Keegan Gushing Over McCormack
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To reiterate…He was fighting injuries all or key parts of most of his college years and really only fulfilled his potential his last one. His was one of the most snake-bitten-by-injury players of great potential I have seen at KU and before in highschool. Mostly unfulfilled potential til his last season. The great difference between Sim and Bill Bridges was that Bridges could perform at high levels when injured, and Sim had to be well to play well. I wasn’t surprised he did not cut it in the NBA. He had to be well to excell. Players like Bridges and Larry Bird probably played through greater injuries for a decade or more than what kept Sim out any given season. But there just are differing thresholds for different players. Sim was wonderful when well, but he just wasn’t a great enough talent to overcome the chronic injuries that Bridges or Bird did. Not a knock. Just the reality. But that one season Sim had was a great one.
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@jaybate-1.0 My bad memory says he (Simien) originally got hurt practicing for the McD game in HS. Blocked a shot against the glass and dislocated his shoulder I believe.
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Works for me. I just remember I had a nephew that was going to have to guard him in some game or other and was never so relieved as when Sim got the wing injury, so he didn’t have to face him.
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@JayHawkFanToo I recall the injury directly … I was at the game vs. TAM at AFH. Simien had hurt it earlier in the year and had come back to action. His time on the sidelines opened the door for one of my all time favorites, Jeff Graves.
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@justanotherfan Perry Ellis was rated very similarly to the Morris twins and T-Rob. All 4 of those men took roughly the same time to really become impact players and fir the lightbulb to turn on for them at KU. Players from the state of Kansas don’t take any longer than comparably ranked players from any other state. You’ll always have a handful that develop quicker than normal or expected, you’ll always have a few that never develop as expected, but the majority will develop at a similar pace to everybody else rated similarly to them.
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Simien was healthy in his freshman,junior and senior years and only injured in the last part of his sophomore year; I posted his stats above. I don’t know where you get the idea he was “snake bitten” at all. A player does not get to be an All American for two years running and National Senior POY by being snake bitten.
His short stint in the NBA had nothing to do with injuries, unless you count salmonella (which he had during the summer league) to be an injury; his game simply did not translate to the higher level…pretty much like TRob.
Perhaps you have him confused with another player?
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Yes, indeed. He injured his shoulder in January and had season ending surgery. Graves had himself a nice NCAA tournament and opened the door for him to play some at the higher level.
I remember Simien being pretty upset when Coach William left and uttered the famous…“I gave my right arm for him, literally. I gave my right arm for that man.”
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According to Bill Self, Simien had a groin injury almost his entire junior year (when he was 3rd team All America).
http://m.kusports.com/news/2004/nov/07/simien_tired_of/?templates=mobile
He also lost 4 games as a senior with a thumb injury.
As a pro, he lost almost his whole 2nd season to his salmonella infection because he kept suffering repeated setbacks for months. Then he had a knee injury, and surgery, at the beginning of the Miami’s next season’s camp that kept him out of exhibitions. The trade to Minnesota followed, and he was cut thereafter.
I think it is fair to say that he was plagued by bad luck, and by being unavailable due to physical ailments and injuries during the most important stage of his nascent pro career right when he could have really proved himself.
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Jaybate’s recollection seems to have been the impression of others, too (including me). From a predraft analysis of Wayne: “The other weakness to talk about is his tendency to get injured, and missed time due to injury as recently as January. Other than these two issues, there is little not to like about Simien. However, these aren’t minor gripes. It’s not good to see a player who will be forced to rely on brute strength and physicality come up lame so often.”
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I agree… he isn’t as athletic as many 3s in the league… but give him time. He has all kinds of potential for improvement, including improving his conditioning for the next level.
These guys all think they are in shape. When players think that, there is always lots of room for improvement because players can always be in better shape.
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To reiterate, etc.
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Are there legit odds that DeSousa gets to play another year at KU? Or this wishful thinking?
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I think you are taking Coach Self’s words out of context; he did not call it an injury but a groin tweak and he played 35 out 36 games that year and the rest of the “injuries,” other than the shoulder, were minor and something that most players, both in college and the NBA deal with on a daily basis. If you look at pictures of locker rooms before after practice and games you will see lots of players getting treatment for one type or another of minor assorted ailments. I played only to JuCo level varsity sports, which is not even close to the level of Division I, and I can tell you that at one time or another every member of the team had an injury or tweak and we just had our before and after game/practice procedures to deal with them; it is the nature of the business.
Injuries did not prevent Simien from sticking in the NBA, he was the stereotypical tweener whose game did not translate to the NBA. TRob, who was the runner up for POY, had the same issue. Embiid who did not have nearly the success Simien had in college was out his entire first NBA season and most of the second due to injuries and he is in the League. If a player has NBA talent, he will stay in the League regardless of injuries (see top 76ers players) and not just go play overseas, unless the injuries are career enders such as Yao Ming.
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@DoubleDD everyone is preparing like he’ll be eligible and will play.
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@DoubleDD We’ve been this route before with the NCAA. I’m completely pessimistic until proven otherwise. And they probably won’t be able to make a decision until December, right?
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@JayHawkFanToo You have a near-Herculean ability to keep pushing the same opinion, unfazed by actual facts like the draft evaluation regarding his being prone to injuries in college, or Self’s evaluation that you took out of context. Sure, all players get twinges and aches, but the coach definitely doesn’t specifically bring up a lengthy nagging injury about all players (sure, call it a tweak, that sounds better). And the knee surgery in the NBA cost Wayne his make-it-or-break-it third preseason after missing most of his second pro season, whether or not you think that was relevant in his not landing another position after being traded and cut. Must have been a coincidence for Simien, this “tweener” taken in the first round that Pat Riley must have thought could fit in somewhere–but only until he could not physically get on the court consistently.
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@JayHawkFanToo what sport and which juco did u play for? Jc?
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Would you say that Davonte is injury prone?..and yet he played most of his junior season while cramping up which is a considerably more debilitating condition that a groin tweak. If you have a serious injury you just don’t play 35 of 36 games while averaging 33 mpg…it just does not happen.
As far as the draft, many expected Simien to go lottery and instead fell all the way to 29 with many teams passing on him because his iffy upside and Miami hoped he would develop but his game just did not fit the NBA. If his injuries were that serious he would have retired at that point but played another 3 year for a second division Spanish team. Players with top potential are selected and kept despite injuries, see Embiid and Noel and when the injuries are severe players retire, see Oden or Ming.
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Groin is much worse, you have to stay completely off it for a period of time for it to get better. Cramps come and go. He handled them well.
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I agree if it is a serious or major groin injury but a groin tweak is a much less painful albeit constant inconvenience while cramps are extremely painful and will actually prevent you from even standing up until the trainer manages to massage them away. This is why Wayne was able to play 35 of 36 games that season and averaged 33 mpg.
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I think Devonte’s cramps probably helped our coaches learn how to deal with cramp prevention. That’s all Devonte needed and he’ll have that at the next level.
I’m not sure what all is involved in a cramp prevention protocol… I think it’s tweaked to each player. They keep a journal on all their habits to see if they can find aspects of their lifestyles to change. There are a few posters in here with a med background and can probably address this better than me.
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I wonder is we could see Mitch play at the 3 spot this next season. If he is able to work on ball handling and shooting, I be shocked to not see it at some point.
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I actually would be more surprised if he didn’t play. If he was under the impression that he was not going to play I would think he would have left school and gone to Europe or somewhere else to play.
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@Woodrow If DeSousa plays, then the NCAA indictment is without merit because the premise of the indictment is fraud — defrauding the university because the player would not be eligible because of the payment. Makes me wonder …
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