[Celtics3178Participant]

 I was listening to the game yesterday on the radio. The broadcasters were talking about Simmons and had great things to say. The one thing that blew my mind tho was he hasn’t hit one 3 point shot all year. They also said he’s only taken 10. is he a bigger more talented rondo?? Why isn’t he attempting 3’s and why aren’t his coaches making him take them? In the modern NBA you need a 3 point shot. I’m just baffled that all the minutes and stats he’s put up which are very impressive no 3 pointers.

[GBeeParticipant]

 Why is it mind blowing? He can’t shoot for shit.  He shoots 33% from the floor outside of 3ft from the rim.  What’s most disconcerting about his jumpshot is that he basically had a year off. His injury did not prevent him from working on his jumpshot and this is the result.  To me that’s a terrible sign.  I’d expect at least SOME improvement after a year of working on it.  I’ve heard the theory before, but I’m becoming more convinced that he shoots his jumpshot with the wrong hand.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 I wrote that very concern about a month into the season. Watched a Philly game (think they played Utah) where Simmons airballed two wide open 15 footers. I mean he wasn’t even a foot from the rim. My whole thing was/is, you have an entire year to work on your jumper and you come back still missing one? That’s a HUGE red flag for me. Teams are already picking up his tendencies, and if he doesn’t start adding wrinkles, he’s in trouble. 

[CU.LIONSParticipant]

 Rajon Rondo shot looks like Steph Curry when compared to Ben Simmons

[HitsterParticipant]

His size will get him to the basket, but I fully agree he could have worked on his shooting when he was out last season.

[Celtics3178Participant]

It’s mind blowing a guy who plays 35 minutes a game and averaging 17 a game hasn’t hit one 3. 

[Andrew1984Participant]

 I said two years ago that he’s Rajon Rondo in Blake Griffin’s body! 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 I remember jumping on this comparison. Still looks true to me.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 What’s the record to start a career?  

0 for 10 is interesting. 

Reminds me of how it took something like 70 games or 100 games for Yinka Dare to get his first assist.

[The GoatParticipant]

 I think he’s only taken one legitimate 3. The other nine were heaves from full or half court at the end of quarters.

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

 Props for evrn remembering him. I wss wondering to day during the nets game if Okafor was on pace. Then he got his first assist.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

 He doesn’t look to shoot when outside the paint, much less threes. His shot chart looks like a caricature.

[HitsterParticipant]

 Some guys would get by without having any range outside the paint and even in more recent years, D-Wade hasn’t been a prolific 3 point scorer. He actually took less 3 point shots earlier in his career than he did in the last decade.

But I do feel that Simmons needs some sort of range to be a truly elite NBA player. Giannis has hit 17 out of 62 three pointers this year and is still putting up 28.7ppg so if he upped that percentage, he’d be even more scary. Interestingly Giannis hit 41 from 118 in his rookie year so was hitting 3’s well then.

I never want a player to be something they are not and a guy whose strength is in the paint and slashing/driving to the basket doesn’t have to be stood out on the 3 point line trying to be Ray Allen. But to have that sort of range is a useful thing to have even if it isn’t used that often. And when you see bigs like Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, Paul Millsap, Al Horford developing 3 point ranges when they were nearly all at All Star level it shows that Simmons should be able to improve that part of his game even if he doesn’t use it that often.

 

 

 

[JDB12Participant]

The only difference with Simmons and bigs like Gasol, Lopez, Millsap, and Horford is that all of those big guys have been known for having good touch from mid-range and from the stripe their entire career, so extending their range to three was a bit surprising initially, but you can see how they were able to do it due to the ability to shoot outside of the paint that they already had. Ben just seems broken outside of his floater range and definitely hasn’t been known for even decent mid-range game like the others. Even if he doesn’t develop a three he’ll at least need a mid-range game. You can’t be the guy with the ball in your hands at the end of games without the ability to shoot from mid-range or from the line. Again, even guys like Wade and DeRozan have both of those abilities despite not being consistent from three. And both of those guys are players I wouldn’t mind having the ball in their hands in final seconds.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Simmons should probably take more. Not sure he needs to take more than 50 a year unless he shoots over 35%

With Giannis, unless he can get that % up to at least 35% I don’t think he should take more than 125-150 a year. Maybe not even 100 if he shoots 25% or so…

Guys are taking too many 3’s. 

 

 

[ksmith9Participant]

You guys no worries. Remember when you played the first year of 2k, and you didn’t want to take jump shots nor 3 pt shots. but set screens and cuts to get easy buckets. He’s just playing real life 2k. He will explode in his 2nd and 3rd year according to 2k ;)…I hope everyone gets my humor 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Talking of Philly’s shooting, as I’m UK based their London match picked up a fair bit of hype and whilst it was good to see Fultz taking part in drills, his mid range jump shot didn’t look great. Hopefully their coaches and their best shooter JJ Reddick can work with the younger guys and help their shooting along.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

No he doesn’t shoot 3s in game but yes the coaches do make him work on it and he even worked with Lebron in the summer who helped him with his 3 point shooting.  

If you watch him in practice he actually has decent form and makes a good amount of 3s he just doesn’t take them in games yet but will soon.  

 

Hes actually decent shooting from the right corners even on 20 foot turnarounds.  So itll come.

 

 

 

 

[dmo21Participant]

I don’t know why guys get bashed for doing something that they aren’t good at. I’d rather have that then a guy who chucks up horrible shots to "practice". Lebron and Giannis were also criticized for not shooting 3s and only driving to the hoop. Well if you can get to the hoop at ease and they can’t stop you, why would you shoot? If they’re starting to stop you, then yes you have to start to diversify your game. But until then, might as well do what comes easy.

[GBeeParticipant]

 There is nothing wrong with pointing out a clear weakness in a player’s game. Simmons can’t shoot…like at all.  Again, he’s shooting 33% outside of 3 feet. I guess you can say that he’s scoring well, but he’s not. 53 TS is not good, especially for someone who gets the majority of his points around the rim and in transition.   The 6ers came into this season with high expectations.  That means winning basketball games. Not only is he a negative from the perimeter, but he’s the primary ball-handler shooting worse than DeAndre Jordan from the line. So when the game is on the line he has to give the ball up, where he sucks off the ball because he can’t shoot.  A player as highly touted as he is shouldn’t be the reason a team is playing 4 on 5 in winning situations.

My problem with his shooting is the lack of progress.  Like I said, he had a year and an offseason to work on his jumper, but what are the fruits of his labor? Rate of improvement is very important when evaluating prospects and young players. Simmons made zero headway in his jumper and it can be argued that his shot actually regressed since college.  That is not a good sign.  There is nothing wrong with pointing that out.

To address the post above yours, it doesn’t matter if a player shoots well in practice if he doesn’t make them or even takes them in games.  He’s doing his team a disservice by not taking open jumpers.  In doing so, he’s ruining the spacing and floor balance,  but I guess he’s such a bad shooter that he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.  Also, his form sucks. He’s got a Lonzo-esque body twist, his elbow is all flared out, inconsistent release point (often releasing the ball too late), stiff upper body.  It looks like its completely an arm shot.  Ironically, I have seen him shoot FTs right handed before games and his form is much more streamlined and concise.  Its a straight point A to point B shot, no elbow flaring out, less moving parts with better touch.  

 

[EndlessknightParticipant]

During a Sixer’s game a while back the broadcast team mentioned that the coaching staff have a 3 year plan for Simmons. This year he’s supposed to focus on free throughs. I don’t expect him to start taken 3s until year 3.

I trust the Sixer’s shooting coaches. They developed Embiid into one of the better shooting big men and turned Nerlens “Hands of Stone” Noel into a competent FT shooter. It might take 3 or 4 years but I expect Simmons shooting to greatly improve.

[Author]

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