Struggling Nets Could Be Entering A Danger Zone
As the Nets were coming apart at the seams early in the third quarter of Wednesday night’s 121-102 defeat against the visiting Knicks, Brooklyn center Nic Claxton appeared to express some frustration with the predicament. He had just blocked a shot by Knicks guard Jalen Brunson out of bounds but was subbed out for Day’Ron Sharpe after just 3:38 of action. That’s an awful quick hook even considering Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn’s ongoing concern over Claxton’s conditioning issues.
Except the GOAT broadcaster Ian Eagle surmised there might have been another reason for the Claxton yanking—the YES Network camera caught Claxton on the bench where he appeared to mouth, “Pass the ball” to no one in particular, though it was assumed to be meant for Brooklyn’s gunner Cam Thomas, who chucked a three-pointer (which he made) on the Nets’ previous possession while Claxton was open underneath the basket.
Oh boy. The last thing the Nets need right now while on a four-game losing streak with the reigning NBA champion Nuggets coming to town on Friday is for their players to get into a “I’ve got to get mine” mode. Remember that Claxton, like all but five of his teammates who were active for Wednesday’s game, is a pending free agent.
Vaughn, who has been on the Nets sideline since 2016, including a ten-game run as interim Head Coach just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 in addition to his permanent hire early last season to replace the embattled Steve Nash, has had to deal with more than a fair share of drama, This season may pale in comparison with what it was like to work with the mercurial Kyrie Irving, among others, but it could prove to be very challenging, nonetheless. Unless it’s nipped in the bud, losing can allow for impure thoughts to seep into the minds of even the most professional of players, and then the losing snowballs.
And the Nets are getting very close to entering a sort of danger zone, where their season can take a drastic turn. They look nothing like the team that took off for a five-game trip out West two weeks ago. They managed to steal one in Phoenix, but the Knicks loss was their fifth in six games, with all but the defeat at Golden State a laugher by the fourth quarter.
Actually, I thought Wednesday’s rout was pretty much predetermined when Vaughn opted to keep an underperforming starting five together that in no way had the fortitude to match the Knicks’ physicality, even with New York centers Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims sidelined. Vaughn gave the Julius Randle assignment to his lean point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, so when Randle wasn’t bullying his way inside to score or draw fouls, he invited help defenders who had no chance to contest shooters on the perimeter when the ball was kicked out.
Meanwhile, the Nets, especially Mikal Bridges (4-for-21 on the night, including 1-for-8 from deep), couldn’t shoot straight and the club got down by double digits by the midpoint of the first quarter. You’d think that a player who came into the game shooting 32.5% from three-point territories like Dinwiddie would have been more judicious instead of hoisting six of them in the first half—he converted two. If not for some hot three-point shooting by Brooklyn combined with poor minutes from New York’s bench in the second quarter, this one could have been over by the intermission. As it were, the Knicks used 11-0 and 11-2 runs to open the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to quash any hopes for a Brooklyn comeback.
When the Nets’ shots don’t fall, they lose track of the little things, like getting back on defense. An inexcusable 14 of the Knicks’ 21 fast break points came during the first half—they were even beating the Nets downcourt after Brooklyn makes. In addition, the Nets didn’t take note of Knicks wing Donte DiVincenzo’s penchant for following his own shot nor did they box out Randle on his missed free throw attempt. Those extra Knicks points compounded matters.
The Nets simply can’t get away with being outworked to the extent they have been during this slump. They’re just not good enough. It’s on Vaughn, who admirably noted in his postgame press conference that both clubs were coming off road trips and refused to point to injuries to Ben Simmons, Dennis Smith Jr., and Lonnie Walker IV as a crutch, to make necessary adjustments as opposed to just throwing the same starting five out there which has been getting bludgeoned to the tune of minus-23.2 points per 100 possessions over the last six games, per NBA.com.
There also has to be more of an emphasis on floor balance, especially when Dinwiddie and Thomas drive to the basket. Both players hunt fouls, which is fine, but when they don’t get the whistle, they’re often on the deck and/or arguing with the refs while leaving the Nets exposed in transition. Over their last six games, Brooklyn has surrendered the most fast break points per game (19) in the league.
Something has to give. The imminent returns of Smith and Walker (Vaughn said Simmons hasn’t even progressed to the point where he can play 2-on-2; he’ll get here when he gets here) will bolster the bench, but they won’t solve the most pressing problem. As much as I, like many Nets fans, have been giddy over Thomas’ early-season bucket-getting, I think Vaughn needs to have a steadier defensive hand like Dorian Finney-Smith on the floor at the start of games.
Vaughn hinted that lineup changes are on the table, but there’s more to be done besides the rotation and scheme. He has to figure out how to keep the team together through adversities. When the Nets get down big, their impulse is to abandon the drive-and-kick ball movement offense in favor of one-or-zero-pass possessions for the first available three-ball. Besides being frustrating to watch for fans and teammates alike, that’s how deficits metastasize, like on Wednesday when the Nets went 5-for-25 on 3s after halftime. My personal view is that Vaughn’s “Any 3 is a good 3” philosophy only helps feed that cancerous mindset.
Brooklyn (13-14) may be just one game under .500 at the moment, but teams can lose its way at any point in a season. I keep telling folks: There aren’t as many bad squads this season to prop them up in the standings as you might think. Besides, the way the team is playing, what Nets fan isn’t deathly afraid that Brooklyn will be the chumps that break Detroit’s 25-game losing streak on Saturday’s back-to-back?