Ben Simmons Speaks on Fouling Out in Nets Season Opener: 'I Gotta Tone It Down'

Ben Simmons was excited to play in his first NBA game after over a year, but that excitement came with a price.

There's no secret Ben Simmons entered Wednesday night's season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans filled with excitement. He's been beaming excitement leading into the game and on the hardwood, that came with a price. 

Simmons fouled out in his second-straight game for the Brooklyn Nets. In the season opener, he was limited to 23 minutes and ended his night with a quiet four points, five boards, five assists, and four turnovers. After Brooklyn's blowout loss to the hands of New Orleans, he explained how his excitement played a role in hitting the bench early.

"I gotta tone it down," said Simmons after the Nets' 130-108 loss to the Pelicans at Barclays Center Wednesday night. "Like I'd be a little too physical over the top. Maybe I'm just excited. My first game so." 

When Simmons was asked how he felt throughout the contest and after the loss, he reiterated his excitement level, admitting he was too excited for the first game of the regular season. 

"I think I was just too excited, honestly," Simmons stated. "But it was just great to be out there. It's the first game and you obviously want to win but we know the reasons we lost. There are multiple reasons we lost and those are the things we need to fix. We know that's not us as a team I think there's a lot of jitters out there early on but it was good to get that one out of the way." 

Beyond his glimmering excitement, did the speed and lack of being accustomed to a regular season game also play a factor to getting into foul trouble? Did Simmons feel a change in officiating to when he last played in an NBA contest? Both of those were evident in Simmons' point of view. 

"I kind of had little issues with Trae. When I was guarding Trae, I couldn't be as physical. But I'm also trying to set a tone within our team and be that physical guy but you had some questionable ones and some I knew were fouls," Simmons said. "It's also just reading who I'm guarding, where to be; it's a faster game. It's the regular season now so we got to turn it up. It was just the way it was called." 

Kyrie Irving had a similar yet different view on his star teammates fouling out in the season opener. Irving, who has been vocally supportive for Simmons since his arrival, believes more reps and minutes will nurse his rust. In his response, Irving noted that Brooklyn can not afford for Simmons to foul out. 

"He's just got to get reps and minutes. I think it's as simple as that. You know, we told him in the locker room: he is a valuable piece for us and we need him out there, and fouling out is not an option," Irving said. "You know, playing aggressive is something that we want him to do, but we also want to play smart, and we can hold each other accountable like that in that locker room, which I'm glad for. So we talked about it. It's not time to, again, revert back to old habits. There were a few times where we lost games just last year and I could just feel our spirit just down, and when we lose games, obviously, there are things that we wanna correct, but we don't want to lose this way, which is beating ourselves up and not doing the things that you know that the game deserves."

The Nets head coach, Steve Nash has mentioned the challenge Simmons has on his hands of becoming comfortable to the game again and returning to the player he was in Philadelphia. Nash attributes the foul trouble in back-to-back games to his new star being "rusty." Through the rust on the hardwood, he does see glimpses of Simmons' All-Star caliber play. 

“I just think he’s rusty," Nash said. "The guy hasn’t played in over a year. He’s still getting used to referees and defense, offense. This is a process for Ben. I’ve said it alot, you guys have heard me say it, he’s shown glimpses of the player we know he is and can be. But, it’s not easy. We’re here to support him. We’re here to push him, coach him up and try to get him to a place where he can play at the level he’s played at in the past. It’s all there for him.

"I think you see those glimpses throughout the preseason, but now putting it together, really getting his legs under him, his rhythm and assimilating to a new group. There’s a lot on his plate, but as long as he continues to build his confidence and play hard and play with force, we’re fine with him making mistakes.”

Kevin Durant - who mentioned support and being good teammates will help speed up Simmons' rhythm - has no early signs signaling to him to worry about Simmons. He noted the 26-year-old a veteran. It is in fact game 1 of an 82-game regular season slate. 

"He's a veteran. We have a long season ahead. We have 81 more of these. There's going to be plenty of other games. We all don't have great games," Durant said. "That's just the nature of our job. But it's about just bouncing back and coming to work tomorrow and figuring it out. 

The Nets will return to play on Friday, October 21 when the team hosts the Toronto Raptors at Barclays Center.