Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons may not have the most glamourous stat line averaging only 14.1 points, but lately, he has been scoring more in the first quarter of a game in an effort to try and get him going a bit.
The Sixers are a much different team when they are getting scoring and aggression out of Simmons. He has so much size and skill that the Sixers need him in an effort to add to their offense, but as long as he’s getting into the paint, that’s what matters to coach Doc Rivers.
“We don’t worry about his scoring as clearly as much as the world does,” said Rivers. “We worry about creating scoring as a team more and as part of that, that’s great obviously because when he scores, it’s pretty efficient, shooting like 55 (%), you know what I’m saying? It usually means he’s getting to the basket and creating layups.”
Simmons does that a lot as he creates looks for guys like Seth Curry and Danny Green. The attention he attracts while getting into the paint is something that is so beneficial for the rest of the team and it’s something that can’t be shown in a box score.
Of course, his aggression will then allows him to draw fouls and help himself out.
“Just being aggressive,” Simmons added. “It’s tough, I typically have the mismatch every time I get out on the floor because of my size, but just staying physical down low. Getting into what I know what works and just getting a little bit of flow.”
As long as Simmons is creating for the rest of the team, that is going to continue to be his role and his expectation moving forward.
“Even if he’s not creating the layups, he’s creating 3s so that at least means he’s going downhill early that’s the only thing we stress,” Rivers finished. “Getting in the paint early, creating contact, creating fouls, getting to the foul line, creating 3s, creating layups. The more that happens, the better. The earlier that happens, the better.”
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