syntax wrote:HardenToSixers wrote:Won't comment on anything else but since I've seen it mentioned a few times I wouldn't get your hopes up for a small ball C Simmons. Sixers would've loved to have used him in that way and it just didn't work. Can't anchor the defense in the same way that somebody like an undersized Draymond Green can. And frankly isn't that good at guarding people similar-sized/bigger than him. His best defensive traits are being able to guard most SFs/smaller PFs while also being able to stay in front of almost all smaller guards well due to his very quick feet.
https://hoopshabit.com/2021/06/03/sixers-experiment-ben-simmons-center/
leaving Simmons as the small-ball five. Ben Simmons filled the position well as he finished with a triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocks and a steal in a 17-point win to close the series.
So did the experiment work? Yes.
Thanks for playing.
Lol. First of all, I have no agenda on this. I was offering harmless insight on one particular matter that I noticed several times in the thread. It's something as a fan that I would personally be surprised by as well since logically you would think he would excel at the position and with the Sixers it never worked that well in practice nor was used very often. It is certainly possible that another coach is able to bring the role out more effectively or give the role more of a try, however I was attempting to share useful info from my time watching him with the Sixers.
Second of all, you didn't even read the article that you posted past the quote that you were content with finding. In fact, the article essentially repeats what I just said above
Defensively is the bigger concern, Simmons may be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate but he’s done that by his menacing perimeter defense, not his interior defense.
The Wizards center rotation is not something high on the scouting report. In the starting lineup, Harris was guarding Gafford while Simmons was on the wings covering Rui Hachimura. When the benches came through Dwight Howard matched Robin Lopez’s minutes, who managed to continue his Kareem Abdul-JaLopez hooks.
Not to mention that the Wizards lacked an overly threatening big in that series as noted.
Finally, I've watched Simmons play for years and it occurred in more times than just the one playoff game last year which you decided to chime in with, and as I noted, it always left a bit to be desired. I wished it would've worked better, and if it had he would've played the position more often since Simmons playing backup 5 during Embiid rest minutes would've been great for staggering lineups.
That said, I wouldn't expect an Australian Simmons stan to be able to have an actual, nuanced conversation about a single flaw about Ben Simmons. If you'd like to continue this feel free to take it to the PMs so that we don't needlessly clog the Nets board however I don't have much left to add given that it was a harmless update meant to be informative to Ben's new team about an observation about his game.
Thanks for playing.
