“It’s just a matter of whether I want to do it or not,” Anfernee Simons said during Media Day when asked about his potential defensive impact. Simons also noted several times that he and head coach Joe Mazzulla had engaged in extensive conversations about his growth on that end of the floor. Mazzulla even offered words of encouragement, telling Simons, “you’re not as bad as people think you are.”
Simons made his Celtics regular season debut last night vs the Philadelphia 76ers. He played 32 minutes
as the team lost a tough one 117-116 in large part to a 42-point fourth quarter by the opponent.
Despite the loss, Simons showed genuinely encouraging progress on the defensive end, especially considering where he’s been throughout his career in that area. While the Celtics will need him to score more than 13 points on most nights, if he can continue to defend at this level, we may be seeing the most impactful version of him yet.
The first clip below was one of those classic yes, yes, yes—no, no, no sequences that perfectly capture the highs and lows of a single play. During training camp, Simons told reporters that the Celtics had been working with him on defensive playmaking drills, something he admitted he had “never really worked on or been taught” before. Josh Minott, already known for his defensive instincts, echoed that theme, noting the team’s emphasis on taking “calculated risks” on that end of the floor.
Simons does an excellent job cutting off VJ Edgecombe’s drive, forcing him to pick up his dribble and pass the ball to Tyrese Maxey. With the shot clock winding down, Payton Pritchard is in perfect position defensively, but Simons inexplicably leaves Edgecombe, giving up an open three. It wasn’t a well-calculated risk, and you can see Pritchard’s confusion just before the shot goes up.
Next clip shows Simons switching onto Kelly Oubre. Before that happened though, I liked him passing off Quentin Grimes allowing him to close the switch pocket thus leaving less room for confusion or a misstep. Simons noted “stabbing at the ball” as one specific thing he worked on with the coaching staff during training camp. He does a good job of that here as the first reach forces the spin move and the second: a pump fake. Simons will be attacked solely based off his size, and a better offensive player probably makes this shot over him, but it was nice to see him fighting to contain drives.
Here Simons is guarding Grimes in the pick-and-roll. Screen navigation is something he still needs to work on, but it’s always going to be tough for a smaller guard to get around the body of Joel Embiid. He goes over the screen chasing Grimes from behind and receives help from Sam Hauser. Oubre sees the help and stampedes the catch (catching while on the move/sprinting through pass) aiding his quick drive to the rim. The rest of the Celtics do a nice job covering for Hauser, who covered for Simons, and those defensive playmaking drills come in handy here. He steals the ball and gets Derrick White an open three.
I wasn’t a fan of the ball pressure on this possession. Maxey is one of the fastest guards in the league, and while Simons might not be the ideal defender to pick him up higher, you can’t allow Maxey to casually bring the ball up and flow straight into a pick-and-roll. The space he was given made it super easy for Maxey to get to and around the Embiid screen. He scores on the drive.
Simons makes up for that lack of pressure on this one. Play sees him off the ball guarding Grimes again, and he makes such a good play. He sees the Embiid screen coming and gets all the way into the chest of Grimes. He knows he’s going to take a hit from the big man and doesn’t care. Mazzulla often emphasizes the importance of giving the game “what it requires,” with physicality frequently at the heart of that philosophy. Watching Simons effort on this play clearly demonstrated that he “wanted to” meet that standard, at least tonight.
His play blows up the action forcing Grimes to improvise which leads to an offensive foul.
Defensive playmaking drills doing wonders here. When Simons was listing off specifics of what he was working on in drills, he added passing lane steals but also “being in the right spot each and every time” in addition to stabbing at the ball. Celtics throughout the years have been really good at sending two to Embiid on the drive instead of on the catch like most teams. Simons times his help up perfectly and Embiid spins right into him.
Simons guarding Grimes again but this time, picking up full court. He gets switched onto Edgecombe and has to fight through another off-ball screen. He gets half a step behind, but the pass location makes the rookie stop his stride which allows Simons to get back in front. Now squared up and ready to defend, Simons pokes at the ball, forcing a rip through to start the drive. He’s right beside Edgecombe and another stab at the ball forces a spin move back towards Simons. He’s then able to stay in front forcing the pickup and a pass out.
We see Simons again in pick and roll defense. He draws the rookie once more, and this time gets touched by the screen for a second. I wouldn’t have minded him going under this screen being that they were at the logo, but he goes over, and Edgecombe gets a step and uses the crab dribble to keep Simons on his back. What I like here is the constant fight from Simons to get back in front and the help from Queta allowing him to do so. Simons is able to force another pass then contains the drive the Oubre drive.
Lastly, is my favorite play from him of the night. Maxey does a great job flying in to get the steal and spark a fast break opportunity. Simons hustles back and plays the ball super well stripping it away from Maxey with two hands. That effort is how you get trust from the coaching staff and love from the fans. That play gets Mazzulla out of his chair.
In what looks like a season full of uncertainty, whether Simons could improve defensively was one of the biggest talking points coming in. This game showed me that he can improve and has what it takes to be at least average on that end but now he most do the hard part: doing it every night.
