Australian development program credited with Simmons' rise as he played well during the Summer League

Australia’s junior development program is being credited for the performance of Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons during the Utah Jazz and Las Vegas Summer Leagues.

“I think it gave me a lot of structure being back in Australia and just learning that game and style of play,” Simmons told The Daily Telegraph. “It helped me a lot grow as the player I am today.”

The first overall draft pick in the 2016 NBA Draft also said that the European style of play he learned in Australia has helped him become more of a team player in the US.

“Passing is one of the main things that I do and it transfers over here,” he said. Years of coaching in the Australian system could be attributed to Simmons’ perfectly executed passes.

Simmons basketball development started at the age of seven at the Newcastle Hunters’ under-12 representative team. Being part of the team also put Simmons on the radar of a number of coaches.

After getting a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in 2012, Simmons led the Australian National Team to a silver medal finish at the FIBA Under 17s World Championships. A year later he relocated to the US to attend Montverde Academy. He played one year at the Louisiana State College and was selected first overall by the Sixers in the NBA June draft. He has impressed his team so far.

Foxsports reports that Simmons has played well during the NBA Summer League games. He averaged 10.8 points, 7.6 rebounds 5.5 assists and 3.8 turnovers.

The summer league games showed that Simmons was a gifted passer and a solid rebounder with great court awareness. The weaknesses to his game, though, are his shooting and movement. The Australian shot below 50 percent in five of the six games he has played. His shots also appeared to off balance but some were rushed attempts late in the shot clock.

Simmons also struggled on the court in the instances that he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. He was mostly standing around and appeared to be getting in the way of teammates instead of creating good spacing.

Still, Simmons was able to validate the hype surrounding him before the draft and Sixers are confident that the Australian will improve his shooting and be more effective without the ball as the season progresses.