Ben Simmons' Lack of Shooting Doesn't Concern Sixers HC Doc Rivers

As long as Ben Simmons thrives elsewhere in a win, Doc Rivers isn't concerned about anything else.

The topic of Ben Simmons' jump shot won't go away. It's been said many times before; until Simmons begins shooting consistently, it will always be a main conversation regarding the Philadelphia 76ers.

When Brett Brown was the head coach of the Sixers, he downplayed the topic many times. Many hoped Doc Rivers would bring in a different perspective and help change the way Simmons plays the game, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

"I don't care about Ben's shooting as much as so many other people seem to care about it," Rivers said back in early December when the 76ers began training camp. "I care that he's a great player, and I'm gonna let him play. I mean, give him the keys and let him be free and play. If he takes no shots, I'm fine. If he takes ten threes, I'm fine. If he gets to the line 15 times, I'm fine. Ben is brilliant enough for me to allow him to play and not get in his way and try to cloud his head up with a bunch of crap."

At this point, early on in the season, Rivers is sticking by what he said. As the Sixers are now four games into the regular season, not much about Simmons' offense has changed. Not only does the fifth-year guard have yet to take a three-point shot this season, but he's also attempting just ten shots-per-game, which is a career-low so far.

One would think that might bother his head coach, but Rivers is sticking by what he stated earlier this month. “I could care less,” the head coach said bluntly about Simmons' lack of shooting following Tuesday night's win over the Raptors. “I’ll let you guys talk about what Ben doesn’t do. I just want Ben to keep playing great defense, running our team, and winning games.”

In the win over the Raptors, Simmons shot just 3-for-11 from the field, totaling for 11 points. Although his defense was once again superb, the veteran All-Star passed up some easy looks on offense, avoiding utilizing his jumper. If the Sixers would've lost on Tuesday night, then Rivers might've had a different perspective.

But since the 76ers came away with a win, Philly's head coach won't worry about where the 100 points came from. “I want to win,” he said. "Someone taught me this long ago; you win the game. You keep winning games, and you don’t worry about who scores." All that matters to Doc Rivers is the Sixers won the game. Everything else gets pushed to the side as the team accomplished its main goal.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_