PlaymakerMo
Years ago

Ben Simmons 'doubtful' to play in World Cup

According to his agent: Simmons is now more likely now to spend his full offseason preparing only for the Sixers season -- free of national team responsibilities.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27183221/simmons-doubtful-play-world-cup

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Far out

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Unaustralian

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Anonymous  
Years ago

No Simmons, Broekhoff, Exum or Maker. No chance of medaling....

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Dells  
Years ago

After the questionable hire of Dave Patrick (Ben's Godfather) now he pulls out anyway. Wouldn't be surprised if he tries to play for the USA team in the future.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Squad becomes something like...

Dellavedova/Mccarron
Mills/Sobey
Ingles/Creek/Adel
Bolden/Motum
Baynes/Bogut/Landale


Reserves

Goulding
Gliddon
Blanchfield
Cooks
Kay

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Anonymous  
Years ago

He can't play for the U.S.A and he doesn’t want too.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I think the best we can hope for is the 1/4 finals.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Fair enough.

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PeterJohn  
Years ago

Wonder what people who paid out for USA vs AUS games think of that? Still get to see a bunch of NBA players in person, I guess. But it may make selling the last 1000 tickets a bit harder.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

What a copout what if all our NBA players decided to concentrate on their games working with their teams.

Will we see him at Olympics?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Finally Mitch Creek and Ben Simmons have something in common.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Isn't a 'cop out' anon. Unlike every other tru blu Aussie NBA player, Simmons is on the verge of potentially becoming an elite in the game. His priorities are different. Representing the land down undah is lower on his list of goals and life achievements than it is for his Australian brothers. Just the way it is. His eyes are on a bigger prize and all powah to him for it I reckon.

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A A Ron  
Years ago

It's been rumoured all along that he'll play the next Olympics and not this world cup, BA wanted to use his name to help ticket sales that's all.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Unaustralian

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Gus3232  
Years ago

Whilst it's a person's choice to do what they want, this has been handled poorly.

If he had come out months ago with this, while disappointing, completely understandable.

Longley did this many moons ago as he needed rest, but announced it well before. Bogut may have also.

But to say "yeah I'm playing" and then back out this close to the tournament? I didn't realise he wanted to be THAT much like Le Bron. Same agent too? Purely coincidental I'm sure. How disappointing.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Really poor form if he does decide to pull out now. It was a huge moment for Aus basketball when he decided to commit and created a lot of hype. Not going to be a great look for him if he doesn't play after committingsnd then pulling out so close to the tournament. Tberes going to be a lot of unhappy and disappointed fans.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I want my money back. The World Cup games were first touted as showing the best of the best talent. We were 'guaranteed' the big names would play. Simmons name was put on all the marketing material.

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SA STAR  
Years ago

Is it not possible to practice your jump shot while training with a bunch of NBA and other Pro level players? He could take his trainer down under and prep at the same time.

Seems like there is more too it.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Well known that Simmons has an issue with Lemanis. It's not just the Klutch thing and his contract. This isn’t a surprise.

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Perthwor1d  
Years ago

No medal then.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"Well known that Simmons has an issue with Lemanis. It's not just the Klutch thing and his contract. This isn't a surprise."

Wonder what the issue is? Is it because Lemanis didn't choose him when he was younger? Also, Lemanis seems like a bit of a sour character.

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J  
Years ago

This is exactly why i didn't buy tickets. Too many big names drop out from world cup events. Feel bad for those that dis buy tickets to watch certain "committed" players

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Nothing to see here, no surprises. He's obviously to good and too important to play for his country.

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Luuuc  
Years ago

I'm really shocked that a guy with a US$168M contract sitting in front of him would be so disrespectful towards some exhibition games or a FIBA World Cup,
said nobody.

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Zodiac  
Years ago

Exactly although I don't like Simmons or care if he ever plays for us again as soon as word got out at the beginning of FA that the 76ers were negotiating a big contract extension with him I knew he wouldn't be playing at the WC.

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rjd  
Years ago

What else should we expect from Rich Paul? His agency is as manipulative and cancerous as any Kardashian connection.

Simmons seems to have surrounded himself with some dubious characters -- a greedy agent who uses daring manipulative stunts get his clients into big markets that he wants, a megalomaniac NBA superstar, a celebrity girlfriend whose career relies on media attention. They all epitomize an its-all-about-me attitude in their respective fields. Surround yourself with such poor role models and what do you expect? After all, Simmons is still only 22 and easily influenced.

Although it is true that Simmons needs to improve his game. The perception among most NBA commentators is that he has not improved since the start of his rookie season. His jumpshot has become such a hot topic, overshadowing the elite elements of the rest of his game. Value in the NBA among the elite players in the league is as much about reputation and perception than true game changing impact. This matters with All-Star and All-NBA appearances and ultimately future max contracts. Just ask Klay Thompson.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I think we will get flogged and finish 3rd in the group, then Bow out in 1 of the following 2 matches.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Simmons has had over 10 years to work on his jumpshot and now he wants to do it

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Yes luuuc, because no one with a large NBA contract has ever played in the world cup. Just look at the USA team they have Harden and Lillard and Davis

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Zodiac  
Years ago

The difference being is that there are a lot of questions right now on Simmons and his potential. There's been some leaks from Philly since the season finished that they view Embiid as the future of their team which might be BS to pressure Simmons into signing the contract extension now or could be legit.

Either way with the glaring issues in his game and question marks over how high his ceiling really is, he with a big contract extension sitting in front of him would be mad to risk that by playing in the WC and possibly doing a knee or something. Look at Exum.

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joshuapending  
Years ago

Zodiac Joel has always been seen as the future over Ben, by the fans and the team. Unfortunately until Ben can get that jumper to a respectable level he will always be limited in peoples eyes.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Should have been honest from the start, and this coming from the agent makes it worse.
I probably would not have bothered getting tickets for the perth game based on what the squad is shaping up to look like. Sure the players are good but they dont exactly have exciting play styles and its not team USA over here.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Embiid is better than Simmons, that's nothing new.

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FM  
Years ago

Wasn't he asking for a change in coach? Same coach, no he ain’t playing.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Not certain it'll affect the boomers position that much, no free lanes to the rack in the World Cup and he can’t make a jump shot. Play players that want to be there and make best of what we got.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Pivotal moment right now in his NBA career. He made the choice.

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Luuuc  
Years ago

Yes luuuc, because no one with a large NBA contract has ever played in the world cup. Just look at the USA team they have Harden and Lillard and Davis

Not saying no one has ever played, just that it's not surprising that plenty of the highest-profile players don't.
Add in the factors that rjd noted and it becomes even less surprising in Ben's case.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

We now know how the kiwis feel with adams constantly giving up on the N.T at the last minute.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Basketball Australia has released a statement saying there is still hope

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Anonymous  
Years ago

That bag needs to be bigger.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I don't buy into the whole idea that he's risking his max contract by playing in the world cup. He's one of those guys that will almost definitely get a max offer, especially with the money being thrown around these days.

Only thing that would derail it now is an extremely bad run of career threatening injuries which is just down to luck and could happen at any time, even when training.

If its because he wants to work on his game theres no reason he can't do that with the world cup and get ingame practice. Imagine the hype around him if he helped lead aus to a medal and showed he could be the man on a team and a leader.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Still can't believe they’re playing these games in a football stadium

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Anonymous  
Years ago

The Kardashians have deemed Melbourne too cold in Winter. As such they have banned Ben from being involved in any Boomers commitments, unless the camps are in LA and have his own head coach selected along w more family members on staff

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Genuine question. What's the biggest rectangular venue they could have played in? Agree a footy ground is stupid.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Not necessarily rectangular, but suitable for basketball.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Wouldn't think that they would get anymore than what’s going to fill that stadium anywhere else in the world, it’s ideal with the closing roof.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I wonder when Australia will get a high capacity rectangular closed stadium.
I'm assuming whittaker vs adesanya will be at Etihad too?

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Food for thought (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

In the Basketball Australia statement, released now, it says that Lemanis has "not been advised definitively" that Simmons is out of the squad; that unavailability is "not new" to them and that they would continue dialogue with Ben and his camp.

I kind of get the feeling that a decision is not set in stone, and with two weeks until training camp, it probably should be either way. I think it's possible that Ben has not yet made a decision but has been hit with the expectations of the Boomers, 76ers and his agent and is still deciding. It is also possible, to me, that his agent making the statement that Ben was "doubtful" to play could have been some gamesmanship from his agent. Is there a hoop he wants Basketball Australia to jump through first before declaring his availability, maybe?

Gotta remember, this is the same agent who spread around that Ben would be looking to change teams rather than take up the max contract with Philly. He is not above playing the media to whatever ends he desires. Are the Boomers possibly not playing ball with them in some way?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Maybe bargaining with BA?. Maybe he wants a million to suite up.

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Doubt it is as simple as wanting a million. It's probably something like, he has to be able to bring his whole entourage with him or something.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Heheh, imagine the hype around him if he led the Aussies to a medal??? Cute.

Nobody in the us of a would care one bit, which is where the hype about him matters because it translates directly into cold hard cash.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Would any of you in his position turn down playing for the boomers at a WC?

I would play every boomers game that came up. It's what you dream of as a kid.... I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to play.

It’s either his agent in his ear or philly don’t want to risk him.
None of them excuse given the likes of giannis are suiting up.

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Perthworld  
Years ago

Awesome. At this rate we're never going to medal despite having the talent to do so.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

The World Cup exhibition match is the new Fyre Festival. Headliners pulling out. Misleading marketing. A venue that won't be able to host the event effectively. Exorbitant ticket prices.

I hope I’m wrong.

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Cram  
Years ago

I've seen a lot of people saying things along the lines of "oh its only the world cup, not the Olympics", which is a bad take.

The World Cup is a much better competition and better indicator world basketball quality. Added to that, if we perform poorly in the WC, we may not qualify for the Olympics, and our lack of respect for this competition may have lasting effects.

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Reality  
Years ago

This is all about helping to sell tickets to the boomers vs USA game....did his job and now the truth comes out.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Holding these games in a football stadium is about a) revenue and b) really just for that one photo of 50k+ watching a basketball game in Australia. The viewing experience for 80% of that crowd will be horrific, (being generous - I think it will be even more than 80%) and I'd wager that a similar % of ticket holders bought tickets under the naive assumption that 'the US team' meant the very best of the very best, and that very casual level of ticket holder may only have heard of a name or two or on the resulting team that comes (maybe only just Harden - if he comes), and then will also be aware that it's not even a full strength Australian team, and would be pretty pissed with the whole experience.

They do these football stadium games in the US occasionally at the college level (and one or two NBA All Star games), but that's with a market that is fully aware of what they're getting themselves into, where the size of the crowd is the novelty. I don't think many of those getting tickets are really aware of just how bad it's going to be sitting *anywhere* in the stands of a football stadium for a basketball game.

I really think this is a very stupid idea and that the people going to see Australia in Perth (15k arena) and the US in Sydney (20k arena) are getting the significantly - infinitely - better experience.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I went to the gold medal game at Sydney Olympics, I was in the second top row, I'm glad I went and Jackson was magnificent, carried Australia on those very young shoulders, but the view was so far away. I think the games at the football stadium won’t be any worse. Ben Simmons could take a note of how Jackson nearly killed her self playing for Australia, now there is the true GOAT.

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Cram  
Years ago

Viewing at Marvel will be FAR worse than any indoor arena.


I was second row from the back at the Olympics in Rio and those seats were a million times better than what I expect to see at these games next month.

Its going to be a spectacle, for sure. But make no mistake, the people in the crowd (including myself) won't have a good view on the game.

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OldManHoops  
Years ago

Not surprising, but how disappointing for so many young fans.

Every weekend at stadiums around Melbourne I see kids of all ages wandering around in Simmons gear. Many of these kids families would have forked over BIG $$$ to see the Simmons-led Boomers v USA at Marvel Stadium, and they're now all going to be very disappointed.

I hope the atmosphere is going to be better than 'Australia A' versus 'USA B' ... because it is all coming unraveled at this point.

A few posters have already made similar comments, but the hoops at MSAC, State Basketball Centre and Marvel are all going to be the same height as the NBA hoops right? So why not turn up for the green and gold and become a legend with Aussie fans, sell an absolute truck load of merch, and get your reps from beyond the arc all at the same time.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Yes he should have a talk to Lauren Jackson, country first.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"I would play every boomers game that came up. It's what you dream of as a kid.... I can't see any reason why you wouldn’t want to play."

They were your child hood dreams. Maybe Simmons had different ones.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Sounds like a lot of commies on here...this is Australia not Cuba, nobody dreamt of playing for there country as a kid, we was dreaming of playing in the NBA and making millions. Ben Simmons is living the capitalist dream and his birth country and the country he lives in now are both capitalist, get over it

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Anonymous  
Years ago

The gold medal game at the Sydney Olympics was at what is now called Qudos Bank Arena, where the Kings currently play - it fits about 20k, so the same as most NBA arenas. It's build steep-ish and around a floor area that's not all *that* much bigger than a basketball court. Yeah, views from the back of those arenas are pretty bad, but when you can probably fit all of that arena on the 'floor' area of a major stadium, "won't be any worse" sounds quite ridiculous. There's really no comparison. You're not going to be able to see a single identifiable thing from the stands of a football stadium. You are going to have to watch the whole thing on the screens.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

The Melbourne games - I guess there's a chance he'd play those and not the World Cup. That would be just a week of his time, and in his home city that he usually heads back to for a week or two every off season anyway. That might be more of a question of whether Basketball Australia would let him separate the two - if he's not playing the WC, then they might say that it's too disruptive to have him in just a couple of the warm up games. Still, BA would know he's the headliner...

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Greggo  
Years ago

You're not going to be able to see a single identifiable thing...?

Except you can sit behind the goals at the footy and still see the whole ground...

I know it's not exactly the same for watching detail, and it wont be as good as normal basketball stadium seating, but we all knew that going in. It'll be fine and an amazing atmosphere almost unparalleled in the world.

You know they did this in Dallas on a football field?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Well, we'll see in a month or so. I think it’s silly to compare the large canvas/wide space action of an AFL game to a basketball game, where the highlights are actually so often in the detail. And I know it’s been done (a few times) in the US before, but I also think it’s also silly to compare the motives and hopes of those crowds to what would make up the majority of people going to these games.
Obviously I’m positing in here so I’m a huge Australian basketball fan and therefore hope it’s an immense success, and all I’m saying is that I think that with a US team missing what most regular people would consider it’s biggest stars, an Australian team missing its biggest star, and the event taking place in what is a pretty terrible venue for basketball, there’s a healthy risk that it will feel like a deflating experience for much of the casual crowd that will be there. Especially given the ticket cost.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

When you're in the back row of Kudos or what ever stupid name it’s called now, you watch the game on the screen, they are like large ants, it’ll be no different at the football stadium.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAvRdI6KJGw

This is US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis set up for the Final Four - two guys going higher and higher and showing the view. This stadium does look a hell of a lot bigger than Marvel Stadium, but according to Wikipedia it has a 66k capacity for NFL, which is only 13k more than Marvel for AFL, so it's not stupidly bigger.

One question I'd have is about the ability to add temporary tiered seating as they have been able to do here. The NFL field is obviously both rectangular and a lot smaller than an AFL field - I wonder how (if?) they plan to be able to do it similar to this where there is a decent pitch.

The other question is around the screens, as it is how most of the crowd are going to be able to actually see what's going on - these stadiums all have the huge central video screens, while AFL stadiums only have the ones at the ends of the field and they're not *that* big. Mock ups of Marvel for the basketball have the big screens in the centre - hope that is actually the case.

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Yeah from the video the stadium does look a lot bigger.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Would trade for Kyrie

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Anonymous  
Years ago

He didn't choose money over country, his 5 year 170 million contract has already been agreed too.
He just doesn’t want to play.


I don’t see giannis deciding to stay home. He gives a toss about playing for Greece.

Adams and Simmons hav3 the opportunity but don’t want even with guaranteed contracts.


Exum, injured. Would play.
Broekhoff, birth of child, possible complications, understandably at home with his wife. Would play,
Maker, trade from bucks to pistons and a poor season, has been requested to stay home and improve his game or his out of the
Simmons, guaranteed contract, no child, not injured, not requested to stay in philly by the 76ers. Who knows why...

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Anonymous  
Years ago

If he makes an All NBA team this season - *this* coming season - the contract goes up from 5/170m to 5/215m. So that's 45,000,000 reasons why he would want to focus on improving his game this off season. Let's be real - running around with the Boomers for a month is not the best opportunity for doing that. If some of the suggestion out there about him making 'demands' in return for playing are true, I'd guess maybe it's around having it both ways - maybe something like he'll play the games and participate in some of the practice time, but wants a lot of his own time with his own people to do his own thing?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

His shoe deal would do better if he played in china.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

He'll need that extra $45 mill, there’s stuff you can do with $215 mill u can’t do with $170mill. Just doesn’t want to play.

Reply #750884 | Report this post


Josh Liddle - who tends to be right on a lot of things - said in the NBL 4 LIFE Facebook that Ben would be playing the world cup games, but not the world cup itself.

To me, that would be worse than if he did neither. It's like he's happy to show himself off here for the essentially meaningless games, get all the kudos and praise, destablize the team, and then bugger off when the real work starts. Either fully commit or fuck off frankly, and I say that as someone with tickets to both games.

I think that his need for solo practice and whatever else should be fully enabled with the Boomers, but not if he's going to just be a dick.

Reply #750886 | Report this post


Okay an article has been released on this:

https://www.news.com.au/sport/american-sports/nba/ben-simmons-has-reportedly-pulled-out-of-the-basketball-world-cup/news-story/509f0cadd681c65f36bb052649562d2e

Fuck Ben Simmons. I don't even want him playing the warm up games. He's gonna fuck the whole team up. Game 1 of the World Cup the Boomers will basically all have to re-learn their roles.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Yeah tbh I'd almost rather not see him in the warm up games if he isn't in the world cup. It's a completely different game plan and structure with him out there, not great world cup prep

Reply #750894 | Report this post


Renders the warm up games meaningless, frankly. Basically, "learn to swim" with the sharks on Game 1 of the Cup.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

From NBL Twitter page

Simmo is a NO for the World Cup but a GO for the upcoming International Series and
@Tokyo2020

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Cram  
Years ago

Yep 100%. This whole "but I'll play at the Olympics next year" talk while hampering our World Cup preparations which could very realistically cause us to not qualify for the Olympics. Really disappointing.

Commit or don't.

Reply #750897 | Report this post


The fact that there are so many stakeholders for the USA/AUS games (100,000 fans, NBL, Basketball Australia, Basketball IN Australia), basically means that the Boomers have to accept him playing for them at those games, whether or not the think it hampers them at the cup. They're in a catch 22. If there were no USA games, and just warm ups, there'd be no Ben Simmons to sidetrack the team's development, and they wouldn't possibly squander Game 1 to Canada trying to figure out their team identity.

Reply #750899 | Report this post


Greggo  
Years ago

Olympics are one year away. Having him play warm up games will be good prep for that, although obviously not ideal for the world cup.

Reply #750900 | Report this post


Cram  
Years ago

Preparing for an Olympics we're a very real chance of not qualifying for is a good result?

Reply #750901 | Report this post


To make the Olympics, we need only out-perform NZ. I think we should do that without much trouble. But yes, there is a very real possibility this kind of de-stabilization causes us to drop a game or two we should and that could fuck us over.

And then there's the possibility he makes a deep play off run and is tired for the Olympics, or he injures himself. He has a shining chance NOW to represent his country and he's choosing not to.

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Cram  
Years ago

We're in a much tougher group than NZ. I can easily see a situation in which we don't make it out of the group and NZ do. Then its no Olympics

Reply #750903 | Report this post


Cram  
Years ago

Canada's squad has 17 guys on NBA rosters. They could field a team that looks like this

G Joseph / Gilgeous-Alexander
G Murray / Stauskas
F Brooks / Barrett
F Powell / Lyles
C Thompson / Olynek

Combined with a team from Lithuania who are always tough ESPECIALLY at the World Cup/Champs which they take far more serious than the Olympics and, we're in very real danger of not progressing.

Reply #750907 | Report this post


Yeah, it's a shit sandwich. I feel like we have the talent to progress and possibly medal anyway, but the distraction of Ben Simmons in the lead up isn't going to help.

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Gus3232  
Years ago

Will be VERY interesting to hear the crowd reaction to Simmmons at the games in Australia.

Reply #750910 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

those people with tickets should be applauding him because they all would have been spewing if he had pulled out

Reply #750912 | Report this post


Cram  
Years ago

I have a ticket and I rather he not be there if he's not going to the World Cup

Reply #750916 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Very hard for basketball Australia, your screwed either way. You need him for games in Australia but since he's not going to World Cup should not be selected, but needs to be Gotye supporters and future teams.
Cahill and Kewel always were there for Australia when fit even in there premier league days.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

All the Canadians have put there hand up.

http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2019/news/barrett-murray-olynyk-and-thompson-headline-canada-s-preliminary-squad-for-world-cup

Reply #750918 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

'Let's be real - running around with the Boomers for a month is not the best opportunity for doing that'.
I'd argue exactly the opposite. You can practice as much as you want but unless you can do it in game situations it don't mean diddly. Playing the warm up games and the WC would be the perfect opportunity to be putting up jumpshots.

Reply #750920 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

any time he gets with the boomers ahead of the olympics is valuable IMO

Reply #750923 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

That Canadian team is a list of INVITED players, not indicative of those definitely players. I anticipate that a stack of players on that list will not show out - basically anyone who has just signed or in a contract year (Murray, Powell), rookies (Barrett, Nickeil A-W), or has changed teams (SGA).

Basically Canada could be fierce on paper, but until the final 12 is picked, they cannot be rated properly.

Reply #750924 | Report this post


Having Ben Simmons at the USA games just feels a bit hollow for me now because, really, he isn't a part of the team. It's like The Boomers, plus a fill in. It will be like watching a show of what could have been. To me, the whole importance of the games is that this is meant to be the world cup team. I can see why some people are glad that Ben is playing these games and commercially it makes sense, but for me, it's a distraction for a team that should have their sights set on a medal, both in China and Tokyo. In the scheme of things, if playing these games somehow makes it more likely he plays the Olympics, then it is a positive. But I can't imagine that his teammates are going to be happy, especially the ones who have to sacrifice playing time to him.

Reply #750932 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

would the Boomers be more stronger if
Torrey Craig became an AUSSIE there was a rumour that he was looking at being a citizen

Reply #750939 | Report this post


Hoopie  
Years ago

Be interesting to see how the crowd reacts. If there's any booing at all then I could see Ben spit the dummy around playing for the Boomers in the future.

Reply #750940 | Report this post


Gus3232  
Years ago

I was kinda hoping the other angle of him playing, it going really well and Simmons being like "Damn, we are pretty good as a team, I SHOULD play!". Hey maybe we suit him, do the warm ups and then "Take a seat champ, you'll be watching from the pine today!". LOL.

Reply #750943 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

Wiggins isn't playing for Canada.

Reply #750944 | Report this post


rjd  
Years ago

This is even worse. WTF is Simmons thinking? The team for the World Cup needs to be the same team for the preparation games. Either play in the warm-up games AND the World Cup, or don't play at all. Otherwise, it is a distraction and pointless.

Rich Paul has a history of making his clients look like dicks to basketball fans if it means it might help them get the trade they want or a bigger contract. This seems like a face-saving decision to appear better in the eyes of fans, but as someone who wants the best result possible in the World Cup, I think it's clearly worse.

Reply #750950 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I'm already on Canada to beat us in opening game and Lithuania to top group

Reply #750951 | Report this post


rjd  
Years ago

"I look forward to working with my Boomers coaches and teammates over the next few weeks to start working towards our ultimate team goal of winning a medal at the Olympics." - Ben Simmons

We need to qualify first. Making a cameo in meaningless warm-up games doesn't do anything towards that.

Reply #750952 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I have a very expensive ticket to one of the Melbourne games and would prefer he do both warmup and WC or neither. The pricing of tickets is going to mean that most people in attendance are actual basketball fans, not casual observers who came along because they heard Ben Simmons was playing. And I think most basketball fans would prefer that the Boomers get the best possible prep for the WC and we aren't sitting at home in 2020 wondering whether we could have medalled if only we'd qualified.

Simmons has consistently been an egomaniac dick, though. The tantrum he had when he didn't make the last WC team was stupid, but forgivable from a teenager. Sadly we've seen nothing as he's gotten older to suggest that he's actually matured. He's really good, but he thinks he's heir apparent to Lebron when actually he's nowhere close to that level.

Reply #750956 | Report this post


Cram  
Years ago

He's young rich and famous, which means he's going to have people around him giving him all kinds of advice about what he should do about everything. Its not surprising that he ends up making decisions that don't please everyone.

We've seen how guys like LeBron have been influenced by people around him to make decisions that are considered by many to be poor. It happens. It doesn't mean he's a dick, it means he's human.

There aren't actually "right" or "wrong" ways to do things, just differences of opinions, largely informed by "whats in it for me". I'm largely annoyed because, whats in it for me is the possibility of celebrating a world cup medal.

His family seem to be strong and grounded (Simmo always seemed to down to earth) so hopefully they're able to be a good influence on him.

Reply #750958 | Report this post


Luckily Lemanis tends to use warm up games to play cat and mouse with scouts, and plays very deceptively, and not to the strengths of the team, so with Ben in there it actually makes us harder to figure out when game time comes because we will be running different things.

Reply #750969 | Report this post


rjd  
Years ago

That's a fair point. To add to that, the core of the team have played plenty of high quality ball together with already strong chemistry. It's getting the new players to gel with the core unit that will be so crucial. We need the new players in sync, particularly whoever will command minutes at the 4 to replace Andersen's role.

Will Simmons be taking away minutes from any of the new players? Otherwise will Simmons take away minutes from the core players, leaving less time for the new players to experience playing alongside the core group? What position will he be played at? If at the 1, it is a totally different balance to the lineup than Delly or Mills at the 1. It will become more a showcase than serious preparation for the World Cup. If at the 4, will he be taking away minutes from whoever is acting as our Andersen replacement? Simmons is such a unique talent, but you have to wonder if he can reasonably replace the role of any other player that he might be taking minutes away from.

Perhaps Lemanis is best off using Simmons to experiment how to use him for 2020, presuming we qualify, not so much for this World Cup.

Reply #751002 | Report this post


Having Ben in these games has some small purpose in the long term but for this year, it's a disruption. The whole thing is regrettable really. I kind of wish there were no overhyped USA v Aus games happening. There'd be no need for him to play and the team could prepare properly. As a ticket holder, the whole thing has lurched from one disappointment to another for me. No Lebron first. Then no Curry. Then no Westbrook. Then no Davis. The list has gone on and on until you're basically watching an NBA bench team with maybe one or two of the top 20 players in the league. Most of them I wouldn't know if I fell over.

Reply #751004 | Report this post


FM  
Years ago

Shouldn't even be allowed to suit up. These games are part of our preparation for the World Cup. There are plenty of other players that need to be on the bench during these games because there is a certain chance they will need to be comfortable sitting there and even getting on the floor a few weeks later.

As for the Olympics, make it really easy for him. If you aren't prepared to play in the World Cup, you won't be playing in the Olympics. Cant afford to plan on an Olympic team that then 1 month out decides it doesn't suit their own plans.

TEAM sport champ from a Country which tends to punch well above their weight in team sports. Let the spoiled behaviour continue, you grow more players in the long run trying to do the same thing.

Reply #751013 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

The upside to Ben playing in the warmup games is that it reduces the injury risk to guys he takes minutes away from...

I tend to agree with rjd and Fft that there's some value in making us harder to scout and the Mills/Delly/Ingles/Baynes/Bogut group have plenty of run together so probably don't need huge reps. Simmons with the ball in hand probably doesn't get used that differently to Delly, either, despite them being very different players overall.

I do agree with FM, though. The guy who is 13th in this squad is going to be gutted to miss out, as was Broekhoff. There are players who say the right lines because they've been told that this is how to manage your persona, and there are players who don't need to manage their persona. And I don't just judge which camp I think Ben falls into based on twitter and ESPN. In person, when there are no cameras around, he's much more self-focused than Delly, Mills, Broekhoff and Exum. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the older guys in the squad are disappointed that their medal chances took a hit, but expecting to have more fun as a team without him.

Reply #751024 | Report this post


Hoopie  
Years ago

I reckon the only reason he's playing the warm-up games is because of the contractual obligations BA has.

He would have been a major selling-point in getting ANY interest and contracts, and there would probably be penalties or a massive loss of credibility if he didn’t front up (which would affect future contracts).

Basically, BA needed him in order to fill the stadiums and get the money.

Reply #751025 | Report this post


Let's be honest, without Ben Simmons the Australia vs. USA series is a joke. Yes, I love the Boomers team (even without him), but let's be honest, 100,000 people didn't buy tickets to see them. Team USA's roster will be "good" but when it comes to star power it is a complete and utter disappointment.

Reply #751026 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I bought tickets to see the Boomers, it's rare that we get to see anything close to a full strength Boomers team on home soil and even without the superstars it's still Team USA's WC team. Fair call that a lot of ticket holders will be pretty disappointed, though.

Reply #751040 | Report this post


Well, the same for me. I want to see our best possible team. But I wanted to see us play against stars. I'll still enjoy it though. It's still Australia vs USA and that is still a "thing" no matter who turns up. But I am not sure most ticket holders would feel the same.

Reply #751043 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Now probably doubtful to play in Olympics

Reply #822058 | Report this post


 
Years ago

Latest articles indicate Simmons is likely to part of 2021 Olympics.

Goorjian expected to name a 24 man squad soon.

Reply #829660 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Pgs
Simmons, Dellavedova, Exum, WMW, giddey
Sgs
Mills, cotton, Goulding, Sobey, Mccarron
Sfs
Ingles, creek, Thybulle, green, Adel, noi
Pfs
Landale, bolden, Kay, Motum, cooks, white
C
Baynes, maker, Magnay, humphries, Mathiang, Reath


Depth..

Reply #829662 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Oh and Broekhoff.

Reply #829663 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

No more thon maker please.

Reply #829678 | Report this post




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