The Ben Simmons Megathread - Part III

[kuclas]

So seeing the height and weight listing and that Ben is bigger than Horford. Would Ben make an amazing small ball 5 if he honed his post defence?

One of the main benefits of having a small ball 5 is that it forces the other team to go small because the 5 should be able to stretch the floor and force the opposition big out of the key. Ben can't shoot to save his life... so probably not going to work very well.

On the flip side. Small ball only with Ben works if Ben can get stronger to actually defend the other teams 5.

The few games Embiid missed. Like the lowly hawks coming to philly home game. Atlanta centers torched Sixers “centers” including Simmons in the paint. Same with the portland home game.

Ben just can’t defend the 5 right now. He’s not strong enough.

[LloydFree]

So seeing the height and weight listing and that Ben is bigger than Horford. Would Ben make an amazing small ball 5 if he honed his post defence?

One of the main benefits of having a small ball 5 is that it forces the other team to go small because the 5 should be able to stretch the floor and force the opposition big out of the key. Ben can't shoot to save his life... so probably not going to work very well.

On the flip side. Small ball only with Ben works if Ben can get stronger to actually defend the other teams 5.

The few games Embiid missed. Like the lowly hawks coming to philly home game. Atlanta centers torched Sixers “centers” including Simmons in the paint. Same with the portland home game.

Ben just can’t defend the 5 right now. He’s not strong enough.

He's not long enough for Centers or most PFs. He has a 6'10 wingspan.

[MVP1992]

Hard to find a news outlet that hasn't run the story. Some of the headlines here in Aus are pretty funny

[Bum Adebayo]

So seeing the height and weight listing and that Ben is bigger than Horford. Would Ben make an amazing small ball 5 if he honed his post defence?

One of the main benefits of having a small ball 5 is that it forces the other team to go small because the 5 should be able to stretch the floor and force the opposition big out of the key. Ben can't shoot to save his life... so probably not going to work very well.

On the flip side. Small ball only with Ben works if Ben can get stronger to actually defend the other teams 5.

The few games Embiid missed. Like the lowly hawks coming to philly home game. Atlanta centers torched Sixers “centers” including Simmons in the paint. Same with the portland home game.

Ben just can’t defend the 5 right now. He’s not strong enough.

He is strong enough, but the length is not there, nothing he can do about that.

[eyeatoma]

That's what she said...

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[Bum Adebayo]

Couldn't watch the game but that 3pt shot made by Ben was very impressive, he was right after all and already has a great shot.

[kuclas]

One of the main benefits of having a small ball 5 is that it forces the other team to go small because the 5 should be able to stretch the floor and force the opposition big out of the key. Ben can't shoot to save his life... so probably not going to work very well.

On the flip side. Small ball only with Ben works if Ben can get stronger to actually defend the other teams 5.

The few games Embiid missed. Like the lowly hawks coming to philly home game. Atlanta centers torched Sixers “centers” including Simmons in the paint. Same with the portland home game.

Ben just can’t defend the 5 right now. He’s not strong enough.

He's not long enough for Centers or most PFs. He has a 6'10 wingspan.

Blake Griffin has the same dimensions as Ben Simmons.

Ben should be able to cover some centers. I just see him being over powered by Giannis. Which shouldn’t happen if he was stronger. Giannis doesn’t push Embiid in. It’s the wingspan. When someone backs u down at ease. That’s strength.

Embiid has problems backing down al Horford, marc Gasol. Those guys are stronger than Embiid.

Embiid strength has improved where he can knock Rudy gobert Off in the low block. When previously he couldn’t. It’s cause Embiid has gained more strength. He’s still not as strong as he could be though.

Simmons needs to get stronger.

[LloydFree]

On the flip side. Small ball only with Ben works if Ben can get stronger to actually defend the other teams 5.

The few games Embiid missed. Like the lowly hawks coming to philly home game. Atlanta centers torched Sixers “centers” including Simmons in the paint. Same with the portland home game.

Ben just can’t defend the 5 right now. He’s not strong enough.

He's not long enough for Centers or most PFs. He has a 6'10 wingspan.

Blake Griffin has the same dimensions as Ben Simmons.

Ben should be able to cover some centers. I just see him being over powered by Giannis. Which shouldn’t happen if he was stronger. Giannis doesn’t push Embiid in. It’s the wingspan. When someone backs u down at ease. That’s strength.

Embiid has problems backing down al Horford, marc Gasol. Those guys are stronger than Embiid.

Embiid strength has improved where he can knock Rudy gobert Off in the low block. When previously he couldn’t. It’s cause Embiid has gained more strength. He’s still not as strong as he could be though.

Simmons needs to get stronger.

SMH. Reminds me of the dialogue the year Julius Randall was a prospect and people searched the draft express database to find the one comparable to prove he'd be able to defend the paint as a Power Forward. I'm not going to go back and forth about outlier players.

[Kobblehead]

How is Blake Griffin being used as an example for why this can work?

Blake Griffin has been protected by defensive centers his whole career because he can't play the 5.

[76ciology]

Couldn't watch the game but that 3pt shot made by Ben was very impressive, he was right after all and already has a great shot.

Looks like the upper right spot is his spot. He’s been practicing a lot on that spot.

[LloydFree]

I can't stop watching the replays. It's crazy how invested people are in this.

Watch on YouTube

[Negrodamus]

Remind me of:

Watch on YouTube

[ivysixer2000]

How is Blake Griffin being used as an example for why this can work?

Blake Griffin has been protected by defensive centers his whole career because he can't play the 5.

Yeah I don't understand why someone would even compare Blake to Ben.

Ben doesn't have the explosive leaping ability of Blake, even if we talk about the other things that is wrong with the comparison.

Ben isn't a 5, no reason to continue the discussion really.

[Ericb5]

How is Blake Griffin being used as an example for why this can work?

Blake Griffin has been protected by defensive centers his whole career because he can't play the 5.

Yeah I don't understand why someone would even compare Blake to Ben.

Ben doesn't have the explosive leaping ability of Blake, even if we talk about the other things that is wrong with the comparison.

Ben isn't a 5, no reason to continue the discussion really.

Plus Griffin isn't as fast as Ben. Griffin is a power forward, and Ben Simmons is a point guard. The fact that they are of similar size has nothing to do with their game.

The only comparison that is worth making is that Griffin improved his jumper significantly after he got into the league, and we are hoping that Ben can do the same. Ben is coming from farther behind though.

[Ericb5]

Remind me of:

Watch on YouTube

Both the Fultz video and the Simmons video show why Philly is a great sports city. The fans are rooting personally for the kids as people in addition to them as players.

Simmons does himself no favors with his dry serious personality, but the city recognizes that he can be the best player in the league if he can become a good shooter, and they also recognize that there is a confidence issue here.

That 3 from Simmons is one of the best Sixers moments for me in the last few years in terms of pure joy. It doesn't matter that it was against a Chinese team during the preseason as the clock was winding down. He squared up, took a clean shot, and swished it in his first game action of the season.

[Kobblehead]

Are we sensing something different about Ben? Feels like we're on the cusp of a legit breakout.

[Jams60]

I’d like to think so. Last year Ben dominated so many first quarters then seemed to go back into his shell. It was almost like he said ‘ I’m getting mine now and then I’ll help the rest get theirs.’ What may have changed this year though is that he may feel that JRich and Horford are quite happy to be two way players who don’t need the ball as much as Butler and Reddick did.
He is certainly more confident, more vocal and just seems so much sure of himself and his role as a team leader. Hopefully that turns into a more consistently aggressive and risk taking (shooting) Ben. That will be the jump he needs to breakthrough to the next level.

[Ericb5]

I’d like to think so. Last year Ben dominated so many first quarters then seemed to go back into his shell. It was almost like he said ‘ I’m getting mine now and then I’ll help the rest get theirs.’ What may have changed this year though is that he may feel that JRich and Horford are quite happy to be two way players who don’t need the ball as much as Butler and Reddick did.
He is certainly more confident, more vocal and just seems so much sure of himself and his role as a team leader. Hopefully that turns into a more consistently aggressive and risk taking (shooting) Ben. That will be the jump he needs to breakthrough to the next level.

I agree.

He should do the exact opposite, which is what Magic always did. For the first 3 quarter he should be getting everyone else involved, and then in the 4th he should be looking to score.

Of course, he needs to develop his skills to the point that he CAN score when he needs to.


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[Wilfried]

Are we sensing something different about Ben? Feels like we're on the cusp of a legit breakout.

We know how dominant he can be against lesser teams

I thought we played against 2 pretty weak teams up til now.

And he only attempted 1 3 in those games

Ben is a stud, but please, don't get carried away

[Simmons25]

I’d like to think so. Last year Ben dominated so many first quarters then seemed to go back into his shell. It was almost like he said ‘ I’m getting mine now and then I’ll help the rest get theirs.’ What may have changed this year though is that he may feel that JRich and Horford are quite happy to be two way players who don’t need the ball as much as Butler and Reddick did.
He is certainly more confident, more vocal and just seems so much sure of himself and his role as a team leader. Hopefully that turns into a more consistently aggressive and risk taking (shooting) Ben. That will be the jump he needs to breakthrough to the next level.

It's going to be a wait and see. He looked like this at times last year... but I do think not having JJ Redick and Butler there will help him. We ran way too many dribble hand off plays for JJ to get open. Ben was almost relegated to the 5th option on offense last year... this year he is going to need to look to score more and wouldn't be surprised for me to see him becoming the 2nd option now.

It will be interesting to see though what happens when Embiid is back. So far Joel has played a grand total of 13 minutes in the entire pre-season so when he does start playing it is going to significantly change the way we play and the speed of play and the amount of space Ben has to drive.