re: ESPN predicts Ben Simmons "won't live up to the hype"

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.but development by the staff will be key

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exactly the problem.

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LSU has a street ball type offense. not much screening, back door passes, etc..
for once I agree with ESPN

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I disagree with Jones offensive "strategy" and would like to see us run a defined offense, but that is a different discussion than player development. Martin was the biggest improvement so far of the Jones era, and O'Bryant definitely showed an improvement in his game over his time here.

I do hope that Jones is able to design a bunch of different sets to run to show Ben Simmons skill set: Block to block cross screens to give him space in the low post, get him the ball at the elbow and allow him to see the court and create, let him set some ball screens, have some ball screens set for him, seems like he would be very effective off of curls with quick looks and dump off passes, etc...

Jones lack of creativity on offense may not allow for Simmons to get some National Player of the Year recognition, but I still feel that his skills will improve in his time here based on Jones recent track record.

That's an easy prediction to say that Simmons won't "live up to the hype", because the hype will be enormous. It will be in the same manner as Fournette not living up to the hype in football even though he had a pretty good Freshman season.

As for the comment about Jones, it's hard for any coach to "develop" a player in just one season. Jones won't even get a full calendar year to develop Simmons. Still, the criticism of Jones is not completely off base. I can see the argument that neither Mickey nor Martin progressed all that much from year 1 to year 2. Yes their numbers went up, but so did their minutes. The argument could be made that other than Martin FINALLY becoming aggressive as the year went on, their overall games really didn't improve very much.

Mickey went from 13/8 playing 33 mpg to 15/10 playing 35 mpg, but did his game really change all that much? In his Freshman year he was a good/great rebounder who could knock down a 12-15 footer but still had a limited back to the basket game. He was also exceptional shot blocker. You could say the exact same thing about him this season, only that he got a little more opportunity with JOBIII moving on.

Martin went from 10/5 as Fr. to 17/9 this season. However, he also averaged 9 more mpg. But again, did his overall game really improve significantly? He still wasn't a great defender this year and you could argue that he was less effective from the outside in year 2 than year 1 (his 3 point % significantly decreased). IMO, the only difference for him is that he finally realized he could do some damage by attacking the basket.

Quarterman is the one guy you could look at and say that he definitely improved from year 1 to year 2.

The bottom line is that as much as it pisses some off on here, Jones will continue to get little respect until he actually does something other than sign some big time prospects. At this point in his 15 year head coaching career he is the only current SEC head coach who has never won a NCAAT game other than Kim Anderson and Avery Johnson who have won a NCAA DII Nat. Title and led a team to the NBA Finals respectively. In fact, Jones has never won an outright conf. title in his career. It's not unreasonable to say that he ranks at the bottom of all SEC coaches in career accomplishments.

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I've seen Ben twice in game situations against top talent, he needs work in the half court game. He needs to be a lot more aggressive in looking for shots.

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I've probably watched somewhere between 15-20 of his games the last 2 years, all of which are against elite talent.

I absolutely HATE when people say he isn't aggressive. He is the type of player that can score 20 points while taking 11 shots. I don't think people understand this, but that's special. It's because he is able to scope out a defense and pick the best shot. In what world is it ok to always be aggressive? He is always willing to hit the open man with a pass, and in college that is HUGE. In high school, players aren't as talented generally and won't be knock down shooters when they're open. I predict Simmons will have many 5-7 assist games. If he has games where he scores 15 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds and shoots 60% from the field...that's an elite type of player

Also to add about people who say Simmons isn't aggressive. He's the best player on the team that has won 3 straight HS National Championships. You don't do that by not being fiery, competitive, and aggressive

Well if we're playing that game, then every coach every year sucks. Last I checked only one team wins at the end of the year (NIT and CBI don't count).

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People have lofty expectations for a guy who is making bottom tier money.

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The expectations increased with the talent level.

You're
A
fricking
Idiot

Just stfu already

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The bigger question is why do people have to shite on ALL the coaches? LSU basketball is getting more exposure right now than they have in 10 years, and its just straight negativity from a handful of fans. Pathetic

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The unrealistic expectations by some is hilarious. LSU's best basketball coach in history was notorious for underachieving with loaded rosters, so why people imply LSU is light years above Jones is epic. if he doesn't work out, he'll be canned within three years with a really low buyout. he was a low risk, high reward hire and to this point he's greatly outperformed his pay grade

Let's not even dive into performance based pay, the complexities of being a non-blue blood championship program, and the highest level of parity in collegiate history outside of women's basketball. that would require some to think objectively and look outside the box