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Coming into the season there was a lot of talk about the impact Ben Simmons would have on the Nets. On various sports programs reporters harped around his defensive abilities, while underscoring the negative impact he would have on their offense. Three words Kyrie Irving said during their latest matchup conveys he’s already feeling the frustrations of Ben Simmons’ unwillingness to shoot the ball.
Kyrie Irving Yells ‘Shoot it Ben’ to Ben Simmons During Nets Loss to Bucks
Considering his last play for the Sixers was passing up a wide open dunk in a Game 7, most people expected to see a new version of Ben Simmons that would be more aggressive on offensive. He showed flashes of greatness in the preseason, but then the real games started. In their contests so far it has been more of the same with Ben Simmons reducing the floor spacing, and passing up wide open shots for unnecessary assists. Some teams don’t even guard him at times allowing his defender to roam on defense.
A perfect example of the apparent frustrations he has caused for his teammates was Kyrie Irving yelling “shoot in Ben” when he passed up a wide open shot once again.
The picture below was the exact moment where Kyrie Irving said the powerful words to his offensively reluctant teammate. Look at the amount of room he had to work with being 6’10”. If Giannis had that amount of space between his defender and the rim, he’s going up for dunk or a quick hook shot. Ben Simmons has the ability to do that in theory, but just doesn’t.
Kyrie Irving had more to say about Ben Simmons during his post game interview.
There was once a time when people said Ben Simmons would be the next Lebron James. Low and behold he would become the next Draymond Green with an even worse jump shot. What will it take for him to start having more confidence in taking those wide open shots?
Sixers fans are probably somewhere laughing at Nets fans saying to themselves “he’s your problem now”. Ironically both Nets and Sixers have only won one game this season, but it’s still easy to see who won that trade so far.
