Ben Simmons is Holding the Sixers Back
In the history of the NBA, not a single player has come along quite like Ben Simmons. This doesn’t mean he is the best player ever. This doesn’t mean he is the most talented or athletic player. All it means is he is different.
The first thing one learns how to do on a basketball is to shoot the ball. As a young basketball player, your goal is to keep stretching your range until you can eventually make a real three-pointer. Never has the NBA seen a guard, like Simmons, who will not shoot outside of the paint.
It is not that he can’t do it. Sixers fans have seen him do it before. It isn’t that he doesn’t practice it. The videos of Simmons drilling three after three in warmups are everywhere on the internet. It is simply a mental block.
When you are 6’10”, have the handles of a 6’0” guard and the hops of a long jumper, you do not really need to know how to shoot a jump shot. Throughout high school and college, Simmons could simply rely on his far superior athleticism and size to score, rebound, and pass at will. But now, he is surrounded by the greatest athletes in the world and has failed to adapt his game.
If you watch the Sixers regularly, you will frequently see Simmons attack in transition and get almost to the basket and decide to spin around and pass it out instead of taking one more dribble and dunking on someone. Then you may see him dared to shoot a three-pointer or a mid-range jump shot and he elects to simply swing the ball around the arc instead of helping stretch the defense.
The only explanation for Ben’s unwillingness to shoot the ball is simply immaturity and a mental block. It is evident that he is capable of making jump shots and as Coach Brett Brown has said many times, he has been encouraged by the team to take as many shots as he can, yet Simmons consistently elects not to help the team and shoot the ball.
Not only is it scary that Simmons continues to refuse to shoot jump shots, but he has actually shot less outside of the paint this season than last season. According to Short Charts, over 92% of Simmons’ shots this season have come inside of 10 feet. Last season, that number was closer to 87%. In addition, his field goal percentage has fallen .5% from last season on almost 2 fewer shots per game. So Simmons is now attempting fewer shots per game while condensing them further inside the paint.
All of this is extremely problematic and it is one of the main reasons this team will have issues in the playoffs as currently constructed. General Manager Elton Brand designed the roster depending on Simmons’, at minimum, willingness to try shooting the basketball. Because when he doesn’t, he and everyone on the floor with him become extremely one dimensional.
It was no secret that this team lacked shooting and its best players are the ones who are supposed to figure out how to compensate for that lack of shooting. Ben Simmons has simply not done that.
Until Simmons grows up and gets past his immature unwillingness to shoot, this Sixers team will continue to constantly struggle on offense. Tobias Harris has been at his best in the paint this season, but with Simmons serving as no outside threat and Joel Embiid not being healthy, Harris’ numbers have gone down.
Ben Simmons remains one of the most frustrating players not only on the Sixers but in the entire NBA. On nights against the Rockets, for example, he looks like he can be one of the best players in the NBA. Then he scores 20 points in a single half against the Pacers only to disappear in a disgusting second-half collapse.
Simmons has been in the league for three playing seasons now and it is time he takes steps forward. Unfortunately, Brett Brown has shown no ability to reach Simmons on a mental level. That is another huge problem that Elton Brand will have to deal with sooner rather than later because if Brown cannot develop Simmons soon, someone else will be eager to help the promising young player.
Until Simmons shows a willingness to shoot, this team’s ceiling is a mid-level Eastern Conference team.
Featured Image: SLAM
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Categorized:Sixers