The Philadelphia 76ers have come out of The Process into consistently being a contender in the Eastern Conference. Two picks they acquired during those dismal years have turned into All-Star caliber players year in and year out in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Embiid has been able to become a superstar who can take over games for the Sixers. Ben Simmons, on the other hand, has stalled the team’s progression with his shooting woes.
Brett Brown Talked to Ben Simmons About Benching Him Last Summer
Brett Brown Sit Down
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown sat down with Ben Simmons last summer about his shooting.
“I told Ben,” Brown said, according to ESPN. ” If you aren’t willing to shoot, then do I just bench you? Because I can do that.”
The former number one overall pick in 2016 has seen defenses in which he is at the three-point line and the defender is guarding him at the foul line daring him to shoot. Simmons has the best field goal percentage this season amongst point guards though with 58.5 percent. He is ninth in that category. For his career, he is shooting 56.1 percent. That would be good for 18th in NBA history.
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Simmons is great around the rim but this team needs him to score some perimeter shots to keep defenses honest. He has gotten exposed this season due to the fact that there is a lack of three-point shooters on the Sixers and he is a pass-first guard. Simmons also has power forward size and the transition to playing on the perimeter may be too much for him to handle.
Making Perimeter Shooting a Reality
The 6’10 guard has only made two threes in his career and they both came this season. From 10 to less than 16 feet is where Simmons can start off shooting efficiently. If he creates a post-game like LeBron James has against smaller guards then he will become what the Sixers need.
Simmons is a Rookie of the Year, a two time All-Star in three seasons and he was having a great defensive season in which he led the league in steals per game with 2.1. He has proved he can do almost everything and be successful in this league. To complete his overall game he will have to take perimeter shots.
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