Ben Simmons had a nightmare performance in his debut for the Brooklyn Nets against the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2022-23 season opener for his team. He fouled out after having contributed just 4 points, a very embarrassing look for the Nets, who went on to lose by over 20 points.
The entire Nets’ defense was capitulated by the scoring prowess of CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson. Simmons was supposed to be the best defender on the Nets but fouled out while trying to contain Zion. Fans have already blamed Ben for the loss, while Kyrie Irving has offered his support. Kevin Durant wants to keep it moving, as it is just the first game in an 82-game season.
“Just keep encouraging him and keep being good teammates.”
“He a veteran, he know we got a long season ahead of us. We got 81 more of these and there’s gonna be plenty of other games. We’re all going to have great games, it’s the nature of the job. It’s about bouncing back and coming to work tomorrow and figuring it out.”
Simmons has to make a push toward improving his production on both sides of the court. While rust is believable, everyone needs to hope he can shake this off quickly, or else the Nets will struggle to defend anyone on the court.
The Importance Of Simmons’ To The Nets’ Defense
The Brooklyn Nets have a serious lack of defensive personnel on their team right now. While Ben finished second in DPOY rankings the last time he played a full season, he did have Joel Embiid protecting the rim while he focused on the perimeter. The Nets don’t have a solid rim protector, even with Nicholas Claxton.
Ben will have to set the tone for the entire team and commit to being defense-first, given the lack of options on this team. He did try to execute that today, but fouling out against Zion made it impossible for him. The Nets will pray that Simmons can work through his rustiness as soon as possible.
