With Kevin Durant out for the next few weeks at least, the Nets will have to rely on others to step up in his absence. One of those players will be Ben Simmons who will need to adjust his game significantly to make up for the loss of KD. The Locked on Nets guys break down Simmons’s game this season and one aspect that’s been lacking in his approach. They go through how this will have to change and what it means for his past production and his future outlook.
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27 Comments
Imagine hosting this pointless podcast
Imagine having a life that leaves you the time to comment on a pointless Podcast
… Don't waste your time with my last comment I reached my daily quota when it comes to donating my time to riff raff
I really want Simmons to step up, or at least improve, but I think he's mental state is not going to allow it. I really hope I'm wrong. I was a big fan of his father, Dave, who was a tough power player. If Ben could dig deep and draw on the strength his father had, he could be a killer inside player.
Other times when ben drives he does a non confrontational low percentage hook shot instead of dunking.
REBOUND!!!! Especially on the offensive boards.
To many trolls in here bro 😂
Y'all do know you can impact the game without scoring right? When Steph went down no one said alright now we're going to need Draymond to step up offensively. no. They have Poole , Klay, etc. Same for us we have Kai, Seth, tj, patty mills, & Joe Harris. And he slashed a lot his last season because he was healthy
Big moment ben LMFAO
We lost the harden trade man Ben is the worse he not even our best defender Claxton is
I just want him to attempt more shots. Develop a floater with either hand, running hooks, but I also think his back injury is what’s still hurting him in terms of his explosiveness
He has the highest plus minus on the team in most games lately, so he’s still having a big impact when on the court.
They are full court pressuring Ben Simmons he still can’t blow by nobody
It will be very interesting to see Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons as duo. Bens defense and Kyries offense could take Brooklyn to another level while KD recovers.
But it will definitely be interesting to see what possible trade move Brooklyn makes as well 🤔
Am I the only one who sees our many shooters and mostly perimeter playing style which suits our many jump shooters as part of the reason Ben doesn’t seem to drive more? Not that I’m defending his mindset. It’s wrong for him to defer this much because him driving more and using the backboard well to score would’ve unlocked our offense even more.
I hope KD’s absence forces JV to insist on plays which gives Clax and Ben more opportunities in the paint and at the rim. I saw enough in some of his 22 points game to believe that kind of Ben is still there
Two numbers = One and Five. That’s how many FG attempts (15) Ben Simmons MUST take every game going forward. He scores almost 60% from the paint. That’s 18 points.
damn, give the man a chance before you write him off. He's still not fully fit/healthy. Sick of weak haters or ppl pandering to the haters. Best plus/minus on the team last month. He can't facilitate for all the shooters & have 15 shots per game, defend the best player & control the offense. You think the Nets would be 2nd in the East without Ben?
Simmons often starts with high aggression and drives to the ring to score early in the game. He then goes missing offensively for the rest of the game. When interviewed post game and questioned on this, he appears to be at a loss why this is an issue.
Simmons views himself as a specialist defender.
Reckon his mindset comes from Rivers at 76ers who excluded him from the offensive game plan. All offensive plays had to go through Embiid, Harris or Curry.
I reckon Jacque Vaughan is a good enough coach to make Simmons more offensive again.
His mindset should be to go and dunk every drive. I think he is still anxious about a potential career ending re-injury.
I’ve had L3/L4 disc protrusions and similar surgery to relieve nerve issues down the legs – After 12 min I’m still not 100% confident doing things as before. For a NBA player he is putting a lot of money and career on the line if he was to re-injure. Back disc issues are chronic and they never go away in entirety.
They will be winning a lot of the games if Ben can become more of an inside threat again like he was in Philly regularly scoring 20 or more points… Hope this version comes back!
I don't give a rats ass if ben is shooting or not, HE DOESN'T REBOUND what in gods name are using him for? I get that he has a back injury to heal from but jesus christ seeing kyrie get a rebound over him hurts my heart
Simmons did have a 16 game win streak while Embiid was out. It was in his rookie season so it was a while ago:( but… he can/could step up offensively. He also had a 42 point game once too!!?? If only..
Good point Adam…if Ben can’t pick up some of the slack by taking it to the hoop, let Claxton do it. And Doug…everyone needs to pick up some slack. Pressure D, fast pace, and move the ball alot. Where’s Claude Smith? Hope he’s ok
Ben stepped up when Embiid got injured in 2017 in the last 16-15 games which they won all of them. So he is capble of it.
Ben Simmons is a latent super star. He possess a talent we have not seen before. A 6 feet 10 point guard. He can defend he can take it to the basket. He is a great passer. He for someone has gotten passive.
Seems pretty clear that he doesn’t want to drive because he doesn’t wanna go to the FT line. And that’s concerning because teams in the playoffs. Will take advantage of that especially if you try to have Claxton and Ben on the court at the same time. Now at least Claxton shows a passion to want to get to the line and wanna get better Ben seems to just wanna avoid it. As far as the assists going down slightly, that may be a product of the fact that you have two of the greatest iso players in the NBA playing with him.
KD not missing 18 to 22 games YALL taking it to far 12 tops clearly it’s not as worst as last year but similar injuries are weird but he’s missing a month 22 games that’s like 6-7 weeks