Two Myths And One Huge Hope: How The Nets Can Surprise This Season
My expectations for the Nets this season happen to be relatively low. Not that it matters to them, or to anyone really. The games will be played, starting with Brooklyn’s 129-126 loss to the Lakers in Las Vegas on Monday night, the first of four exhibitions before the real contests commence on October 25 versus Cleveland.
While the preseason results are meaningless, the games will allow Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn to begin tackling the daunting challenge of forging a new identity now that the club is no longer able to rely on superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to secure wins. Who knows, it might end up being one that’s more democratic, though Mikal Bridges seems primed to take another step after averaging 26.1 points per game following his arrival via the KD trade with Phoenix. On some nights, it could be Spencer Dinwiddie’s turn to take charge; others might also emerge. We all know Cam Thomas will be ready to launch at will when given the green light. He sure gave the Vegas folks a show with 17 of his game-high 26 points in just 6:47 of run during Monday’s third quarter.
Vaughn will use the preseason to draft a rotation, but it’s not just about who needs to play for the Nets to win games; it’s how they have to play. In other words, how, in this post-superstar universe, can they make up for what they lack in talent relative to their competition? What can be their edges? In that regard, there are two myths and one gigantic hope that fans need to understand:
Myth 1: Playing faster
A common theme from the players at last week’s Media Day was learning to play with greater pace, especially when Ben Simmons is on the court.
But what does that mean in practice? Would the Nets like to run after creating live-ball turnovers and clearing defensive rebounds they can outlet? Heck, every NBA team looks to do that. Who likes to forgo easy buckets?
By the players’ context, I assumed they meant that they are intent on pushing the ball up the court after opponents’ made baskets as well, hoping to catch them off guard to create open looks in early offense. That will require quite a change, since Brooklyn ranked 28th among the 30 NBA clubs in fast break points per game and 24th in pace in its final 27 games following the two big trades, per NBA.com.
Before you start thinking the Nets will come out and start bombing away like the seven-seconds-or-less Suns run by Hall-of-Fame point guard and former Brooklyn Head Coach Steve Nash or the Paul Westhead-coached Loyola-Marymount squads, consider whether Brooklyn has the personnel. You can feel comfortable living that way if your lineup boasts someone like Stephen Curry or Damian Lillard who can drain shots from a few feet past the midcourt line. That ain’t the Nets. NBA.com tracked only four teams who shot the ball worse from deep within the first six seconds of the shot clock in the post-deadline stretch last season. The Nets, by the way, hoisted the seventh-most such attempts.
Maybe it just takes getting used to. Dinwiddie, who’s most efficient shooting stretch in his career occurred when he played for Dallas before returning to Brooklyn in the Irving trade, noted that Mavericks primary ballhandler Luka Doncic preferred to walk the ball up. Similarly, Dorian Finney-Smith, the other former Maverick included in that deal, told the media that he was practicing sprinting to the corners before his catch-and-shoots, a drastic difference from taking them stand-still as part of a halfcourt offense. Phoenix, which employed both Bridges and Cam Johnson, was another team in the bottom quartile in pace before the trades. When 80% of your new starting five had been playing slow and then all of a sudden your new coach wants to put it into a higher gear, there will be hiccups.
However, “playing fast” is easier said than done. I guess it’s possible that the Nets, who rid themselves of four of the top three-point shooters in the league during the offseason, can get the hang of it over the course of a season. However, I suspect there will be many bumps in the road, where they too often shoot themselves into double-digit holes by focusing on taking rushed three-pointers off one pass.
Myth 2: Playing harder
It annoys me to no end to hear basketball fans, mostly from college basketball proponents, who denigrate the NBA game by saying they “don’t try as hard.” What a lazy take. The physical and mental toll to endure an 82-game regular season and as much as a two-month playoff grind is incomprehensible to us lesser athletes. Does every player have their “A” game every night? Of course not. There will always be some back-to-backs or other densely scheduled games where the legs aren’t as willing (and a couple where opposing teams spend the prior night partaking too much of what New York City has to offer).
You might find a handful of teams each season, often the ones competing for better lottery odds, that don’t consistently play hard. And there’s nothing to suggest that the Nets will be one of the teams who will be able to play materially harder than their other opponents this season.
Or did you not watch the first round of last season’s playoffs? The Sixers were not only the significantly more talented team, they impacted each game with their superior physicality, whether it was Paul Reed manhandling Nets rebounders underneath the basket to generate second-chance opportunities or P.J. Tucker coming out of scrums off 50/50 balls.
I’m not suggesting that the Nets didn’t give maximum effort during their four-game sweep. It’s just that other teams also play hard—and that’s often enough to beat them. Are you expecting that to change? Did Nets General Manager Sean Marks really address the club’s physicality deficits this offseason? Maybe on the fringes, where acquisitions like big man Trendon Watford and guard Dennis Smith Jr. can provide some bang in short spurts. The core, though, is mostly comprised of the same lean-body types that too often got pounded on the glass last season.
There’s no doubt that the Nets will again be in trouble in games where they are outworked. However, a mere commitment to playing hard guarantees nothing in the win/loss column.
Gigantic hope 1: Maximum Ben Simmons effect
I’ve written about this ad nauseum, most recently last week when I wondered if there was a bigger wild card in the league than Simmons’ impact following another offseason of back rehab. Depending where he comes back on his spectrum—from completely unavailable due to further injury; to debilitated like last season; and all the way up to a seamless return to his NBA All-Star/All Defensive Team former self—could be a difference of ten Nets wins in either direction.
I can’t put Simmons in the “myth” category because that would be ridiculously unfair. Every NBA player who enters a game deserves a chance to show what he’s got. He saw 14 minutes of action on Monday and did fine. His movements looked far less robotic than when he was physically and mentally diminished last season and he attacked the basket aggressively. The night’s mission was accomplished.
Maybe it was because the club’s social media team seemed to go out of its way to avoid showing Simmons in their practice highlight reels (not that Nets Nation didn’t notice), but the urge to overreact (either way) to a preseason game must be tempered. There’s still plenty of unanswered questions that won’t be resolved for months: Can Simmons be effective when his minutes get ramped up? Can he handle crunch-time pressures when his free throw shooting regresses? Can he coexist with fellow non-shooting center Nic Claxton in the halfcourt offense?
If the answers to the above are all a resounding “Yes!”, the Nets have a chance to surprise people. It’s pretty much that simple. Simmons at his best was a unique player who, despite his inability to efficiently make shots outside the restricted area, was a two-way force. Remember, in four seasons with Philadelphia, he averaged nearly 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. As a team that is short on playmakers, the Nets could sorely use that level of production.
Simmons being that guy again is not a myth, but it sure is one heck of a huge hope.
Photo: BrooklynNets.com