Ben Simmons. 2x NBA All-Star. 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year. He’s the very model of a modern Magic Johnson; just a vision with his versatility. He vaunts the 76ers, especially defensively, to ever greater heights. The ability to truly guard every position is awe-inspiring enough as it is, but Ben being able to disrupt the offense is so destructive that it is a sight to behold. His defensive ferocity forces opposing teams to have to go to their plan B. Simmons leads the league in steals, tied for first in loose balls recovered, third in deflections, ranks in the top 10 in defensive box plus/minus, and is in the top 20 in defensive win shares and Value Over Replacement Player (VORP).
Philadelphia has a glut of good defenders, but Simmons is often the one on LeBron James, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard, in the clutch. The big wing types (Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Pascal Siakam) are home for him, but he can venture out. Brett Brown doesn’t shy away from siccing Simmons on the more in-motion types of players - Bradley Beal, Joe Harris, Jamal Murray, and Khris Middleton are examples of guys who are at their most dangerous on the move, slaloming around screens set all across the court - but Ben still brings the intensity and effort against them. Simmons is also strong and stout so when he switches onto true bigs, they can’t back him down the way they would traditional “ones”, and since he IS primarily played as Philly’s point, he gets tasked with attacking opposing ball handlers.
Off the ball, Ben is devastating with his deflections. Zach Lowe on a recent podcast (link below) said of Simmons “he had a stretch during the season where he was like Deion Sanders closing games with interceptions.”
Simmons spoke at the beginning of this season that the goal was to win an NBA championship, and that “every other individual accolade comes along with doing your job.” Simmons added “That’s just my mentality - I’d rather win and see everybody on my team do well than an individual accolade…unless it’s Defensive Player of the Year.” If you watch the clips, I organized them to show more than just how springy Simmons is with his steals. He moves his feet magnificently, he closes out well and chases guys off the line, and his hands are so quick and strong that even MVPs like Russell Westbrook and Giannis Antetokounmpo just sort of stand there staring at the refs because they are expecting to get their superstar calls.
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2 июл 2020
