IS SIMPSON THE REAL DEAL?

Let us take a timeout from the exciting world of the NBA. With less than two weeks left before the curtain rises up for the PBA Fiesta Conference, all ten teams are now scampering up for their respective foreign reinforcements or in short, imports. The coming conference calls for a 6’6” height limit for imports.

Gabe Freeman and Anthony Johnson are returning once again to help San Miguel Beer and Sta. Lucia Realty, respectively. Other teams are looking for fresh faces to bring more excitement to Asia’s first play-for-pay loop.

According to league insiders, one import who is looking very impressive in his initial team practices is Diamon Simpson of the Alaska Aces.

“He is obviously very skilled,” remarked Alaska coach Tim Cone. “He is tall. He is long. He is young. He has got a lot of skills. He has got a lot of knowledge of the triangle so those are the key things for us in bringing him along”.

On his part, Simpson likewise has good things to say about the Aces. “I am very excited to be playing with the Alaska Aces,” Simpson said. “They are very athletic. They are very competitive. I like it a lot. I enjoy working with them and I know we can get the job done.”

“He (coach Tim) told me to come in and help them win. So I am going to do my best”, Simpson further stated. “I know that this team wants to win a championship this conference and I hope to help them achieve that goal. I cannot wait to compete at that level.”

But who is Diamon Simpson?

Simpson, 22, is fresh from a stint with the Los Angeles D-fenders of the NBA D-League. He played in 30 outings with the Lakers affiliate, averaging 15.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 2.2 apg in 31.8 mpg. He joined the D-fenders after seeing action for the Washington Wizards in the NBA summer league and with Golden State Warriors in the 2009-10 pre-season games. He was not selected in the 2009 NBA draft.

He played four years with St. Mary’s College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications. He submitted norms of 13.8 ppg and 10.8 rpg during his senior year. Simpson starred for Hayward High School in California during his prep days.

Did the Aces found a gem of an import in Simpson? We will know the answer once the Fiesta Conference unwraps on March 21.