'Shoot it!': Ben Simmons' struggles laid bare after teammate Kyrie Irving's mid-game plea to Aussie
Ben Simmons' struggles have been laid bare in embarrassing fashion after teammate Kyrie Irving vocally implored for the Aussie to shoot the ball mid-game.
Simmons' much-anticipated comeback season has been a nightmare through four games, with the Aussie failing to score more than seven points in any game so far this season.
His struggles continued as the Brooklyn Nets dropped a third game in four attempts, this time against the Milwaukee Bucks, who ran out 110-99 winners.
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Simmons managed just four points against the Bucks, missing five of his seven field goal attempts. He also finished with four fouls called against him.
Irving pleaded for Simmons to shoot the ball, but the Aussie turned his back to the basket and passed the ball NBA
The Aussie's scoring struggles were never more apparent than a play in the third quarter, when the Nets held a 10-point lead.
Irving attacked in transition and dumped the ball off to Simmons in the paint and yelled "Shoot it, Ben!" as the Aussie hesitated and passed it out to Kevin Durant.
The play was eerily similar to the one which wound up driving Simmons out of Philadelphia when he passed up what should've been a wide-open dunk in the 2019 playoffs.
Despite his mid-game call-out, Irving defended Simmons when speaking to reporters afterwards.
Simmons has almost the same amount of fouls as points scored through the first four games this season Getty
"He has the skills to be a great professional," he said. "He's done it in the past, and he hasn't played in two years. You guys keep coming in here and asking me like, 'What about Ben? What about Ben? He hasn't played in two years. Give him a … chance."
The Nets are prepared to offer him that chance.
"We're just here to give him positive affirmation while he's out there and just let him hoop," Irving said. "While he's hooping and getting back into it, we're going to have to really jell as a team in order to learn how to win as a group."
Nets coach Steve Nash said he simply wanted to see Simmons regain "that joy of playing the game".
"Ben and I work every day at this, trying to give him the confidence to go out there and be aggressive and try to get back to at least the feeling of joy on the court," prior to the loss against the Bucks.
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