LSU freshman star Ben Simmons is an anomaly worth watching
A stat line usually doesn't tell the whole story. For the LSU Tigers, the stat line of star freshman Ben Simmons has been about the only story here early in the season.
Three consecutive losses removed the injury-plagued Tigers from the Paste BN Sports Coaches Poll top 25. But Wednesday's bounce-back win against North Florida was more than just a rebound for the Tigers (4-3). It was a Ben Simmons coronation.
The sleek, 6-10 point-forward who can play virtually every position on the floor had the best performance of his young career, finishing with 43 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five steals and three blocks.
Never mind the stat line. It was the way Simmons erupted before LSU's home crowd. He did it with a ferociousness we didn't see in the Marquette loss (when he bypassed the last shot), the N.C. State loss (when he didn't shoot enough) or the résumé-staining Charleston loss (when he forced his shot too much). Simmons let the game come to him, and yet he did it in the most angry way possible.
"For me it was, I'm just tired of losing," Simmons said after the game. Hello, killer instinct.
Simmons was already an anomaly to the college game with his multidimensional skillset and the fact that he chose to not play for an elite program like Kentucky or Duke. HIs unselfishness also sets him apart, and it predates his high school days at times spent deferring to then teammate and current Los Angeles Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell. The part of his game that needed to blossom was an ability to put the team on his back.
The drive that LSU greats Shaquille O'Neal and Pistol Pete Maravich possessed doesn't come naturally for some. It didn't for LeBron James. It took time. And the major criticism of Andrew Wiggins two seasons ago was that he didn't have that edge in the college game. Simmons' Wednesday performance signaled more than a monstrous performance. He also made his teammates better — all five starters reached double-figures. He played brilliantly and stuffed the stat sheet in November. But it wasn't until Wednesday that the giant stirred.
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