76ers need Ben Simmons to stay consistently aggressive on offense in order to reach their potential - CBSSports.com
76ers need Ben Simmons to stay consistently aggressive on offense in shipshape to reach their potential
Ben Simmons has ensured himself as an elite NBA player. Simmons is in his fourth season in the pursued, and he already has Rookie of the Year honors, two All-Star nods, and a First-Team All-Defense selection to his name. He's annually plus the league leaders in assists per game (he's fifth in the NBA this season with eight assists per game), and he has Defensive Player of the Year potential. So far this season view, Simmons appears to have stagnated offensively, as he hasn't been playing with the same detached of consistent aggression that we've grown accustomed to seeing from him. While what could be explained as sporadic timidness on offense from Simmons hasn't paused the Sixers from stacking up wins early in the season, it could ultimately cause a concern for Philadelphia, especially come postseason play.
The fact that Simmons is having a down year offensively becomes evident when scrolling his basic incorporating stats. Simmons still hasn't expanded his repertoire to entailed a perimeter shot, and so far this season he's averaging a career-low in points per game (13.0), field goal repositions per game (9.2), and field goal percentage (52 percent). He's also averaging a career-high 3.5 turnovers per game.
The trend stays when you wade into the advanced stats allotment of Simmons' Basketball Reference page. While his Defensive Box Plus/Minus (a stat that measures a player's defending impact) is at a career-high (2.6) this season, his Offensive Box Plus/Minus (a stat that measures, you guessed it, a player's offensive impact) is at a career-low (.1). In turn, his resulting Box Plus/Minus, and his Value Over Replacement Player (or VORP) are both also at a career-low. His turnover percentage is also at a career-high 23.6. This is all a treasure way of saying that Simmons has been struggling on the offensive end.
The main bellow appears to be a lack of aggression. Simmons' succor numbers are still high, but he hasn't consistently hunted his own shots. Simmons attempted 10 or more field goals in just two of his past eight games. In a combine of those games, the Sixers were exclusive of MVP candidate Joel Embiid, and they would have benefitted from Simmons stepping up on the offensive end. Instead, in losses to the Pistons and Grizzlies exclusive of Embiid, Simmons took a total of 18 shots and made eight of them. This is a troubling trend given the fact that the Sixers are at their best when Simmons is in box mode like he was early on anti the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night when he went incandescent at LeBron James in order to convert two early baskets:
When Simmons is aggressive like that it draws defenses in and, in turn, opens things up for the others on the floor. For Simmons, beings aggressive and hunting for his own offense doesn't equate to chucking up shots from the perimeter. It frankly means using his rare combination of size, speedily and athleticism to get into the paint, box the rim, and exploit mismatches, like he did anti the Lakers when he had the smaller Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on him late in the transfer quarter:
Simmons has the ability to make dissimilarity plays consistently, but sometimes this season it appears as plan he isn't even considering trying to score:
So, why has Simmons explored to struggle on the offensive end this season? There are a few factors that could potentially be at work. First, Simmons is in a new rules under a new coach. Before this season, Brett Brown was the only coach that Simmons ever ample up for. Now, he's the lead fixing in Doc Rivers' offense, and he could unruffled be in the process of finding his footing. There's also the possibility that he's unruffled dealing with some lingering soreness from the knee surgery he underwent over the offseason -- plan Simmons has denied that this is the case. Lastly, he could be in his own head a bit at what time hearing his name mentioned in James Harden-related rumors sponsor this season. Though he took the set in stride, feeling like you might be gotten could be jarring, especially for a player that's never been traded.
Whatever the reasons, Simmons' arrive when it comes to being aggressive can be adjusted, as it's at least partly mental. For Simmons, walking the line between beings aggressive and setting the table for his teammates has been a bit of an internal fights this season.
"Personally, myself I might get caught up in trying to get guys shots and gets guys into a rhythm," Simmons said at what time the Sixers 107-106 victory over the Lakers. "It's not easy beings a point guard and doing that so it's just trying to find that balance of when to be aggressive and get to the rim and collect and find my guys."
And that's what it's all about: balance. Simmons doesn't need to try five 3-pointers, or 25 shots a game. He just experiences to remain consistently aggressive over the floods of contests, while continuing to spread the ball around. Sixers coach Doc Rivers insists that he doesn't care in a dip in Simmons' offensive production, and that establishes sense since Simmons is still a clear player even when he isn't piling up the points. But, the Sixers understand especially tough to beat when Simmons is unsheathing out in transition, playing downhill, putting pressure on the guarantee and attacking the rim, and his aim should be to do so consistently.
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