Ben Simmons’ lack of late-game involvement dooms LSU’s upset bid
The numbers are almost too bizarre to be real.
In the final 10 minutes of the biggest game of LSU’s season, Ben Simmons did not score a point. In the final 4:48 of a game that could have solidified the Tigers’ shaky NCAA tournament hopes, the likely No. 1 pick in this year’s draft did not attempt a shot. In the final 2:56 of a game billed as a duel between national player of the year candidates, college basketball’s most coveted prospect never touched the ball beyond mid-court.
Simmons’ lack of impact down the stretch is a huge reason LSU blew a 14-point second-half lead against top-ranked Oklahoma and squandered an opportunity for a marquee victory. The Sooners escaped Baton Rouge with a 77-75 victory after point guard Isaiah Cousins sank a tie-breaking jumper from the elbow with 3.6 seconds remaining in the game.
LSU’s inability to get Simmons involved late in the game is especially baffling considering the ease in which he was scoring the rest of the night. He finished with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting including this jaw-dropping reverse dunk off a nasty crossover dribble.
Regardless of the outcome, Ben Simmons is a special player & absolutely destroyed the rim on this dunk. #OUvsLSUhttps://t.co/YdhhHKqSoM
— Campus Insiders (@CampusInsiders) January 31, 2016
Whose fault is Simmons’ crunch time disappearing act? Some of it has to fall on him for his passivity. Some of it has to fall on LSU coach Johnny Jones and his staff for their inability to get the most out of Simmons.
Blessed with the size and strength of a power forward and the ball handling and playmaking ability of a point guard, Simmons makes plays other 6-foot-9 guys can’t even fathom attempting, from no-look bounce passes, to behind-the-back dribbles, to pin-point lobs. His greatest gift is his unselfishness and vision in the open floor, yet more often than not, he’s not the player bringing the ball up the floor in LSU’s offense.
Tim Quarterman was LSU’s primary ball handler down the stretch Saturday, a decision that makes little sense. It’s not that Quarterman is a bad player — he scored 18 points, sank five 3-pointers and dished out four assists. It’s just that by not running its offense through Simmons more frequently, LSU is wasting his considerable skill and reducing him to a bystander.
Other elite players can be effective off ball, but the glaring weakness in Simmons’ game is his outside shooting. If he’s not creating for himself or his teammates off the dribble, he can only impact the game offensively by attacking the offensive glass.
That LSU couldn’t get more from Simmons on Saturday could haunt the Tigers in March as they’re fighting for an NCAA tournament bid.
They dug themselves a huge hole in November and December when they played a tissue-soft schedule yet suffered five losses against the likes of Charleston, Houston, Wake Forest, NC State and Marquette. They’ve won six of eight in SEC play after gaining the services of sharpshooter Keith Hornsby and top big man Craig Victor, but a win against the nation’s top-ranked team might have been the difference between LSU sweating out Selection Sunday or not.
Simmons’ late struggles Saturday night was conspicuous when examined alongside the brilliance of Buddy Hield. The Oklahoma star widened his lead in the national player of the year race by scoring a game-high 32 points on 11-for-22 shooting from the field and 8-for-15 shooting from behind the arc.
Every time LSU lost track of Hield in transition or failed to stick to him in a half-court set, he made them pay. He sank back-to-back 3-pointers to give Oklahoma a 66-65 lead in a game that seemed to be slipping away from the Sooners only a few minutes earlier. He later made another huge right-wing 3-pointer to put his team back in front in the final two minutes.
The discrepancy between the way the two coaching staffs used their stars was also obvious in the game’s final seconds.
Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger cleverly used Hield as a decoy on his team’s last possession, drawing the attention of the LSU defense enough to free Cousins to sink the game-winning shot. Simmons then inbounded the ball to Quarterman and could only watch as LSU’s chance at a season-changing victory slipped away.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
