LSU’s Ben Simmons is solidifying potential as 1st overall pick
By Tom West
LSU freshman Ben Simmons had a monstrous performance against North Florida to remind everyone of his potential to be the first pick in the 2016 NBA draft.
What causes the kind of hype to send a player’s NBA draft stock sky-high? Monstrous numbers. The kind of performances LSU freshman forward Ben Simmons has been putting together are just that. To make matters even better for his potential to become the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, he’s started to acquire comparisons to Magic Johnson and LeBron James due to his rare size and athleticism, highly diverse skill set and stellar court vision.
Until his exceptional performance in a 119-108 win against North Florida on Wednesday with 43 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks, Simmons had actually gone through a couple of weaker outings. LSU lost three straight games while Simmons shot only 31.4 percent from the floor in that span. However, as the Australian 6’10” forward is only seven games into his college career, it’s expected that there will be some off nights early on.
Now, let’s get back to the 43 point game.
Simply put, it was a historic performance. Simmons became the first Tigers player to score 43 points in a game since Shaquille O’Neal did so on December 28, 1991. In fact, besides Simmons and Shaq, the only other Tiger to score exactly 43 points in a game was the great Pistol Pete himself, Pete Maravich. The latter just so happened to dominate during his collegiate career with 44.2 points per game, so to be mentioned alongside him and a force like Shaq is some elite company for Simmons. And as if that wasn’t enough history, Simmons also became the only major conference player with 40 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in a game in the past 20 seasons (per ESPN Stats & Info).
The following 21 point, 20 rebound, 7 assist performance against Marquette on November 23 is another example of how he can score, control the boards, and seriously push the pace. Who wouldn’t want a player who can either execute crazy passes in transition or just dunk over someone when he feels like it?
Things won’t be this easy for him in the NBA of course, as he won’t be able to bully his way past opponents to score inside in the same way. Yet, to be able to read the floor and create that well off the dribble at 6’10” isn’t something many players can do. At the very least, he can give slower big men in the NBA a nightmare as they try to keep up with him in isolation situations.
He has a strong physique for such a tall 19-year-old, and with his instincts to find lanes to the basket and ball handling to take players off the dribble, he’s been almost unstoppable when attacking the rim so far. In fact, LSU scored 76 points in the paint in their victory over North Florida, and the vast majority of Simmons’ 43 points came within the lane.
That’s where he excels as a scorer, and it makes sense that his combination of speed and agility to maneuver past defenders and strength to power through them draws comparisons with LeBron James. Obviously, there’s no need to get hasty and say he’s approaching the level of a young LeBron yet, but the skill set and interior finishing is certainly a familiar trait.
The main reason why his skill set brings about thoughts of LeBron and Magic is because of Simmons’ remarkable court vision. He can find players with ease when running a fast break, he can read his teammates’ movements well once the offense is set, he can drive to the basket before firing a pass to someone for an open shot, and the way he reads the floor in all situations is highly impressive for someone his age.
The way in which he makes his teammates better and gets everyone involved is an asset that not many players possess, and if he can showcase that already, his future has to be bright as a point-forward.
NBA teams love drafting freakish athletes. If someone clearly stands out among their draft class with immense athleticism, they instantly garner more attention because of it. With that athleticism, they have the kind of physical tools that can help them make an impact which can’t be taught. So, if they lack polished defensive skills or a reliable jump shot, those attributes can be developed over time. Yes, conditioning and weight training can improve a player’s overall athletic ability, but innate explosiveness can’t be taught.
Thankfully for Ben Simmons, he has rare athleticism and agility for his size, and more importantly he already has highly diverse talent, too. With averages of 19.9 points, 14.9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, that diverse skill set is obvious.
As is the case for any freshman, though, it’s not all good. For Simmons, one area of weakness seems to be his awareness and effort on defense at all times. Occasionally, it looks like he’s so raring to break away on offense that his effort declines as he waits for opponents to end their possession so he can take over. Plus, he’s shown almost nothing when it comes to having a solid jump shot so far.
That being said, while his range is majorly lacking and he doesn’t have a three-point stroke at all, the fundamentals, vision, rebounding, athleticism and defensive impact he has is deservedly turning heads.
Ben Simmons can do an awful lot already, and as long as similar performances follow consistently, he can only solidify his clear potential as the first overall pick in next year’s NBA draft.