The one criticism thrown at Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons is the fact that he will not shoot the basketball on a regular basis. In a league so predicated on shooting and spacing, Simmons has been going against that norm making only two 3-pointers in three seasons in the league.
It has been somewhat of a detriment to Philadelphia’s offense as they have had a hard time spacing the floor for them to operate. That was especially the case this season with the addition of Al Horford next to big man Joel Embiid. The team also lost JJ Redick who was the one real sharpshooter on the roster that spaced the floor for the offense to run smoothly.
Redick, now with the New Orleans Pelicans, also has a podcast called The Old Man and the Three and he welcomed Minnesota Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell on for the latest edition of the podcast. Russell and Simmons were teammates in high school at Montverde Academy in Florida and he gave his take on why Simmons won’t shoot the ball. Russell did say that Simmons took more shots outside of the paint in high school.
Russell:
He was less cautious about about it, you know as you get older, it’s a little more magnified, but he wasn’t he wasn’t really too worried. He was shooting when he was open never thought about it. So that was cool.
Redick then suggested to Russell that maybe that magnification of Simmons missing shots in the NBA is too much for him to handle. For example, if he had a night where he shot 2-for-18, he would get killed for it and it can be a lot sometimes. Maybe that is holding him back and Russell agreed with that notion:
That’s exactly what I think. You know as a shooter guy that, you know, I’m not saying you know what a slump feels like but when you’re missing and you can’t throw the ball in the hole it’s like and everybody’s talking about it and then you look at social and you’re seeing it and it’s just like it kills your confidence I would say, and that’s what pushes the league, confidence.
No matter what the case is, Simmons has to start shooting and knocking down some jump shots. Especially if general manager Elton Brand cannot add a shooter to the roster. He will have to add that to his game for the betterment of his career and the Sixers as a team. [lawrence-related id=37416,37413,37410]