The Brooklyn Nets face the New York Knicks on Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. There are some certainties: Opposing point guards Kyrie Irving and Jalen Brunson will look to penetrate and get to the rim. Knicks forward Julius Randle will play exceptionally hard — occasionally committing head-shaking errors in judgement, but then doing positive things that the Knicks can’t live without (often on the very next play).
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau will frequently make disgruntled, inscrutable faces while watching Randle, but Thibodeau will honor and love the effort of his team’s leader.
Another certainty is uncertainty — on the Brooklyn side. Because Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn will be in a very different position than Thibodeau as he watches his mercurial big guard Ben Simmons play.
Like all coaches, Vaughn will have reason to make disgruntled faces, but will he feel that love? The love of pure effort that Randle brings out in coaches and fans alike? If history is a guide, Simmons won’t inspire any of that — unless something very drastic changes.
Simmons has had a tough few years, getting railroaded out of Philadelphia after proving he had no playoff mentality, then being unable to rise to the occasion in Brooklyn. Benched this week against the 76ers late in their most recent meeting, Simmons left the next game early and never returned — “knee soreness” was cited as the reason in a postgame note.
Coach Vaughn, a no-nonsense guy out of the San Antonio Spurs tradition, is rumored to have had about enough of Simmons reluctance to help his team. Where did the rumor come from? Vaughn himself seems to have started it.
Here’s what Vaughn said, without mentioning Simmons by name. Reading between the lines isn’t hard to do.
Jacque Vaughn recaps the loss to Detroit, provides updates on Ben Simmons and T.J. Warren. pic.twitter.com/FkJXqHhBao
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) January 27, 2023
“The goal is, in my eyes, for everyone to play every game, and to do what’s necessary to play every game. There’s certain amount of minutes that each individual played in Philly, some played equally tonight,” Vaughn said.
“So the preparation that it takes going into that, you just have to give credit to the guys who were prepared to play, ready to play, did what was necessary to get their bodies ready to play.”
Vaughan spoke earlier on what is expected of the team and each player:
“The people who suited up, the people who played, the people who stepped on the floor had an opportunity to impact the basketball game for their teammates. That’s the objective every single time we step on the floor. We were expecting to win tonight, that’s the goal… you do what’s necessary, whether that’s taking care of your body, the mental part of it, the work that goes on between days off, days off, between games, game day, to get yourself in a position to win. That’s why we do this thing.”
The Knicks and Nets are both playing relatively well, though the Nets surge has been quelled some with the loss of Kevin Durant to injury. Still both teams are in playoff position in the Eastern Conference headed into the All-Star break. The nationally televised Saturday game (5:30 PM ET, ABC TV) is expected to be hard fought.
Thibodeau can count on the fact that Randle will be ready to play. Vaughan won’t know if Simmons will be ready until he sees it on the court. He hasn’t seen it much lately — and given Vaughan’s emphasis on winning and a winning culture, there’s a big question as to how much longer he’ll be willing to wait. Simmons, a former All-Star, is averaging 7.4 ppg this season, less than half his career average of 14.9 ppg.
