Ben Simmons had more misses from the free throw line than his points in Game 5 on Wednesday. Read that again. If you're a Philadelphia 76ers fan, don't.
Simmons' shooting woes continue to haunt the Sixers as they had a monumental meltdown against the Atlanta Hawks, blowing a 26-point lead to lose the game. Simmons had another terrible time at the charity stripe, shooting only 4-of-10. He only finished with eight points on an eye-popping four field goal attempts.
After the game, Sixers coach Doc Rivers addressed Simmons' brick-manship from the free throw line, but his remark sounded more defeatist than optimistic (via Sixers reporter Kyle Neubeck).
Rivers on Simmons and the free throw issue: "When Ben makes them, we get to leave him in. When he doesn't, we can't. That's just the way it is."
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) June 17, 2021
That doesn't sound good at all for Simmons, who's shooting an atrocious 25.7 percent from the free throw line against the Hawks. Even a sleepy squirrel might shoot better than him.
Simmons is a career 59.7 percent shooter from the charity stripe. For perspective, Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain, two of the most notorious bricklayers from the free throw line, averaged 52.7 and 51.1 percent, respectively in their career. So clearly, Simmons is in not good company.
While the former Rookie of the Year is a great defender, the Sixers should also be concerned with his lack of aggressiveness on offense. Four shots simply won't cut it, especially in the NBA Playoffs. A player of his caliber should take more attempts to give his team better chances of winning. He's being too unselfish.
At this point, hacking Ben Simmons could be a wise ploy for the Hawks to close out the series in Game 6.
Follow Us
Subscribe