The Sixers are a work in progress this season, but mostly on the offensive side of the floor. Defensively, they’re a success. Oversized point guard Ben Simmons is a big part of that. Here’s PhillyVoice.com discussing his defense in 2019-20:
Simmons has been the team’s most consistent defender on one of the league’s best defenses, and it is his versatility that helps him separate from the pack. Think of all the players he has guarded this season and how different each challenge is. To be able to jump from Kawhi Leonard to Trae Young to LeBron James to Jimmy Butler and often do it well is a hell of a feat.
Night-to-night, Simmons has been asked to jump between positions and shoulder a heavy workload, playing upwards of 40 minutes whenever the Sixers have needed it. Yet he never seems to tire, and some of his biggest moments of the season have come on defense in crunch-time — his back-to-back steals to seal a win against Indiana remain a highlight of the year for Philly.
There are too many mentions of Simmons’ lack of a bigtime outside shot (this mention doesn’t count!) There should be more discussion on how good he is at almost everything else. Including defense.
