Well, it's the day after a Sixers loss, so that means it's time to criticize Ben Simmons' game.
Simmons was just 5-10 from the field in Sunday's Game 4 loss and was 0-2 from the free-throw line. In this series, Simmons has gotten to line just three times and has looked passive on offense. In fairness, Simmons has been guarded predominantly by Kawhi Leonard.
Jimmy Butler, who has become the Sixers' most reliable playoff scorer this series and apparent vocal leader, spoke about Simmons' passivity after the 101-96 loss.
"If you ask Ben, I told Ben every time down the floor to attack," Butler said. "Every single time. I'm cool with, if coach calls a play and you feel like you've got the mismatch, by all means attack. And then coach be like, 'Why you'd do it?' And I promise you I would say, 'I told him to do it.' I want Ben to be aggressive just like I told Jo (Joel Embiid) to be aggressive. Attack! We're not gonna without you guys. You have to be ready to attack at any point in time, damn sure in transition. When he has the ball in transition, 'Ben don't pass the ball in transition.' Attack every single, that's how we're gonna win this game."
The other thing to note here is the way Butler is kind of just saying, it doesn't matter what Brett Brown says, do what I say. You have to love Butler's conviction and confidence, though, but it is a little glimpse into the dynamic between him and the coach.
As for the disappointing Game 4, where the Sixers blew a chance to take a stranglehold of the series and go up three games to one, Butler said he loves that his team was humbled.
Jimmy Butler: "I like it. We got humbled."
A post shared by 94WIP (@sportsradio94wip) on May 6, 2019 at 7:03am PDT
