Sixers not expecting Simmons to shoulder burden alone

THE CONCERNS about Ben Simmons following his lone season at LSU weren't about his terrific ballhandling or passing skills, rarely possessed by someone at 6-10 and 245 pounds. Not many doubted his ability to finish around the basket.

Really the only apprehension about his on-court skills was his inability - and reluctance - to shoot the ball. But even that was overshadowed by the trepidation of Simmons' character. Though his numbers suggested different at 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists, the fact that he couldn't lead the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament; that he seemingly wouldn't take over in crucial parts of games and that he shrugged off going to classes, which played a part in the team not accepting an NIT invitation, raised red flags about his character.

Simmons, taken with the top pick by the 76ers on Thursday, attacked the accusations head-on when he came to town on Friday. He was showered with praise from president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo, who was careful not to anoint Simmons the savior of an organization that has gone 47-199 over the past three seasons. Still, the excitement was as thick as the humidity outside, and Simmons did nothing to dull the mood.

"I'm here and I'm ready to get to work," Simmons said. "Knowing Brett, I feel very comfortable coming in and playing for him. It's perfect timing and I think I'm in the right situation. I think you can put me anywhere on the court. As a point forward, you can put me one through five defensively and offensively.

"Playing through adversity, nothing goes right all the time so you have to learn to play through certain situations and we did that. We got through it as a team. Those guys were my brothers. Going into next season I'll be ready for anything. I've got a lot of pressure, but I'm kind of used to it. I'm looking forward to getting to work and just as long as I work hard, that's all I can ask of myself."

While Simmons spoke, coach Brett Brown sat and talked with David Simmons, Ben's father, whom Brown coached in Australia back in the late 80's. David Simmons is a hulk of a man, with biceps as big as thighs. Brown described him as "a linebacker playing basketball. He was tough as tough could be. He is a New York player through and through. A Harlem, New York player."

David Simmons is as nice and solid as he is tough. His son calls him his idol. As you talked to the two, you found it hard to imagine Ben Simmons would have a tough time changing people's minds about his character.

But thinking this 19-year-old can carry the rebuild of this organization on his impressive shoulders would be a mistake, and the team knows it. As much as Simmons' versatility could be the perfect compliment to some of the pieces in place right now, expecting him to be a savior isn't on the radar.

"Ben is truly a player with special and unique talents," said Colangelo. "We did our homework. We feel that Ben Simmons fills a big void on our team. He's a facilitator. He's going to make others on the floor better. He's going to make everyone on the team better and it's going to make this organization better.

"It's not going to be all this thrust at Ben Simmons. We're going to make sure to distribute the effort across the board. We'll make sure we build this thing with measured steps, as I've talked about in the past. As much as we want to make things happen overnight, there has to be some patience to this whole process. I think that any young player coming into the game is going to feel that, but we're going to try to spread that as much as we can across the entire team so that it's not just on Ben's shoulders to bare that weight."

And now it falls to Brown to figure out how to best use his newest talent. Exactly who Simmons will be playing with come training camp still has to be decided, as Colangelo said the roster is still fluid and the team will be active in trades and free agency.

"It always gets back to your best players," said Brown. "How do you tap in to your best players? All of our best players are 6-10 and above. But the difference is one of our best players (Simmons) can go. He can go. We have another 6-10 guy who is overseas that can go (Dario Saric). And so there is always a balance. We did it for years (in San Antonio) trying to figure out how to get (Tim) Duncan more touches. So we'll have Joel Embiid, who we'll have to get touches.

"To think to say that we have a bunch of big guys so we're going to walk it up and beat it inside, at times you are going to have to do that. Do I think you can do that for 48 minutes? No I don't. I've watched so much of him. I just want to give him the ball, like he's a point guard. I want to make him Chris Paul. Down deep, that's what I want to do, but I'm not going to do that. He's never played it. But I want him with the ball and going and playing as much as possible."

@BobCooney76

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