The Ben Simmons Megathread - Part IV

[Bum Adebayo]

He seems to struggle whenever he doesnt play with Biid.

I think on those scenarios, he should play more off ball as a role man and continue to be the chief on transition offense. Lets Shake and Maxey run their 2 man games

You are not developing Ben Simmons if you do that, you are just asking him to be a role player. If you want Ben to be the superstar he is capable of being, then you absolutely need to hand him the keys of the offense.

[Locrian]

Just realized Ben is listed at 6'11 now and Dwight Howard at 6'10. Dwight definitely looks taller to me

[LloydFree]

The last 2-3 games, Ben is at least taking the 1st step in being a playoff functional offensive player. He's gone to the line 25 times. That's what I care about with him. The 3 point shooting doesn't mean anything to me, because they're not going to defend it, whether he takes 1-2 per game or not. But not being afraid of being fouled is a step in the right direction.

He's also shooting 72% from the line the last 5 games. If he can consistently shoot 7-8 FTs at 72%, he will be a more useful offensive player, than if he takes 2 three's per game.

[sodmoraes]

Yeah, if Ben could up his ft to 70% it would be huge for his game, as he would drive more, seeking contact.

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[Bum Adebayo]

This season proves Ben has worked hard to improve his FT. I think it's safe to say the days of Brett's torture are long gone, it's only up from here.

[M2J]

Ben looks very comfortable at the free throw line. Very. To the point of him wanting to hold the ball last night to prove he can hit them late. Attacked the rim late and went 1 of 2, then knew he would get fouled with a narrow lead and sought that opportunity and nailed 2. Huge revelation to this season that has gone unnoticed.

If Ben, Joel, Tobias can lead to 22 free throw attempts a game alone with the improved shooters too... Does wonders for their offense and overall game as they'll get stars in foul trouble.

I'm not going to say Ben shouldn't take threes, because there are enough late clock situations where he he needs to be confident enough to pull the trigger and help bail the team out. But that's the only time I want to see him shoot generally, along with some times when a good defense completely doesn't account for him. There are other ways to combat that, which Joel's game, how doc uses him, and the shooters account for... But would be nice to see him try to show the threat

[Bum Adebayo]

While it may seem counterproductive to force Simmons to shoot 3s, we need to remember that we are doing this so that he is a good shooter in the future, it doesn't really matter if he sucks at it in the meaningless Regular Season, what matters is his growth as a player.

[elchengue20]

Yeah, i sayed this a couple of games ago, he's looking waaay more confortable at the line.That's great news.

[76ciology]

Biid not clogging the paint for Ben is the biggest difference

[Jailblazers7]

The past couple of games have just reinforced that Ben is a confidence driven player. He struggled early this year with a new lineup, offensive priorities, and probably some rust from not playing much since around this time last year due to injury. But he has a huge 4th quarter against Boston and now looks like a totally different player.

He's hitting all of the right markers that Doc has been trying to drive home. Attack the hoop more consistently, get comfortable going to the line, and stay more engaged off ball (which has been huge for Embiid & Simmons so far). Now that he's starting to see positive results, I'm excited to see his growth for the rest of the season. He's still gonna have really frustrating moments where he picks up his dribble too early and throw some dumb jump pass but those habits will take some time to break.

[Jailblazers7]

While it may seem counterproductive to force Simmons to shoot 3s, we need to remember that we are doing this so that he is a good shooter in the future, it doesn't really matter if he sucks at it in the meaningless Regular Season, what matters is his growth as a player.

When it comes to Ben shooting 3s, all I want is to see him gradually start to spend a little more time in the corner and less time in the dunkers spot. Hopefully he can at least get comfortable shooting a corner 3 here and there to open up some different offensive looks when he's off ball. Other than that I don't really care.

I'd rather see him tighten his handle so he can keep his dribble alive in traffic more often and open up more passing lanes to shooters.

[Bum Adebayo]

So it looks like there will be an all star game after all.
Let's predict statline for Ben Simmons from today until last game before all star game. My prediction:
23PPG, 10RPG, 10APG

[elchengue20]

Good game, still it isn't anything we didn't see before.

And the overall team fit got very ankward at moments. Especially in half court and in clutch situations. Not the greatest sign for the Playoffs.

[76ciology]

Ben is not a bad fit with Embiid when both are on the floor. Specially when Biid is taking 30+% of his FGA as mid range jumpers and is making 54% of them.

A better fit is someone who does not only fit with Embiid on the court but also is someone you can rely to carry your team when Embiid is not playing or is on the bench, because the fact is..

Embiid is going to have a lot of load management in his entire career and he is not an ironman like LeBron who can play almost the entire game in the play-offs.

By crunch time there’s a chance that Biid is a little in pain (like injury against the Lakers) or fatigued (his size), we need a reliable option when this happen.

We only focus on their fit when both are on the court, but fit should take into consideration the big picture, not just when both are on the court at the same time but when one is on the bench or if one is not playing.

[phillynative]

The biggest mistake was Brett and the Sixers F.O handing him the Point Guard keys without demanding progress from his shooting first. They were too busy wanting to showcase him as the next Lebron and Magic to bring in more hype and for the Sixers after the process. With early success and playing how he wants to play he had no initiative to change his game.

[Ferry Avenue]

The biggest mistake was Brett and the Sixers F.O handing him the Point Guard keys without demanding progress from his shooting first. They were too busy wanting to showcase him as the next Lebron and Magic to bring in more hype and for the Sixers after the process. With early success and playing how he wants to play he had no initiative to change his game.

If he lacks the internal motivation to be great, nothing external will motivate him either.

I do agree however that the organization should've held out on making him a cornerstone of the team, because now it's unable to pivot in response to his lack of development.

[Iverson Armband]

Ben looks very comfortable at the free throw line. Very. To the point of him wanting to hold the ball last night to prove he can hit them late. Attacked the rim late and went 1 of 2, then knew he would get fouled with a narrow lead and sought that opportunity and nailed 2. Huge revelation to this season that has gone unnoticed.

If Ben, Joel, Tobias can lead to 22 free throw attempts a game alone with the improved shooters too... Does wonders for their offense and overall game as they'll get stars in foul trouble.

I'm not going to say Ben shouldn't take threes, because there are enough late clock situations where he he needs to be confident enough to pull the trigger and help bail the team out. But that's the only time I want to see him shoot generally, along with some times when a good defense completely doesn't account for him. There are other ways to combat that, which Joel's game, how doc uses him, and the shooters account for... But would be nice to see him try to show the threat

He’s still only shooting 64% from the line, what are you talking about? He doesn’t get credit for going from terrible to less terrible lol. He’s in his 5th year.

[Ferry Avenue]

Here's a thought experiment for fans of the Sixers, regarding Ben Simmons:

Imagine the Sixers trade Simmons and you're watching them play a game against his new team.

What is the level of threat of losing to that team that you experience by virtue of Simmons's presence on it?

[elchengue20]

The biggest mistake was Brett and the Sixers F.O handing him the Point Guard keys without demanding progress from his shooting first. They were too busy wanting to showcase him as the next Lebron and Magic to bring in more hype and for the Sixers after the process. With early success and playing how he wants to play he had no initiative to change his game.

Milwakee and Jason Kidd made the same mistake with Giannis.

Luckily for them they realized soon enough and fired that bum, then moved Giannis to PF, made Brook Lopez a stritcly stretch 5,unlocking Giannis full potential.

[youngcrev]

Here's a thought experiment for fans of the Sixers, regarding Ben Simmons:

Imagine the Sixers trade Simmons and you're watching them play a game against his new team.

What is the level of threat of losing to that team that you experience by virtue of Simmons's presence on it?

I mean, he's not gonna put up 40 if that's what you mean. He'll certainly make life difficult on whoever our new scorer is and hurt is transition.