Kevin Ollie faced the daunting task of optimizing a struggling Brooklyn Nets roster after replacing Jacque Vaughn as head coach. Among the top questions relating to that assignment was how he would deploy Ben Simmons.
Ollie started with a direct message to the three-time All-Star about driving more.
“Most of it’s with pace. We know before Ben got hurt he was rebounding very well, getting rebounds and pushing the ball,” he told the New York Post's Brian Lewis before his coaching debut Thursday. “And then when we get in halfcourt situations, having him play with pace and having the right spacing around him is gonna be crucial for him… But it’s also on Ben, taking it to the rim, looking at his gaps and being very aggressive.”
“When he sees that gap, he’s got to take it to the rim… And we’ve told him that, and I think he’s gonna do that.”
Ollie thought wrong, as Simmons finished with two points on two shot attempts during a 121-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors. While the former No. 1 pick's refusal to attack the rim continues to be a major problem, his new coach's rotations didn't do him any favors.
Despite Ollie admitting spacing around Simmons would be crucial, he chose to play him alongside one of Nic Claxton or Day'Ron Sharpe for all 21 of his minutes.
Entering Thursday, Simmons and Claxton had posted a 100.0 offensive rating in 70 minutes together this season, nearly eight points below the Memphis Grizzlies' league-worst offense (107.7). It was more of the same against Toronto, with one, if not both, clogging the paint in the halfcourt.
Ollie's commitment to playing Simmons alongside a traditional big differed from what we saw under Vaughn, who frequently surrounded the Aussie with four shooters to open the floor. Before Thursday, 231 of Simmons' 309 minutes this season came without Claxton or Sharpe on the floor.
Even with that maximized spacing, his reluctance to attack the basket was glaring. Simmons attempted 5.3 shots and 1.2 free throws per game, a decrease from last season.
The numbers follow a troubling trend of increasing passivity during his eight-year career. Simmons' shot attempts per 36 minutes have decreased every season, falling from 13.2 as a rookie to 7.2 this year, per Basketball-Reference.
The same goes for his usage rate (percentage of a team's possessions a player uses while on the floor), which has plummeted from 22.3 to 12.9, the fifth-lowest among 75 point guards to play over 200 minutes this season.
Unsurprisingly, Ollie's decision to exclusively play Ben Simmons alongside Claxton or Sharpe made that lack of aggressiveness even more noticeable.
Things won't get any easier for the Nets offensively. Ollie's next chance to correct the rotation will come against the NBA's top defense when the Nets face the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
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