On today's TrueHoop podcast Jarod Hector and David Thorpe discuss:
Klay Thompson looked amazing against the Houston Rockets, is he back?
James Wiseman was sent to the G League and David has a message for him and the Warriors.
Ben Simmons has been getting more offensively aggressive the last few games. what does David see?
The World Cup is underway in Qatar, and Jarod has thoughts.
Hey fellas, here is something I would love to hear Coach Thorpe do a little deep dive on (whether as a regular segment or a section of tactics depending on the angle thats interesting to you):
What should Ben Simmons be working back to?
- Is it the same kind of player that he was before as an All-NBA?
- if not, what kind of skills or playstyle could he build back as he regains his strength & confidence?
- If Coach Thorpe was working with him inn a world where he hadn't gotten injured and taken so much time off, what types of things would he be teaching?
I ask because I've always wanted a big basketball brain to put Ben's capabilities in context for me. I struggle when I watch him play because where on the one hand he had immense physical gifts, it appeared that he didnt have the soft skills. He looked mis-cast as a creator when everything he seemed to do well was as a finisher. A microcosm of this is how often he would pass the ball to someone so close, sometimes as handoff and then immediately go and try to set a screen for them. Or his all too common dribble directly to a teammate and hand them the ball in the half court. Was this all him or more the context of that philly team?
In any case, I don't quite understand what the goal should be for a rejuvenated Ben Simmons as a complete basketball player and I would love to hear Coach Thorpe break it down.