The Philadelphia 76ers needed to make a choice on Monday. Either they try again to get something positive out of the Kyle O’Quinn and Jonah Bolden pairing in the second half after they struggled in the first half or try something different.
Coach Brett Brown went a different route as he moved Ben Simmons to the center position and had Raul Neto on the floor handling things at the point guard spot. It resulted in Simmons carrying the Sixers to a 117-111 win over the Brooklyn Nets on the road on Monday.
Having him play the center position creates so many mismatches due to him being 6-foot-10 and one of the more athletic players in the league. That can help things going forward as Brown tries to nail down a few things for his team.
“It’s tough for any big to guard me when I’m going at him,” said Simmons. “That’s not knocking any bigs, I’m just pretty fast, I can get to the rim, and then you have a guy like Raul who comes out, has great touch, and great basketball IQ and he’s able to find me and just make the right play and make good reads off that pick.”
Ben Simmons talks about his minutes at the 5 today #Sixers pic.twitter.com/hA8YydjfXO
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 20, 2020
The Sixers have not had many lineups with Simmons and Neto on the floor together on the season, but on Monday it clearly worked as the two worked the pick-and-roll game seamlessly.
“It was great,” Simmons added. “He’s locked in and ready to go and I love that about him. He’s not a selfish player, he likes to share the ball, he takes the shots that he gets. He’s a great player, a great teammate.”
Neto did not have an eye-popping stat line as he shot only 1-for-7 for three points and he had four assists, but he offers the Sixers a different look that they can’t have with other point guards. He makes a lot of smart reads and he and Simmons play well off each other.
It also makes it easy when you’re roller is a guy like Simmons who can take the pressure off a bit.
“He makes it easy because he sets good screens,” said Neto. “So it’s either I’m open or he’s going to be open, he’s a great roller and with his athleticism, he just gets to the rim every time so it’s always either I get an open floater which I didn’t make today, but it was either that or he gets to the rim, fouls or And-1’s, or layups so he made it easy for me.”
The Sixers will always have options for secondary ball handlers as the season wears on and a guy like Neto will factor into the rotation. When the playoffs roll around, he gives them another option as well as Trey Burke and Josh Richardson to move Simmons off the ball and have him as a roller. Monday’s effort was a good sample for Brown to use in the future. [lawrence-related id=23956,23947,23914]