Hoya Mysteries: Henry Sims Chucking 3s

[robbyt]

You have a 6'10 guy on the bench--the tallest or second tallest guy on your team. You need rebounding help for your center. Yet every time this dude goes in he hugs the sideline and heists threes, and bricks them, then he gets sat down again after 2 minutes.

This is because

a) He is being told to do this because in practice he hits 80% from downtown
b) He likes chucking threes and doesn't listen to reason
c) They think that despite being the tallest guy they got and sometimes on the court and a top 100 recruit, he's worthless as a post-player, rebounder and as a shotblocker
d) Once again, it's me, I "don't understand"--it's "the system"

I could understand if you told me there was no time for him because Monroe and Vaughan are just better. But when you do give him time and he just chucks threes and wastes his height advantage, I can't smell you're up to. And please, please don't tell me it's one of the secrets of "the system" beyond the understanding of mortals.

Rob

[sleepy]

He may have a height advantage, but the strength to bang downlow isn't there yet. Until he get gain some more muscle(next year) he is going to be playing a lot more around the perimeter.

[SFHoya99]

The Princeton has always had a place for big men who can hit threes. Roy was more of an exception, I think, and even he hit a kind of important one. Jeff took threes all the time. There's a huge benefit to having a center that can hit threes.

They do have to do the other work as well. I don't think the Henry Sims on offense you're seeing is the Henry Sims you'll see in a year. But just because the guy is a Top 100 recruit doesn't mean he's instantly ready to play.

And for the record, Henry does have a nice shot. When it starts falling, you'll see some real benefits. And when Henry is ready to be the only big man out there, I bet we see him down low a fair bit more.

[gujake]

What is up with all the Sims bashing?

According to GUhoyas, he has played 75 minutes so far this season. He has taken 8 threes. That's really not too crazy of a percentage. And it's certainly not enough minutes to guage how good he will be over the next 4 years or even for the rest of this year.

[KHoyaNYC]

Agreed HoyaJake. Give it a rest. Sims will be fine.

[hoyaboy1]

Henry's 3s rarely even fall in warmups, and he barely took any in Kenner. I guess he's making them in practice because I don't really get it.

He isn't strong enough to bang inside yet, but that doesn't mean he should be shooting threes.

[I Bleed Hoya Gray]

Dec 23, 2008 14:38:45 GMT -5 robbyt said:

Henry Sims: You have a 6'10 guy on the bench--the tallest or second tallest guy on your team. You need rebounding help for your center. Yet every time this dude goes in he hugs the sideline and heists threes, and bricks them, then he gets sat down again after 2 minutes.

This is because

a) He is being told to do this because in practice he hits 80% from downtown
b) He likes chucking threes and doesn't listen to reason
c) They think that despite being the tallest guy they got and sometimes on the court and a top 100 recruit, he's worthless as a post-player, rebounder and as a shotblocker
d) Once again, it's me, I "don't understand"--it's "the system"

I could understand if you told me there was no time for him because Monroe and Vaughan are just better. But when you do give him time and he just chucks threes and wastes his height advantage, I can't smell you're up to. And please, please don't tell me it's one of the secrets of "the system" beyond the understanding of mortals.

Rob

That should be the Jiffy Lube Trivia question tonight.

[robbyt]

I'm not intending to bash Sims, I really think that in this case the system is prescribing a roles to him that may be contrary to common sense assessment of his and the team's needs. Read the scouting reports, Sims has a definite post game. The team needs post depth. 1 + 1 = 2.

What does it do for his confidence and development to have him take over 50% threes, miss them, then bench him?

"But the Princeton offense has a role for a big 3 pt shooter..." It has lots of roles. Is there any indication from these first games that what this team needs is for its tallest guy to be *another* 3 pt shooter at the loss of rebounding position?

At 6'10 225 Sims can get rebounds when the subs are in at the college level. Tayshaun Prince gets 7 boards a game in the NBA and weighs 25 pounds less at virtually the same height.

[kghoya]

Dec 23, 2008 15:06:47 GMT -5 I Bleed Hoya Gray said:

That should be the Jiffy Lube Trivia question tonight.

nah. tonight's question will probably be more like - What arena are you in right now?

a - verizon
b- madison square garden
c- cap centre
d - cole field house

[hoyalawyer]

Dec 23, 2008 15:09:48 GMT -5 robbyt said:

I saw Monroe in Kenner Summer League and he was really skinny, had not started lifting; he put on significant muscle between July and November.

that's just plain wrong. Sorry,while GM has put on muscle weight during the aforementioned time period, it has not occurred to the extent you're making it out to be. Henry was far less developed than Greg during Kenner and that remains the case.

Henry (when he gets in) is being used at the 4 spot. If you pay close enough attention TO OUR TEAM DaJuan (our starting 4) plays around the perimeter. When we go with 4 guard lineup, Omar/Austin play around the perimeter. Do you want Henry to be the only 4 in our system that doesn't do that? Ridiculous. Henry needs time to develop. That's it. Why so harsh on him? Nobody jumps on GM when he brings the ball below his knees after corralling a rebound against Memphis and subsequently gets stripped. Granted Greg RARELY makes such mistakes, but still, why so harsh on Henry. Not all players are Greg Monroe, DaJuan Summers or Chris Wright. Henry will get better, he just isn't ready to be the primary big, nor does he have the ball skills to take some of the iso opportunities that have been shown by DS GM and RARELY Vaughn (iso at top of key).

Did anyone think Omar would get the time he's getting this year based on last year/Kenner league etc.? No, I don't recall many posters backing Omar at all last year, and now look.

Sims will be good. Give him time to LEARN SYSTEM, and GET STRONGER. It probably will NOT BE THIS YEAR sadly, but that is not SO BAD (see my post about JTIII's rotations in the "Strong Run for title 2009/2010" thread... sorry, i don't know how to link from thread to thread).

-Lawyer

[robbyt]

I'm not sure what you're arguing with. How is it "just plain wrong" to say that Monroe has "put on significant muscle" between July and November? I sat there 10 feet away from him in McDonough, there is definitely more muscle on him now, 5-10 lbs on an pure ectomorph is signficant. "Not to the extent that you're making it out to be..." What did I make it out to be?

Go watch the Hoya video interviews, Chris Wright talks about how the team had an unusually hard commitment to the weights and conditioning this summer.

If you reread the initial question you can see that it is not bashing Sims, rather asking whether the use of Sims is optimal both for the team and for him.

[RockawayHoya]

Everyone who's seen Sims (myself not included) prior to him coming to GU this year said that he had a legit outside shot, so that being said, I'll chalk up his poor outside shooting thus far to not getting comfortable within the flow of our offense as well as maybe a little lack of confidence.

His poor shooting, however, shouldn't prohibit him from crashing the defensive boards, playing tough interior defense, and providing some occasional shot-blocking. Maybe at this point it's his lack of strength that keeps him from doing those things, but I would like to see a little more effort from Henry in those regards this season, because that's how we need him to contribute.

[professorhoya]

Simms is like the Computer AI in NBA2K8 or those other video games. You don't want to pass him the ball because he'll be throwing up 3s or walk out of bounds and Keep running into the wall.

[hoyalawyer]

RobbyT,

The "just plain wrong" stems from the part of your post which you edited out saying Monroe was skinny and he hadn't started lifting. Both of which are untrue. That is why the muscle development is "not what you make it out to be." Yes he built muscle mass in July-Nov but its not as if he was Henry-type skinny. he already had the build. If you read my unedited-response you'll see why Henry is shooting 3's and why he should continue to do so.

-Lawyer

[seaweed]

RobbyT -

Would you be available to coach the team this year? It seems like you know much more about our team and strategy than Coach JTIII, who many of us agree is a mere interloper. Having once stood 10 feet away from GM, you most certainly have the experience and pedigree to replace III, who afterall is really inexperienced in talent evaluation & development, strategy and ingame coaching. If you agree, we will circulate a petition to have him canned and you will become a Div I basketball coach, a job for which I believe you are overqualified. Please reply to the board asap - maybe we can get you installed in time to take over for the UConn game.

[RDF]

Henry Sims SHOULD be a High School SR THIS YEAR--he's at Georgetown and he is just not ready to dominate and he's getting trashed? This is ridiculous--especially when you consider he'll be in NBA after 4 years and everyone will say they "knew he was going to be great" dating back to Kenner.

Henry played a wonderful game against Savannah State and it was more then jumpshots--it was defensive end--especially on double downs/traps and challenging shots.

Not every FR is going to be dominate or even comfortable--especially a 6'10 youngster who was a Center/Post presence on HS level and is trying to adjust to playing on different parts of court.

It's awful to bash someone on the team when they haven't even had chance to show what they can do and are learning/adjusting--at an age that they should be in High School. It might not look great now--but by this time next year, he'll be a huge factor for the Hoyas and he'll be showing the growth that comes from being coached by a great staff and adjusting to school and the system/level of competition.

[prhoya]

Another missed 3 by Sims...

[prhoya]

S---! He made one!

[Eurostar]

i wont bash sims because he hasnt gotten the time on the floor this year that he should be getting. i have no clue why nikita is getting off the bench before him. which one is the NBA prospect here?!

[hoyainindia]

I'm not sure questioning Sims current role qualifies as bashing. For some that don't follow recruiting as closely, there was a lot of hype surrounding him that got expectations high. Perhaps some folks are scared of a Macklin development route rather than a Hibbert development route. I think most qualified posters on this board are as optimistic as ever.

I was thinking last night though, would any of these "is Sims ready" discussions have occured if he had been same player joining the team 4 years ago? Certainly a lot of this "concern" stems from the sheer improvement in overall talent of the team which makes Henry look weaker on a relative basis. But as many have said, you can't expect every freshman to be Greg Monroe.