The hype is real.
Ben Simmons, born in Melbourne, is every bit the likely-number-one-draft-pick that the majority of experts believe he will be.
The 19-year-old who moved to Florida at the age of 17 (after stints living and playing junior ball in both Melbourne and Newcastle) had has career-best outing for his college, Louisiana State University, as the Tigers demolished North Florida 119-108 to pick up a vitally needed win.
Simmons was, simply put, phenomenal. And his stat lines reflect nothing less than that.
Beyond merely being a career day out for the 208cm forward, Simmons produced numbers that haven’t been seen in US college ball for 20 years – as well as an individual points tally that hasn’t been seen at LSU since the early ’90s.
Simmons finished the game with 43 points, off a staggering 15 of 20 shooting, and managed to chalk up 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, and 3 blocks while he was at it.
Those are massive numbers. Not just in terms of his season, but in college basketball history. No player from a major-conference side in the past 20 years has posted a 40-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist, 5-steal game. In fact, only three freshman in that time period have been able to register a game with just 40 points and 10 rebounds.
Simmons was dominant when driving to the basket – he attempted 15 shots from inside the paint, and drained all of them. And his free-throw shooting was similarly high standard, finishing with 13 of 15 from the line.
In fact, his 43 points was the highest individual game tally for any LSU player since 1991, when a little player by the name of Shaquille O’Neil knocked down the same amount.
Look at that stat line! Ben Simmons’ 43 pts tonight are the most by an LSU player since Shaq also scored 43 in 1991. pic.twitter.com/tCFJySQmuN
— ESPN (@espn) December 3, 2015
The effort was all-important for Simmons, who – owing to the huge expectation placed on him – was starting to draw criticisms from the American media.
A game like that? That’ll shut them up.
At 19, his game is obviously not without its flaws – his shooting from more than 5 feet is a constant question mark on his otherwise powerful game.
But he’s a once-in-a-lifetime looking prospect. And come the next NBA Draft, Australia may very well have itself its second-ever number one pick.
Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images.
