Australian basketball phenomenon Ben Simmons seems to have it all: Size, speed, athleticism and raw talent.

He can score at the basket with both hands and has pinpoint accurate passing. Simmons has the talent of a prodigy and the composure of a seasoned veteran.

However, one thing is conspicuously absent from his repertoire. He can’t shoot.

A Melbourne native, Simmons was the number-one pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016 NBA draft. After missing his first year in the NBA due to injury, Simmons exploded onto the league in October last year and proceeded to put together one of the greatest rookie seasons the league has seen.

In his first season Simmons finished third amongst rookies in scoring, first in rebounds, first in assists and first in steals.

Simmons made his impact through his passing and playmaking and proved himself a capable scorer, averaging 15.8 points. Simmons was nearly unstoppable when driving to the basket for dunks and layups, scoring on 74.4 per cent of his attempts.

However, the farther Simmons got away from the basket, the worse the numbers became. From distances requiring a jump shot, Simmons accuracy fell to 39.3 per cent within the key, 29.9 per cent from mid-range, and from 3-point territory it was 0 per cent from a tentative 11 attempts.

During the regular season, his lack of a jump shot was not a fatal weakness. The sheer size of Simmons, in combination with his silky-smooth passing skills and capacity to score at the basket, was enough to overcome most opponents.

But when it came to the second round of playoff against the Boston Celtics, the world saw the potential consequences of Simmons not being able to shoot.

The Celtics made the series as uncomfortable as possible for Simmons. All season long, Philadelphia had been at their most dangerous with Simmons handling the ball. Celtics coach Brad Stevens defended against Simmons in ways that forced the ball out of his hands.

When the ball was in Simmons’ hands, the Celtics corralled him into difficult scoring situations, inviting him to shoot his weak jump shot. At the same time, the Celtics tightly defended the shooters Simmons had so effectively passed to all season long. Without a jump shot, Simmons was forced to work a lot harder to both score and set up his teammates.

The Celtics studied Simmons’ game to shut him down in the playoffs. Photo: Getty

In the regular season Simmons had an approximate assist-to-turnover ratio of 5:2 with nine assists and 4 turnovers per game. In the five-game series again Boston, it became 3:2, with 6.4 assists and 4.8 turnovers per game. With Boston’s close defensive coverage, Simmons’ shooting accuracy fell from 55 per cent to 47 per cent.

Many in the basketball world felt that the Boston series exposed Simmons. However, for Box Hill Senior Secondary College basketball coach and Simmons’ former coach, Kevin Goorjian, the criticism is overblown.

“Everybody has an aspect of their game that they need to work on,” Goorjian says.

“A lot of players don’t shoot the ball well right away. That comes with experience and work. That will all come for Ben. He is not a bad shooter at all. It’s just that Ben [does] what is best for his team to win.”

According to Goorjian, some in the basketball world seem to have lost sight of what drew their attention to Simmons in the first place.

“I think [Simmons] will always have a great effect on the game. A 6ft 10″ (2.08 metres) athlete like he is, who can finish with either hand at the basket, who is a good defender, there is always going to be a spot on the court for that kind of player.”