Will Anyone Notice?
From the first tip of the NBA season, there will be a myriad of eyes upon the young Australian in a Sixers’ jersey. Some will be rooting for the young man, but many will be looking for a flaw, some chink in the armor, already armed with stories of over-hyped rookie and failure of the 76ers to bring the young man along.
Don’t believe it.
To break into the top ten in the NBA in assists per game, Simmons will need to distribute 7.0 assists on average. To break into the top ten in rebounding this season, Simmons will need to pull down better than 10.2 rebounds per game. And to land in the top ten in the NBA on scoring, Simmons will need to score better than 23.1 points per game. Of the three categories in the NBA, the most prominent statistic is scoring.
That simply won’t be Simmons role this year.
If he generates 10 points per game, 10 assists per game, and 10 rebounds per game, will the pundits and analysts applaud the effort? Or is it more likely that too many will focus on the points per game and plant seeds of doubt as to the young man’s future?
For many players in Philadelphia, they will see improvement in the 2016-2017 season. How much of that improvement will be attributable to Simmons? Very little. To catch the attention of the NBA awards, the achievement will need to be obvious and simple.
A 30 win season from the Philadelphia 76ers, even if the offense is scoring over 100 points a game, simply is not enough unto itself to make many take notice.
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