The Portland Trail Blazers entered the new NBA season hopeful that they would be more competitive on the court. While the team has done that to some extent, they also haven't taken the needed step forward in terms of contention.
Portland sits with a record of 8-16 on the year and they seem to be heading in the wrong direction. After finishing in last place of the Western Conference standings last season, there was hope that it wouldn't happen again.
But it seems that Portland may be on a collision course for exactly that. Part of the issues that the Trail Blazers have has been the clear regression from guard Anfernee Simons.
Over the past two seasons, Simons has established himself as a strong scoring guard but he hasn't been able to live up to the pressure this year. Portland trusted him with more responsibility in running the offensive attack and at least thus far, he has taken a step back.
For the year, Simons is averaging 16.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. The guard is also shooting only 32.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
In comparison, Simons averaged 22.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. Simons also shot 38.5 percent from distance, showing a major decline in his play this season.
The young guard has been searching for consistency game to game but has yet to find it. He opened up about the new role he has been given and how he wants to address the issues.
“Obviously, it’s a new transition for everybody,' Simons said following Saturday’s practice. ”Just a new style of play. I’m just trying to do whatever it takes for us as a team to figure everything out. Whether that might not look like I’m necessarily playing well to where I had been in the past, it’s just that I’m just trying to be myself within the new system and what we are trying to do. And that might take sacrifice. It takes sacrifice for everybody on the team.”
Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has told Simons that he wants him to play faster. If anything, he wants the guard to emulate former Portland star Damian Lillard in a way.
“He has to make a change and start trying to play a little faster because they are different players,” Billups said.
While Simons isn't Lillard, he did learn a lot from the former star. Simons will need to pick things up quickly before it becomes a lost season.
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