One of the biggest criticisms around Ben Simmons is his lack of improvement when it comes to his shooting. The Australian guard has been in the league for quite some time and has played at a high level. But one thing that hasn’t changed is how poor his shooting is.
Simmons has been in the NBA for 5 years now and played 4 full seasons during his career. In that time, he has proven why he has been considered a future superstar, winning Rookie Of The Year, and been a multiple-time All-Star and All-Defensive player.
But he still remains a poor shooter. His three-point shooting was poor from the get-go, but last year, his free-throw shooting also deteriorated. Going forward, Simmons will have to improve his three-point shooting in order to be successful in the modern NBA.
One player that Simmons can learn from is Lonzo Ball. An NBA fan on Twitter pointed out that the improvement Lonzo Ball has shown over the last few years is proof that Simmons is not putting in enough effort to get better when it comes to his shooting.
https://twitter.com/thehurryupnba/status/1446847427164639238
Fans on Twitter reacted to this tweet, mostly in agreement with the fan. But some did disagree, pointing out that Simmons’ shooting is a much bigger issue compared to Lonzo, who was a good shooter during his time in college.
But that proves the original point. Lonzo put in the work to change his form and adjust to the league while Ben isn’t changing. Doesn’t matter if Lonzo was a good shooter or not he still put in work to get better on the NBA level
— Andre Swan (@AndreSwan7) October 9, 2021
No lie. Both of them were scared to shoot…but for Ben it’s not past tense.
— Boogy (@54boogy) October 9, 2021
"What improvement?"
33% from 3pt range= 50% from 2pt range.
The faster you understand that the sooner you'll stop using raw FG%.
Raw FG% is archaic irrelevant stat that has little to no value in judging a player's shooting ability or scoring efficiency.
— George Geoff (@george22443) October 9, 2021
Can’t believe there are people as stupid as you
— Hoffmania (@mavsandjaysfan) October 10, 2021
You think Simmons doesn’t have a green light? They have been BEGGING him to shoot for years
— Colby Preston (@BitoTx) October 9, 2021
Ben was hyped up as the next lebron, still never shot a ball outside summer league and off season workout videos
— 𝒯𝒽𝓊𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓈ℱ𝒾𝓍𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃⛈️ (@OkcCeltics) October 9, 2021
fcats
— ⚫️⚪️ (@EvadeMoonlight) October 9, 2021
He was a much better shooter but he wasn’t a good consistent shooter, he’s totally revamped his shot to be a legit 3 point threat.
— Cole (@Bubbascrub23) October 9, 2021
https://twitter.com/smooth_kid7/status/1446640552032698370https://twitter.com/KuzmaYSL/status/1446645342372466689https://twitter.com/jej8523/status/1446851925144711171
It’s about work ethic. Lonzo was great in college and made the adjustments to be good in the NBA. Ben hasn’t made the adjustments to even attempt more than 10-15 shoots (doesn’t have to be made either) a game
— Andre Swan (@AndreSwan7) October 9, 2021
Ball, much like Simmons, entered the league with great hype. But his first few years in the league were a struggle, especially from the three-point line. Lonzo’s shot mechanics were off, and a lot of his hype seemed to be unfounded.
But over the last few years, Ball has improved his shooting mechanics and became a respectable three-point shooter over the last few years. And now, he is considered one of the better three-point shooters in the league. To illustrate, Lonzo averaged 30.5% from three in his rookie season.
Whereas last year, he was able to average 37.8% from three. Lonzo has shown that consistent practice and efforts to improve can pay off. And perhaps Ben Simmons could benefit from that kind of effort.
