Sixers' Doc Rivers Isn't Concerned About Ben Simmons' Offensive Struggles

Every NBA offseason, basketball fans tend to put extra focus on the potential development of Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons. Ever since becoming a star at LSU, Simmons' shooting struggles have always been a topic of discussion as he was getting on a fast track to making it to the NBA.

From his rookie season to now year four in the league, the Sixers star's offense is still a focal point for many debates. As Simmons still hesitates to shoot from beyond-the-arc, and hardly utilizes his jump shot, many have speculated that the former first pick hasn't improved his game on the offensive side of the ball at all.

And as Simmons is off to a not-so-hot start offensively for the Sixers this season, many are going as far as saying the veteran All-Star might've even regressed a bit on the offensive side of the ball -- and his averages so far don't help his case.

Last season, Simmons averaged 11 shots-per-game and drained 58-percent of his field-goal attempts. Simmons was good for collecting an average of 16 points on a game-by-game basis, which matched his second season in the league.

However, those numbers are all down this year. Simmons has made just 50-percent of his field-goal attempts on roughly nine shots while putting up 12.3 points-per-game, which is the lowest scoring average of his career so far.

Granted, 12 games is a small sample size to judge from, but the numbers have backed up the tape. Simmons hasn't looked like himself offensively, and the struggles this season have many questioning the veteran guard's value in his fourth season.

Don't count Sixers head coach Doc Rivers as somebody who is worried, though. On Tuesday, Rivers was asked about Simmons' struggles this year. While he didn't deny that Simmons isn't on par with his usual self this year, the Sixers head coach made it clear that he's far from concerned.

“I really don’t care," Rivers said following a practice session on Tuesday in regards to Simmons' scoring being down. “Honestly, I don’t even look. I let the world look at it. Everyone’s gonna tell you anyway. I’m not that concerned with it yet. Right now, we don’t have enough in to see where any of our guys are at if you’re going, to be honest.”

Publicly shrugging off Simmons' struggles has been the norm for Rivers during his first year in Philly. Throughout the offseason and the beginning of the regular season, Rivers was asked numerous times to address Simmons' shooting from beyond-the-arc, which caused the head coach to make it painfully obvious that he doesn't care about the hot topic nearly as much as everybody else does.

Apparently, he feels the same way about Simmons' scoring in general. While that can change later on down the line if the two-time All-Star's struggles fail to go away as the Sixers get deeper into the season, Rivers simply doesn't see a reason to hit the panic button just yet. There's still plenty of basketball left to be played, and the veteran head coach remains optimistic about his young star.

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