Isaac
Years ago

Ben Simmons vs NC State

1/6 FG for 4 points, but 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. LSU shot at 35.9% from the field and lost in OT.

Boxscore

Someone on r/collegebasketball regarding Simmons:

They got to overtime and he fouled out within the first minute and it was over after that. You don't see many college players that can score 4 points but be so important to the game, probably the best college player at that since AD at Kentucky

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Anonymous  
Years ago

But I'm crazy for saying he will struggle to create his own shot at the next level.... right....

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Mark-e-Mark  
Years ago

He does need to improve that part of his game.

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Baller#3  
Years ago

Its not so much his shot creation, as his actual shooting ability. If you have good rim protection amd/or quick enough to stay in front of him. He will struggle till he finds a jumper.

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KingJames  
Years ago

"If you have good rim protection amd/or quick enough to stay in front of him. He will struggle till he finds a jumper."

Isn't that the same story for Lebron (Well before he developed a consistent jump shot)? Good in theory but in reality it is not the case.

Looks like in this game he was double teamed so he did the team thing and passed the ball.

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MACDUB  
Years ago

Yes he does and he will.

In saying that, his lack of shooting is not so much a lack of skill in creating his own shot. If anything, it's his mentality. He doesn't want to create his own shot because his mentality is to pass. The real definition of a pass-first player (at times a bit too much).

I've never seen passing ability like Simmons' before. Just freakish understanding. It's like the game just slows right down for him.

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paul  
Years ago

Anon was correct, he struggles at the moment but by the time he hits the pros he'll be a far more polished player, and after a couple of years in the NBA even more so. It's really just a matter of how quickly he develops, not if he develops.

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snooch  
Years ago

He's played five college games ffs. He'll be fine.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

The jumper mechanics are there do stress less hell he is a east and will be tough to stay in front of in the pros. These are all the same knock LBJ had and once his jumper got sorted look at him now! Ben could be at that level a real top 5 talent in the NBA something our small rock of a country should be massively proud of so let's back him rather than shoot him down as once in the league this forum will be filled with Simmons Beast mode threads every second day!

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Anonymous  
Years ago

^ Exactly. Compare him to outstanding freshmen across the country or in previous years, and there's nothing strange about his numbers or the way he's playing. He's doing the things that come easily to him, and doing them really well. The things that he finds harder right now will come in time. Of course plenty of people will slam him along the way for not being aggressive enough or not doing enough work on his jumper or post game, but given what he can do, I sure as hell wouldn't be betting against him figuring the rest of it out.

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XY  
Years ago

Worst case scenario barring injury he becomes a slightly one-dimension core contributor in the NBA who will excel distributing the ball with good shooters around him.

Best case scenario he will be a future NBA All-Star or better. He is not yet 19, lots of guys are still working on the fundamentals at that stage.

At the same age LeBron had just entered the league averaging 21ppg at a fairly woeful 41%, and 29% from 3.

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Bobby Tables  
Years ago

Shot mechanics can be fixed. That's what off-seasons are for. Dude is a freakishly talented passer, has great handles, rebounds like a boss and is already almost unstoppable in the open court - and if teams aren't sold on that already, he's got these abilities at 6 foot fucking 10 and only 18 years old.

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Bobby Tables  
Years ago

Correction: 19, not 18.

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rjd  
Years ago

A shooting drill from the Nike Hoops Summit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiOoKxO7Fzg

Shows he really needs to clean up a few aspects of his jumpshot. Right now the basic mechanics are alright, but he has some bad habits in swaying to the side in both arms and legs. If he brings in a shooting coach, he should improve his jumpshot immensely. Are college players allowed to employ personal coaches?

Now he is like an inverse 3&D player. He does everything else so well. Given the quality of the rest of his game, once he gets that jumpshot going, ups his defense to a level that a player of his athleticism should, he might become the most complete player since LeBron.

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AngusH  
Years ago

It's not exactly unusual for young athletic players to not have developed a jumpshot when they're 19 year olds - easy enough to get points being quicker than everybody on the court. What happens to his jumpshot from this point forward depends entirely on his work ethic.

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Mark-e-Mark  
Years ago

Dante Exum massively improved his three point shot during his first season with the Jazz, to the point that he was barely using his perceived strength - getting to the basket. I am sure Simmons will also make huge strides with his shot.

He will have to, or NBA defences will just sag off him and his athleticism and speed wont save him alone.

I trust he will do it. They really are the only weakness in a great all-round package.

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Bobby Tables  
Years ago

" easy enough to get points being quicker than everybody on the court."

this is a very pertinent point. Up until college, if you're the biggest guy out there (or one of them), you don't need to worry about launching 3s or shooting jumpers. Just take it to the ring and boom. TBH, even in the NBA the better caliber players can still get away with this, and develop a jump shot later when age takes away some of the explosiveness.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"It's not exactly unusual for young athletic players to not have developed a jumpshot when they're 19 year olds - easy enough to get points being quicker than everybody on the court."

This is true, but there are still a lot of athletic, quick guards/small forwards who at least show the ability to take jump-shots. Even if they're not yet shooting it at a high percentage, it is serviceable enough to keep defenders honest on the perimeter.

Right now Simmons doesn't appear to have any sort of jumper at all. It's hard to know if he has the skill-set to even take jump-shots off the dribble, let alone make them, because he hasn't shown it in a game.

Not having this skill isn't so unusual for athletic post players, but if he is playing on the perimeter as a nominal guard/small-forward he needs to at least show the ability to shoot off the dribble.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Way he usually scores is being bigger than his opponents, needs to learn how to shoot. Good example is end of marquette game, got the ball at the elbow with 4 seconds to go and knew he couldnt shoot it which resulted in him throwing it to a guy far from the three point line

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Gotta disagree with Mark-e-Mark about defences sagging. They will to an extent, but isn't Simmons in his current form basically a better version of some weird Shaun Livingston/Boris Diaw combination? The smarter defences in the league don't just abandon Diaw because he can't shoot, because that gives him way too much time and freedom as a playmaker. When you add Simmons' rebounding ability to the mix, you're going to have to be really careful dropping off him too far because he'll hurt you either with a pass or a putback.

Yes, he needs a jump shot. But he's young, and he makes free throws at a clip that suggests he can be a passable shooter soon enough.

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