Ben Simmons’ High School Coach Speaks Out

Ben Simmons very well could be the most scrutinized athlete in American sports. Following his dismal shooting performance in the Playoffs, everyone is weighing in. On the Takeoff with John Clark podcast, Montverde Academy head coach Kevin Boyle shared his perspective on Simmons after his former player made 34.2 percent of his free throws for the Sixers this postseason.

His former coach offered some insight into his mental  state:

“I think it’s more a mental thing than physical thing,” Boyle said. “I know there’s some things that have to be cleaned up there. I thought his shot was pretty good coming out of high school. He had a slight slant to the left, but very slight. And when he first got to Philly, I don’t know what really happened, but his form changed — really, technically not correct — I think maybe trying to straighten him out too much with his arm, ended up opening his arm up. It didn’t look good, and I think he lost confidence — the way it appeared, and also the result.

“You start getting some criticism, so you stop doing stuff that people are going to criticize and you get self-conscious about. … I’ve seen him many times go 12 for 15 from the foul line, 11 for 16, 10 for 14. That was regular in high school, those type of numbers. And now you’re struggling to go 3 for 10. Obviously it’s mental, when you’ve done that before. It’s something that, if he could fix — which I think, without question, you can — you’re a top-10 player in the NBA if you’re aggressive offensively. Without question, you’re capable of getting 22 a game, 23 a game, if you’re playing downhill and aggressive.

“I almost think he needs a shot quota that he has to be put on, and he has to have some type of accountability, or substitution thing if you’re not doing it — almost like a reverse psychology. You don’t care about the results. We care about that you’re shooting and you’re going to the foul line. We want 10 foul shots a game, we want X field goals a game — that type of psychology where it will straighten itself out with work in the gym, with some corrections. Right now he’s swinging the ball from his waist to the top of his head instead of really taking it under his chin in the shooting pocket, creating a harder shot. So there’s some technical things but more than anything, I think it’s a mental thing right now, a confidence thing. And again, that’s not always easy to fix, but it definitely can be fixed.”

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Boyle believes Simmons will emerge from this low point as a better player.

“I’m very, very confident he’ll be a star player, and a 10-time All-Star, and a three-time first or second team All-Pro, and have a championship ring,” Boyle said. “I’m very confident in that. He’s just too talented.”

Clearly Ben needs a shrink, not a shooting coach.

But yea, he could use one of those too.

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