Tank on Em..biid. 76ers have to trade Simmons
Ben Simmons has caught a lot of flack for his bad 2021 playoff performance vs the Atlanta Hawks. Criticism will always lay waiting for any superstar of any profession. Some may blame his coach Doc Rivers for not motivating or scheming the 76ers to their most optimal, especially on offense.
I'm ridiculously skeptical of Doc Rivers and his 1 ring with a big 3 resume. (I think Tom Thibodaux, his defensive coach when they won the ring in Boston, has proven himself a lot more since then, [[sans Minnesota 🥺]]
But I don't think Doc is either going to or capable of hiding Ben Simmons gun-shy left hand.
We've all seen the video by now.
The only way this is cured is if Ben Simmons is embarrassed enough to step up. Which would mean he cares that much and only he knows if he truly cares that much or not.
I'm not sure if the 76ers can afford to wait and see if Ben gains that confidence though.
Philadelphia has to keep the floor spread as open as possible because Joel Embiid is one of the most dominant players on offense in the league. Ben Simmons gun-shy and/ or lack of shooting allows defenses to play off of him and close in on Embiid.
And watching Embiid play basketball can be cringeworthy at times. Nothing to do with his game. But it's his injuries and really how gets injured.
So Philly has to move fast. In moving Simmons. Noone knows how much time they ever have. But why not allow the best version of Embiid to playout.
Settle on a style, that GM Darryl Morrey somewhat already had in Houston.
The 6ers can borrow from Morrey's Rockets as well as the 1990s championship Houston Rockets formula. Or The Dwight Howard Orlando Magic formula from a little over a decade ago.
Big men, surrounded by 3pt shooters. Shaq's Magic and Lakers would do similar, especially when they tried to get him going.
But those Hakeem 1990s Rockets were built for any era.
Except for the fact that teams in that era were not built for today's pace.
And Olajuwon didn't shoot 3s.
But guess who does?
Embiid.
Clip taken from Ben Taylor's "Thinking Basketball" you tube series which was crazy! This one was about Hakeem Olajuwon
https://youtu.be/a1cp6_ucC9M