Philadelphia 76ers: Hiatus gives Ben Simmons time to work on his 3-point shot

In a league-wide hiatus, the time off is hopefully giving Ben Simmons time to work on his 3-point shot in an attempt to take his team to the next level.

Ben Simmons is a very odd player to talk about; over the past three seasons, he has somehow gone from future legend to flawed All-Star. There is no doubt Ben Simmons is overloaded with talent, but he also lacks any ability to shoot the ball. Like Blake Griffin at Oklahoma, Ben Simmons only shoots, more often than not, four feet or less from the basket.

In an age where every elite point guard is now a combo guard that takes at least six 3’s per game. Ben Simmons refuses to even think about taking a 3-point shot, only relying on dunks and layups. Like how the toilets flush the other way in Australia, it seems the Australian has a game that is the reverse of your average all-star point guard.

Now the Sixers as a whole have a lot of problems but we can’t fix all of them today. We don’t even know when the NBA or any sport will return. When the NBA returns there will (hopefully) be a postseason to play and any team could get hot and make a mad dash to the NBA Finals.

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To give the Sixers a real chance at an NBA Finals run, their star point guard is going to need to do something nobody would ever expect him to do, take 3-pointers. Now we are not going to turn Ben Simmons into JJ Redick, and that is not the goal of this exercise.

The goal of this plan is to surprise other teams by just keeping them honest. Right now teams give Simmons so much distance on the 3-point line, it’s really outrageous and hurts the offensive spacing massively.

Ben Simmons should be healthy from his back injury by now. So a fully healthy Simmons, by now, should be ready and just waiting for the season to restart.

The plan is really simple. Ben Simmons needs to make 1500 3’s each day until the season starts, assuming he has access. Which sounds like a lot but right now nobody is currently allowed to leave their homes. It is the perfect time to acquire this skill. It could be a blessing in disguise for a player like Simmons.

Now the 3’s we want Ben Simmons to focus on are the top of the key and both corners. All three spots are used in simple plays. The top of the key threat allows Ben Simmons more flexibility in his play-calling/making ability. Corner 3’s give Simmons a chance to set a screen and then sneak or wander over to the corner to have the ball dished out to him as a backup option.

Again, we are not saying Ben Simmons needs to be Kyle Korver, Simmons just needs to create space. By focusing on these three spots of the 3-point line we are decreasing the difficulty of his shots.

We are trying to unclog the lane so Simmons can work the ball into Embiid. Or create paths for other Sixers to cut to the basket.

Ben Simmons is often compared to Jason Kidd, both averaged close to triple-doubles in their primes. Both also lacked shooting ability early in their careers. Kidd eventually became a better 3-point shooter and it helped prolong his career.

Simmons is still very young but his problem is his lack of a 3-point shot allows defenders to sag off of him. So they are better positioned to double another player or get themselves in front of Simmons to contend his close to the basket shots.

The 500 3’s from each spot of the line should hopefully build some muscle memory over time. Steph Curry takes about 500 shots a day during his offseason workouts and that is when social distancing is not in effect.

With rumors that trainers say the teams will need a month of prep before games can start again, it seems like working on this skill is more important now than cardio. As every player is going to need to get back into shape.

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This is not a Disney movie where Ben Simmons works on his 3’s for a few weeks and leads the Sixers to the NBA Finals. This is Ben Simmons putting in an investment of time to help inject life into his team’s offense. Fifteen hundred 3’s seems like a lot but with all this time on his hands, it just gives him a chance to become the player we all want him to be.