Watch: Ben Simmons absurdly allows Ja Morant to run down 20 seconds without touching the ball, fouls immediately afterward
It's been nothing but misfortune for Ben Simmons in his first three games of the 2022-23 regular season. What should've been his comeback season is now turning into an absolute disaster.
At the time of publishing, Ben Simmons is only averaging 5.6 points and has fouled out in the first two of the three games the Brooklyn Nets have played so far. His most recent foul out was in yesterday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Ben Simmons was already struggling with foul trouble in the third quarter, having committed three personal fouls. Come the fourth quarter, there was nothing Simmons could do to help his team, and ended up finding himself fouled out of the game. Looking at the box score, the only stats he put up in the final quarter were the last two fouls he was allowed to give.
Ja Morant was the one who got Simmons ejected from the game. Morant let the clock run by having the inbounder roll the ball as he crossed half court. Memphis had a 124-118 lead with a little over four minutes to go in the game. Simmons was guarding Morant on defense, while the Grizzlies star subtly baited him into fouling out of the game. It was a Shaqtin' a Fool moment for the Nets star.
Ja Morant just hilariously baited Ben Simmons into fouling out
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Ben Simmons struggles to start the season
It appears that we won't be seeing Ben Simmons in his All-Star form anytime soon.
While he may not be known for his scoring abilities, it's still inexcusable for a player of his caliber to score under 10 points per night. He's also been turning the ball over a lot and committing unnecessary fouls. He's already been a laughing stock in the league when he was injured, but his reputation is getting worse now.
Ben Simmons is famous for being a pass-first player, but sometimes people forget how sneaky he can be when snatching the ball. Simmons has a career-high of 2.1 steals per game recorded in the 2019-20 NBA season. Obviously, he's planning to bring the same energy to Brooklyn and is getting the job done on the defensive end. But that doesn't mean that Simmons is defending efficiently.
As of the Nets' first three games into the current regular season, Simmons has fouled out of two games already. This has a lot to do with the way he tries to steal the ball from his opponents. He's ineffectively reaching in for the ball, which ends up turning into a whistle from the referees. Staying active on defense is a great mindset to have, but a player needs to be smart when poking the ball.
Looking at the way things are going for Ben Simmons, not all hope is lost yet. He's still efficient in other aspects of his game, such as passing and grabbing boards. Right now, Nets coach Steve Nash and the rest of the coaching staff need to figure out a way for Simmons to put those active hands to good use.