Nets Defensive Freelancing Ruins Marquee Matchup With Grizzlies
It’s hard enough to play defense in the NBA given the supreme talents of so many players. You have to be focused, energetic, and understand your assignments.
The Nets were none of those things in Monday’s 134-124 defeat in Memphis.
In a game that embodied NBA Entertainment, with two players on each team (Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for Brooklyn; Ja Morant and Desmond Bane for Memphis—the first time in NBA history for a regulation game) dropping over 35 points through wondrous shotmaking, it was the Nets’ gross negligence on the defensive end that made the difference, particularly in the second half.
A friend once remarked that watching the Rolling Stones perform live on stage was disappointing because each of the musicians didn’t seem to know what the others were doing, so they riffed on their own. That’s what it was like watching the Nets play defense on Monday.
Were they in drop pick-and-roll-coverage? Were they supposed to switch? If so, when? Who was supposed to help? How was it possible that Brooklyn’s game plan called for center Nic Claxton to constantly switch onto the perimeter when they knew that Grizzlies big man Steven Adams is a, well, bear underneath, feasting on offensive rebounds for second-chance opportunities?
Obviously, Nets Head Coach Steve Nash is going to bear the brunt of the criticism for such a display, as he should, but let’s not give a free pass to the players. They’re supposed to communicate with each other so they’re all on the same page. There’s no reason why so many Memphis possessions ended with open three-pointers because the Nets double-teamed the ball (or, in one case, TRIPLE-TEAMED), so that the free shooter was one simple pass away.
The third quarter was the absolute pits, as the Grizzlies turned a 69-64 disadvantage into a 12-point lead with a 45-point outburst. No sequence was more telling than the one that started when Adams outworked Durant and Ben Simmons on a rebound of a Bane missed free throw (why Claxton wasn’t on Adams’ side I have no idea) to grant Memphis an extra possession. After Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama air-balled the ensuing three-pointer, the Nets defenders acted like video game avatars who were at the mercy of a frozen controller. Memphis wing John Konchar, on the other hand, did not stop playing basketball, making a nice save while falling past the baseline. Memphis guard Tyus Jones won the 50/50 ball from Brooklyn’s Patty Mills and fed Konchar for another open three-point attempt from the right corner. It also caromed off the rim, but Aldama beat Claxton to the front of the rim for the tip-in to give Memphis a 97-83 lead with 3:46 remaining.
Noticeably missing from the broadcast frame was Durant, who leaked out after loosely contesting the original Aldama three-ball. It’s been too common of an occurrence when the Nets have been struggling to finish defensive possessions off with rebounds. Durant is averaging just 3.7 defensive boards per game, more than three rebounds below last season’s production. Maybe he’s thinking that with Simmons now in the fold, he can offload much of that responsibility.
He shouldn’t. Like KD, Nets fans are still waiting on the supposed impact from having the long (6-foot 10) and athletic Simmons, a two-time All-NBA Defensive First Team honoree, in the lineup. Per NBA.com’s tracking, opponents are shooting 25-for-34 (73.5%) with Simmons as the closest defender, including Morant going 5-for-5 on Monday night.
It was always supposed to be Simmons’ offense that would need time to build back up after he missed all of last season with mental issues and then a back injury that required offseason microdiscectomy surgery. Instead, he’s been a drag on both ends.
Not only is Simmons sporting the team’s worst offensive rating (over 12 points below the team average), the Nets are a worse defensive and rebounding team when he’s on the court versus off. Keeping track of two-man lineups, Brooklyn has been outscored, 146-123, in the 56 minutes Simmons has played with Claxton and 72-43 when he has shared the floor with backup center Day’Ron Sharpe for 23 minutes this season. Pairing Simmons with a second non-shooter has been as ugly as I predicted back when he was acquired from Philadelphia in February’s James Harden blockbuster.
Nash missed an opportunity to go small with Simmons at the 5 during Brandon Clarke’s 17 minutes subbing for Adams. Oh, he tried it once, but then Simmons committed his fifth foul 12 seconds later. He would eventually foul out for the second time in three games to give him a season total of 14 fouls and 17 points.
Having Markieff Morris, who will also miss Wednesday’s contest in Milwaukee due to personal reasons (why is my worry-meter flashing that it’s another Paul Millsap-type playing-time issue?), available probably would have helped the Nets in the physicality and on-court leadership departments, but that’s life in the NBA. The Grizzlies played without forward Jaren Jackson Jr., a far superior player.
Like it or not, the Nets take their cues from Nash, so it will be on him first to fix the league’s worst defensive team in terms of points allowed per 100 possessions (124.7). Maybe he’ll have to go back and simplify everything by having his players switch all screens again, though that’s not ideal against the better teams who know how to target weak links and take advantage of size disparities underneath.
It’s still early enough in the season that no one is suggesting pushing the panic button. But in Brooklyn, where the team might still be fragile from a tumultuous offseason, it could, as Yogi Berra once allegedly said, get late early out there.