Early Takeaways From Brooklyn
As the Brooklyn Nets enter their 12th game of the season against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the early season shows a rocky and tumultuous start to the young season. The Nets now have a 4-7 record and are currently on a five-game losing streak.. Here are a few takeaways from the early season:
Lionel Hollins Will Call Out His Players:
Lionel Hollins was brought in to bring stability and order to Brooklyn. In the 3 years of the existence of the Brooklyn Nets, there have been 4 head coaches for the Brooklyn Nets. Hollins is known for his old school way of coaching, he will call out his players for poor play. He has called out Brook Lopez in specific. Here is what Hollins had to say about Lopez’s performance:
“Just being more aggressive, being tougher, rebounding better … just being a force in the paint. When you’re 7-foot, 260, I’d like for him to be a force, but I would like all of our big guys to play tougher, more aggressive.”
Hollins wants to make Brook Lopez into someone like Marc Gasol who he coached prior. Both have similar physical qualities, but personality-wise they are different. Gasol will abuse anyone in the paint, while Brook will use footwork to get his shot, but not the rebound. Aggressiveness is absent with the Nets team as a whole. Again, Hollins callled out the team in wake of the loss to Phoenix. They blew a 19-point lead in Phoenix because the Nets became complacent with the basketball which inevitably led to a loss. They reverted back to their old style of isolation play.
Ball Movement and Ball Protection
When the Nets play with a pass first mentality, they are a deadly basketball team. The coaches and the players notice that when the ball is moving in Brooklyn that they can score easier and win games. In their losses, it is clear that the Brooklyn Nets’ ball movement is poor. Joe Johnson has called out his teammates for selfish play. Whether he was calling out a certain teammate or not, he has a point. Deron Williams also notices that ball movement will be key for wins. Deron said:
“I think that’s [passing] a big problem. This team, this system, the way we want to play, we should have 25 assists, not in the teens. Simple as that. If we’re moving the ball, sharing the ball — if you look at our wins, we’ve passed the ball relatively well.”
Williams was correct. When the Nets lost the game they averaged only 18.8 assist per game. When the Nets won they averaged 21 assists per game. Now, that is not 25 assists per game, but it is a step in the right direction. Not only do the Nets have the be aware of their ball movement, they have to protect the ball as well. In the Nets’ losses, they averaged 15.7 turnovers. Suppose the other team scores on every turnover in those losses, it can add up to at least 31.4 points just from turnovers. In the Nets’ wins they only average 11.5 turnovers. Again, if the other team scored on every turnover, it can add up to at least 23 points. That is a difference of 8.4 points. With that difference that could have changed the score to close contested games.