NBA Analysis: How Ben Simmons Became A Defensive Monster
The inimitable superstar has learned to leverage his ridiculous athleticism to lock down opposing stars
After one of his latest defensive masterclasses — a Dallas Mavericks game where he made brilliant playmaker Luka Doncic look pedestrian, turning him over four times while allowing Doncic to make just three shots and record one assist while matched up with him — Ben Simmons was candid about his defensive superstardom.
“I take pride in guarding the best player on the floor every night,” Simmons said. “I feel like I’m the best defender in the NBA.”
In a league where true defensive stoppers are few and far between, especially at the guard position, Simmons’s unique versatility and talent on that end shine. Simmons is listed at 6’11’’ and 240 pounds on the NBA’s official website — taller than backup center Dwight Howard — and somehow still has the quickness to stay in front of marks like Damian Lillard (who Simmons held to 3-9 shooting, including 0-5 inside the three-point line, in their earlier matchup) and DeAaron Fox (2-8).
On top of that, Simmons plays with physicality unmatched by any guard in the modern NBA. He can legitimately guard 1-4 at a high level, and is frequently asked to do so — during the team’s two-game series against the Toronto Raptors, he spent different rotations assigned to Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam depending on where his defensive prowess was needed.
This year, Simmons’s raw defensive stats are down — Matisse Thybulle averages more blocks per game than Simmons, and he’s fallen to ninth on the steals per game leaderboard — but his hustle stats and advanced numbers are remarkable. Oh, and the eye test? Simmons’s tenacity and intensity jumps off the screen.
Whether he takes home the Defensive Player of the Year trophy or not, Simmons is putting together a season to remember on the defensive end. Here’s how his already-impressive defense took a jump to the next level.
Constant Hustle and Intensity
Simmons is typically, pound-for-pound, the most athletically gifted player in any NBA game the moment he steps on the court. In previous years, he’s often been criticized for failing to utilize his size and athleticism to their full potential, and there’s a case to be made that he still struggles with that offensively. Defensively, though, there’s no question that he can be physically overwhelming.
Simmons grades highly in defensive hustle stats — he leads the league in both deflections per game and loose balls recovered per game. Even more impressive, though, is his perpetual defensive intensity. Simmons is constantly prone to snatch loose handles or lazy passes and turn them into immediate fast breaks.
Sometimes, he’ll make NBA players look totally outclassed. Take, for example, this swindling of Willie Cauley-Stein:
That’s not just a steal. It’s a little more disrespectful — an imposition of Simmons’s will on a poor, unsuspecting center. The Embiid slam off a beautiful dime is the cherry on top of an incredible showcase of Simmons’s hustle.
His unique combination of intensity and length also allows Simmons to fluster perimeter players in a way most of them aren’t used to. There are dozens of examples of this so far this season — most recently, Simmons’s flustering of Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, who put up 33 points on 34 shots against his hounding defense before Mitchell’s frustration boiled over into an ejection — but this crunch-time clip of him guarding Damian Lillard is the finest demonstration yet.
Blazers up three. End of the fourth quarter. This is Dame Time. Until… it isn’t. Simmons barely lets Lillard cross halfcourt, nearly forces a backcourt violation, pokes the ball away — and then, two possessions later, slows him down again.
In such an offense-heavy league, guards aren’t used to being defended by players with this blend of size, skill, and intensity. There are dozens of guards who relish the chance to score a game-winning basket, but Simmons is perhaps the only one who’d rather come up with a game-saving stop. He blends the hounding style of former Sixer T.J. McConnell (who, by the way, shares the league lead for deflections per game with Simmons) with the athleticism of Scottie Pippen in a truly unique manner.
Improved Awareness and Scheme
While Simmons has always shown at least short bursts of the defensive intensity he’s played with this season, the scheme changes instituted by Doc Rivers and defensive assistant Dan Burke this year have allowed him to defend with more confidence.
Though under Rivers, the Sixers sometimes slip back into the drop pick-and-roll coverage that became a staple of Brett Brown’s defense (in their most recent game against Utah before the All-Star break, they spent all game going under screens, and were subsequently torched to the tune of 21-44 three-point shooting), against star guards Rivers has committed to a more aggressive hedging, trapping form of PnR coverage.
Though this defensive scheme isn’t feasible for 48 minutes a game — savvy guards can draw fouls on big men who don’t hedge and trap perfectly or leap into trailing guards to draw three-point fouls, and the last thing Philly needs is Simmons or Joel Embiid in foul trouble — it’s an excellent tool to slow down opposing offenses and force the ball out of the hands of star players.
Defending a late-clock Luka Doncic PnR can’t look any better than that. Simmons walls off his initial drive, then when Luka signals for a screen from Boban Marjanovic, Simmons ices him and Embiid cuts off a driving lane. Stuck between Simmons, Embiid, and the sideline, there’s no way for Luka to even get a shot off, and he’s forced to dump it off for a Boban midrange jumper; Embiid recovers for the tip, and the Sixers force a shot clock violation.
Sometimes, Simmons will also flash his outstanding defensive awareness in combination with his athleticism. (Side note: shoutout to Jackson Frank, perhaps the most insightful follow on NBA Twitter).
Simmons sees Damian Lillard coming up to receive the dribble handoff from Enes Kanter, and positions himself correctly to help on Lillard’s drive if necessary. However, when Carmelo Anthony awkwardly gets in the way of the handoff and Kanter finds himself stuck in no-man’s-land, Simmons recognizes the breakdown and ditches his man to come poke the ball away from Kanter — knowing there’s no risk that this gamble backfires, because Kanter isn’t even turning his head to look at Simmons’s man, Carmelo Anthony.
From there, Simmons’s athleticism takes over. He tips the ball once, then jumps with Kanter to deflect it again into a steal, and finally gets rolling in transition and creates a wide open Embiid slam (anecdotally, it seems like Simmons’s defensive highlights frequently end with either a Simmons or Embiid dunk). LeBron James is maybe the only other player in the NBA with the combination of size, athleticism, and defensive IQ to make this sort of play happen.
Under Doc Rivers and Dan Burke, Simmons has been given more freedom to make “free safety” plays like this, in addition to his permission to play more aggressively on ball screens. These scheme changes, coupled with 24-year-old developing the defensive awareness of a 10-year vet, have produced the most game-changing version of Simmons we’ve seen yet on the defensive side of the ball.
Defensive Player of the Year?
Simmons has been indisputably the best defensive guard in the NBA this season. He’s been what Doc Rivers calls a “chameleon” — defending a variety of stars, from Damian Lillard to LeBron James.
But Defensive Player of the Year? The award that’s gone to a guard just once in the past 30 years? Statistically, there’s no question that big men are more impactful defenders than even the most gifted wings; by purely statistical criteria, Simmons probably doesn’t even have the best DPOY case on the Sixers.
Doc Rivers, though, disagrees. He stumped for Simmons as DPOY at his All-Star Game media availability, citing his defensive versatility and ability to defend the best players in the league as attributes that set Simmons above competitors like Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner.
Ben doesn’t just play 5s. Ben plays 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. He’s played every position on the floor. When he’s played those positions, he’s been able to come up with stops. There are very few players in NBA who can do the things that Ben does defensively.
Though the race is close, Simmons appears to have the inside track to winning DPOY. The latest NBA.com awards ladders places him first in the running and, if the Sixers can keep up their team success and Simmons avoids injury, Gobert fatigue may be enough to push Simmons over the finish line and take home the award.
Whether or not the media deems Simmons the best defender in the league, though, the steps he has taken on that end of the floor are indisputable. Ben Simmons has become the most versatile, intense defensive guard in the NBA — and, with the game on the line, there’s perhaps no better player in the league to stop opposing superstars from putting the ball in the basket.