All-Star Ben Simmons does a lot of things for the Philadelphia 76ers on both ends of the floor. On defense, he is an elite lockdown defender who takes on some of the best scorers in the game on a nightly basis. On offense, he creates so many open looks for his teammates, and he is a barometer for their play at times.
However, he is so skilled and he has great size that it feels like he should be putting up more points with ease.
Simmons started the game aggressively on Saturday in Philadelphia’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder scoring 10 points in the first quarter. He was bullying his way to the basket for easy points and he even knocked down two mid-range jumpers. It was a good start, but he only had three points the rest of the way.
With his fast start, the Thunder began keying on him a bit and it made a difference, but the Sixers could use more of that fast start from Simmons throughout the game.
“I tell him all the time,” said teammate Joel Embiid. “First of all, I want them to be aggressive versus every single team, whether it’s make plays or whether it’s to look for his shot, he’s got to be aggressive. He’s got to make guys on the other team guard him.”
Mechanically, this was good. Smooth, fluid, help follow-through. Repeatable, too. pic.twitter.com/bAHOhaPzer
— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) April 11, 2021
“I was really excited when he made those two shots,” said Embiid. “He’s starting to be comfortable, and he’s getting back to where he was right before All-Star, so he’s got to keep on doing it.”
For the most part, Simmons is a playmaker. His role on the offensive end is to make sure that his teammates get open looks and the offense runs smoothly. As long as he is getting into the paint, he is doing what is asked of him even if it isn’t for himself.
“I want him to be aggressive, but I think you think of aggressiveness as him aggressive scoring,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I think him aggressive with him getting into the paint, creating plays. He can have an aggressive game for me where he doesn’t shoot a lot, but he was aggressive and he used his speed. That’s what we want.”
On the flip side, if he is looking for his own offense, that adds another weapon on the floor. He is a guy who can get to the basket and score with ease if he truly wanted to. While his first responsibility is being a playmaker, there will be some nights, particularly in the playoffs, when he will have to score.
“The first thing, he’s a playmaker,” Embiid added. “He wants to be a playmaker, and he wants to get everybody involved, but at times, he also needs to be aggressive and make the other guys on other teams guard him.”
Either way, as long as Simmons is consistently getting into the paint the way he was on Saturday, that makes the offense flow a bit more. He attracts so much attention that it creates open looks for his teammates. That is the focus of the coaching staff.
“We need him to create either straight-line drives to the basket for himself or to create traffic,” Rivers finished. “That’s what we really want. As much traffic as he can get and then he can dish it out. We’re good either way, but when he does that, we’re a better team.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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