Each player was given a four-page document containing individualized offseason plans. Two days after that 2018 loss to the Celtics, the Sixers held exit meetings in their Camden, New Jersey, training facility. Maybe not as much as some in the organization would have liked, but still, that 70.6% mark during the postseason represented a massive step forward. Townsend was hired by Brown in 2016 to work closely with Simmons, and together the two made progress. Simmons spent the year rehabbing and about a year and a half working alongside shooting coach John Townsend. This was a different player than Brown had seen on film, a different player than the one who had no qualms launching an occasional jumper during the 2016 Summer League before he fractured a bone in his left foot, which sidelined him for the entire season. Just one year earlier, teammates had spent offseason pick-up games daring him to shoot from the outside, trash-talking him in the process, with Brett Brown, then the team's coach, watching from his office, frustrated and confused.
#BEN SIMMONS STATS FREE#
In the meantime, Simmons had hit 70.7% of his free throws in 10 postseason games. Sure, the Celtics had stonewalled him by limiting his transition opportunities and daring him to shoot from the outside. There were lots of reasons for optimism, and Simmons’ improvement at the line was at the top of the list. Simmons had even approached Embiid after the Sixers’ Game 5 loss to the Celtics, held up his hand and said, "There’s gonna be a lot of rings on this before we're done."
A better future didn’t just seem probable it felt guaranteed.
But this was just Year 1 of the Simmons-Embiid partnership, and they'd already won a playoff series. Simmons regressed a bit the next round, and the Sixers fell to the Boston Celtics in five games. He struggled in Game 4, going just 1-for-4 from the line, but - in what seemed to be an encouraging sign - responded by going 6-for-7 in the Sixers’ series-clinching Game 5 victory. Simmons made seven of his 10 free throws in Game 1, and then he went 4-for-6 in Game 2 and an even better 7-for-8 in Game 3. This was back in April 2018, his rookie season and first postseason run, and the Sixers were facing the Miami Heat in the first round. It’s easy to forget, given everything that has happened to both him and the Sixers in the years since. You know, it wasn’t all that long ago that Ben Simmons was bounding up to the foul line during playoff games and burying free throws. "I don’t know the answer to that right now," Rivers replied.įor more up-to-date news on all things Sixers, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!īen Simmons' struggles at the free-throw line have only gotten more pronounced over the course of his NBA career. Sunday night, after the loss, a reporter asked Rivers whether he still believed Simmons could be the starting point of a team with championship aspirations.
#BEN SIMMONS STATS SERIES#
"I'll let you guys talk about what Ben doesn't do."Īfter Simmons’ poor free-throw shooting helped the Wizards snatch a game from the Sixers in the first round, Rivers said, "If you guys don’t know the treasure you have by now, then shame on everyone because he has been fantastic for us."īut the missed free throws mounted, and Simmons stopped attacking, and the series against the Hawks lasted longer than it was supposed to, and little by little, Rivers lost confidence in his All-Star point guard.
"I could care less," he told reporters in December when asked about Simmons’ inability to shoot. All season, Doc Rivers, who took over as Philadelphia's coach after Brett Brown was fired in the summer, had blasted anyone who dared question Simmons’ value.
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