The Philadelphia 76ers will be missing their leader for a couple of weeks after the news of All-star point guard Ben Simmons being diagnosed with a nerve impingement in his lower back. The Sixers will be missing one of the elite players in the NBA on either end of the floor and he will be tough to replace.
For this team, however, it is just a next man up mentality. The Sixers will use a point guard by committee approach and that means they will use other guys such as Josh Richardson, Alec Burks, and Shake Milton to run the offense.
“It’s next man up as always,” said Richardson. “Ben’s a great player, we’re going to miss his presence, but at the end of the day, we need to pick up the slack and keep going.”
What will help Richardson in this instance is the fact that he has handled the ball for this team a majority of the season and that he has point guard experience in the past with the Miami Heat. He is not a true point guard, but he can handle things until Simmons can return.
“It’s all basketball at the end of the day, I just need to remember to be aggressive,” he explained. “Sometimes I get too into trying to get guys organized and I forget about being aggressive and it hurts the offense sometimes.”
The 5-year veteran is averaging 14.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in his first season in Philadelphia and he will be counted on to up those numbers a bit. As it always is in the NBA, it is all next man up to provide production and hold down the fort in place of a guy who is one of the best in the league.
The Sixers take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road on Wednesday. [lawrence-related id=26492,26482,26473]