Danny Green and Ben Simmons shared touches in Philadelphia this season, taking the Sixers to top seed in the Eastern Conference before things fell apart in the playoffs.
Simmons received a lot of criticism for his shooting woes. He’s focusing on that this offseason, trying to become better at the free-throw line and beyond the arc. Nobody can deny that he’s good as a playmaker, but he needs to add more depth to his game.
Green recently talked about this situation on “Inside the Green Room,” giving an honest take and Ben Simmons’ play style and approach to the game.
“You can tell Ben’s the type of kid if he’s not encouraged, if he’s not pushed or forced to do it, he’s not the type to take that risk. Obviously, he’s a high IQ guy. People think he’s low IQ, but you can tell, he gets a lot of assists and pushes the pace and gets paid to do what he does, because he’s so good at it. Mind you, he doesn’t step outside of that box because he knows well enough like, ‘I’m good at this, so I don’t need to step (outside)…”
“You can tell Ben’s the type of kid if he’s not encouraged; if he’s not pushed or forced to do it, he’s not the type to take that risk.”
– Danny Green on Ben Simmons.
(h/t @JackPConnell)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) June 29, 2021
It’s hard to disagree with Green on this one. Simmons is very comfortable doing what he best does, and it didn’t seem like he was changing that until fans and analysts started blasting him for his struggles.
It is now or never for the Australian. He must step up if he wants to help his team win a championship and have an even better NBA career. Time will tell if this offseason is successful for Ben.
