Philadelphia 76ers guard Anfernee Simons is working to find his shooting rhythm following a challenging stretch in his opening games with the franchise. After a strong debut last week at Madison Square Garden where he scored 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting, including three critical three-pointers, Simons has struggled to find the bottom of the net, connecting on just 3 of 21 combined attempts over his subsequent three appearances.
Speaking after practice on Tuesday, Simons noted that experiencing a cold streak is familiar territory in his nine-year career, allowing him to approach the current slump without panic. To work his way out of the shooting drought, the veteran guard relies on a familiar regimen. Usually, if I am struggling for a couple games, I might just want to go on the court, see the ball go through the hoop a whole bunch of times, Simons said, explaining that he utilizes extended repetition sessions and intensive 30-minute workouts to regain his timing.
A significant contributor to the current offensive adjustment is Simons missing the entirety of the preseason while nursing a hamstring injury. The ailment also kept him sidelined for numerous practices, leaving him without a traditional preparation period to dial in his jumper before the regular-season schedule began. You can see now a little bit, not playing and not being able to play in preseason kind of held me back a little bit, Simons said. But just like I said before, you are going to be able to see throughout these first 20 games how it is going to look. I will be able to get comfortable with what type of shots I will get on a game-to-game basis.
Beyond finding individual shooting form, Simons is adapting to an entirely new group of teammates and learning where scoring opportunities naturally arise within the team’s offensive scheme. It is just all those things that happen at one time, so it can feel a little bit like a lot, he said. Each and every game I feel like it is getting more and more comfortable. After that, obviously where your shot is coming from, you know what your role is, how that feels on a game-to-game basis.
Head coach Nick Nurse offered support for the ninth-year guard following a recent matchup against Detroit where Simons shot 2-for-10, emphasizing that the player still delivered a strong performance overall. It is hard to not play in training camp and in any preseason games, and then you get into that incredibly intense part of it, and it can take a toll, Nurse said. I really like him. I think he is going to be an explosive scorer for us, and we will get there with him for sure.
