jaylens shooting was more than acceptable in his celtic workouts-outside of the obvious bias as a celtic fan
This is true, and I do concur that his shooting in pre-draft workouts is promising, and a big reason why I am allowing myself to become somewhat excited about his potential.
,i thought jaylen the perfect fit for boston not only athletically but because of its wealth of academia
While I do respect it (hard to find intelligent players these days) I really don't see how Brown's academic success has any real impact on his ability to fit the Celtics as a basketball player.
jaylen will thrive with brad and ainge and fit perfectly with smart ,crowder,rozier and the defensive identity
he will appreciate the history of russell and red and all the hall of famers and aspire to join them in the rafters
he will be a teammate and will not have his eyes on LA or NYC for their markets when it comes time to test free agency
This is all conjecture - all assumptions.
We really don't know how he's going to fit in yet, nor do we know how he's going to respond to the "Celtics history".
We also don't know where his loyalties will lie 3 or 4 years from now.
-there was just something smug about simmons after he made a skillful pass after having too many turnovers or jaylens two blocks the last sending simmons off with cramp
and simmons coming out and using excuse he hadn't played since feb
-and why didn't he do workouts or come to league in shape or respond to jaylens challenge of a workout against him-
Lets keep this one simple.
The reason players work out for teams in the draft, is to prove their ability. To convince teams to take a chance on them. To show that they are worthy of that pick.
Simmons was the clear cut #1 pick in this draft. No matter what anybody says there was no way the Sixers, Lakers or even Celtics would have taken Ingram if they fell in that spot - it was always going to be Simmons. His selection at #1 was merely a formality.
So why enter into workouts if he's already the consensus #1 pick? He could suffer an injury during workouts that could cause his draft position to slip or even detail his career. He could just happen to have a bad workout on that given day, and causing his draft stock to slip. Engaging in a workout would be pointless - he'd have nothing to gain, everything to lose.
So if Brown challenged Simmons, and he accepted (against his original plans) then what does that say about him? It reveals that he has a weakness - namely his emotion/pride. By accepting the challenge he'd be telling the world that he's emotional enough to let a lesser prospect get into his head, and distract him from his intended path/goal.
The best response for Simmons is no response at all. You have nothing to prove, so stick to your guns and don't budge from your intended path. Have the confidence in yourself to not care what anybody says, and the smarts to stick to what you (for a reason) set out.
so time will tell who will have that drive to maintain ,overcome and play two way basketball while bruised and battered exhausted in a back to back on a west coast swing-l
At 19 years of age Simmons is already what - 6'10" and 240 pounds? He's a pretty solid kid with a good frame. I don't think he'll have any problems handling the physical nature of the NBA game. I think he'll thrive in it
I think Brown will as well.
But Simmon's big weapon is his ability to make teammates better.
Rajon Rondo was a guard who could not shoot, who had severe attitude concerns, and who's defensive effort was often...let's be kind and say inconsistent. Yet there were times when we were playing against MVP candidates (e..g Derek Rose, Lebron James) and Rajon Rondo was, clearly, the most dominant player on the floor...simply because he was able to dominate the game on so many fronts. Hell there were times where the 6'1" Rondo was defending the 6'8" Lebron
in the paint and actually got a stop or two.
Imagine Rajon Rondo's talent / IQ in Amare Stoudemire's body and you pretty much have Ben Simmons in a nutshell.
The downside is that Simmon's also looks to have some of same ego/arrogance/cockiness that has made Rondo such a difficult guy to build a team around - hopefully he can get control of that and be a little more coachable.