We’ve been through this soooooooooooooo many times.
Every time we see Ben Simmons hitting threes in practice, the talk about the Philadelphia 76ers star finally taking the next step rekindles. Simmons talks about how he’s going to shoot threes, then he proceeds to shoot from beyond the arc all of six times (to be fair, before the NBA pause, he hit … two!).
And here we are, with the NBA restart just around the corner, and guess what we’re all talking about?
It’s time, once again, for Ben Simmons three-pointer hype!
Here’s a recent video of him hitting from deep that’s making the rounds:
And then this:
Of course head coach Brett Brown is addressing it, and I’m totally speculating here that maybe he’s trying to send a public message to Simmons (and telling him away from the media) to let ’em fly. Via the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“I think … the variety of ways that we’re trying to use him helps in some capacity, and I think maybe most helpful is his mentality, like he’s coming down here with just a tremendous spirit. His three-point shot is looking good,” Brown said.
“You know, he shot more threes in practice the last few days than he might have for almost half-a-season, and he looks good,” said Brown, who earlier this week raved about Simmons moving from point guard to playing not only power forward, but all over the court. “He feels good. And I know he is getting tremendous encouragement from his teammates.”
I’m not about to buy into the hype for the umpteenth time with Simmons shooting threes. If he starts shooting them more in Orlando — even if he makes one every other game or something — we can fire up the OMG HE’S FINALLY SHOOTING FROM DEEP machine.
The good news is it sounds like Simmons will be switching to a stretch power forward position instead of point guard, where Shake Milton was getting minutes before the season was paused and thriving.
So let’s all wait and see if this is FINALLY when we see Simmons put it all together and have the confidence to take some shots from downtown.
