‘Drives me crazy’: Simmons’ MVP blasting

Even when people aren’t talking about Ben Simmons, they find a way to have a go at the Aussie star.

Simmons’ Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid responded to a slam from both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal with a brilliant response on the court in the 115-109 win over the Boston Celtics.

Embiid hit 38 points with 13 rebounds and six assists as he led the Sixers to another win.

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It came after legendary centres Barkley and O’Neal lashed the big man, despite him scoring an average of 22 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists heading into the match against Boston.

“He’s the toughest player in the league to match up with,” Barkley said on TNT on Wednesday (AEDT). “But we don’t talk about him the way we talk about Luka (Doncic), Giannis (Antetokounmpo), Anthony Davis, James (Harden). We don’t ever say that about him.”

O’Neal added: “We’re telling you, ‘You can be great. You ain’t playing hard enough.’ 22 ain’t enough to get you to the next level.

“Do you want to be great, or do you want to be good? If you want to be good, keep doing 22 points. You want to be great, give me 28, give me 30. You want to be great, watch Giannis; he wants to be great.”

Embiid admitted the legends were on the money.

“Maybe they’re right. Maybe. I do think they’re right,” Embiid said. “I think I need to be more aggressive and just look to impose myself and look to dominate.

“I think the whole season I haven’t done that, and you can see the way it has affected my efficiency and my stats, so I guess I need to go back to having fun and just dominating. But I get what they are saying, and I think they are right, man. I have to make a change.”

But as is inevitable in Philadelphia as the team looks to build its way into being an NBA championship challenger, the attention soon turned to the 23-year-old Aussie.
 

Along with his jump shot, one thing that has haunted the Aussie is the lack of improvement season to season.

In fact, 2019-20 is shaping to be his worst yet offensively, despite the putting his hand up at the defensive end.

He’s down on points (14.0 to 16.0 for his career) and rebounds (7.0 to 8.0 for his career) but is up to 2.2 steals a game and slightly up on assists at 8.4 per game through 23 games this year.

NBA Australia however added clarity to those stats however with just six player including Simmons averaging similar to the Aussie aged under 25, with players including Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Grant Hill, Magic Johnson and Luka Doncic.

But former Chicago Bull No. 2 draft pick turned ESPN analyst Jay Williams has turned his attention to Simmons, with a frustrated rant over that the Aussie should be looking to take on the record of reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“I even think Charles missed the point there,” he began on ESPN talk show Get Up. “When do we see bigs like Joel Embiid lead their team to a championship in the new era of the NBA. It’s wings.

“So the guy who is most disappointing to me is a guy that I was huge on this summer. I thought he was going to be coming into the season shooting the ball from the three-point line, being aggressive. Ben Simmons, 6’10, 240lb. There is no reason why he shouldn’t be playing link Giannis Antetokounmpo. He should be playing like Giannis, he should be dominating.
 

“Ben Simmons should be averaging 22 points, 15 rebounds, 10.5 assists — I just don’t know if he has that dog in him and he drives me crazy.

“I don’t know why, I don’t understand why for a guy who has his ability. I heard Kendrick Perkins say something about Giannis that really caught my ear he said ‘he brings it every game’, but it’s not just every game, he brings it every possession. I would love to see if Ben Simmons could challenge himself to bring it every possession and play the game with energy. If you get tired ‘hey coach, get me out, give me a second break, let me get into the game.”

If Simmons heard anything, he didn’t have the chance to put it into practice against Boston.

In the match, Simmons had a quiet night but added the final free throw daggers as the 76ers went to 19-7 for the season with a 115-109 win over the Boston Celtics.

Despite hitting only seven points, eight rebounds and six assists — which is quiet for him — he still played a key role.

Usually suspect at the free throw line, Simmons was fouled with 41 seconds left but held his nerve to seal the win.