A Status Report On Some Nets Preseason Experimentations

Fortunately, the NBA preseason isn’t a time for overreactions, positive or negative, over individual or team performances. And that includes breaking down each of Ben Simmons’ possessions for the Nets.

If you’re one of those who still believes these results are translatable to the regular season, I give you former Net and current Lakers wing Taurean Prince, a preseason warrior who has continued to rip up these meaningless affairs with three-point mastery to the tune of 51% efficiency on his last 101 attempts from deep over 23 exhibitions. Prince is a fine player, but he has obviously never been able to sustain that level of accuracy when the games have counted.   

In that vein, Nets fans watching their team sleepwalk their way through a 127-119 loss to the visiting 76ers on Monday night might feel tempted to run for the hills. It was the club’s second desultory defeat in an NBA competition, sandwiched around a victory over an Israeli club in which Brooklyn somehow surrendered an ungodly 39 points in the first quarter to a bunch of minor leaguers. For a team that is being hyped for its elite defensive potential, the Nets certainly must be saving it for Cleveland in the October 25 opener. Right?

With so many guys competing for the last roster spot and rotation minutes, I gather Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn would have liked to have seen a tad more urgency from certain players, especially on the defensive end. If Nick Nurse, Vaughn’s counterpart in Philly, could get everyone on his squad to buy into the concept of bodying up their men on and off the ball on Monday night, the Nets surely could have attempted to match that effort.

Instead, if you didn’t notice the absences of 76ers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden and Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, you couldn’t really tell the difference between Monday’s contest and the four straight games Philadelphia took from the Nets in last season’s first round of the playoffs. The 76ers’ physicality superiority forced turnovers galore and created 24 second chance points.

The lackluster manner in which the Nets have played this preseason brought to my mind a memorable scene from the film “Miracle” about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Head Coach Herb Brooks famously laid into his club for not putting in quality effort during a tune-up game in Norway that ended in a tie. “You guys don’t want to work during the game,” Brooks allegedly said. “No problem, we’ll work now.” And then Brooks had the players do the equivalent of suicides for about an hour while the crowd filed out, even after the arena lights were turned off.

Of course, as much as I thought that the Nets deserved a commensurate punishment on Monday night, such a harsh tactic isn’t going to work for Vaughn with professionals. Coaches and veteran players might have different goals in these games where you can feel free to experiment. Vaughn wants to try out a 2-2-1 halfcourt trap? Who cares if it was broken down like a paper plane? Run 6-foot 8, 237-pound forward Trendon Watford at point guard? Why not? If you come out of the preseason relatively healthy, you’ve won.

In the Nets’ case, Johnson and backup point guard Dennis Smith Jr. are still sidelined with injuries, though resting Johnson’s hamstring could be a precautionary maneuver at this point. At least centers Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe returned to action on Monday night, because that’s one position where the Nets’ depth is McDonalds toilet paper thin.   

With all these caveats, here’s a few things I’ve noticed about the Nets’ preseason with one exhibition remaining:

1) Drop coverage might end up needing to be drop-kicked out of the playbook

With a full training camp at his disposal, Vaughn has been presented with the opportunity to install multiple defensive foundations as opposed to the simple switching schemes the team typically employed during its short-lived superstar era of the past few seasons. The main new concept is drop pick-and-roll coverage, whereby the center hangs back by the basket instead of jumping forward to engage the pick-and-roll ballhandler. Dropping allows a player like Claxton to be in position to both contest shots near the rim and also rebound, a Nets’ killer weakness last season when he was often caught defending (very well) out on the perimeter while leaving smaller teammates to battle on the boards.

However, drop coverage requires the screened defender to work his way through the pick, whether it be by snaking between the screener and ballhandler or coming around the back side to contest a potential mid-range attempt. Unfortunately, the Nets haven’t shown any competency in getting into the ballhandlers, which has resulted in a barrage of open looks allowed. Against Philly, they didn’t go under as many screens—a cardinal sin against NBA quality shooters—as in previous games, but the Sixers still found ways to generate plenty of wide-open three-pointers in the halfcourt offense.

I’m not suggesting that Vaughn should just scrap the whole idea, but, since I don’t think he’s pulling a Bill Parcells-type rope-a-dope in not wanting to show what his team has on tape, the Nets might not get all the kinks ironed out in the next eight days. Switching back to switching might be the best short-term play to start the season.

2) Number 15 is still a toss-up

Brooklyn has 16 players signed to NBA contracts, though not all of them are fully guaranteed. They’re only allowed to keep 15, plus another three players on two-way contracts. Two of those are currently assigned to rookie second-round pick Jalen Wilson and Summer League sensation Armoni Brooks.

That means one of Watford, Darius Bazley, or Harry Giles III must have his contract terminated by Monday to get Brooklyn down to 15. The simplest solution would be to get Giles to take a two-way deal, but since his Exhibit 9 contract does not contains the necessary provision, according to Spotrac.com’s Keith Smith, it can’t be a direct conversion; he would have to be exposed through the waiver process first. (Note: Giles became eligible for a two-way deal in the new collective bargaining agreement that now voids seasons missed due to injury in the experience qualification thanks to allegedly intense lobbying from Celtics star and former Duke teammate Jayson Tatum.)

I found it curious that Giles was a DNP on Monday night after he held his own in the previous two contests, averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds in 16 minutes per game. To me, his quick jumping and feathery touch makes him a better bet as the backup 5 than Sharpe, but Vaughn may think differently.

Since we don’t get to see the practices, I have to assume that Bazley has been impressing there because Vaughn has him higher up in the rotation than his game performances have warranted. Bazley has the requisite size, wingspan, and athleticism, but something is just off. Though he is just 23, this is his fifth pro season. And yet he’s still guilty of committing such no-no’s as getting caught in the air on drives, neglecting to box out, and ball-watching on defense while his man is setting up for a clean catch-and-shoot.

I’ve been on the Watford bandwagon (as a reserve in short spurts) since the Nets signed him to a vet minimum deal in August. (see: (1) Watford Has Potential To Be Next Nets’ Development Model Picked Up Off The Street (substack.com)) But should I be concerned that Vaughn has been picking him last to enter these games and then often makes him play out of position?

I guess we’ll know more after Wednesday’s preseason finale in Miami.

3) Cam can shoot off the catch—he should do it more often

With Johnson out, Vaughn has started Cam Thomas, who just turned 22, in all three preseason games. The Nets are hoping Thomas continues to develop into a more well-rounded player on both ends to complement his extraordinary bucket-getting potential.

However, the Nets sometimes don’t need Thomas to make his elite NBA skill all that complicated. Off the catch, Thomas’ instincts too often cause him to delay his attack so he can survey the court before he proceeds with his first step. By that time, though, the defense has caught up, squashing any advantage that may have been gained in advance of his receipt of the ball. Thomas then must elevate his degree of difficulty to get off a shot.

Wouldn’t it be better, Vaughn said, if Thomas just goes up straight into his shooting motion? Thomas’ three-point marksmanship last season improved by over 11 points from his rookie campaign and his stroke only looks filthier this preseason. He is even better at catch-and-shoot 3s, knocking down nearly 41% of his 44 such attempts last season, per NBA.com. Unfortunately, those only constituted 9.8% of all his field goal attempts—he took twice as many pull-up 3s.

NBA.com doesn’t track this preseason, but Thoams has drained 8-of-13 (61.5%) from deep overall in the three games, and my best recollection is that most were of the catch-and-shoot variety. Still, it seemed like he passed up quite a few opportunities to launch off the catch in favor of forays into closer ranges that ended with more challenging flings.

Cam: If Vaughn gives you the green light, fire away.

Photo by: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports