Shane Heal, Derek Rucker call out Ben Simmons’ ’dysfunctional’ shooting stroke as star nears NBA return
Two men who know a thing or two about shooting have blasted Aussie NBA star Ben Simmons for still possessing a problematic shooting stroke even though he’s had 12 months to work on it.
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Ben Simmons’ shooting stroke remains flawed, and he’ll face the same troubles at the star-studded Brooklyn Nets unless he improves.
That’s the opinion of two men who know a thing or two about shooting – NBL MVP-winning guard Derek Rucker and two-time Gaze medallist Shane Heal.
The duo blasted Simmons for still possessing a problematic shooting stroke as he prepares to make his return to the NBA with the star-studded Nets.
Rucker, who coaches kids how to shoot on a daily basis via his Academy in Brisbane, was particularly vocal about Simmons’ shooting deficiencies.
He pointed out recent training footage of the Aussie guard practising his shooting, with a clear view of his technique from the front.
“When you have a look at it (Ben’s shot), you’ll be able to break it down and see that it is really, really dysfunctional,” Rucker said on The Basketball Show about Simmons, who won’t take on his former franchise in Philadelphia on Friday due to ongoing back soreness.
“The wrist snaps the wrong way, his follow through hand isn’t at the basket and the elbow is out of position.
Ben Simmons doing some shooting work after Nets practice pic.twitter.com/eiqbru4UHt
— Kristian Winfield #NFTAllStar (@Krisplashed) March 5, 2022
“It is a nice juxtaposition between Ben working on his shooting and Nets centre LaMarcus Aldridge working on his shooting in the foreground, and I think, man, there is more work to be done than I thought.”
Rucker knows how tedious it is to teach shooting, but he believes Simmons would benefit from having one coach to refine his stroke.
Heal agrees, but he can’t understand why the Melbourne-born guard hasn’t improved his shooting when he has spent the past 12 months on the sidelines.
“What has he (Ben) been doing?,” Heal said.
“Why are we talking about this now. He hasn’t played basketball for almost a year and how has he not got this right?.”
Rucker insists Simmons hasn’t made shooting a priority, and his struggles will continue unless he makes an attitude change.
He also thinks too many people in the NBA have made excuses for his inability to shoot.
“There has been a slight let off at every stop he goes to,” he said.
“Doc Rivers said, ‘oh we don’t need Ben to be shooting the ball that much, and now there is this in-built excuse in Brooklyn that he has got all these other guys around him, and we don’t need him to shoot the ball that much.
“I disagree.’
“What you and I deem to be important in his game, he obviously does not.”
Heal urged Simmons to work on his shooting so he can take the next step in promising career.
“You still want to be working on your trade the whole time,” he said.
“You always want to improve on what you are doing to be the best version of yourself.
“Even though Ben is never going to be Steph Curry, I just assumed that he was going away to put the time in to get the fundamentals right.
“Things that you and I teach on a daily basis about how to get some rotation on the ball and have all of that lined up, so you have some sort of chance of making a couple of shots – including free-throws.”
Simmons’ free-throw shooting needs to be a major priority to prevent a repeat of his poor performances from the line for Philadelphia during last season’s playoffs.
Ben Simmons will not play in Thursday’s Nets-76ers – but is expected to make the return trip to Philadelphia and join team on bench inside Wells Fargo Center, sources say. More: pic.twitter.com/3orGREnaX8
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 7, 2022
His free-throw shooting percentage dropped to a lowly 33 per cent, prompting rival teams to deliberately foul the Australian star.
Rucker pleaded with Simmons to focus hard on improving his shooting from the penalty stripe.
“That is the big one - can Ben hit free-throws in the clutch in playoff context,” he said.
“That will be huge.”
‘I called it the KKK’: NBL legend’s racism revelation
Sitting with a straitjacket on as other patients walked in circles around him, Cal Bruton feared the worst.
It’s the mid-1970s and Bruton found himself in a New York mental institution after his alcoholic mother falsely claimed he had overdosed on drugs.
“I could hear the ambulance out the front, and I thought it was for the old lady next door, but then they started banging on my bedroom door,” reflected Bruton, a two-time NBL champion and Hall of Famer.
“The paramedics said we hear you’ve overdosed, and I could hear mum in the background saying, ‘get him out of here, if he dies in this house, I’m suing the city’.
“I had no choice but to go with them and they put me in a lockup ward.”
Bruton was faced with a man who was so delusional that he thought his fellow patient was a urinal.
“He was actually pointing at me, so I hit him in the chest, and he charged at me,” she said.
“We ended up scuffling, I’m hitting him in the back, and they put us both in straitjackets.”
The doctor gave Bruton a shot in the hip and he didn’t wake up until the following morning.
He woke to the daunting scene of patients walking around like zombies in the night as he pleaded with authorities to leave.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“There were communal showers and people were walking in circles and I felt like it was Midnight Express, so when I came out of the scene after three weeks, I knew I had to leave New York City.”
This wasn’t Bruton’s first experience with fear.
His father was stabbed to death during an armed robbery when he was seven, leaving his mum a single parent, heavily pregnant with his baby sister.
His mum, who turned to alcohol, struggled with addiction, and one day drank so much that she had to be taken away from the family home in a straitjacket.
“I’ll never forget it,” he said.
“My sister and I had to sit on mum’s arm because she felt that if her arm got exposed, she would die and all of us would die with her.
“I managed to call my uncle to come over, but mum didn’t want him there. “She said no that is the devil, but my uncle came, and he called the ambulance.
“They then took my other sister and put her in a straitjacket with mum because she was so exhausted and worried.
“My little sister then went to another family, leaving me to look after the house at age 12.”
Bruton became the man of the house for the second time.
The first time was when he lost his father, leaving him as the sole male in a house of females.
Bruton saw the responsibility as a badge of honour.
“I remember getting the bills and having to stack them,” he reflected.
“Then when mum’s cheque came for compensation from dad, I had to take it to the hospital to get her to sign it.
“I was lucky in some ways because mum made me very independent early.
“She was also resilient.
“My shoes had cardboard on the bottom, but mum always told me never to complain about anything, you just keep on moving.”
Congratulations to NBL icon Cal Bruton, who has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to basketball as a player, coach and in the community 🇦🇺🀠pic.twitter.com/0J1Vxe7ToH
— The NBL (@NBL) January 25, 2021
Bruton’s resilience was personified when it came to his youngest sister, who received regular racial abuse as an intellectually handicapped and an albino African American growing up in a tough neighbourhood.
“I had to protect her,” Bruton said.
“We went to school together for a few years before the kids started picking on her.
“I got into fight protecting her because I was in a predominantly black neighbourhood and because she was albino they said, ‘let go of the white girl’s hand’.
I was like, ‘what white girl? That is my sister, so I went to war a little bit.
“That is why I’m a feisty little fella to this day.”
LIFE AFTER THE STRAITJACKET
After spending three weeks inside a New York mental institution, Bruton was determined to turn his life around.
It’s why he quit his schoolteacher job and fled the Big Apple via a 24-hour bus ride to Wichita in Kansas State to start his new career as a garbage man.
“I was scared, I didn’t have a place to stay, and I just banked on getting some help from somebody,” he said.
“I only had one bag of clothes, but I just knew I had to get on my feet.”
Bruton eventually found his feet living with friends, including his wife to be, while he became accustomed to his new life collecting garbage.
His life then changed forever when he received a phone call at 4am in the morning from well-known recruiter David Adkins to join the Brisbane Bullets as the franchise’s inaugural import in 1979.
“I said as long as you can pay more than the $400 dollars, I’m earning to be a garbage man, I’m in,” he said.
“He ended up paying me $400 a week, but he’d also get me a part-time job and everything else would be taken care of.”
RACISM IN OZ
Bruton’s initial years in the NBL were memorable, but he also copped racist comments on a consistent basis.
The White Australia policy still existed in 1979, and attitudes towards people of colour were backwards.
Bruton particularly felt disrespected when he played against the Nunawading Spectres because he believed the club’s logo of a ghost looked like white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan.
“I was a little bit ignorant about the Nunawading Spectres’ logo — I only knew it as a hood with the eyes cut out,” Bruton said ahead of the NBL’s annual Indigenous Round this weekend.
“They called it a Spectre, but I called it the Ku Klux Klan.
“The fans booed and hissed at me. The players were all white on the team and they said they would get me.
“There was one game when I scored 41 points against the Spectres, we won, and I had to get a police escort out of the building because I told the fans to be quiet.
“That was the wrong thing to do in the Nunawading stadium.”
Over 40 years have passed since Bruton’s racism experience playing against Nunawading, but it didn’t stop the club from reaching out to him late last year to apologise.
“It was nothing to do with the club now, but they apologised for what I had to go through, which I thought was quite nice,” he said.
“They had heard my story and felt like that was something they didn’t want to be remembered as and they looked at my current role, which aims to bring Indigenous people into the workforce.”
Bruton was one of only two black American players in the NBL’s first season in ‘79.
The other was Herb McEachin (Canberra Cannons) and the pair regularly catch-up in their hometown of Canberra to reminisce.
“We often talk about the challenges we faced and how we came through it,” he said.
“Our resilience, character, commitment and the way we played the game has helped pave the way for more black players to come out here and play.
“We feel like we have given everything to Australian basketball.”
GIVING BACK
Bruton has used his challenges in life as motivation and inspiration to help others.
He dedicates countless hours to working in the Indigenous community while he is set to announce his own Foundation in a bid to help with employment opportunities.
Bruton sees himself, the boy from Queens who had to overcome countless setbacks, in the children he works with every day.
“That is what drives me to keep giving back,” said, Bruton, who was awarded an Order of Australia Medal last year for his service to basketball as a player and coach.
“You might not get things when you want, but eventually they will come if you continue to do the right thing.
“I’m really proud of the work I’ve done. I don’t think there is a person that has gone to every state in Australia to help these young kids.
“But I don’t do it for the froth and the bubble and to go on stage. No, I’m going into the red dirt and I’m trying to change lives.”
BRUTON WILL MAKE SIXERS A FORCE: DAD
NBL pioneer Cal Bruton has backed his son CJ to fight through his cancer and recent Covid diagnosis to help the Adelaide 36ers become a juggernaut.
CJ, who is sidelined for the 36ers’ next two games as he deals with Covid, has impressed in his maiden season as an NBL head coach.
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The six-time championship-winning player looks comfortable with the clipboard, even though Adelaide has experienced an inconsistent season to sit in eighth position after 13 rounds.
Bruton junior has also dealt with cancer for years after discovering a lump on his neck during his playing days with the New Zealand Breakers in the mid-2000s.
He reluctantly visited specialist and he was told the lump in his neck needed to be removed.
An autopsy of the lump confirmed Bruton’s worst fear – it was cancerous.
Thankfully, the procedure successfully removed the cancer, but he still requires regular check-ups for the next five years to reduce his risk of the cancer returning.
Bruton’s father, Cal, has also fought and overcame prostate cancer, and he believes his son will follow the same path to recovery.
“We are very much people who have faith,” Cal Bruton said about his son CJ’s recent cancer battle and now Covid diagnosis.
“CJ is a Christian athlete and more so than I’ve been in my lifetime.
“He and his wife live it and they have three beautiful young children, two with special needs.
“I’m so proud of CJ and what he has been able to accomplish. He has got tremendous character and he is able to connect with everybody.
“His attitude is infectious, to the point where everyone is trying to catch it.
“He has established a culture at the 36ers, which I’ve brought to the family about what a Bruton is, and I have no doubt that he will rise above these challenges and be successful.”
Bruton senior enjoyed a successful NBL career in his own right as an import in the league’s inaugural season in 1979 before moving into coaching.
He revealed the family’s longstanding positive mantra was the work of his grandson, Rio.
“He was all of nine years old when he said to me, ‘hey pop, I know you are big on acronyms, so I wrote one on my mirror and I want you to come and have a look at it,” he said.
“The B was for: be kind, the R is respect, the U is using your manners, the T is your trust in God, the O is own your mistakes, the N is never give up.
“I know CJ will follow this family mantra and it will help him overcome any obstacle that comes his way.”
Adelaide hosts the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday night and must win to save their season.
The 36ers are currently in third last position on the ladder and are fighting to keep their slim finals hopes alive.
NBA return still on Delly’s radar
Melbourne United marquee man Matthew Dellavedova hasn’t given up hope of returning to the NBA.
United coach Dean Vickerman says Dellavedova is more than capable of securing another stint in the world’s best league.
“Delly certainly believes that there is a role for him in the NBA,” Vickerman said of Dellavedova, who has averaged 10 points, 5.75 assists, 3.19 rebounds while shooting 40 per cent from the field and 30 per cent from range for United.
“I’m sure there are teams out there who need a second or third guard who isn’t going to demand major minutes to be happy.
“I’m sure if Delly was the third guard on LaMelo Ball’s team right now to help and give advice, it would be the perfect role for him.
“Then in key moments if there was an injury, you could trust him. If someone is looking for that role in the NBA, I’m sure Delly is on their list.”
Vickerman dubbed Dellavedova the ‘scientist’ in the pre-season based on the veteran guard’s perfectionist ways. He says these diligent traits have been present all season as the former NBA star has guided United to the top of the NBL ladder.
“Delly is a crazy studier and a deep dive guy on whatever his interest is in basketball, off-court and business,” he said. “He just dives as deep as he can and gets as much information and he has done that here at United.
“Even with a small out of bounds play, he is starting to make winks and nudges to guys to where he sees the potential to counter the defence.
“Delly’s three ball is also growing in percentage, so if he can get that to 36 per cent by the end of the year that would be magnificent.”
HAWKS’ COLANGELO HEADING DOWN UNDER
Two-time NBA Executive of the Year turned Illawarra Hawks co-owner Bryan Colangelo is heading to Australia for the first time in the coming weeks to watch his Hawks.
Colangelo, who has held GM roles at Philadelphia, Phoenix and Toronto, has organised a trip to see in his investment in the flesh.
Illawarra is the 55-year-old’s first foray back into professional basketball since his untidy exit in Philadelphia, where a social media controversy led to his resignation in 2018.
A 76ers investigation absolved Colangelo but revealed that his wife, Barbara, had operated multiple controversial Twitter accounts in attempt to support her husband.
The veteran administrator doesn’t have a role running Illawarra as a president or GM but assists in governance and strategy as an equity partner to the ownership group.
Colangelo’s looming visit Down Under comes as Illawarra looks to resurrect its season following inconsistent results.
The Hawks recently re-signed Sam Froling for three years and have similar plans to secure off-contract big man Duop Reath and coach Brian Goorjian.
PHOENIX NBA OWNERS OZ BOUND
The South East Melbourne Phoenix’s NBA part-owners John Wall and Zach Randolph have indicated a desire to visit Australia later this season.
Wall’s Rockets won’t make the NBA playoffs this season, which would be the perfect opportunity for the guard to travel to Australia, depending on a trade.
Wall has yet to suit up this season after he and Houston agreed to sit him out while they seek for a trade destination for the five-time All-Star.
The trade deadline has passed, and Wall is still a Rocket – for now.
Randolph, now retired after playing 1186 NBA games for five clubs, is also keen to see the Phoenix play in Australia, hopefully during another playoff run.
South East Melbourne are in second position in one of the tightest races to the finals seen in seasons.
BRUTON’S RALLYING CALL
Adelaide 36ers coach CJ Bruton knows the harsh reality of cancer.
Bruton discovered a lump on his neck while playing for New Zealand in the mid-2000s.
After reluctantly seeing a specialist a few years later, he was told the lump in his neck needed to be removed.
An autopsy of the lump confirmed Bruton’s worst fear – it was cancerous.
Thankfully, the procedure successfully removed the cancer, but he still requires regular check-ups for the next five years to reduce his risk of the cancer returning.
Unfortunately, not everyone is so blessed.
Last year alone, cancer took over 49,000 lives in Australia.
It’s why Bruton, in conjunction with the 36ers, is aiming to raise $20,000 by the end of their match against the SEM Phoenix on March 4 in a bid to save more lives.
Visit the following link to contribute: bit.ly/3hjGgpg
FORDE’S SYDNEY RETURN
Expect a fired-up Adam Forde when the Cairns Taipans coach returns to Sydney for the first time on Sunday since leaving the Kings’ head role last season.
Let’s just say that Forde’s departure from the Kings wasn’t all rosy and the former Perth Wildcats assistant will have this clash circled in his calendar.
There are also Kings officials who will be desperate to win this game over Forde. Bring your popcorn ready for Sunday’s Kings versus Taipans clash at Qudos Bank Arena from 3pm.
MILESTONE MEN
Perth forward Majok Majok will play game 150 on Sunday, against the Adelaide 36ers, and Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman will coach game 250 on Saturday at home against the Brisbane Bullets.
KEY STAT
The in-form Sydney Kings are shooting for seven-straight wins for the first time since the 2007-2008 season when Brian Goorjian’s Kings finished minor premiers with a 27-3 record before losing the grand final series 3-2 to the Melbourne Tigers.
🗣I SAID WHAT I SAID‼ï¸â€¼ï¸
— Corey “Homicide†Williams (@chomicide) February 27, 2022
26pts and 7 Dimes and
the Game Winner on the road vs @Adelaide36ers making it a 5 game win streak.
THE BEST PG IN THE NBL IS Jaylen Adams. The HOTTEST TEAM IN THE @nbl are the @SydneyKings#HomicideApproves#Nbl22pic.twitter.com/cyI3r74ClC
NBL ROUND 14 DRAW
Friday, March 4 from 7.30pm (AEDT) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre and Live on ESPN and Kayo
ADELAIDE 36ERS vs SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX
Saturday, March 5 from 5.30pm (AEDT) at the Silverdome (Launceston) and Live on ESPN and Kayo
TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS vs NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
8pm (AEDT) at John Cain Arena and Live on ESPN and Kayo
MELBOURNE UNITED vs BRISBANE BULLETS
Sunday, March 6 from 1pm (AEDT) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre and Live on ESPN, 10Peach and Kayo
ADELAIDE 36ERS vs PERTH WILDCATS
3pm (AEDT) at Qudos Bank Arena and Live on ESPN, 10Peach and Kayo
SYDNEY KINGS vs CAIRNS TAIPANS
5.30pm (AEDT) at John Cain Arena and Live on ESPN and Kayo
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX vs ILLAWARRA HAWKS
Monday, March 7 from 7.30pm (AEDT) at MyState Bank Arena and Live on ESPN and Kayo
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS vs BRISBANE BULLETS
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