Nets coach Steve Nash said before the team’s season opener against the Pelicans that he wanted Ben Simmons to be Brooklyn’s “engine” on both sides of the ball.
But that engine spluttered in a bad way on Thursday and did not even last the full game, with Simmons fouling out less than one minute into the fourth quarter.
It left teammate Kyrie Irving sharing a simple message with the Australian in the locker room.
“He’s a valuable piece for us and we need him out there, and fouling out is not an option,” Irving said.
That is a constant balancing act that Simmons will continue to face as he defends some of the league’s biggest names while still easing back after an extended stint on the sidelines.
“It takes time,” Simmons said post-game.
“Having back surgery and being away from the game for a year, there’s little things that your mind might tell you to go do something but your body’s not wanting to go do that. But those are the habits, that’s something that I just need to continue to focus on and be aggressive regardless of the result.”
Kendrick Perkins though cast doubt over whether Simmons has the “mentality” to be that guy for the Nets while speaking on ESPN’s ‘NBA Today’.
“He just don’t [sic] have the mentality,” Perkins said.
“He’s not that Pitbull, he’s not that Rottweiler, he’s not that German Shepherd that you want to bark and growl and protect your house. He’s actually that family dog, the Golden Retriever, that when a stranger rings the doorbell he’d wag his tail and give them a kiss when he walk on in. That is who Ben Simmons is.
“We cannot stand here and justify that Steve Nash did not put him in a position to be successful. His mentality is not there. Zion Williamson was doing what he wanted to do.
“Ben Simmons is known as one of the elite defenders in the league. Although you might not impact it on the offensive end, there is still room for Ben Simmons to impact it on the defensive side of things.
“Kyrie talked about it in his interview, about being physical and having that mentality. I don’t think Ben Simmons had that mentality and I don’t think he has that. We might just have to learn that Ben Simmons is who he is.”
Coach Nash was quick to defend Simmons after the loss, describing the two-time All-Star’s performance as “rusty” but reminding everyone that he has not played in over a year.
“This is a process,” Nash added.
“He’s shown glimpses of the player we know he is and can be, but it’s not easy.
We’re here to support him. We’re here to push him, coach him up and try to get him to a place where he can play at the level he’s played in the past.
“There’s a lot on his plate. As long as he continues to build his confidence, play hard and play with force, we’re fine with him making mistakes as he grows into this.”
Reporter Zach Lowe agreed that Simmons had a lot on his plate and was willing to give the Australian a “pass” given it is so early in his Nets career.
But he also warned that the Nets face far bigger issues than fouling out when it comes to Simmons, namely how they use him in the halfcourt offence.
“Ben Simmons had a lot to handle last night because he was going up against Zion Williamson,” Lowe said on ‘NBA Today’.
“He needs to be more efficient, especially from the aggressive side, he needs to be more aggressively efficient. I’m going to give him a little bit of a pass. It’s been a long time, they look like a team that has been learning themselves.
“For me, the biggest issue was they didn’t seem like they knew how to use him in the halfcourt and he didn’t seem like he knew what to do in the halfcourt. It’s game one but they didn’t look like they had a great plan on how to use him in the halfcourt and that’s not just on Ben Simmons, that’s on everybody.
“That’s on Steve Nash. That’s on the coaches. That’s on everybody.”
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That was a point echoed by Jalen Rose on his show ‘Jalen & Jacoby’, pointing out that Simmons’ shooting shortcomings make him easier to defend when handling the ball.
“The game is so hard when you can’t shoot, especially when you play on the perimeter,” Rose said.
“It’s going to be interesting to see if they allow him to initiate offence. When he comes across halfcourt with the ball, his man is already 15 feet off of him in a help position.
“They’re really going to just have to allow KD or Kyrie or Seth Curry when he returns to initiate the offence and just own that Ben needs to be on the baseline, be on the wing, be a screener, be a roller, be a cutter, not someone just initiating the offence.”
