Spurs’ Jonathon Simmons Still Needs Work

Spurs Jonathon Simmons still needs work. Though he is lighting up the scoreboard in summer league play, turnovers continue to be a major issue in his game.

The San Antonio Spurs trio of Simmons, Kyle Anderson, and Bryn Forbes have been playing lights out for the summer league squad in Utah.

San Antonio is now 2-0 after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. The talk of the day was the play of Simmons. Simmons scored a Utah Summer League-record 35 points as the Spurs withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally to edge the Sixers, 95-91. Simmons was 13 of 18 from the field with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals but he also committed nine turnovers.

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Simmons ball handling has been an achilles heel for him during the first two games in summer league. In their first meeting with the Utah Jazz, he committed four turnovers. That may not be bad to some, but it comes at crucial points. Simmons is an athlete, he has speed, there are times when he needs to slow his body down, bring everything together.

In the teams second game, he was all over the place. He is a scorer, he has proven that thus far, but when it comes down to it, turnovers led to the Sixers capitalizing on it and almost cost the Spurs the win.

This is the time where Simmons needs to work on his game. Next season, with Ginobili returning for another year, the younger players will be looked at more in late game situations. If it does happen, taking care of each possession will be key. San Antonio is a team that likes to move the ball, make the right passes, going 100 miles per hour and out of control won’t help. It can cause more damage than you may think.

Simmons has a bright future in the league. There is no need for him to have on area that will damper what this kid can do on the floor. Trying to do too much is not always the right thing. He has Forbes and Anderson whom are also playing at a high-level in summer league. Feed off of them, let them get you going.

Speaking of Forbes and Anderson. Both scored 23 points for the Spurs, who continued their hot shooting from the floor (55.9 percent from the field). They were also deadly from beyond the arc including 8 of 17 from 3-point range (47.1 percent). Forbes shot 8-for-10, while Anderson added eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

San Antonio looks to improve to 3-0 during the summer league as they take on the Boston Celtics on Thursday.

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