Sixers: Ben Simmons should be playing in the Olympics

Let’s begin by stating the obvious. Ben Simmons is living under intense scrutiny right now and fair or otherwise, every move he makes will be analyzed and second guessed. But as Sixers fans, it’s fair to feel cheated after his lackluster effort and so we are well within our rights to question his decisions and wonder about what is best for this franchise and its moody, apathetic All-Star.

After his infamous collapse in the playoffs, he has decided to stay home to work on “skill development” rather than play in the Olympics for Australia with Matisse Thybulle as had been previously planned. To most fans this was a no-brainer, not only because SImmons clearly needs to improve every facet of his offensive game, but because risking an injury would make him untradeable at a time when the team is probably actively shopping him.

The problem is, there are also a number of positives that could have been gained by playing for Australia that he cannot replicate in an empty gym working with a shooting coach. The first thing that Simmons really needs to do (and perhaps he already is), is consult a sports psychologist to help him recover his confidence, develop techniques to becoming more aggressive in looking for his own shot, and even get to the root of why he doesn’t consider his own shot as valuable as the rest of his teammates. He needs to acknowledge that this is a mental block and he needs help. But we all know that we live in a world where we can Zoom our meetings, so that does not have to be done in Philadelphia.

Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons is making a mistake by skipping the Tokyo Olympics.

Ben is not going to make radical improvements on his faulty shooting form in three months, so he can take baby steps making small changes from any gym on the planet. What he really needs is to begin transitioning back to his natural position of power forward and the Australian national team is so loaded with talented NBA-level guards and wings that he was expected to play all of his minutes at the four and five spots, essentially utilized as a “big man” instead of a point guard. A majority of his NBA struggles have come from his playing out of position at the point when all of his instincts come from a lifetime of playing forward.

Playing the four would take the ball out of his hands and let him relax and play instinctively without the pressure of having to be “the man”. Rather than worry about running the offense and everyone else’s shots, he could focus on just trying to play with confidene and being aggressive, which was the real crux of his playoff problems. Just showing flashes of life and focusing on his athleticism would go a long way to winning back his fans and even rekindling trade interest in other teams by reminding them of what his strengths look like when his weaknesses are not held up to the spotlight.

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As far as his risk of injury, there are NBA players on teams all over the world who have come to the decision that the positives of playing in the Olympics outweigh the risks. On top of that, every summer we hear several stories of players who are injured while working out on their own. Life comes with risk, and anyone who pushes their body for a living faces that risk daily.

The bottom line is that Ben Simmons obviously needs to improve his shooting form, possibly even changing hands along the way. But based on his limited shooting history over the last few years there is evidence to indicate that if he just decided to take 3-4 mid-range jumpers a game he would probably make around 40 percent of them and even that meager number would be enough to open up more drives for him. More dire than shooting form is his lack of offensive aggression and fear or unwillingness to shoot. Playing for Australia and allowing the game to come to him, while playing off the ball, would have allowed him to keep his focus on defense and rebounding but still attack the rim and take the short jumpers when they come.

The transition away from point guard and back to his natural position of power forward is coming. If you go back and watch YouTube videos of his first summer league before the move to point guard he was clearly playing the best offense of his career. He took several mid-range jump shots every game, even making a few. It could even be argued that Simmons looked more loose and relaxed playing power forward for his brief stint last spring in the Bubble before his injury. The reasoning that he should be playing point guard because he is a terrific passer was always flawed, because in 2021 all guards need to be able to shoot the 3 and create their own shot.

We are now left to hope that Ben is either able to develop a new attitude about shooting, or that Daryl Morey is able to get a good return for him despite the bad taste the playoffs left in the mouths of GMs around the league. The Olympics would have been the perfect chance for him to get away from Philly and play for a team with established leaders (Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova are not exactly All-Stars but they are respected NBA players and they are practically worshipped in Australia) at the guard spots, where he could be “one of the guys” on a deep, talented team and not bear all of the responsibility on his shoulders. Just having fun playing the game again would have been a big step forward.

Ben is still young, and despite our frustrations no one wishes him any ill will. Perhaps Doc Rivers is not just blowing smoke to make the media go away and they really do have some sort of plan in mind to rebuild Ben’s fragile psyche and broken free throw form. Let’s hope this is true, because his stock can’t drop much lower and the Olympics could have been just the ticket to get him back on track.

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