Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons needs to believe in himself

Without even a remote desire to attempt a jump shot, is rookie phenom Ben Simmons hampering the Philadelphia 76ers’ offensive rhythm?

As I watched the Philadelphia 76ers New Year’s Eve victory over the Phoenix Suns, there was an appalling difference in how the offense flowed with backup point guard T.J. McConnell running the show as opposed to when leading Rookie of the Year candidate Ben Simmons was handling the rock.
Of course, there is no comparison in skill set.

McConnell, the gritty, hard-nosed Pittsburgh native who cut his chops at the University of Arizona falls eight inches short of Simmons 6-foot-10 frame. Before transferring to U of A, McConnell was a stud at the storied basketball program at Duquesne University in his native city, known for his competent and confident shoot from long range. He tore the Atlantic 10 Conference up in his two years there shooting 41.6-percent from beyond the arch.

However, at Arizona, his numbers dipped to 34-percent, and his future as even an NBA role player fell into question. Simmons, on the other hand, has been highly touted and eagerly anticipated for some time now by NBA fans.

As a senior at Montverde High School in Montverde, Florida, Simmons jacked up 51 three-point attempts in 28 games, connecting on only 15 of them for 29-percent efficiency, but he wasn’t scared to pull the trigger.

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In college, while building the momentum that would propel him to the top pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, in 33 games and 1151 minutes, he shot a whopping three three-point field goal attempts connecting on one. As a pro, he’s already shooting at a better clip, as he already has tripled that amount and we are not halfway through the season yet, but the absence of Simmons’ willingness to try to shoot the rock is cause for concern.

It’s like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it once you’ve learned.

Ben has taken shots before and obviously knows how to shoot but I believe that mentally he defeats himself. And a fluid jump shot is like a pure golf swing, your body is in sync and your moves are confident and fluid.

I can’t help but think of former Sixers‘ point guard Eric Snow. I HATED that at some critical point in some critical games (every game is critical to a Sixer’s fan when the team’s actually good) Snow would decide that because he was so wide open that he should probably shoot the ball. I broke more than one TV as jumper after jumper clanged hard off of the back rim.

Yeah, Snow had a heavy shot, but that heavy shot created offensive rebounds for his teammates and himself, kept defenses relatively honest and occasionally that heavy shot went straight through the net to the delight and surprise of all the Philly faithful. Snow shot with an arrogance that exceeded his abilities and that arrogance alone pushed some rocks through the net as Snow half trotted, half skipped backward on defense as if he knew he was going to make that shot. He reacted the same way, when more times than not, his shot missed the mark.

There is a major difference in a shooter shooting with confidence, one shooting with arrogance and one shooting with desire. Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry embodies all three like few others do.

We, as Sixers fans, need our point guard to just embody one of the shooters attributes. Simmons has shown that he is shooting at a better clip as a professional then what he displayed in college; but if the Sixers are going to break free from clogged lanes, careless turnovers due to overpassing, and overcompensation for a handicap on offense, then Simmons is going to have to believe that he can make the shot. The uber-talented, 6-foot-10 (and apparently growing), point guard in a power forwards body, has got to pull on his immense blessing of talent, spread his fingers, focus on the rim and pull the trigger.

In the waning moments of a highly contested game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the host LA Clippers, stud power forward and fellow freak of nature Blake Griffin was left wide open on a 3-point attempt and without hesitation, routinely lined up the shot and knocked it down. Griffin had, at that point, been held scoreless in the second half (finished with 21 points) as he also entered the league with no jumper at all, but he took the shot first as he expected to make it, and make it he did.

The Sixers are blessed to have a player Joel Embiid who has and can take those shots. Additionally, the team also has players like Robert Covington, J.J. Redick, Dario Saric, shoot even McConnell who can serve as viable scoring options at Sixers’ head coach Brett Brown‘s disposal. But as it currently stands, defenses across the league know that the highly touted, 6-foot-10 rookie phenom WILL NOT shoot the ball when it matters most so in crunch time they won’t have to worry about him other than run a token defender at him. He is a handicap on the court at critical times during the game but all that could change if he would just believe in his talent. In his uncanny touch, in his God-given height and vision.

If Ben Simmons can just believe in himself, records in the NBA should be shattered. He’s breaking records without yet displaying a semblance of a jump shot, but if he continues down this path, it opens up the door for other talented rookies to challenge him for what should be his and that is the title of Rookie of the Year.

Next: Does Joel Embiid take too many threes?

So far this year, in 37 games, Simmons has taken only 12 shots from beyond 16 feet. If in the next 35 games he can double that number it would most likely see an immense difference in the already impressive numbers that he is putting up. We as fans have trusted the process, it’s now time for a part of the process to trust himself. Shoot the rock, Ben.