Suggestions To Fix Nets’ Sputtering Starts (And Finishes)

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

In a battle where someone had to win, the Nets avoided ignominy by defeating the tanking Pistons, 126-115, at Barclays Center on Saturday night. Brooklyn broke a five-game losing streak while extending Detroit’s skid to an NBA-record tying 26 games.

While it certainly beat the alternative, by no means did the victory correct all that has been going askew in Nets World. Specifically, the Nets’ starters (Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton) continued to get outplayed, though Saturday’s runs were not the bludgeoning of recent outings.

The Pistons took a slim 11-10 lead before Brooklyn Head Coach Jacque Vaughn made some subs to help ignite a 22-10 Brooklyn spurt, but then the Nets’ starters nearly coughed up their nine-point halftime cushion in the first five minutes of the third quarter. Fortunately, Johnson made a couple of plays to restore order until Vaughn mixed in some bench pieces (aka Dorian Finney-Smith). The Nets soon expanded their advantage to double digits, where it stayed through the final horn.

It should be noted that Vaughn also inserted Finney-Smith for Thomas when Detroit trimmed the deficit to ten points with about four minutes remaining. This was in contrast to Friday night’s tight encounter with defending champion Denver, when Vaughn trusted his starters down the stretch despite all the data that portended otherwise. The Nuggets closed the game on an 18-12 run over the last 4:35.

The five-man unit has now played 129 minutes together with a minus-19 points per 100 possessions net rating, per NBA.com. That’s the worst in the league among the 37 lineups that have exceeded 100 minutes this season—by nearly seven points per 100 possessions! Care to know the number since the Nets began their five-game road trip that started the downturn on December 11? Look away--it’s a hideous minus-26.4 in 99 minutes over eight games.

The lesson, which Vaughn to date has been unwilling to digest, is that in the NBA, you don’t necessarily start your five best players; you start (and finish) with the five who play the best together. In Brooklyn’s case, the physicality quotient is obviously lacking with this grouping. The Dinwiddie/Thomas backcourt has been awful defensively (posting a 123.2 defensive rating in 370 minutes this season, per NBA.com). What’s crazier is that Vaughn has had Bridges typically guarding a smaller lead ballhandler, leaving the lean Dinwiddie to contend with the likes of more imposing opponents like Kevin Durant, Lauri Markkanen, Julius Randle, and Aaron Gordon. Who came up with that idea? (Never mind).

For a team struggling to establish a defensive identity despite sporting some supposedly elite individual defenders, Brooklyn’s forcing of such overwhelming mismatches has resulted in far too many instances of overhelping. Having Thomas, who regularly gets flat out beat off the dribble, on the floor as well exacerbates the situations, since moving to the right spot in defensive rotations when others help is, let’s just say, still a learning process.

It shouldn’t be that hard for Vaughn to fix this, considering the roster’s versatility. I’d argue that the Nets’ makeup is closer to an old coach’s quote. “We have a great bench. Unfortunately, it’s starting.” I mean, other than Bridges, which of the Nets’ starters would replicate that role on a championship contender? Remember, Johnson was a reserve in Phoenix, including the NBA Finals team during his rookie season. Meanwhile, it was only two seasons ago when Finney-Smith started on a Dallas squad that reached the Western Conference Finals.  

There are several ways Vaughn could go, starting with my preference:

A) Swap Finney-Smith for Thomas

You’d think that a lineup that counted Bridges, Dinwiddie, and Thomas—three high-level playmakers—would be Brooklyn’s best bet to privide maximim scoring. You’d have thought wrong. When the trio has shared the court for 307 minutes this season, the Nets have been producing at a clip of 112.4 points per 100 possessions, or about the same as Washington, the 22^nd-most efficient offensive team in the league, and 4.5 points lower than Brooklyn’s overall average, per NBA.com.

I think Thomas would actually excel more playing with a bench mob where he is the sole scoring option. He is made for the “microwave” role. With Dennis Smith Jr. now healthy, Thomas wouldn’t have to worry so much about getting others involved, which appears to sometimes seep into his decision-making process just like it did when he played with Durant and Kyrie Irving during his first two pro seasons.

Finney-Smith, on the other hand, is a proven two-way commodity. He can space the floor (he’s a tick under 45% from deep, which places him eighth in the NBA among those who have taken at least 100 3s), guard multiple positions, and fight under the boards for rebounds. Royce O’Neale actually does all those things as well; I just think DFS is a tad better.

Still, either wing is a better fit in the starting lineup than Thomas. The Nets need to play with more physicality from the opening tip. It’s easy for fans to moan, “They’re not prepared”, when the more likely cause for the slow starts can be the matchups.

B) O’Neale for Dinwiddie

I should commend Dinwiddie for his, um, restraint over the past two games after excoriating him in my last Nets post for shooting too much. He took some cringe-worthy ones in Saturday’s second half, mostly when the shot clock was running out and the Nets were way ahead, but he previously went six quarters with only seven field goal attempts. Not coincidentally, Brooklyn’s offense looked a lot livelier in those stretches with more ball movement and less overdribbling into tough three-pointers.

When Dinwiddie follows the “Less is more” mantra, he can be effective as the table-setter for this team. Removing him would put the Nets’ offense in less comfortable hands, as you wouldn’t want Thomas or Bridges in that role.

While O’Neale would alleviate the need for Vaughn to keep tasking Dinwiddie with the aforementioned difficult defensive assignments and has some experience with getting Brooklyn into its sets as a de facto point guard, it’s not a viable long-term solution.

C) Finney-Smith or O’Neale for Johnson

With this, you’re just trading apples for apples. You might get a bit more physicality, but it wouldn’t change the dynamic enough to make a difference.  

I’m afraid Saturday’s result will allow Vaughn to defer the necessary changes. Right now, his continued use of this rotation looks like stubbornness. When the Nets (13-14) and Pistons go at it again on Tuesday in Detroit, where the league-record losing streak record will be on the line, Vaughn has an opportunity to get ahead of a possible disaster, one that would put the bunch of good things he has done (installed multiple defenses, managed an injury epidemic, etc.)—for which Nets fans should be grateful this Holiday season—in the “Return” pile.