While the Nets suffered their second loss of the NBA preseason on Monday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben Simmons continued to turn some heads.
The 27-year-old played just 42 games last year as he battled a back injury that caused him to miss the entire 2021-2022 season, but looked like his old self in the team’s first preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 10. Simmons kept it going against his former team, scoring eight points with nine assists and six rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
Although, head coach Jacque Vaughn noted there are still areas of the game that Simmons needs to keep working on, as well as areas that teammates must adapt to when playing with the former No. 1 pick. Simmons had eight turnovers in the 127-119 loss, but Vaughn said he’s “encouraged at the patience” the Nets have to learn more and build as a team.
“Yeah that’s just going to be a part of it,” Vaughn said. “Because it’s not only Ben finding space on the floor and how to create and create with who. But it’s the different lineups that we’ve had out there. You’re going to learn to play with him. It’s a unique style of play, his pace and the angles that he plays with and the actions that he’s used to playing with.
“We’re gonna grow together, understand those angles. Whether it’s him playing big-big pick-and-roll. We had a few turnovers because the bigs just aren’t used to playing big-big pick-and-roll in that way with a guy that’s his size who can deliver the basketball. Things that we’ll continue to work on. I’m just encouraged at the patience our guys have to have in order for us to figure this out.”
Simmons agreed that turnovers were an issue against the Sixers, but he said that he rather make those types of mistakes now compared to the regular season.
“Yeah for me personally, whenever I go into a practice or game like this, if I make mistakes it’s OK. I’d rather learn off my mistakes, right,” Simmons said. “I had some turnovers early, misreading where the defenders were, and tried to correct those things throughout the game.”
He added: “I feel good, there’s spurts where we look great, there’s spurts where we look like we don’t know, each other. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to figure each other out and trying to figure out how we want to play, where we need to be. Obviously I got to take care of the ball. But I rather get turnovers out now than later.”
Vaughn was also encouraged at the catch-and-shoot three-point looks the Nets got throughout the game from Simmons attacking the rim and drawing a double-team. Notably, Simmons cut to the rim, caught the ball, and found Spencer Dinwiddie in the corner on a perfect behind-the-back pass.
The head coach added that the Nets will “continue to experiment with” playing Simmons, who’s playing both point guard and forward, and Dinwiddie on the court together. The Nets have been staggering their minutes during the preseason to find out what works best, and there were a handful of times the two played on the court together Monday.
“We have to have them play together, that’s just part of it, but we also grow with them playing separately as well,” Vaughn said.
When asked about playing alongside Dinwiddie, Simmons emphasized, “I trust him.”
Simmons went on to discuss how Vaughn wants to see him be more of a leader for this Nets team, and despite the loss, he was happy with how the team didn’t give up and continued to fight and “stick to the gameplan.”
“It’s been great,” Simmons said. “We obviously didn’t get off to a great start, but I was telling the guys to stay in the game, stay focused, and stick to the gameplan. We made our run, came back. That’s the game, just staying in the game, staying present, and believing in what you’re running and the structure you have and believing in coach.”
