For the NBA Season 2019-20, Ben Simmons is focused on giving a title to the Philadelphia 76ers, and he knew that achieving that goal requires more from him. He has to step up and prove that there's more to him. On this, he's ready to display a new dimension - the ability to sink jumpers, even from the distance.
Voted the Rookie of the Year in 2017, Simmons continues to flourish in a unique way. He is a prized player for he is efficient in running the offense from the perimeter and equally marvelous in working on the post.
According to Yahoo Sports, there is no argument that Simmons, considering his playing skills, holds a special spot in the NBA. But he is far from being great, no thanks to a waterloo.
"He's just not great ... His deficiencies in perhaps the most fundamental skill of the game prevent him from reaching that echelon. He can't shoot," the report said.
The characterization has valid points. On to his third season, Simmons's competence on the shooting range is hardly impressive. From the free throw, he averages only nearly six out of 10, and his three-point record is even more atrocious. After two years of NBA play, Simmons only fired 17 threes and converted nothing.
Now heading to the new season, Simmons has declared he's willing to increase the frequency of him sniping away.
"If it's open, I'll take it," Simmons was reported as saying during the Sixers media day.
The Sixers allowed a glimpse of how exactly Simmons will follow through on his words. The All-Star has been working out, and at a punishing pace, all summer. He is preparing his mind and body to have the confidence at taking more shots from the outside.
Teammate Tobias Harris is a witness to Simmons's grueling preparation, revealing that the latter is a "gym rat ... He was in the gym all summer up until now."
"I've seen a lot of growth in him, not only on the basketball floor but off the floor, too - his maturity and where his mindset is on this upcoming year," Harris told NBC Sports.
Beyond, however, his physical readiness, Simmons needs to realize that on his road to greatness, it is the mind that will play the greatest of role. Case in point was Magic Johnson, whose confidence in connecting the long ranges stemmed from his willingness to hurl the ball and expect he would miss.
Johnson became proficient not from the get-go. He had to go through a process that stretches for games after games, and then seasons, according to Clutch Points.
Simmons can surely learn a lot from the Magic Johnson. The latter embraced mistakes, learned from them and in the process gained the required confidence to sink the baskets more often, and from any distance, the report added.
