First of all, we must be clear. If the Sixers are down 3-2, in the slump and head in the bucket after their shameful loss last night, Ben Simmons is not the main culprit. From the players to the coaching staff, everyone has their share of responsibility for what could be a resounding fiasco in 48 hours. Simply, the terrible awkwardness of the Australian on the throwing line cannot be concealed.
After the debacle at home in Game 5, it’s hard not to think about 10 missed free throws out of 14 attempted by Ben Simmons. As it is, Simmons has missed 45 shots since the start of the playoffs. By comparison, the Atlanta Hawks (35), Phoenix Suns (29) and Brooklyn Nets (22) missed less … as a team.
Ben Simmons, a loophole that can (and will) be a problem for the Sixers
At the time, the Lakers were surviving cataclysmic passages of Shaquille O’Neal on the line. Dwight Howard took Orlando to the Finals in 2009 being under 60% address on the line. So this is not an impossible problem to overcome, especially since Simmons has other qualities that can compensate for this huge shortcoming. We did not see them much at work when the Sixers began to sink in the second half. As a reminder, only two Philadelphia players scored an in-game basket in the second half: Joel Embiid and Seth Curry.
Recognizing that Ben Simmons’ throws are only a detail of this failure should not prevent him from finally taking this problem head on. There will inevitably come a day when someone from the Sixers staff or his entourage will manage to convince him to focus on this aspect of the game for a whole summer, to put it mildly …
