Ben Simmons wants the Nets to have more 'pride' in defense

The Nets had a rough night with their defense against the Raptors.

Brooklyn gave 121 total points to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena. It was the antithesis of what new interim head coach Kevin Ollie wanted to see from his team’s defensive performance.

Starting point guard and well-known lockdown defender Ben Simmons was vocal about how the team can improve. For him, it’s not a matter of schemes because he wants to get more out of himself and the rest of the team by playing harder.

The Brooklyn Nets NBA All-Star Game

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No defense

— Chris Walder (@WalderSports) February 23, 2024

“We just got to take more pride defensively. Yeah, it is a lot. Changing coaches, new sets, new defensive schemes. But at the end of the day, it’s way too many, regardless of coach and new schemes,” Ben said to the media after the game. 

“We need to have pride. I go back to that. It’s pride. Regardless of who’s coaching, who’s out there, you’ve just got to have pride.”

Toronto’s fast break points told the entire story

Ben makes a valid point because the Nets looked defeated, especially when they made active-ball turnovers. It led to the Raptors capitalizing and hitting transition buckets inside the paint and at the perimeter with open jump shots, getting 46 total fastbreak points.

The Nets need to feel slighted by what’s happening and use that as motivation for the upcoming games. Even if Ben looks tentative on offense, he works hard on defense and prides himself as a top defensive stopper. That should matter because the team should follow his example by defending with more pride and energy.

swing, swing, SPLASH 👌 pic.twitter.com/SriCRvvHj9

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) February 23, 2024

The Nets will win more games through defense

Brooklyn has not been the most impressive defensive team this season, but now that they’re playing under a new coach, they should improve their play on defense. Ben and Nic Claxton should be catalysts with that, given they’re the primary defenders in the starting lineup.

Off the bench, Dennis Smith Jr. will be the standard bearer for the defense. Ollie needs to prepare a system where everyone is held accountable and prevent what happened against the Raptors.

“We’re still trying to make the playoffs. S**t happens in this league, and you’ve got to keep grinding. Things happened out of our control. But all we can control is what happens in the locker room. We got to play better basketball,” Dorian Finney-Smith echoed Ben’s sentiments to the media after the loss.

The Kevin Ollie era starts with the Nets stumbling in a 121-98 loss to the Raptors