Says Derek Bodner of The Athletic:
Ben Simmons is so little of a threat to attack the rim right now that defenders are seemingly willing to let him drive into the paint, because he so rarely takes advantage of it.
As long as Simmons doesn’t blow by his defender, he passes up the scoring opportunity, kicking the ball out rather than attempt a shot over the contest. And since teams aren’t worried about Simmons scoring over a defender, there’s no reason to double down on him and leave the Sixers’ perimeter shooters open, so the “do a 180” game that Simmons likes to play as he passes out of the paint to shooters isn’t even as effective as it once was. All too often, it’s just eating up valuable time on the shot clock.
Simmons finished last night’s loss at Memphis with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting, 16 rebounds, nine assists and seven costly, largely preventable turnovers.
The Sixers turned the ball over 22 times, which was the key in the loss.
Simmons was a driving force behind that sloppy play.
