With the NBA being suspended since March 11 and everyone in self-quarantine trying to flatten the curve and the spread of coronavirus, one of the things that everybody has for entertainment is reading. The one popular book out there, especially for fans of the Philadelphia 76ers, has been the book “Tanking to the Top” which details the infamous “process” years.
The author of the book, Yaron Weitzman, actually joined The Bell Ringer Podcast to discuss the details and the intricacies of the book. There is one portion of the book, the later part of it, where assistant coach Jim O’Brien questions whether Ben Simmons has improved from his rookie season or not.
Just finished @YaronWeitzman book. Really interesting, don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about this excerpt: pic.twitter.com/V6MzZGUGOK
— A.K (@Kungu_NBA) April 12, 2020
To O’Brien’s point, it’s a fair question. Has Simmons truly improved? Maybe not on the offensive end, but defensively he has improved to the point where he should be considered for Defensive Player of the Year.
Offensively speaking, he still refuses to take jump shots, despite finally making the first two 3-pointers of his career, and it can cause spacing issues on offense. That does not mean he is not effective. He is still one of the best players in the game, but he does need to get after it a bit more in improving on offense. [lawrence-related id=29274,29258,29235]