PHILADELPHIA -- One month ago, Ben Simmons took -- and made -- his second 3-pointer of the season in a blowout win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center. After the game, Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown declared that he wanted his point guard to take at least one triple per game the rest of the season.
Simmons hasn't attempted one since.
When Brown was asked about that fact before Monday night's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he admitted that his message had failed to materialize on the court.
"And this is true," he said with a smile. "Evidently I have failed, and it's something that we're all mindful of, and this is one of these things that is never going to go away. The attention this has received is remarkable. But I guess I helped fuel it, and I own it, and I've got to help him find this, and most importantly, he has to find himself."
Simmons has gone 2-for-5 from 3-point range this season, but all three misses were heaves from half court or beyond at the end of a quarter. The two makes were exactly the kind of attempt Philadelphia wants him to take: Simmons caught the ball in the corner, rose up and buried a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.
The lack of 3-point shooting on Simmons' part is just one of many issues Philadelphia, which came into Monday night's game ranked 16th in the NBA in offensive efficiency, per NBA.com, has dealt with on the offensive end this season.
But while the focus has understandably been on Simmons and his lack of a jump shot -- a consistent theme in his two-plus seasons in the NBA -- Brown said the Sixers as a whole need to shoot more triples and pointed to the players next to Simmons and Joel Embiid in Philadelphia's starting lineup -- Al Horford, Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson -- as the ones who need to do it.
"Of course," Brown said, when asked if he wants his team to make more 3-pointers. "This is where my problem is. This team needs to find more 3-point opportunities. We do. We need to hunt 3s in a more definitive way than we currently are.
"I think the 3-point shot is not about, 'Oh, we need to make more.' We need to take more."