Top psychologist says basics key to a Ben Simmons form revival

Leading Australian sports and performance psychologist Dr Phil Jauncey believes Australian basketball star Ben Simmons may be “self-sabotaging” himself and may need to go back to the basics.

Simmons’s NBA career continues to spiral out of control with questions being asked about his mental and physical health and whether his multi-million career is in danger?

Right now, the young Australian appears “lost” or at least the game which took him to stardom a few years ago has gone missing.

While another young Aussie Josh Giddey is rising through the NBA ranks with Oklahoma and making headlines, Simmons’s star is fading fast.

Jauncey though believes there is a way back for Simmons.

His stats have plummeted to career lows with seven points a game, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists and his playing minutes have been slashed.

From triple-doubles, he can’t even post a double-double with his stats now in single figures for key categories for a point guard.

Simmons has a US$177 million five-year NBA contract, but he is not delivering.

From the No.1 draft pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016 to 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year — after sitting out a season injured and three All-Star appearances — things have turned bad for the 22-year-old Melbourne-born Aussie.

Traded by Philly to the Brooklyn Nets this season after refusing to suit up for the 76ers, Simmons’s stats have nosedived across the board in one of the most alarming form and confidence slumps in the NBA’s history.

Why?

It’s gotten so bad Simmons is now simply referred to as “that imposter in the No.10 singlet”.

Everyone has an opinion on what has gone wrong since he burst into the NBA scene as a hotshot rookie who could defend, pull off incredible passes and find a way to get to the ring and score.

Now he is the Aussie player whose growing army of critics claim he is “running scared” and “too frightened” of any contact to even take an open lay-up as he did recently, triggering another barrage of heat from critics and Philly fans.

“Everything has been changing all year, so it really hard to understand what’s going on, but hopefully we can find some rhythm and consistency,” Simmons said this week.

“It’s different, It’s a different experience (coming off the bench). Whatever the team needs from us to win, I am willing to do that.”

So, what has, and what will happen to Simmons if he can’t rebound from his latest hole?

They aren’t saying it publicly, but you get the sense the Nets have had enough of him.

It’s highly unlikely any club will want a bar of him given his poor form, poor attitude, and his inability to even look like he is interested in playing or cares all that much what people think or say.

Jauncey, a highly qualified and highly respected psychologist is watching from afar, but he has helped athletes with form and confidence issues over many years, although maybe not as major as Simmons.

His motivational skills have been utilised by the Brisbane Broncos, Brisbane Lions, Queensland, and Australian cricket teams, Australian Baseball team, and he has been Australia’s team psychologist and motivator at three different Olympics.

While he admits he doesn’t know what’s going on with Simmons he has seen firsthand many athletes go through similar situations where they have lost form and fallen victim to what he calls “self-sabotage”.

“Originally he (Simmons) was really confident, comes up from college, bob’s your uncle and away he goes,” Jauncey told bettingsite.com.au.

“Then, all of a sudden people started questioning his long (three-point shot) and he starts thinking about it.

“He is thinking about it so much that in a finals game, he doesn’t attack the basket, he passes and gets heavily criticised for it.

“That’s when he starts self-sabotaging himself.

“When athletes or people perform at their best, they are in plan “A” most of the time.

“When they aren’t performing, they got to plan “Z” and they self-sabotage.

“It’s really understanding what works for them. We’ve all seen athletes self-sabotage and spiral out of control.

“In Ben’s case, the fact he is now on the outer, tells me he has changed a lot of things, he still has his skill set and he is still a young man.

“Nothing is stopping him from executing, but his critics think he has stopped executing the way his $80 million contract says he should.”

Jauncey said Simmons’s problem was more to do with execution and going back to the things that worked than losing his confidence.

“As a rule, I don’t talk about confidence because if you can’t see it, you can’t fix it,” he said.

“Where did he lose his confidence, under the bed, in the other room?

“When people talk about confidence, what they are saying is people stop executing.

“The moment you think you have lost confidence, what in fact is happening is your get pain from the brain because you’ve stopped doing what works.

“That’s when the athlete starts self-sabotaging.

“Originally something happens (to the athlete), fear, pain, a big event, criticism you can react in a negative way.

“It erodes their ability to execute, they get even further down, and they sabotage even more.”

Jauncey however said there was a way Simmons could climb out of his hole by going back to Plan “A” and the basics he used to get noticed.

“People think you have to feel good to act good, but when you act good, you feel good.

“What the good players do is when they start feeling that pain, they execute the simple things and the complex things fall into place.

“Leroy Loggins (Former Brisbane Bullets legend) used to say to me when his shots weren’t falling, he focussed and his defence and then his offensive game came back naturally.

“Everyone, including Ben, has triggers and he should be looking for the trigger that changed and to turn that trigger back on to how it was when he felt good.”

Jauncey said Simmons was being pushed from all quarters, teammates, critics, coaches, and fans but in the end, it was up to him to find his A game.

“It has to come down to a choice on the athletes’ part,” he said.

“If the only reason a player plays hard is because his coach pushes him, then the athlete is not going to be that successful.

“The best coach anyone has is themselves.

“Sometimes you can get so far into the forest you can’t see the trees from when he was playing well.

“The problem for Simmons is the brain gives you good feelings when you are doing things that are working.

“But it gives us pain when what we are doing, is not working and we don’t try and fix it.”

Right now, Ben Simmons is in a world of pain.

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