The Brooklyn Nets are 2-6 to begin the 2022-23 season and some familiar issues have popped up on their end. The Nets are having issues in terms of playing defense and they are having trouble rebounding as well.
Per basketball-reference, the Nets are ranked 28th in defensive rating and they are ranked 29th in rebounding. That is just not going to get the job done at all in terms of winning games and competing for championships no matter the amount of talent they have.
ESPN’s JJ Redick, a former teammate of Ben Simmons’ when they were with the Philadelphia 76ers, believes Simmons is the key for the Nets to turn things around. After all, Simmons is an elite defender and he has to get right in order for Brooklyn to have success.
Redick on Simmons:
Clearly, this is a team that lacks something on the defensive end, and if you’ve watched them this year, you’ve seen Kyrie Irving get targeted time and time again. He has done a fine job of battling. Seth Curry is a small undersized guard, Patty Mills same thing. They brought in Royce O’Neale, as a defender Kevin Durant’s been great, I think, on the defensive end, but whether it’s been the Pelicans game or the game Saturday night against the Pacers, defensive rebounding is a real problem. I don’t know that any coach can fix that. I’ll be honest with you, so to me, the key to their season Mad Dog rests on Ben Simmons getting back to being the player that he was in Philadelphia prior to the Atlanta Hawks series and prior to this back injury. He frankly has not looked right physically or mentally in any game he’s played in this season. He’s currently been out with some back tightness as well and so for me, he’s got to be that guy that gets triple-doubles, that creates pace on the offensive end that gets 10 rebounds a game, that guards the other team’s best player multi positional night to night. That, to me is the key for them to turn around their season because frankly, they’re not going to be a championship contender if they are a bottom 10 defense and last or second to last in the league in defensive rebounding rate.
After falling to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, Simmons and the Nets will have a few days off before they take on the Washington Wizards on Friday.
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