Ben Simmons health was the first, second and third topic of conversation this off-season for Brooklyn. To the delight of Nets fans everywhere, the former All-Star looks poised to finally put a healthy season together.
With Cameron Johnson out, Jacque Vaughn also provided a surprising opening lineup which included Cam Thomas. Along with Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie, the guys discuss first impressions.
There will clearly be growing pains, but an attacking, transition offense with quality ball movement will be the goal early on, while the versatility will need time to gel and adjust to a new style defensive philosophy
30 Comments
Ben Simmons still can’t shoot and will be easily exposed during regular season
Overall not a bad beginning to the preseason.
Ben Simmons was the main storyline of the night given everyone wanted to see if he was fully healthy and he decided to make a statement getting a great layup bucket over LeBron 🔥…
But what was very important was his speed looked much better and he took on contact getting to the rim which will be crucial elements to his game going forward.
Overall good positive signs from Simmons and he's back with a purpose….
I’ve said it over and over again Ben is coming back, he will get better and better
Ben sucks. 8 yrs and still cant shoot. He will be the 10th man, on this team. You guys have some Players
Now the other storyline was Cam Thomas getting the starting nod and he did what he usually does which is score a lot of buckets.
He did try to be more active on the defensive side tonight even though the heavy height Lakers didn't make it easy on him.
Then he had that uber impressive third quarter where he was vintage Cam Thomas 🔥🔥🔥…
Ultimately if Cam Thomas takes that sixth man role off the bench Brooklyn has a good depth of defenders to surround him with and the pairing of him and Ben Simmons seems like the best way to fully utilize Thomas on the offensive side while protecting his defensive flaws….
But the Dayron Sharpe injury was definitely the most sour note of the night given he put in a lot of work and the coaching staff wanted him to be their main rebounder off the bench.
Unfortunately a twisted ankle injury will definitely hinder his preparation but it leaves open the door for Watford and Bazley to earn those minutes.
But Brooklyn definitely needs to think about how they can improve the backup center position which hasn't been a strength for them in past seasons…
Yep Ben is definitely healthy! Get ready for a comeback szn. imo if Ben is gonna be aggressive on the offensive end the Nets should trade Claxton for a stretch big. Open the floor up for Ben and make teams think twice about sagging off him.
The usual old Simmons would get a couple of steals and quick dunks to start the game. Always good to see him interrupting the opponents early on. If he can focus on his rebounding and quick breaks we are in good shape for our shooters.
Simmons looked great out there both sides of the court locked in. Surprise seeing Cam in the starting lineup him going back and forth with Austin was entertaining. 🔥
Simmons, CT and Spencer show out tonight! Our defense gotta be better, we left way to many Laker players wide open from 3. it's just preseason tho..
I would hold my enthusiasm until seeing how Simmons perform when teams start to game planning against him. His lack of 3 pt shot and free throw will haunt the Nets this season.
Put some money on Ben winning the MIP or Steels leader
Watford played point forward for Portland. He a. Playmaker and the fans in Portland said that he actually needs to shoot more. He's a pretty good shooter
How did we miss out on adding a Jackson Hayes or Christian Wood? They're the exact kind of big guy we desperately need.
Need Ben to Rebound better. If he can give Nets 14 -8-7 with good defense, that'll be very solid.
I’m glad to see that Ben played with the oomph that was hyped up over the summer! I’m glad to see Cam Thomas start and score his 26 pts!
I am looking forward to you guys talking defensive schemes. That should be interesting.
vids for life <3
I’m going to use the word that doug used which is encouraged. Great word to use when assessing Ben Simmons. Definitely looked healthier. Definitely looked aggressive.
However, after that, I saw a lot of the concerns that I’ve been talking about even with a healthy engaged Ben Simmons. I want to look at the first hat because that’s really where most of the starters were playing and honestly they’re gonna need a Cam Thomas, because scoring wasn’t easy. They made a few last second Dinwiddie shots that kept the game relatively close, but could’ve easily not went in and it would’ve been a blowout. You saw a lot of missed open three-pointers by DFS. The lack of shooting and shot creation is glaring and I’m not sure if you replace Cam Thomas with Cam Johnson that that fixes the situation because cam Johnson isn’t a shot creation guy. I would’ve loved to see Claxton take a couple of jump shots and I would’ve love to see more of Harry Giles.
Glad to see Ben10 back in rare form!! Cam thomas looked incredible. Nets just need ton play some Fing defense or we are going to lose every single game
You gave him 10 mins ffs better coaching and switching maybe a better big man up front. Teams defence is shit and coach can make it worse
I tried to tell y’all about Benny 😅 but yeah it’s still early 🙏🏾 hopefully we see more to help this team improve 💯 and just to point this out , not saying he should start but I’d like to see Giles & Ben on the floor together at times
Here i am once again #FreeCamThomas !! Doug looking forward to hear you talking about the coverages on defense, I really like Jacque but he needs a defensive specialist coach. Other than switching he doesn't have a curveball, last night, they guarded drop coverage on pick and roll situations, don't know why cause Nets don't have a huge center and the other thing that I saw, guys went under the screen with everybody on that Lakers squat 😮 but like I said, looking forward to hear from you guys .. keep up the good work ! Im a Kyrie fan but I stick with you guys, been here for the last 4 seasons 🙌
The Nets were trailing by 14 points at halftime. Killa Cam Thomas outdueled Austin Reaves in the third quarter, helping the Nets to tie the game before Coach JV pulled him. It's likely that Killa Cam wishes he could receive the same level of support, recognition, and admiration from his organization, coaches, and fans as Reaves does. It was an impressive showcase by these two young players one is the 27th pick the other went undrafted. Killa Cam is still only 21 years old today.
Spencer needs to be the 6th man. CAM THOMAS needs to start with Ben…
You guys need to add time stamps to your Vods and Highlightt what Topic you are currently discussing it makes it far better as a viewer to track the inforamtion we all want to hear.
I'm already deluded, again!!! 🤦🏻♂️😂
Clowney must not have played very well I have seen nothing about him.
This is a preseason game , no defense and theirs no game plan , when when the bright lights are on and it’s a regular , season game, he will turtle up and he will revert back to his old self , don’t be fooled by his injury excuse for his soft and timid play , he wasn’t hurt in Philly and played like that , was he in pain and hurt yes , his problem is he doesn’t want to be coached to shoot., he, Soft, and timid and had no heart , he rather be a Kardashian then be a great player , so don’t be fooled, just watch and see
Bridges looking like a role player again tho not good
If his back is okay then he won't be afraid at least to get fouled and shoot free throws. doesn't have to be a great shooter , just good enough to keep the game honest.