Simmons is the more valuable player right now. That is almost certain.
But I'd like for someone to name me the last all-time great big man who was as bad a defender as he is.
You'd think the fans of the franchise that won titles with Russell, Cowens, Parrish, McHale, and KG would realize this.
ESPN can run highlight reels of his dunks all day long, but the concerns about Simmons are legit. Soft players tend to stay soft. And soft players don't lead teams to championships.
Who are the soft players in the league besides kevin love?
Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki were soft players. I seem to recall a number of championships from those two guys.
Of course I have no idea why anyone would call Simmons soft.
LOL. Simmons is soft because he plays soft, Watch some tape, he doesn't compete on defense. He gets passive when faced with real opposition. He's all about the stats. But by all means, believe the hype. ESPN loves it.
Pau was a good defender in his prime. He was long with good timing. Simmons has a long way to go to sniff that level.
Yes, Dirk is soft. So you got me there. But of the dozens of historically great big men only a couple were bad defenders like Simmons. It's a really bad sign if you're expecting a legit superstar. Simmons will never be as good as Novitzky offensively, BTW. Not enough polish, too many holes. His shooting and lack of true post scoring could kill his ability to became the offensively transcendent player who can overcome his defensive deficiencies.
And I don't see the killer instinct the great players have. A lot of bling, not much fire. Doesn't sound like a recipe for a champion to me, unless he's riding someone else's coattails.
I don't see any evidence to suggest Simmons lacks defensive 'talent' - any question marks usually revolve around motor and effort rather then natural ability. Pretty much every scouting report I've seen states that he has very high upside as a defender thanks to his overall combination of height, length, strength, vertical and mobility. I don't see any signs suggesting he lacks potential on that end IF he was bothered to put in the effort.
Bosh
Dirk
Durant
Griffin
Amare
Aldridge
Al Jefferson
Carmelo (played a lot at the PF spot)
Just a handful of big men off the top of my head who have been legitimate stars (and in some cases superstars) despite not being especially good (or aggressive) defenders.
I'm sure I could come up with many more if I were to sit and think longer about it.
Simmons for a big man is an elite athlete, an elite passer, an elite ball handler, an elite rebounder, has elite defensive versatility, elite basketball IQ and is an elite rim runner.
He is a post game and a jump shot away from being one of the most dominate offensive players of this generation. If he adds those tools he will be utterly indefensible, and at 19 years of age there's nothing to suggest he wont.
Worst case he develops into a rich man's Lamar Odom / Toni Kukoc - that's a pretty darn good floor. Best case he developes into a poor man's (yes, I said poor mans - just to avoid flam wars) version of Magic Johnson.
Jaylen Brown's best case is probably Dominique Wilkins, his 'average' case is probably Gerald Wallace, and his worst case is something like a Michael Kidd Gilchrist. Still pretty good scenarios, but neither his ceiling nor his floor are as high as Simmons.
Basically the only way Brown becomes better is if Simmons never exceeds his floor, and Brown reaches his absolute ceiling. It's possible, but unlikely.
I don't doubt Simmons has a great chance at making multiple all-star teams. But I don't see a true two-way superstar in the making here.
The fact Simmons' effort level is already in question should speak for itself. Yes, he has plenty of room to grow. I don't see that as a positive, as his effort and defensive IQ are the reasons he is mediocre on D in the first place. With the all-time greats you don't need to question their effort. They're just wired that way.
I guess there's some small chance he'll be Scottie Pippen or LeBron James on D.
But I think he's more from the Amare Stoudemire and Blake Griffin School of Defense. The real glory is at the offensive end, right? Running the break, throwing down monster dunks. Getting on ESPN.
As for your list, Bosh is a good defender. We learned that firsthand watching him against the Celtics. So scratch him.
The rest of those guys are not, it's arguably a list of underachievers (Btw don't be surprised if the LaMarcus Aldridge era in San Antonio is a little disappointing). They have one championship among them (Dirk, who is terrific and transcendent). Aside from Dirk they also aren't all-time great players, a point which was essential to my critique of Simmons in the first place. Almost all of the all-time great big men were good-to-great defenders. I don't see that type of defensive fire in Simmons.
here's my list of all-time greats, all except Dirk and Barkley were at least good defenders IMO, and Barkley was very physical.
Russell
Chamberlain
Kareem
Walton
Moses
McHale
Barkley
Olajuwon
Robinson
Karl Malone
Ewing
Shaq
Duncan
KG
Dirk
Davis (jury is still out)
Topic: anybody else glad we have jaylen over simmons (Read 28204 times)