Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons is not like many All-Stars. He is not going to consistently put up gaudy stat lines of 25, 13 and 8, but that does not mean he doesn’t have an impact on the floor.
Simmons return to the floor in Monday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder after missing four games, and he made an impact. He only produced 12 points and four assists, but he did a lot on the offensive end to create open looks for his teammates.
On his first possession, he pushed the ball in transition and found Furkan Korkmaz for an open look. A few possessions later, he found Seth Curry for an open 3. The attention he attracts creates so many open looks for his team.
“I think my creativity is something you can’t teach,” said Simmons. “Then just my size and height advantage on some players, I’m able to pass the ball to certain guys who are open. I see a lot of things that most guys don’t see on the floor and that’s a blessing for me to find my guys and get them open.”
He is so important on the floor for Philadelphia that the team gets open looks it doesn’t when he is on the bench. The wide-open looks the Sixers had against the Thunder demonstrated that value.
“Just with his size and speed, especially in transition, he’s just able to really cause the defense to send a lot of guys his way and he’s able to get us a lot of 3s in transition,” said Tobias Harris. “He’s been big for us all year. The games that he was out, we missed that dynamic piece out there. Not just defensively, but he’s a big piece to our offensive game plan, night after night.”
A lot of people get caught up in the fact Simmons is not much of a scorer. He entered Monday’s game averaging 14.8 points per game and with somebody of his size and skill, he probably should be averaging more points than that.
However, he doesn’t let the talk bother him.
“Not really,” he said. “I think, at times, I probably did because I was too focused on what other people are thinking, but I know what my value is to this team. I know that I’m a huge part of this team, and if you know basketball, you see it when I’m out. It is what it is. Everyone plays their role and I’m playing my role right now. I’m trying to win.”
Simmons does a lot of things on the floor to create open looks for his team and that is what he is focused on nightly.
“Obviously, my IQ to be able to get my guys open, setting picks, certain passes just little things that may go unnoticed to the average viewer,” he added. “To me, I know what I’m doing.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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