We’ll get it back to the 5-2 Eagles momentarily, but first, look at this play:

This isn’t even a snarky “ha ha look at Ben kind of thing.” No longer trying to be mean or take a dig at a guy who forced his way out of here. It’s just sad at this point because he appears to be totally broken. If he’s not gonna attack the rim when it’s 2v1, then it’s not gonna happen in 5v5 either.

Someone made the point that there are less than four minutes remaining in a game that was out of reach for the Bucks, so maybe Simmons was cruising along there, dicking around a bit. Maybe that’s true, but he was -9 in a 13-point win and I’d actually argue that the time and score warrants going to the rim even more, because it’s not a tight game, right? There’s no pressure and nothing to be concerned about. Just go up on Brook Lopez, and if you get fouled, you go to the line in the lowest of low leverage situations. You gotta go to the line man. Free throws are part of the game. We know the guy can do it because we’re old enough to remember 5-6 from the stripe in Game 7 against Toronto and 9-11 in Brooklyn when he exploded for 31 points. It’s in there somewhere, it just won’t come out.

That’s been the problem this entire time. You can fix Ben’s back, but can you fix his brain? When you remedy the physical issue, the mental issue remains, and you get the same guy who passed up a dunk in Game 7 against the Hawks. Until someone can break through in that department, it’s going to be the same old Ben. You can get him to 100% perfect health and it won’t matter. What the man needs more than anything is a sports psychologist, because through three games this year, he has 15 points on 6-12 shooting and is 3-4 from the foul line. He has 17 rebounds, 17 assists, two steals, two blocks, 12 turnovers, and 14 fouls.

With Ben, it’s like leading the horse to water. The horse has to drink it. You can do everything in your power to get the horse into the right position physically and mentally, but the horse must take the final step. In this instance, the horse is 2v1 against Brook Lopez, but the horse just won’t attack the rim. The horse needs to get over the final hurdle and no one else can do it but the horse himself. That’s the equine proverb of the day. A horse is a horse, of course.