Cooney: Sixers need to surround Simmons with shooters

LAS VEGAS - Perhaps the legs just weren't there. Maybe the excitement of the game 24 hours earlier, in a surprisingly packed arena filled mostly with Lakers' fans, had drained some energy. Whatever it was, the team that took the floor for the 76ers on Sunday in their second summer-league game at the Thomas & Mack Center looked about as flat as the desert in which they were playing. The offense was mostly dribble, dribble, dribble and dribble some more before a bad shot was taken or a turnover was produced. Ugly, summer-league basketball.

When the Sixers found themselves down by double-digits in the fourth quarter against the contingent that made up the Chicago Bulls, Ben Simmons decided it was time to take matters into his talented hands. It was kind of like a playground game, where the best player on the court just decided hogging the ball was the best chance his team had of winning. So hog Simmons did. A baseline move produced a dunk over two challenging defenders. The next time down, another baseline move led to a reverse layup. Two jumpers then followed. A temporary reprieve for Sixers fans who insisted the 6-10 phenom needed to shoot more.

In the loss, Simmons scored a team-high 18 points in 30 minutes on 7-for-13 shooting. He only grabbed three rebounds and dealt two assists, but those numbers were more a product of the style of play, which wasn't very good.

In his four summer-league games (two each in Utah and Las Vegas), Simmons has pretty much been what was advertised - an elite passer and ballhandler for someone of his size, with very good rebounding ability and a reluctance to shoot. There are many, many positive signs moving forward with him. But in order for him to reach his full potential, the Sixers can't make the same mistake they made in the past.

Think back to two summers ago and how excited fans were to witness the play of Nerlens Noel. Fans couldn't wait to see the athleticism of their center - having come off a year of recovery from knee surgery - and how he and reigning rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams would mesh. But that didn't work out so well, and MCW was gone at the trade deadline. Noel then really started to progress offensively when the team signed Ish Smith, a pass-first point guard who had immediate chemistry with the big man. But the team decided not to bring Smith back for the beginning of the next season, and Noel's offensive progression stalled and hasn't been the same since.

Which leads to what the Sixers need to do to ensure that Simmons' progression climbs steadily, and that is to surround him with shooters. Whether Bryan Colangelo is going to get that done with a trade before the season remains to be seen. If not, then the onus falls upon the likes of Robert Covington, Nik Stauskas and Jerryd Bayless.

"The first and most obvious word is shooters," coach Brett Brown said when asked what is most necessary for Simmons' growth. "There is a lot to be learned if you study LeBron's path and when he had some of his better years. Even with limited time we can all sort of guess and come close to what Ben's natural strengths are. You can take an educated guess after four summer-league games. You saw it at LSU and you see it now; he needs to have as many shooters around him as possible. He will find shooters and he's big enough and good enough to get into the lane and find people when defenders take a step to come and stop him and, bam, it's delivered when and where it should be delivered. When and where are the great separators of great passers.

"You can always have more shooting, like you will never have enough steak or lobster, never enough shooters. We see it at the most elite level, the importance of being able to spread a floor and then to get you an extra point to make a shot. All over the place it wreaks, when you have someone like Ben, that you need shooters. Same thing with our bigs, what's going to make them play at their best? Shooting. It think it's not that sexy or amazing an answer, but it's the truth."

For now, though, what Simmons has displayed can only be described as tantalizing. The passing is even better than advertised. He has a calmness about him on the floor that some may see as nonchalant, others as coolness. He got into it a little bit with Chicago's Bobby Portis in Sunday's game, the two throwing themselves at each other on multiple possessions. But there was no backing down by Simmons whatsoever. "We had a few bumps," Simmons said. "We bumped heads a few times and I felt the challenge. I went back at him. It was all in a competitive spirit so I enjoyed that."

He has that it factor, both on and off the court. He is as aware of the excitement surrounding the team in Philadelphia as he is of any backcutter on the floor.

"No, we're bringing it back," he interrupted a questioner when asked about the excitement factor for the city. "We're bringing it back, for sure. We're a young team and everyone is putting their work in so I'm looking forward to it."

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog