It will likely be nicely over a month till Brooklyn even begins coaching camp, till newly-hired head coach Jordi Fernandez will get an opportunity to get his fingers on his gamers in earnest.
However discuss to Fernandez’s new prices and there are indicators of how the Nets are going to play this upcoming season. His plan of assault?
Assault.
“Simply taking part in quick … taking part in collectively,” second-year ahead Jalen Wilson advised The Submit. “Taking part in quick, however understanding what you’re doing as nicely. I feel the intelligence of the place you’re on the ground and understanding what defenses are in, various things like that each one play into it.
“However I feel the principle half is taking part in quick, taking part in assured. Not being on the market settling and never being uncertain of something. However all the pieces at full pace and understanding that you simply’ve bought to assault in all the pieces … whether or not it’s capturing, dribbling, discovering the open teammate, operating down the ground sprinting to the nook, these various things.”
As befitting a rebuilding workforce missing in top-end expertise, the Nets employed a rookie head coach in Fernandez who was identified for growth and protection, and constructed a workers that matches that ethos.
In video games they hope to run and run some extra.
Meaning in observe they’ll need to drill and drill some extra.
Their tempo goes to have to come back from observe; in any other case it’ll simply be sloppy and chaotic, quite than efficient and harmful.
“Yeah, I’d say reps,” Wilson mentioned of what the workforce has been stressing. “Reps in observe, earlier than Summer season League, main as much as Summer season League, and reps now.
“A number of it was simply up and down drills, being in the fitting place, doing all the pieces full pace and at excessive depth, not taking something with no consideration, and simply perceive that should you slouch within the observe, within the sport it gained’t be at full pace. And when it’s full pace within the sport, you’ve bought to be prepared and ready.”
Make no mistake, no quantity of preparation is prone to make Brooklyn a contender this season. That window closed the minute they traded away celebrity Kevin Durant for Mikal Bridges, and — after a disappointing 32-50 mark final season — was all however padlocked shut when Nets proprietor Joe Tsai and normal supervisor Sean Marks formally signaled a rebuild by dealing Bridges throughout the East River to the archrival Knicks.
Getting 5 first-round draft picks and a first-round swap for a participant who has by no means made the All-Star Sport can solely be thought-about a hit. It basically means they turned a 34-year-old who wished out and two swaps into seven first-round picks, two extra swaps, Cam Johnson and the return of the rights to their very own firsts in 2025 and ’26. Bleacher Report re-graded the Durant deal an A++++.
What all these picks convey again is a query down the road. Within the here-and-now, the Nets will nearly definitely be on the battle bus.
They’re projected to win an NBA-worst 19.5 video games this coming season by all main sportsbooks. Because the 41-year-old Fernandez begins to put the muse for no matter tradition he hopes to construct, the Spaniard might want to depend on the Nets’ younger legs outrunning and outworking older veteran groups.
“We wish to play quick, wish to play exhausting,” mentioned second-year professional Noah Clowney, simply 20. “We wish to be disruptive. We all know we’ve bought to be a fantastic defensive workforce if we wish any shot at successful video games, and that’s simply the fact of it. No person’s bought to sugarcoat that for us. We perceive that.
The Nets aren’t going to have the ability to rating their approach to wins regardless of the emergence of younger capturing guard Cam Thomas, who averaged a team-high 22.5 factors final season. Their offensive ranking was simply twenty third within the NBA final season, and twenty fifth after interim Kevin Ollie took over through the All-Star break.
Brooklyn might be much more offensively-challenged this coming season with Bridges within the Backyard, All-Star level guard Ben Simmons at all times an harm query mark and veteran forwards Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith doubtlessly on the commerce block at any given time.
The Nets must dangle their hat on the opposite finish of the ground.
Fernandez is thought to be a prime defensive coach, and served as Sacramento’s de facto defensive coordinator beneath Mike Brown. He helped information the Kings to an enormous enchancment on that finish, leaping from twenty fourth in defensive ranking in 2022-23 to 14th this previous season with no vital upgrades to the roster.
Fernandez spent a lot of the summer season teaching Group Canada into the Paris Olympics, the place the workforce went unbeaten within the so-called Group of Demise, thanks largely to its protection, earlier than falling to host France within the quarterfinals earlier this month.
As Brooklyn begins to organize for subsequent season — as lengthy and arduous as it can doubtless be — Fernandez has plucked assistants Dutch Gaitley and Deividas Dulkys to come back with him from Sacramento. They’ll assist him in attempting to get these younger Nets to take extra pleasure in guarding in one-on-one matchups.
“He needs guys to be extra dominant on the ball, taking their matchups extra private,” Keon Johnson mentioned. “After which additionally counting on the assistance behind you, understanding that should you do try to gamble and even should you do get beat, you’ve bought guys behind you understanding that they’ll make a play behind you.
“[So], successful from a defensive standpoint, simply because for me that’s one thing I dangle my hat on, and that’s simply one thing I naturally simply watch at any time when I get the prospect to show the TV on. So simply seeing how he bought [Canada] taking part in defensively and within the system collectively, I imply, I see it translating over to Brooklyn.”
New addition
Brooklyn added Drew Nicholas to their scouting division, per Hoopshype. The Lengthy Island native had spent the previous two seasons as Director of Scouting for the Denver Nuggets.
