "I told you so" yet again.
I tend to agree that the best thing that could happen for Ben is going 2nd. I think he's the kind of guy who would take it to heart and it could light a fire under him. Also, although it would be cool to see him under Brett Brown, I think Ben would probably fit best with Boston, Pheonix or even the lakers. Him and Russell could be like Steph and Draymond down the road


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There's always talk like this, Ingram will get love, Ben will be criticized, and when the draft comes Ben will go number 1.
 

Happy Mastenator

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Also of note the advanced stats don't like Ingram that much because free throw shooting is a better indicator of long term 3 point shooting ability and his is ordinary and doesn't match his three point shooting this year.
 
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