The Sixer Sense
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Ben Simmons Has Basketball Skills Made Better By Physique

By Josh Wilson

Jul 9, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) gestures from the court during an NBA Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 9, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) gestures from the court during an NBA Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 10, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) protects the ball during an NBA Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 10, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) protects the ball during an NBA Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /

Strength

Just looking at Simmons, even compared to what he looked like at the end of his freshman year at LSU, he’s a big boy. He has a ton of muscle, and is filling out very nicely.

When one pictures an agile player — like I talked about in the last slide — you picture a lighter, more slender player, usually a guard that’s shorter than 6-8 and lighter than (or right around) 200 pounds. Simmons, on the other hand, is 6-10 and 240 pounds.

Couple this with his agility, and he becomes incredibly hard to defend. In the video below, he is able to get inside and challenge a big man, because of his size, but he then is able to spin and be agile getting to the hoop, which a big man is often too slow to contest.

Simmons can use that to score on his own, or quickly pass to another teammate in the key for the finish.

This all may seem very simple to some. So what? He can be agile and have muscle at the same time? But what some may be missing is the idea that this makes it difficult, and at times impossible for the opposing teams to cover Simmons.

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Teams are faced with the challenge of trying to figure out who to play on Simmons. Do you put a power forward on him because of his size? If you do, you may have your person blown by. But if you put a guard, a quicker player that can cover Simmons’ agility easier, they may be outmuscled. If you don’t have someone built similar to Simmons, it’s tough to guard him without changing your entire defensive gameplan.

Simmons will be able to get inside the paint and challenge big men, but then also get around them easier simply because he can move quicker and be more agile than slower moving big men.

To counter this, other defenders may slide over to help the centers and power forwards guarding Simmons in the paint, which will leave Simmons’ teammates open. And that’s where Simmons’ great basketball vision comes in handy.

Next: Vision