You have to look at all the aspects of what makes a complete PG including specific intangibles which don't always show in the statistics.
Ben Simmons is not an elite or great ball handler.
I don’t know that this really makes a guy a great point guard in itself ...for example if I were to say ..well Ben is a better more explosive athlete than Kemba .. does that mean he’s the better player or point guard because of that? Is Jamal Crawford a great point guard because he has an elite handle? Maybe if we were talking about AND1 leauge or something but tbh I think his handle is adequate for the position ...he doesn’t need to be skip to my lou
Does Goran Dragic have “elite” handles? ... did that stop him from being an all star?
Ben Simmons can't shoot worth shyt which limits open driving lanes & passing lanes for his teammates. Also Simmons poor shooting restricts his coach from utilizing him as focal point in crucial/end game situations either as a scorer or decoy.
Good PG's can also carry their team when there's a scoring drought or they're needed in clutch situation to tie or win a game, something Ben Simmons is incapable of doing thus far in his career.
Lets also factor in that Ben Simmons is a poor free throw shooter (the worst in the NBA among PG's) but he's also 7th among all PG's in total free throw attempts.
We can just cut the noise out and simplify this because you’re basically talking about scoring here and at the end of the day for all of this talk about can’t shoot this and no offense that ... his TS this season is 54%... Kemba’s is 56% ... I mean as far as overall scoring efficiency between the two it’s not like Kemba is just washing him in that category even with all his issues
Additionally whatever passing lane issues his shot brings he more than makes up for with his passing vision and ability to draw defenders on him with his penetration thus opening free jump shots and cutting lanes for his teammates
We just may have a different definition of what an “OVERALL” PG’s responsibilities are tho ... for me it’s 3 main things
-Does he control the tempo of the game
-Does he run an efficient offense
-Does he involve his teammates
+
-Does he play defense
and then intangibles of course/ leadership qualities and things like that ... I don’t look at two guys and say ..ohh he has a better crossover he’s a better overall PG
To me Kemba is a little toooooo one dimensional for my taste ..if he’s not scoring what’s he giving you..
Ben Simmons also is a turnover machine averaging 3.7 Turnovers Per Game among PG's.
This is a solid point ...so far this year you are going to get more playmaking for others with Ben but more ball security with Kemba
And Simmons is 4th in Personal Fouls Per Game among PG's &1st in total Personal Fouls
among all PG's which hinders the 76's by allowing other teams extra
opportunities to put points on the board
This is pretty irrelevant honestly ...“total” stats are highly influenced by how many minutes you play Ben is asked to matchup against bigger players and help on penetration more than most PG’s so his total fouls being up there doesn’t surprise me however saying that because of this he hinders the Sixers Defense is a complete stretch that’s not based on facts... he along with Joel are probably the best two defensive players on that team followed by Cov ... and he is still certainly a better defender than Kemba I don’t think most resonable people would argue otherwise
Patrick Beverly's calling card into the league was/is his defense, but outside of his defensive prowess, he's an average, serviceable PG & not a complete, top tier PG like Kemba.
What does any of this have to do with my point? I didn’t say he was Kemba’s equal as an overall player ... I said that his size hasn’t hampered him from being one of the better defenders in the leauge
Kemba is not a top tier PG imo
Curry
CP3
Westbrook
Kyrie
Lillard
Are all safely ahead of him I’d even put Wall ahead of him also when healthy ... if you’re securely outside of the top 6 players at your position I personally can’t call you “top tier” perhaps “fringe top tier” if I’m being completely generous
You can't eliminate Simmons size & height advantages which contribute to his defense & rebounding ability when you're the tallest PG in the history of the NBA weighing around 230lbs.
Just being tall =\= being a good defender
Ben is a good defender because he has the skills and instincts/commitment to excel on that side of the ball
in addition to his size not simply because of it.... solely using Kembas size as an excuse/crutch for his defensive deficiencies is just that ..an excuse...especially when I just showed you guys that are his size and still high caliber on that end ...but like I said earlier regardless of WHY you want to say Ben is a better defender you are ultimately conceding that he IS more impactful on an entire side of the ball in comparison to Kemba ...trying to ignore/downplay that or sweep that reality under the rug by saying “well he supposed to be better anyways” just to prop Kemba up is kind of silly
