Tag: ben simmons

 

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A post shared by Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) on Dec 1, 2019 at 2:00pm PST

Oversized Sixers point guard Ben Simmons has a respectable personal goal.

Here’s NBC Sports Philly reporting:

When asked about his goals for this season at media day, Ben Simmons would only reveal one.

He wanted to be the Defensive Player of the Year.

Saturday night against the Pacers, he acted like one, recording three steals in the final 13.9 seconds of the Sixers’ 119-116 win over the Pacers (see observations). Amid all the concern about Simmons’ offense and the question of whether he’ll ever be a willing and able jump shooter, he’s racked up some gaudy defensive numbers.

His 42 steals in 18 games are most in the NBA, while his 72 deflections and 41 loose balls recovered are second. Opponents have shot just 40.9 percent when guarded by Simmons this year.

The Sixers are 14-6 this season, placing them just 5th in the Eastern conference, but barely behind the second-place 14-4 Toronto Raptors.

Defensively, the Sixers are tied right now with the Jazz for the 5th most efficient defense in the league.

Here’s CSN Philly reporting on the Sixers, whose best young talent is center Joel Embiid and injured guard Ben Simmons, who like Embiid missed his rookie season but is expected to be active this year. Simmons is the height of a big forward, yet has crazy ball-handling and passing skills. So should he be used as a point guard, thus creating constant matchup problems for the opposition? That’s up for debate:

After missing his rookie season with a Jones fracture in his right foot, the Sixers will try the 6-foot-10 Simmons at point guard in 2017-18.

Brown believes that would be a mistake.

“He’s not a point guard,” Brown said Monday on 97.5 The Fanatic’s Midday Show. “Everybody that’s saying that is ridiculous.

“I watched that kid at Montverde. He’s a point guard when he gets the ball in the half court. He’s a point guard if he gets the ball off the board because he’s such a willing passer and so good with the ball, but if he’s going to have to back it down and bring the ball up against little guys, it’s going to take away from what he’s capable of doing. Whoever is saying that is a moron.”

The key piece of the Sixers’ future is center Joel Embiid, and if all goes as planned the other big piece is injured rookie Ben Simmons. Here’s CSN Philly reporting:

Thursday is significant for the Sixers beyond the trade deadline. It is also the day of Ben Simmons’ CT scan to evaluate how his right foot is healing.

“I feel like tomorrow at some point we’re all going to be able to lay out a more genuine plan for him,” Brett Brown said Wednesday. “I feel like we’re going to be good to go with some greater news and a more advanced detail of his plans after this scan.”

Once all parties involved assess the results, the team will provide an update, which may not be Thursday. Simmons has been sidelined all season after suffering a Jones fracture during the final scrimmage of training camp.