Wow, one game in and ESPN has already made me sick of Ben Simmons

[lonsharkin51]

nm

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Settle in, man, it's going to be a long year.

 

[tcf15]

And...

 

[tcf15]

And...

 

[Leebo]

If you were running a sports television channel, would you ignore the #1 prospect that casual fans want to hear about?

To be fair, that doesn't mean I won't be avoiding SportsCenter when LSU plays.

 

[Walker11]

If you were running a sports television channel, would you ignore the #1 prospect that casual fans want to hear about?

To be fair, that doesn't mean I won't be avoiding SportsCenter when LSU plays.

Simmons is not a can't miss, generational type talent. He is projected to be a smaller Lamar Odom-esque talent. He's not even regarded on the Parker/Wiggins level.

ESPN has a need to hype the hell out of a recruit or two every year, the issue is this year there may not be a transcendent player.

 

[RipCity]

Simmons is not a can't miss, generational type talent. He is projected to be a smaller Lamar Odom-esque talent. He's not even regarded on the Parker/Wiggins level. ESPN has a need to hype the hell out of a recruit or two every year, the issue is this year, there may not be a transcendent player.

I'm not sure if that's all true. Simmons has a better handle and body type than Odom. His vertical will also be better, and he is regarded as a great passer not just for a 6'10 kid, but any basketball player PGs included.

That being said, it really is a joke how much press he gets. At least it's not a Kentucky recruit, although Jamal Murray looks incredibly good already and will definitely get his share of hype along with Skal.

I'm going to try my best to not end up disliking these kids because there's a good chance one of them ends up on the Celtics.

 

[Dooley]

Just trying to give viewers a reason to watch a Kentucky conference game on their channel. I'll still pass.

 

[Walker11]

I'm not sure if that's all true. Simmons has a better handle and body type than Odom. His vertical will also be better, and he is regarded as a great passer not just for a 6'10 kid, but any basketball player PGs included.

That being said, it really is a joke how much press he gets. At least it's not a Kentucky recruit, although Jamal Murray looks incredibly good already and will definitely get his share of hype along with Skal.

I'm going to try my best to not end up disliking these kids because there's a good chance one of them ends up on the Celtics.

I have watched him play and he is impressive. But he's he's not a can't miss star. At least, that's my opinion. We'll see in a few years.

 

[aceboon]

I'm not sure if that's all true. Simmons has a better handle and body type than Odom. His vertical will also be better, and he is regarded as a great passer not just for a 6'10 kid, but any basketball player PGs included.

That being said, it really is a joke how much press he gets. At least it's not a Kentucky recruit, although Jamal Murray looks incredibly good already and will definitely get his share of hype along with Skal.

I'm going to try my best to not end up disliking these kids because there's a good chance one of them ends up on the Celtics.

Not really sure how the bolded is stated as facts...

 

[CTBasketball]

Yeah they're hyping this Kentucky - LSU game so bad.

 

[Rocktheworld]

would you ignore the #1 prospect that casual fans want to hear about?

Nobody ever came close to alluding to this.

There is no way casual fans care nearly as much as ESPN apparently thinks they do.

 

[Leebo]

Nobody ever came close to alluding to this.

There are people on this board who can get worked up into a frothy rage over the absence of a UConn mention in a non-UConn ESPN article. For these people, any coverage of other teams must make their blood boil, and I don't mind hyperbolizing it.

Also, there are loads of people who only care about college basketball in the sense that it's where their NBA team's draft picks might come from.

 

[pj]

That being said, it really is a joke how much press he gets. At least it's not a Kentucky recruit

He is an SEC recruit. The one thing you can be certain of with ESPN is that they'll be promoting their prime properties, the SEC and ACC.

 

[August_West]

I'm not sure if that's all true. Simmons has a better handle and body type than Odom. His vertical will also be better,

Well yeah, that's a no brainier. odom just came out of a drug and hooker fueled coma. Of course he's lost some spring.

 

[Rocktheworld]

There are people on this board who can get worked up into a frothy rage over the absence of a UConn mention in a non-UConn ESPN article. For these people, any coverage of other teams must make their blood boil, and I don't mind hyperbolizing it.

That's not what this is about. This is about a triple double warning at halftime. This is about seeing the same highlight twice in a five minute span during a broadcast. This is about two articles on the front page of the NCAAM section on ESPN's website. It's about all this happening after a single game against a cupcake, all while ignoring nearly every other player and team in the rest of the sport. I don't care at all about UConn being written about; but there are things going on in the college basketball world other than Simmons, Duke, and UK.

And there is no "frothy rage" going on here by anyone. You just hyperbolize for its own sake, and then respond to the your own hyperbolic perception with another hyperbole. You're practically arguing with yourself here, and it really isn't a good look.

Also, there are loads of people who only care about college basketball in the sense that it's where their NBA team's draft picks might come from.

So what have those fans really learned about Simmons in this first game? Does anyone need such an utter inundation and shameless hype to peek the kid's skills?

 

[Leebo]

And there is no "frothy rage" going on here by anyone.

"Here" as in "The Boneyard"? About how ESPN covers stuff? I think we need to agree to disagree on that.

 

[James]

Simmons plays like Boris diaw IMO .doesnt possess generational athletcism ( young diaw had hops and played pg for the hawks).

 

[Mano]

I've just tuned out ESPN altogether at this point. Besides for live sport that is. The greatest thing they ever did for me was redesign their website and put most anything worth reading behind a pay wall that I'm in no way inclined to cop for.

That said, the whole hype machine is understandable. It's a business for them and all of this is about building a product. You hype them in high school so that when they get to college more eyeballs tune in to see them play (nevermind their televised HS games they put on now; are those even watchable affairs? Just ragtag garbage bball from what I've seen), then more eyeballs for the draft where they can collectively beat off to their wingspan and other (im)measureables, and then more eyeballs for their NBA games (they hope) where they can anoint them as the next star among stars. In actuality, how many of these kids actually reach the sort of production level combined with durability that warrants this sort of ego stroking sycophancy? One, maybe two every couple of years?

I just change the channel.

 

[FartMan69]

It's easier to not get salty over stuff like this, It's annoying but not as annoying as how many threads there are going to be about this in the next 6 months.

 

[Jaker]

yawn

 

[intlzncster]

If you were running a sports television channel, would you ignore the #1 prospect that casual fans want to hear about?

To be fair, that doesn't mean I won't be avoiding SportsCenter when LSU plays.

the point is that you will be hearing about Ben Simmons no matter who you're watching. It's the Vitale Duke effect.

 

[Sandeman]

Simmons is not a can't miss, generational type talent. He is projected to be a smaller Lamar Odom-esque talent. He's not even regarded on the Parker/Wiggins level.

ESPN has a need to hype the hell out of a recruit or two every year, the issue is this year there may not be a transcendent player.

We have several transcendant players. In a matter of time (Battle for Atlantis most likely) the rest of the country will start to notice.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I watched an interview with him. Like many before him, Simmons declared he can play all 5 positions. He is position less.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I always struggle with the all 5 position claim. I'm not sure anyone has been able to play all 5 positions. You need to be able to guard all 5 positions to make this claim.

Maybe Lebron...maybe