re: Why are some fans wasting Simmons' entire tenure complaining about him?

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Kentucky manages their "youth" pretty damn well.

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Sometimes.

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Sometimes?!?! They've made the freaking Elite Eight 5 of the last 6 years!!!

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Not saying I disagree, but there are certain expectations when you are the consensus #1 recruit coming out of high school and a sure fire "one and done."

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And not just the consensus #1 for this year, he's supposed to have been the best coming out over a span of quite a few years. He was supposed to be "special", not just good.

He has not been the dominant player on the court in any meaningful win. LSU is not overly talented outside of Simmons, but neither are most of our opponents. We've been hammered in back to back games vs teams with losing records; not getting edged by high tourney seeds.

I watch LSU to see the team win, not watch some individual player. Granted, if the team is losing, it would be a little relief to see a player put on an amazing performance.

Simmons just lacks the "oohs and ahhs" factor you would expect from someone so highly touted. He's 6'10 and agile with good awareness, going against guys usu 2-3 inches shorter, and little competition from fellow Tigers when it comes to his rebounds. He might get 10-12 boards, the team overall is often still getting out-rebounded. So basically he's getting his rebounds, plus whoever might otherwise be playing at the other forward, since that guy is usu on the perimeter.
He plays a ton of minutes, so he picks up more boards that way too.

Again, and there's no other answer for this: I expect the greatest player in a generation to have THIS TEAM at least in contention for an NCAA bid. The SEC isn't the old Big East, you should be able to beat Arkansas and Tennessee, and Alabama at home. You should be able to beat NC State and Charleston. None of these teams have players any better than what we have, and with the exception of Alabama right now, none of these teams have been considered good. That's 5 losses that should not happen, and would make the season 21-7 right now. You honestly could put the Houston loss there too, making it 22-6.
When you figure in other games like Marquette, at South Carolina, home against Oklahoma, these were all games we were in great position to win, and needed someone to step up at the end. Frankly speaking, only Oklahoma was considered a solid favorite against us, as Marquette is pretty average, and South Carolina was considered a pretty weak team for their record. And Oklahoma was our marquee home game of the season, the game our players get up for the opponent. Again, the greatest NBA prospect of a generation, you EXPECT something, a sense of destiny if you will, a chance to rise to the occasion. It's Simmons time. Get those, we're talking a 25-3 team, and Simmons is hailed by Tiger faithful as "all that".

But instead, he's been 0 for every chance to build his legacy here, and instead of 25-3 and a possible 1 seed, or 20-8 and dangerous, it's 16-12 and maybe the NIT; and LSU has to start over again next year, because he's the focus of the team and will be gone.

So pardon me if I don't genuflect at his mention. He hasn't delivered.

Tenure?

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They think Simmons is overrated because they cannot fathom a player getting better as he matures.

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no, it's that we can't fathom a player with such extreme hype who possesses no offensive game outside of 6 feet, is left-handed but can't finish with his left hand, has no dominant post game, and who shows (outwardly at least) no fire, passion, grit, or leadership.

Can he improve? Sure he can. But he's got a long way to go in those areas.

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They think Simmons is overrated because they cannot fathom a player getting better as he matures.


no, it's that we can't fathom a player with such extreme hype who possesses no offensive game outside of 6 feet, is left-handed but can't finish with his left hand, has no dominant post game, and who shows (outwardly at least) no fire, passion, grit, or leadership.

Can he improve? Sure he can. But he's got a long way to go in those areas.

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Simmons is everything physically you want in an NBA prospect, from his body. He's tall, coordinated, athletic. He seems to play with the body control of someone 6-4, not of someone 6'10. He has quick hands, and good peripheral vision. He seems to understand where the players are on the floor, and has a good feel for where the rebound will go.

Mentally? For all the world, he looks bored and disinterested out there, almost like he was bred to play, and doing so because it's expected of him. He looks like he would rather be somewhere else (and not just as it relates to LSU and college). When he makes a big dunk, he poses and flexes, but... at whom? Not at his teammates to pump them up, not at the opponent to intimidate them. It's like he is out there by himself, or doing something so his dad can see him. When he doesn't get the ball passed to him when he thinks he should, he throws a little tantrum on the floor waving his arms, instead of continuing to play. Sometimes he makes pretty passes that are terrible judgement calls, when he is down low and in good position, to send the ball out to a poor shooter on the perimeter.

In a lot of ways, he looks like one of those kids playing a sport to please their parents instead of themselves; or a guy playing one sport because his income potential is greater, but would rather be playing something else. This would be the part that would make me hesitate drafting him; I'd wonder whether his goal is just to get that check, and then he'd drift off, instead of putting the work in that he needs to, to improve into his potential.

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Why are some fans wasting Simmons' entire tenure complaining about him?

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because we're 16 and fricking 12 thats why the frick we're complaining

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Try to enjoy what you have while he's still here instead of complaining about his few deficiencies

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enjoy being the laughing stock.....nah im good

fwiw, he's a good kid, but at the end of the day WINNING is more fun that having good players....I'd rather have a decent team and make the tourney and win one or two over having a FUTURE keyword FUTURE superstar on the team and falling short

if you say you'd rather have the superstar and fall short over have a well coached slightly above average team that makes it to the round of 32 you're fricking lying to yourself

Im tired of the assists stat be talked about so much. I would be perfectly fine if simmons averaged 0 assist per game. I'm not looking up the stats, but it seems like the more assists he has, the worse this team does.

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if you say you'd rather have the superstar and fall short over have a well coached slightly above average team that makes it to the round of 32 you're fricking lying to yourself

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That isn't the option though. Having a player like Simmons and being a great team aren't mutually exclusive.

We obviously don't have a great team right now, but that doesn't mean we should shite on Simmons. He is the least of the problems.

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The point is that dominating with a bunch of underclassmen is the exception, not the rule.

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Exactly. Also lets not act like Kentucky had just regular young players. They 10 McDonald's All Americans.