July 13, 2016
Just like many tourists that hit the tables at Caesars Palace, the Summer Sixers have come up empty so far in Sin City. With Tuesday night’s loss to the Golden State Warriors, their record has dropped to a disappointing yet meaningless 0-3 in Las Vegas.
Here are a few things I took away from the Dubs’ 85-77 win:
• Ben Simmons again threw a bunch of passes that justifiably made the crowd swoon, but overall, this wasn’t a great performance from him from a statistical perspective: 8 points (3-8 FG, 2-5 FT), 8 boards, 6 assists, 5 turnovers, and 7 summer league fouls.
Many of Simmons’ assists (and others that should’ve been assists) were spectacular, but after posting very efficient shooting numbers in college (60 percent true shooting), he has certainly struggled to score in summer league. One of the aspects of his game that was advertised coming into the league is his reluctance to finish with his left hand. Even though Simmons shoots jumpers with his left, he wants to finish drives and layups with his right. Take a look at some shots around the rim from last night:
This is why some people have theorized that Simmons could be shooting with the wrong hand. Sometimes it works, but other times the situation calls for Simmons to go left. After he made a nice steal, this play in transition is one of them. It looks like Simmons can make a straight-line drive with his left and “out athlete” Thomas Walkup here:
Alas, Simmons wants to get back to that right hand:
In general (not all of the time, but often), Simmons hasn’t looked to finish strong at the rim when he drives left, which makes such an unpredictable passer a more predictable scorer. Not something that can't be corrected at 20 years old, but also something to keep an eye on.
• One of the reasons that Simmons is able to throw highlight reel passes with such frequency? He manipulates defenders with his eyes like a quarterback. If a player is making a back cut on the baseline, you can bet that Simmons’ head will be focused on the corner or wing:
This was the argument for taking Simmons first overall, more or less. It’s impossible to teach court vision at that elite level.
• Another strong outing for Christian Wood, who finished 8-12 from the field and 2-5 from three for 22 points. Wood, who has helped himself in summer league after his qualifying offer wasn’t picked up by the Sixers, is showing a decent feel for face-up drives off the bounce. There is a chance that the past few weeks can help him latch on with another NBA team.
• On the other hand, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot didn’t handle the ball as well. Summer league is full of wild drives and shots, but the 24th overall pick had more than his fair share of them in this one.
• Jahlil Okafor was interviewed during the broadcast and talked about what he’s doing in Vegas, playing for the USA Select Team, his recent tweets, and his fit in Philly. You can catch the full interview here:
“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but it’s going to be good,” he said at one point about the team’s many young bigs. “I’m excited about it.”
• Brett Brown was also interviewed, and he offered a confident (but not 100 percent confident!) answer on whether we can expect Dario Saric this season.
“It’s still too early to be 100 percent certain [of him coming over], but it is that close,” Brown said. “And we feel quite confident in the next few days we’ll be able to make an announcement.”
Saric has until Sunday to let Anadolu Efes know of his plans.
• Toward the end of the game, the Sixers went with a lineup that included Simmons, Wood, and Richaun Holmes all at the same time. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of that later today (see below) just for kicks. With that combo in the game, the Sixers have more length defensively and a decent stretch threat in Wood that provides Simmons with some floor spacing.
• Despite the 0-3 record, the Sixers’ point differential kept them out of the cellar. They actually finished 22nd out of 24 teams, which means that they’ll get the summer league playoffs underway today with a 6:30 p.m. matchup later tonight against the 11th-ranked D-League Select Team.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
