Why is this idiot Bill Simmons blaming Lance?

[truhooper]

Lance & David West were the only Pacers that showed heart all 6 games.

I think he should shift the blame to Vogel, Catfish George & that bum Hibbert :coleman:

[Dro]

Its ESPN.......

[TylerOO]

Jalen Rose another idiot. Saying George needs more help "where was Lance?" Lance outplayed George more often than not in this series

HATERS

[Ballin095]

Jalen Rose another idiot. Saying George needs more help "where was Lance?" Lance outplayed George more often than not in this series

HATERS

LOL for real. I was like wtf when i heard him say that. The only sensible one on that crew is collins.

[aj1987]

Because he was trying to annoy LeBron more than actually trying to play and win the game. Still, Lance did have a good series.

[AnaheimLakers24]

both lance and george where inconsistent. whats worse is when one played well the other was shit for most that game

[305Baller]

I think Simmons felt that Lances behavior became a negative distraction.

Bill Simmons is a good writer and he knows the game well.

[AintNoSunshine]

I think Simmons felt that Lances behavior became a negative distraction.

Bill Simmons is a good writer and he knows the game well.
This

[JtotheIzzo]

Lance is an attention whore and a distraction.

I GUARANTEE, when it is all said and done about this Pacer team, Lancer will be the Cancer.

Sign and trade is in his future.

[BasedTom]

There's a mob of at least 300 fans outside of the AAA surrounding the Indiana Pacers buses chanting 'WE WANT LANCE WE WANT LANCE" and other nice things

There's obviously police there, if any pacers fans are concered

It's like those Beats commercials with that "I'm the man" song

[ProfessorMurder]

I think Simmons felt that Lances behavior became a negative distraction.

Bill Simmons is a good writer and he knows the game well.

Who cares about whether or not he's a good writer that knows the game? You can still be wrong and he is wrong.

Compared to his season averages this year:

Bran against the Pacers this series averaged under his normal ppg, rpg, apg, fg%, 3pt%, and upped his fouls per game.

Yeah Lance really made Bran mad and up his game to the next level :rolleyes:

[DuMa]

Lance didnt show up for game 4. and was a nuisance to team chemistry in games 5 and 6.

What the **** are you talking about showing heart?

[Dro]

Lance didnt show up for game 4. and was a nuisance to team chemistry in games 5 and 6.

What the **** are you talking about showing heart?
False.....

[stalkerforlife]

I literally turn the channel when Bill Simmons starts talking.

[SwishSquared]

Simmons has a point, though I think he sometimes articulates better on his podcasts than he does on live TV. Bill's a huge bball historian and in my opinion, he felt Lance was disrespecting the game with his antics. I mean it was pretty wack after a while. I'm sure it ticked off his teammates.

Lance at times was their best performer these playoffs, but Lance's goal the past couple games was simply to annoy LBJ and attempt "to get in his head." It backfired, greatly. He almost seemed to care more about accomplishing this than playing the same way he did the first couple games. He started the series very well and had that play continued, he would have been more effective for Indy in my opinion.

Regarding rest of starters, I don't think anybody can really blame West for "not showing up." Without him, they lose to Atlanta. This series, he did the best he could to keep this team together. He contributed his part. Hibbert no-showed, which surprised me honestly. I thought getting into the ECF against Miami might wake him up, but he under-performed a lot. Am I the only one who thinks George Hill plays shaken against the Heat? His confidence seems to take a hit.

Collins is pretty solid on the show, but Jalen's been pretty bad this year (and I like the Jalen Rose Report). He's much better free-flowing on a podcast.

[Goldrush25]

All Stephenson cares about is making a name for himself and trying to become a star. He doesn't care about the team. Why do you think Paul George said he didn't know if he wanted Stephenson back? This whole series was about what a spectacle he made of himself.

[Dro]

All Stephenson cares about is making a name for himself and trying to become a star. He doesn't care about the team. Why do you think Paul George said he didn't know if he wanted Stephenson back? This whole series was about what a spectacle he made of himself.
Because he's best friends with Roy, thats why....Lance plays with the most effort on the court, leads the team in assists and is the only who tries to get everyone involved, including Roy himself.....Not sure how he doesn't care about his team.....:confusedshrug:

[LogicalFan]

As much as I like Lance, they should get rid of him. I suggest that for purely basketball reasons too, not his attitude.

Their whole roster is a bit of a weird setup, but the starting 5 is even worse. George Hill is their best 3 pt shooter and he's not even that great. He hits at a decent clip, but he doesn't attempt them much so it's not a major factor in their offense. For example, Kyle Lowry takes 6 3-pt attempts per game and Hill only takes 3.5 3-pt attempts per game. They need someone else who can stretch the floor. Stephenson isn't that guy.

Additionally, Stephenson just adds problems to their anemic offensive scheme. He runs the floor great and can distribute, but he's best when he's penetrating and getting to the paint. Paul George is the same way. Add insult to injury, you have two guys who are mainly inside scorers in West and Hibbert on the front line. So you have two guys on the perimeter running into a crowded paint because of their bigs. That's FOUR guys who want to play around the rim and 5th guy who is an unwilling shooter.

They need someone who can fire away from deep in order to help spacing and a real PG to facilitate the offense.

[Goldrush25]

Not sure how he doesn't care about his team.....:confusedshrug:

Maybe I misspoke, he may care about the team but I believe he cares about himself more and creating buzz about himself. All this series people have been talking about his antics. Larry Bird tells him to chill out, and he keeps on with the same crap this game. I would think that someone that's putting the team first would listen to the HOF GM.

And hey, it worked so good for him. What's the best way to create buzz for yourself, go and call out the best player in the world. He'll get some team to overpay for him this offseason.

Obviously his talent is apparent but he doesn't fit. You can't get rid of George or Hibbert so you have to get rid of him.

[oarabbus]

Lance & David West were the only Pacers that showed heart all 6 games.

I think he should shift the blame to Vogel, Catfish George & that bum Hibbert :coleman:

I don't really see what Vogel had to do with it. His coaching decisions weren't bad, the players just didn't show up. Prime offenders are George and Hibbert.

[MC Gusto]

All Stephenson cares about is making a name for himself and trying to become a star. He doesn't care about the team. Why do you think Paul George said he didn't know if he wanted Stephenson back? This whole series was about what a spectacle he made of himself.
He said that?:biggums: Larry Bird needs to pay for these nikkas to get some media training. :facepalm

[Dro]

He said that?:biggums: Larry Bird needs to pay for these nikkas to get some media training. :facepalm
Exactly...this fool said that.......Meanwhile the vet David West said of course we want him back.....He knows they need him to go anywhere, thats the fact of the matter.......

[Dro]

Maybe I misspoke, he may care about the team but I believe he cares about himself more and creating buzz about himself. All this series people have been talking about his antics. Larry Bird tells him to chill out, and he keeps on with the same crap this game. I would think that someone that's putting the team first would listen to the HOF GM.

And hey, it worked so good for him. What's the best way to create buzz for yourself, go and call out the best player in the world. He'll get some team to overpay for him this offseason.

Obviously his talent is apparent but he doesn't fit. You can't get rid of George or Hibbert so you have to get rid of him.
I understand what you're saying.........this is how Lance responded to that..


“Whenever he says something to me, I take that to heart,” Stephenson said. “He definitely kept me on the right path my whole career. He said don’t do it again, so I’m not going to do it again.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/31/4148569/indiana-pacers-president-larry.html#storylink=cpy

Now everyone knows Lance has the utmost respect for Larry....He's routinely acknowledged that Larry is the reason for him having a career basically.....To be fair, Bird was the same type of player......He just said don't blow in a players face......I assume he was not happy that Lance tapped Lebron on the chin tonight but he also saw the previous play where Lebron hit Lance in the face on that 3 pointer which I believe was done on purpose...Not malicious, Battier has been doing it for years but Lebron has never done it to my knowledge so I assume it was just a bit of payback.....Larry I assume knows he has to let Lance be who he is......You have to take the bad with the good, as long as the bad doesn't outweigh the good and in noway do I think the bad outweighs the good.....

I think I'm a pretty objective Pacer fan and if I honestly thought Lance does more harm than good, I would say that.....But I've watched basically every game this core has played together for the last 3 years....Lance doesn't generally act this way in most of the games...Lance does many things on the court to help his team win....His antics are overblown, they really just came out in this series.....During the regular season, Lance does certain things sometimes after he makes a great play just like others do, prime Vince after one of his great dunks would often do a little dance, you've had players that do shimmies, even Lebron has his push the buildings down celebration but for the most part, Lance just generally plays the game...the moment just got to him and he wanted to win badly, I think a little more than some of his teammates....He's only 23...he has room to mature...

[ace23]

He said that?:biggums: Larry Bird needs to pay for these nikkas to get some media training. :facepalm
I don't see anything wrong with him answering that question truthfully. He was asked if he wanted Lance back next season.

Dude is annoying as shit, so I understand PG's response.