Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons is leading the way with his defense

Ben Simmons has made great strides defensively, and is now emerging as an elite defender and a true leader for a Philadelphia 76ers team with championship aspirations.

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons may be the most polarizing Philadelphia athlete in my lifetime as a sports fan. The highly touted No. 1 overall pick from 2016 has lived up to the hype throughout his first two full NBA seasons, winning Rookie of the Year and becoming an All-Star while leading his team to 50+ wins and the second round of the playoffs both years. With that being said, he is still one of, if not the most heavily scrutinized athlete in the city.

For obvious reasons, much of the focus goes to his offensive game where fans are still waiting for Ben to add a jumper to his package, which would make him almost impossible to guard and improve the floor spacing for a team that is already somewhat clunky in the halfcourt. While there is obvious room for improvement from Simmons in that regard, we can’t just ignore the strides he’s made in other areas of his game.

So often people fixate on what Simmons can’t do, but ignore the value he brings the team in other areas of the game. Yes, believe it or not, there is more to basketball than just scoring, and basketball also has two sides — offense AND defense! Crazy right?

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This year, Ben is emerging as an elite, all-NBA level defender right in front of our eyes — and he is leading the team to victories with his defensive intensity and effort. There is no better example of this than the two recent wins over the New York Knicks, both of which the Sixers trailed by at least 16 at one point, and it was Simmons’ defense that energized the team and got them back into the game both times.

In the first matchup vs. the Knicks, Simmons played like a man possessed on defense in the third quarter, getting multiple steals and deflections that led to easy looks in transition. For a team still trying to find its way in the halfcourt offense, pushing the pace is where they thrive and it helps them find an offensive rhythm — making their defensive effort that much more important.

When the Sixers embarrassed Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat last week, it was Ben Simmons who put the clamps on Jimmy, holding him to 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting. Simmons kicked off the night by swiping the ball from Kendrick Nunn and taking it all the way in for an easy lay up, and the Sixers didn’t look back after that as they rolled the Heat 113-86.

Not only is Ben’s defensive effort leading to wins, it’s helping him emerge as a true leader on this team. Time and time again when the Sixers are down and struggling to get back into games, Simmons has ramped up his defensive effort to get turnovers, push the pace, and get easy buckets to bring his team back. He leads by example on the defensive end — which in turn puts a jolt into the entire team. It’s nice to see Ben, who is still only 23 years old, step up and embrace his role as one of the main leaders on this team.

We saw this Saturday night in the second matchup of the season vs. the New York Knicks, where again the Sixers were down by double-digits later in the game and relied on their defense to get them back into it. The comeback was topped off by Ben Simmons swiping a Frank Ntilikina inbound pass with about a minute and change left, which he took the length of the floor and dunked, putting the Sixers up seven to put the Knicks away.

Ben Simmons is currently first in the NBA in steals, eighth in defensive win shares and thirteenth in defensive rating, although the stats don’t tell the whole story. Simmons’ defense helps create easy transition buckets for the Sixers and also makes it more difficult for teams to run their offense as Ben can switch at basically every position and guard almost anybody effectively.

The 76ers starting five has still only played together in less than half of the team’s games, but it is clear that they are a matchup nightmare for teams defensively, and a lot of that has to do with how much Ben Simmons has improved in that area.

I think everyone needs to take a step back and appreciate Ben Simmons for what he does bring to the table. We all know he needs to develop a jump shot at some point, but he is still a great player — both things can be true.

He is emerging as an all-league defender, and a true leader on a title contending team, and he is only 23 years old. He will have great offensive games where he puts up triple-doubles, and he will have games where his aggression waivers and he struggles to get going. Either way, if his defensive output stays consistent, it will only help his confidence improve and help get him easier looks for himself and others on offense.

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The Philadelphia 76ers remain among the league’s best defensive teams when they have their full cast of players healthy and contributing, and perhaps the biggest reason for that this year is Ben Simmons. It’s time everyone appreciate the strides he has made defensively, and recognize how important he is to the team’s success.