What's Doc Rivers' Solution for Ben Simmons' Free Throw Struggles?

The narrative surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers has always been that Ben Simmons' lack of shooting would hurt them in the NBA Playoffs as the postseason progresses. With Simmons now being forced to shoot as teams are challenging him by sending the point guard to the free-throw line, Simmons' weaknesses are glaring, and it's hurting the Sixers more than the team wants to admit. 

In the first round of the playoffs, the Washington Wizards never intended to send Simmons to the line on purpose in hopes of him missing shots and stalling Philly's offense early on. As Simmons went 0-9 at the line through the first three games, though, the Wizards came up with the desperate strategy of playing "Hack-A-Ben."

During the final two games of the first round, Simmons went to the line for 19 shots. He shot slightly better as he hit on 52-percent of his foul shots. While Simmons improved at the free-throw line during the first-round series, the Atlanta Hawks kept Simmons' struggles in mind when the second round approached.

In Game 1 against the Hawks, Atlanta sent Simmons to the line five times. He hit on just three of his 10 foul shots. The next game, Simmons was fortunate enough to only pay one visit to the line, but he wasn't lucky enough to hit on any of those two shots.

Leading up to Game 5 on Wednesday night, Simmons was shooting just 32-percent from the line in the second-round series. As the Hawks started to construct a comeback, they adopted the "Hack-A-Ben" strategy once again throughout Game 5, hoping Simmons fails at the line once more and slows down Philly's offense.

Once again, it worked. Simmons made just four of his 14 free throw attempts in the devastating loss against the Hawks in Game 6. After the defeat, Simmons admitted his issues at the line are "definitely" more mental than anything. 76ers head coach Doc Rivers agrees with the assessment.

“It is a mental game,” Rivers said. “We all know that. It’s always been that. When all these guys in the league struggle.” When asked what he could do to improve in the next outing, which is set for Friday night, and why his shooting at the line dropped off so much, Simmons was nearly speechless. 

“I have no idea [why my shooting dropped off]," Simmons admitted following Wednesday's game. "I have to get back. . . That’s on me.” Simmons might not have a solution for himself, but Rivers discussed what needs to happen ahead of Game 6.

“One thing you got to do is keep working on them,” Rivers explained on Thursday. “You got to keep trying to get a routine, then maybe you can lose the mental part because you have checked into your routine, but it’s hard to do right now. He’s putting in the work, and that’s all you can ask him to do right now. The mental stuff is hard to get rid of this easy. So he’s just got to step up there and keep shooting them, and we got to keep supporting him.”

Considering the "Hack-A-Ben" method has been so successful for the Hawks throughout the series, the Sixers likely expect to see the same strategy applied to Atlanta's game plan for Game 6. 

As Rivers stated that it's hard to break out of a bad routine so late in the season, Simmons' mental block could certainly still play a factor in his potential struggles at the line in Friday night's elimination game. The Sixers hope that's not the case, but all they can do is hope at this point as they need to figure out how to steal a win and stay alive on Friday night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.