Late Fouls Can Help Ben Simmons Develop Free-Throw Shooting

PHILADELPHIA, PA --This past Friday night, the New Orleans Pelicans came up with an interesting strategy late in the game to keep it close with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Typically, teams wait until the final minute to start hacking the opposing team and sending them to the line. Against the Pelicans, though, the Sixers were heading to the line by intentional fouls with a little over three minutes left in the game.

Ironically, each of those intentional fouls had one thing in common; They occurred to Sixers' point guard, Ben Simmons. As we know, Simmons isn't the prototypical NBA point guard. He's bigger, taller, and less willing to shoot the ball in comparison to your standard point guard in the league.

And when it comes to free-throw shooting, Simmons doesn't exactly excel in that department either. His career shooting percentage from the charity stripe is roughly 58-percent. This season, his average is down from last year's, as he's knocking down just under 60-percent of his foul shots.

Knowing Simmons' shooting isn't a sure thing, the Pelicans figured they could benefit more from forcing the Sixers point guard to shoot, rather than attempt to stop the Sixers while they are on offense.

At first, the Pelicans' strategy was working. Simmons went to the line twice, and ended up only making two of the four free-throws he received. In total, Simmons went 6-for-10 from the line on Friday night, averaging 60-percent.

Ultimately, the Pelicans' idea of hacking Simmons with plenty of time left on the clock didn't succeed as the Sixers took home the victory. It was, however, a bold, but logical strategy considering that Simmons has proved to still struggle in that department.

Had Simmons constantly missed his shots down the stretch, then the Pelicans' plan would more than likely become a trend amongst Sixers opponents in the future. What New Orleans didn't know though was that they were actually helping Simmons' development at the foul line, whether they meant to or not.

In basketball, it's all about repitition. The more reps you get, the better off you'll be. That applies with Simmons at the foul line. The more shots he's putting up -- the more consistent he becomes. Following Friday's game, Simmons agreed with that sentiment by saying he "definitely" feels like he gets more into a rhythm with more fouls coming his way.

As for the Sixers' head coach Brett Brown, he sees it the same way as well. "I was actually okay [with it]," Brown said in regards to the early fouling. "My belief is he's going to have to go through some of that to get to where we want to deliver him. I felt confident that he was going to be OK."

There's still some work to do for Simmons and his free throw shooting, but progression will come with time and reps. So if teams believe they are better off with sending Simmons to the line in crunch time, the silver lining for the Sixers would be that Simmons is getting some much-needed additional reps further improving his skillset.