CLEVELAND — Nic Claxton and Ben Simmons haven’t began together up to now this season.
And it doesn’t sound prefer it’ll occur until Simmons makes it occur, until he plays so well that Nets coach Jordi Fernandez has no alternative but to begin him.
“I’m looking forward to it. We’re each two high-level basketball players. We’ve just got to be aggressive, and the coaches have put us in the precise positions to make every thing work,” Claxton told The Post. “Obviously, it’s going to work on the defensive end, and we’ll work every thing out on the offense side.”
That offensive side has been the fly within the ointment throughout Simmons’ profession when pairing him with a standard non-shooting big man.
His lack of an efficient jumper makes floor spacing a priority, and the dearth of time the duo has gotten together due to injuries has kept them from working to iron out the difficulty.
“The motto within the NBA is shooting, but it may well work,” Claxton told The Post. “You’ve got to be putting pressure on the rim in any respect times, and also you do need to produce other shooters around so there may be some variety of spacing. But it may well work.”
A hamstring injury cost Claxton the complete preseason and left him ramping up within the early season while coming off the bench, with Simmons getting the nod at center.
But Claxton rejoined the starting lineup three games ago, with Simmons — still on a minutes limit — now serving as his backup.
That minutes limit and never being cleared for each ends of back-to-backs saw Simmons held out Saturday in Cleveland. It also contributed to him being on the bench late in Friday’s loss at Boston.
“The rationale [he sat] was with the minutes [restriction] that he has … and never with the ability to play back-to-backs at once. This fashion we don’t have to modify the starting lineups on a regular basis; that affects the remaining of the group,” said Fernandez, who could have a call to make Monday at Recent Orleans.
“I do know for some people, the indisputable fact that you begin, you don’t start [matters]. But I saw him on the market doing what’s best for the team, helping his team, and I’m very pleased with him the way in which he played. … What I need is these guys to play so well that they put me in a tricky spot so I even have to alter the lineup again, because we want that internal competition to lift the bar and for the team to be higher. So I need all those guys to not be satisfied … play in addition to you possibly can, so you possibly can make a case to begin, after which the team will profit from it.”
After Simmons had told The Post that he views himself as a starter, Fernandez made it clear that he — like every other Net — has to earn that.
“For the flow of the team, regardless of the team needs me to do by way of whether it’s coming off the bench or starting, I’ve got to do. So, that’s what coach wants at once. It’s what it’s,” Simmons said.
Asked if he expects to return off the bench the remaining of the season, Simmons shrugged.
“I try to not expect anything within the NBA. Things change on a regular basis.”
After Simmons sat out Saturday, he and Claxton have logged just ten minutes on the court together, a plus-9 in that limited time.
But they were minus-51 in 99 minutes together a 12 months ago, and questions on spacing will persist until either they’re on the court together enough to reply them or it becomes clear that Fernandez goes to proceed to separate them up.
“They each bring different skill sets individually, but once they’re together I feel it’s great for us because we get a tall guard handling the ball, pushing in transition. After which Nic doing what Nic does, getting on the rim,” Cam Thomas said. “I feel prefer it’s an excellent combo and clearly they each do great things for our team. So we’ve just gotta determine methods to keep fiddling with one another.”
CLEVELAND — Nic Claxton and Ben Simmons haven’t began together up to now this season.
And it doesn’t sound prefer it’ll occur until Simmons makes it occur, until he plays so well that Nets coach Jordi Fernandez has no alternative but to begin him.
“I’m looking forward to it. We’re each two high-level basketball players. We’ve just got to be aggressive, and the coaches have put us in the precise positions to make every thing work,” Claxton told The Post. “Obviously, it’s going to work on the defensive end, and we’ll work every thing out on the offense side.”
That offensive side has been the fly within the ointment throughout Simmons’ profession when pairing him with a standard non-shooting big man.
His lack of an efficient jumper makes floor spacing a priority, and the dearth of time the duo has gotten together due to injuries has kept them from working to iron out the difficulty.
“The motto within the NBA is shooting, but it may well work,” Claxton told The Post. “You’ve got to be putting pressure on the rim in any respect times, and also you do need to produce other shooters around so there may be some variety of spacing. But it may well work.”
A hamstring injury cost Claxton the complete preseason and left him ramping up within the early season while coming off the bench, with Simmons getting the nod at center.
But Claxton rejoined the starting lineup three games ago, with Simmons — still on a minutes limit — now serving as his backup.
That minutes limit and never being cleared for each ends of back-to-backs saw Simmons held out Saturday in Cleveland. It also contributed to him being on the bench late in Friday’s loss at Boston.
“The rationale [he sat] was with the minutes [restriction] that he has … and never with the ability to play back-to-backs at once. This fashion we don’t have to modify the starting lineups on a regular basis; that affects the remaining of the group,” said Fernandez, who could have a call to make Monday at Recent Orleans.
“I do know for some people, the indisputable fact that you begin, you don’t start [matters]. But I saw him on the market doing what’s best for the team, helping his team, and I’m very pleased with him the way in which he played. … What I need is these guys to play so well that they put me in a tricky spot so I even have to alter the lineup again, because we want that internal competition to lift the bar and for the team to be higher. So I need all those guys to not be satisfied … play in addition to you possibly can, so you possibly can make a case to begin, after which the team will profit from it.”
After Simmons had told The Post that he views himself as a starter, Fernandez made it clear that he — like every other Net — has to earn that.
“For the flow of the team, regardless of the team needs me to do by way of whether it’s coming off the bench or starting, I’ve got to do. So, that’s what coach wants at once. It’s what it’s,” Simmons said.
Asked if he expects to return off the bench the remaining of the season, Simmons shrugged.
“I try to not expect anything within the NBA. Things change on a regular basis.”
After Simmons sat out Saturday, he and Claxton have logged just ten minutes on the court together, a plus-9 in that limited time.
But they were minus-51 in 99 minutes together a 12 months ago, and questions on spacing will persist until either they’re on the court together enough to reply them or it becomes clear that Fernandez goes to proceed to separate them up.
“They each bring different skill sets individually, but once they’re together I feel it’s great for us because we get a tall guard handling the ball, pushing in transition. After which Nic doing what Nic does, getting on the rim,” Cam Thomas said. “I feel prefer it’s an excellent combo and clearly they each do great things for our team. So we’ve just gotta determine methods to keep fiddling with one another.”
