WEBVTT - The Emergence of an Elite, Versatile Stopper 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.680 In a word, Ben simmons defense halfway through the regular 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.560 season has been sensational. Simmons steals the inbound, goes in 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.760 and puts it up and good Ben Simmons with back 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.840 to back baskets. Yes, he's among the NBA leaders in 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.360 several key statistical categories, but what he's been doing defensively 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:19.919 he goes well beyond that. I think we don't give 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:22.919 versatility like kind of Simmons has, maybe because it's so 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.400 rare and we don't encounter it very often the credit 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:27.480 it deserves, because I think it really does help an 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.480 entire team become more cohesive when you have a player 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:33.320 like that. The Ringers Rob Mahoney returns to talk about 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:37.720 Ben Simmons and defense on this episode of the broadcast. 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:43.920 How you do it out there, seventy six Ers pod people, 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.479 Brian Seltzer, hope you are great, very much. Appreciate you 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:53.160 coming back for another episode of the broadcast or giving 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:56.600 it a listen for the first time. Rob Mahoney is 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:58.840 back for another appearance. Can't wait to chat with him 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.080 about a recent article he wrote about Ben Simmons being 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:04.839 a hell of a defensive player. As it was put 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.120 in the article's title that ran on The Ringer earlier 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:10.440 this week, so we'll get into that in a moment. 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.280 I want to remind you that to subscribe to the podcast, 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.440 you can essentially go anywhere you get your pods search 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:20.360 seventy six ers podcast Network or a seventy six ers podcast, 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.200 and that we'll take you to our feats on Spotify, 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:29.680 Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, SoundCloud, tune in all 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.959 those places and more. Search seventy six ers Podcast Network 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:39.040 to subscribe. Let's go back to mid September, before we 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.720 started seeing evidence on a regular basis of Ben Simmons 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:46.240 being one of the elite defenders in the entire NBA. 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.640 It was a couple of weeks before training camps assembled, 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.160 and in another life at another media outlet, The Ringers, 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:55.640 Rob Mahoney released his annual NBA Top one hundred list. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.040 Rob had Ben Simmons number twenty three on that list, 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:04.320 and one of the why Rob cited simmons defensive versatility. 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:07.240 I'm Simmons to struggle back and intercept it. Don't ask 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.200 me how he did it. Simmons directing traffic the law 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.920 vobless two way, playing a boy, Ben Simmons. It is 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.200 great to have Rob back on the broadcast. Rob, why 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:23.760 don't we start here before the game has even began? 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.720 Back in October this year? What did you expect to 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.919 see from Ben Simmons defensively this season? Well, I think 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.160 what we had seen in seasons past is just that 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.919 ability for his team, you know, for you know, in 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:36.920 top one hundred, we're talking about kind of a generic 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.640 team context obviously in real life time about the Sixers, 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:42.320 to move him all around the floor to help dictate matchups, 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.000 help control things for his teammates. And it's such a 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.400 valuable thing from a team building standpoint, because you know, 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.960 whether it's you know, you're you're protecting JJ Reddick in 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:52.760 seasons past, or you know, maybe with this year's team, 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:55.160 you're just trying to find tune your matchups to make 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.520 sure you're getting Simmons on the perfect guy to really 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.760 kind of smother them and use his physicality to your advantage. 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.079 That really gives a lot of power to a coach. 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.120 It helps you build lineups more effectively, it helps you 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.360 maintain your bench even more effectively. And so you know, 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.800 that's one area where I think we don't give versatility 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.200 like the kinds like the kind of Simmons has, maybe 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.600 because it's so rare and we don't encounter it very often, 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.560 but we don't quite given the credit it deserves, because 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.480 I think it really does help an entire team become 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.760 more cohesive when you have a player like that. Your 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.800 vantage point as you cover the NBA is an intriguing 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.240 one because there's so many storylines that you have to 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:36.560 follow for obviously all thirty teams in the league. Was 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.800 there a matchup earlier on this season, a game, a play, 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.440 a moment when you were watching the seventy six ers 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:45.600 saw Hilo to Ben Simmons playing defensively, and you were like, hey, 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:49.960 there's something happening here. There's I mean with him, it's 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:52.960 almost just kind of an accumulation where you see him 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:56.400 chasing over screens against so many of these smaller guards 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:58.760 and doing and just doing an incredible job for a 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.280 player his size. And that's one area where you know, 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:03.400 especially if you watch the Warriors a lot over the 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:05.880 last few years, or any of these teams that have 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.280 really good off ball movers and then encourage opponents to switch. 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.200 You know, watching a guy, you know, a big switched 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:14.720 on Steph Currier, Clay Thompson try to chase them over 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.880 a screen. It's impossible, Like biggs just are not prepared 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:19.640 to do something like that, they don't have the practice 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:21.640 doing it. And so that's what always stuck out to 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:23.760 me with Simmons was this idea that the NBA is 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.120 more you know, three point driven off ball screen driven. 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.000 Uh and certainly you know, your ability to get over 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.239 the screen as a defender, it's never been more valuable 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.599 than it is now. And he's you know, a guard 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:37.080 in the modern context who can do that. He just 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:39.880 happens to be you know, six ten, and that's it's 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.280 such a strange combination of size and skill in that way. 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:44.880 And so I think that's what jumped out to me 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:46.760 more than anything. And you know, we've seen it recently, 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.279 particularly in the first half of that game against Dallas, 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.960 when he was guarding Luca don Chiz and just hounding 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.160 him over these screens. You know, guard you know, really 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.800 taking away not only he's driving lanes, but you know 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:00.200 the passing angles that you know, really getting directly in 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.760 the way of whatever donche was trying to accomplish. I 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:04.560 think that's what we've seen from Simmons time and time 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:06.479 again over the course this year against some of the 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.679 higher profile guards in the league. Speaking of high profile guard, 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.159 Simmons certainly had to go up against a few of 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.960 them in the postseason. Last year. In the opening round, 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.320 he spent a lot of time on Daniel Russell, who 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.279 was then with the Brooklyn Nets. Russell around on the 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:25.200 screen again, bot down Undernead Bett. Simmons the defensively for Philadelphia, 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:27.080 and then of course in the second round he was 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.920 the seventy Sixers primary man marking Kawhi land Runner one 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.880 on one with Simmons. Leonard Pluck high Simmons on the perimeter, 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.960 and even for everything that Kawhi did, such a herculean 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.200 effort he made, the seventy Sixers felt talking about Brett 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.360 Brown and Elton Brand that Ben Simmons, for as much 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:49.200 as he could, acquitted himself and made like difficult on Kawai. 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.240 Simmons now is in rob his third year. Can you 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.360 comp his progress to jump It seems like he's making 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.640 defensively to anyone else that you've seen before. At this 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.280 day of Ben's career, I don't think there are a 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.240 lot of comps for him specifically just because, as I mentioned, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.040 you know, the the uniqueness of his skill set you 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.000 really don't see, you know, in an everyday context even 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:13.840 you know, I wouldn't even know who to compare him too. 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:15.800 Do you compare him to other bigs, other you know, 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:19.039 do you comparement his wings, other guards, just because he 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:20.760 has a little bit of all of that. And it's 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.240 you know, that ability to to guard Kawai, but also 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.680 to guard James Harden and also to guard you know, 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.520 Pascal Siakam if you want him to. And so that 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.240 combination I think is what's so tricky with him and 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.760 puts him in such a unique space. I think developmentally speaking, 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.159 a lot of players, you know, within their specific defensive lanes, 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.640 you'll see things start to click for them, you know, 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:43.920 maybe three or four or five years into the league. 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.720 Ben I think was a really strong defender right out 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:48.159 of the gate. That was you know, part of what 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.040 kind of separated him, and that his Rookie of the 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.320 Year race to start was the fact that he was 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:55.200 coming out, you know, into the league a pretty complete product, 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.200 you know, jumper aside, you know, he was doing all 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.359 these other things at such a high level, and that 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.000 was really hard to argue with, you know, in the 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.600 Rookie of the Year race, and then when you look 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.240 at how he's grown since then, I think he's learned 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.400 to use as about his body and his strength even 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.520 more effectively he was. He always had the instincts in 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:13.840 terms of, you know, picking off passes that were just 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:15.960 kind of hanging in the passing lanes a little too long. 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:17.920 You know, really has a good sense of where the 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:19.800 ball is going to be and how to position his body. 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:21.840 But then it comes down to, you know, how do 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.200 you how do you compete against some of the best 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:26.600 athletes in the world, some of the biggest and strongest 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.120 athletes in the world, and how do you how do 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:31.720 you kind of maneuver yourself to take advantage of whatever 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:33.760 you know, skills and advantages you have. And I think 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:35.240 that's where we've seen him kind of grow over the 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:37.640 course these last couple of years, is really using that 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:41.200 length to its fullest extent. You mentioned rob guys like 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.320 Luca don Chich and James Harden. Looking back over the 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:46.560 last couple weeks, who Ben Simmons has had to go 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.880 up against, but there's also been Bradley Beale, Jason Tatum 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:54.280 at times, Pascal Siakam Jimmy Butler for the bulk of 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.640 the seventy six or three games against the Miami Heat. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.000 So far that Ben has had to deal with any 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.400 they're individual matchups that he's been featured in that have 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.320 really intrigued you. I think it's mostly on that end 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:07.720 of the spectrum where just given a player of you know, 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.520 of his size and clearly of his talents, you would 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.240 expect him to, you know, if you need him to 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.880 guard a pick and roll big, he can do that 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:16.360 for you. If you need him to, you know, step 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.000 in and be a small ball center. And we started, 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.480 you know, guarding in his cancer a little bit when 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.800 they played the Celtics with Joel out. Then he can 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.080 do that, like that's just something a player his size 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.120 should be able to do. But the more miraculous thing 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.000 are those matchups. It's, you know, it's guarding Bradley Beal. 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.400 It's you know, a guy who covers more ground over 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:35.560 the course of an NBA game than almost anybody else. 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:38.480 And so it's those kinds of tireless assignments that I 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:40.680 think maybe he doesn't even get enough credit for. Within 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:44.160 this conversation where there's guarding elite guards, and then there's guarding, 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.480 you know, really trying to check guards who are going 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.480 to run you ragged over the course of a game. 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.320 And Simmons is a guy who I think, you know, offensively, 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:53.520 you could certainly critique his energy level. You know, you 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.360 want to see it be more aggressive at times, you 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:59.160 want to see him attack the basket more directly at times. Defensively, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.600 he kind of always brings it. And he's a guy 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:03.880 who looks like he's flat footed a lot of the time. 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:05.760 He looks like he might just be kind of chilling. 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.640 But that's exactly at the moment when you know, the 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.440 opponent tries to throw a pass out to reset the offense, 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:13.160 and he just rips it and goes to the other 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.640 side for a dunk. Nice defense on Rockmen, take it 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.920 away by Simmons, who leads the NBA and steals all 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.880 the way in and he slams for two what a half. 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.040 There's always this conversation about there being perhaps a blueprint 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.160 on how to defend Ben Simmons in terms of his 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.080 offensive skill set. But what type of things do coaches 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.720 and opposing players have to think about? Given all that 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:34.679 Ben is able to do on the opposite end of 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:37.120 the court with his defense. I mean, there's a lot 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:38.840 to reckon with for sure, And I think some of 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.600 that speaks to the Sixers more broadly, where you could 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.520 go into a game against Philadelphia when fully healthy and 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.720 just not have a good sense of who is going 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:48.840 to end up guarding your best player. I think that's 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.640 kind of where where the Sixers have the greatest potential 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.720 when you're looking at who they could be in the playoffs, 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:55.520 and you know, especially if you're looking down the line 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:57.320 and you know, who are the teams that could best 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.120 match up with the honest at a Dakumpo and the 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:00.760 Bucks and some of these other, you know, really good 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.120 teams in the Eastern Conference. Just the idea that, oh, 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.280 we could put Simmons on a guy like Janis, or 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:08.320 we could put Joel as we saw in the Christmas 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.160 Day game, or we could put out Horford as we've 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.839 seen periodically over the course of his recent career. Having 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:17.199 that variability as really is, you know, it really adds 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.360 a level of complexity to those matchups that makes them 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.720 so much harder to predict for opponents, so much harder 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.160 to game plan for, and that's not even getting into 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:25.360 you know, whether they want to talk about, you know, 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.439 Matis Stable or Josh Richardson, who are you know, really 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.160 strong defenders in their own right guarding Maybe a slightly 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.439 different variation of a player than Ben maybe on some nights, 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.439 but all those pieces kind of interlocking. It is so 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.600 hard to reckon with Simmons. The strip of ald Rage 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:45.600 and other steel for bend first time open he slams 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.079 for two. That was a year I haven't seen before 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:51.280 in front of Matis style, able to split two defenders. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.760 But how about that handoff for Ben? A lot of 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.960 what we've talked about so far with Ben has been 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.040 kind of I guess holistic I test related stuff. When 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:04.080 you review some of the numbers defensively that Ben Simmons 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.320 has been putting up first in the league and steals third, 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:11.360 deflections first, and loose balls recovered, those stand out too. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.240 What do you make of those stats? How do you 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:17.360 reconcile them with what Ben's would do them? I mean, 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:19.520 I think especially when you're talking about the kind of 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.920 on ball recovering, you know, where there's steals and deflections 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:25.360 things like that, I think that speaks more to a 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.560 sense of timing than anything else, and his kind of 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:32.640 understanding of the geometry of the floor. I mean, if 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:34.839 you want to really break down basketball, it's a lot 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.480 of kind of if then action. You know, if an 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.560 offensive player drives in this particular way, where is he 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.599 most likely going to kick out the ball? Who is 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:44.320 he going to be looking for? What are the reads 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:46.320 that are going to be available to him? And I 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:48.960 think Simmons, again, at a very young age coming into 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.920 the league, already had kind of an inherent sense of 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.480 how those things work. And maybe there's an interplay there 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.280 in terms of being a playmaker himself and kind of 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.440 realizing what he would see on a potential d and 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:02.520 what that means for the opponent, you know, the opposing 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.240 point guard, and how he wants to play that in 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.760 terms of, you know, where he might dig in to 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:08.880 try to disrupt their dribble, how he might try to 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.920 anticipate their passes and things like that. There's there's just 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.480 a level of kind of basketball literacy with Ben that 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.880 is really impressive on an III basis. And again, the 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.720 conversation around him gets so much bigger when you start 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.000 talking about his offense and his jump shot and all 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:26.360 the things you know he can't do, which are really 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.560 in the grand scheme of things, are pretty limited when 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:30.600 really we're talking about a player with a pretty high 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.040 basketball IQ. And I think that's what's what sings out 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.040 of those stats most consistently for me at the moment. 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.760 Of course, the seventy Sixers rob missing Joel Embid due 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:40.960 to injury, How does that change what the team needs 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:44.000 from Ben on defense? I mean it changes a lot. 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:45.680 I mean, and some of it, you know, if you 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.000 really want to dig into the data around the Sixers 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:51.040 in terms of, you know, which lineups are most effective defensively, 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.800 which players have the best kinds of on off splits 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:55.640 and things like that, a lot of it comes down 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.080 to who's playing with Joel the most, because he's just 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:01.960 a completely transformational defensive player, a guy who you know, 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.160 you could stick on some of the best bigs in 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.040 the league. But more importantly, it's just going to be 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.840 such a such an asset and help. And you know, 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:10.920 having Al Horford is a luxury there. I think we've 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.679 seen over the course of this year that just just 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.599 having him, you're seeing the drop off from Joel to 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.280 you know, the second unit. Biggs has been much less 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.880 severe has even swung the sixers way in some occasions, 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.520 so that's nice. But I think, especially with without and 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:27.400 Beat in the lineup, the rest of this team is 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.719 still kind of figuring out what they are defensively as 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:31.920 a team. There are a lot of really strong individual pieces, 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.240 guys who either have been, you know, on excellent defensive 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.000 teams and anchored excellent defensive teams in the past, or 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.200 have shown kind of really strong individual defensive effort and talent. 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.040 The question is how does all that fit together when 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.360 you're taking out the you know, really the best and 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:48.680 kind of the landmark defender at the bunch, And I 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.400 think they're still kind of fine tuning that. Whether it's 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:54.680 you know, how exactly how Al Horford is positioning himself 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.840 defensively in kind of a drop coverage, whether it's you know, 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.200 the angles that Ben is taking, you know, the the 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.920 rotations particularly you know when you're talking about Tobias Harris 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.760 or players like that. There's still a lot to work out, 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:07.560 and I think that's what sort of seen kind of 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:09.720 some of the unevenness and the sloppiness in some of 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:13.760 these games. But I think the talent overall, the credibility, 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.160 and the credentials there is kind of unimpeachable, and so 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:18.080 it's really I think more of a matter of when 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.760 the niff for the Sixers. But obviously there's the question of, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:24.760 you know, when you're getting Joel back into this lineup 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.040 and whether they'll really have time to kind of form 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.000 their own defensive identity without him. The seventy Sixers still 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.160 have about half the season to go to fine tune 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.280 some things, work on things. But going back to when 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:41.320 they first got together, they've been talking about having championship aspirations. 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:43.400 We know the seventy Sixers want to make a deep 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:46.160 run in the playoffs. When it comes to Ben Simmons 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.160 and the defense he's playing, how much do you see 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.400 that translating from what he's been doing so far in 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:54.120 the regular season to the playoffs when it matters the most. 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.040 I don't see too much of a distinction in his case, 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.360 and some of that is again because there's such a 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.120 wide arrange of what he could offer you where you know, 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:03.840 I think there are a lot of really great players 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:05.320 in the league who you put them in a playoff 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.160 setting and you ask them to guard an opposing superstar 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.360 who might struggle just given the particulars of that superstar 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:13.600 skill set. You know, maybe they do they attack in 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.560 a specific way that this defender might be vulnerable too. 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.640 Within that's not really as much of an issue because 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.840 even if he does struggle in a particular matchup, you 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:23.840 could move him to other ones in which he could 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.200 still have a huge impact. And so I think with 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:28.440 his game, it really is just a matter of moving 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:32.400 the chess pieces around, which is exactly where you want 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:34.200 to be in terms of planning a long term, in 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:36.480 terms of looking forward to the postseason, I think he 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:41.520 gives you a lot of variability. Ben was build all 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:48.600 over the importsimilar he seemed like chess pie. The plays 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.680 that he can make from an athletic stampoint, the plays 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:57.360 that he makes from a physical stampoint is just elague. 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:01.680 You know, you hear me sort of cheer lead the 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.560 cause of him being on an NBA All Defensive team, 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.600 And it's examples like that to me make it a 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.880 no brainer. Rap From what you've been able to gather 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:13.400 in terms of following the league and doing some reporting, 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.880 what does the rest of the league say about Ben's defense? 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.120 I feel like the media narrative has been pretty favorable 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.760 and praiseworthy of his defensive impact this year. Are players 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:25.240 coaches seeing similar things? I think they are, And you know, 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.960 some of it again is within the broader tapestry of 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.680 the Sixers in general not being a particularly fun team 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.160 to play against. I think, you know, just their sheer 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:35.880 size throws a lot of teams for a loop, and 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.160 you know, you kind of know going into those games 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:40.600 what you're going to be in for from that perspective, 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.680 you know, just in terms of size and physicality. As 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:46.400 far as Ben's defense specifically, you do hear some praise 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:47.920 around the league. I think it's starting to get a 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.920 little bit louder, but these reputations do take a little 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:52.800 bit of time to catch up sometimes. So you know, 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.760 if you ask people who are the best defensive guards 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:57.880 in the league, I don't think Ben Simmons is going 0:16:57.920 --> 0:16:59.360 to be the first name out of their mouth, in 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:01.520 part because they may not even think of him as 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:03.520 a guard. So you know, you may jump to Patrick 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.200 Beverley first, so you may jump to you know, whoever. 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:07.840 You know, if you want to think about some wings 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.240 as guards, then that conversation gets broader. I think Ben, 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:13.440 you know, given the players, you know, I think he's 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.480 clearly a point guard functionally for their offense. I think 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.720 he guards ends up guarding a lot of point guards defensively, because, 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.520 as we've talked about, that ability to maneuver around screens, 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.560 to stay in front of action, to keep involved makes 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:27.639 him really well suited to do that. Whether you know, 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.879 Josh Richardson or him or whoever ends up guarding a 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:31.560 point guard in a given night is more of a 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.199 coach's decision than anything else. So I think you know, 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.600 when you when you really barrel down into that conversation 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:39.760 about who are the best defensive guards in the league, 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:41.399 Ben is at or you know, at or near the 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.800 top of that list. Whether the player base in the 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:48.040 league fully acknowledges that or not, just from perspective of positionality, 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:51.040 I think it is a different question. Brett Brown has 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.000 referred to Ben Simmons already in the conversation of all 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:58.440 League defensive candidate, potential defensive Player of the Year candidate. 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:00.520 Do you think he has a shot any of those 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.480 lofty honors? I mean, I think he certainly looks like 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.800 a first team defender to me, given what he's done 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:07.600 so far, And you know, we're again, we're only halfway 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.399 through the season. Things can change, whether because of injury, 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.280 because of guys force into different roles, or sometimes players 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:15.160 will just shine over the back half of the year. 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:19.320 So there's definitely a race to be run. But in 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:21.240 terms of what he gives you, I just see something 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.000 completely different than any other guards skill set in the league, 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.280 something so much more broad or so much more important. 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.040 You know, point guard defense historically has been kind of 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:32.080 a thorny conversation because, you know, as we kind of 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:35.320 alluded to and talking about, Joel, Biggs can just have 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:37.600