NBN Roundtable: How Did the Nets do After One Month?

Assess the Nets’ Play Without Jeremy Lin (cont.)

Tyler Dencker: I’d sum it up in two words: extremely mediocre. The team has shown serious potential even without Lin on the court. However, their record without him says enough for itself. Lin is the focal point of the team and losing him really disrupts the team’s dynamic, so their poor play is somewhat excusable for this reason. Hopefully the team will gain a sense of confidence when he returns, and that can spark an early season-like run.

Grade: B-

Malcolm Ireland: Without a doubt, the Nets have struggled mightily without Jeremy Lin. The Nets have won just three games without Lin, and they have not found any answers at the point guard position. Isaiah Whitehead and Sean Kilpatrick have played well, but neither are natural point guards. Whitehead is a rookie who is still trying to make the transition to point guard. For Kilpatrick, he is 26 years old and has always played shooting guard. Asking either Whitehead or Kilpatrick to take over the reins of the offense is a lot.

Grade: D

Manan Modi: Since Jeremy Lin got injured on November 2nd, the Nets played a total of 13 games to close out November, garnering a mere 3 wins. In the 10 games that they lost in that span, the Nets lost by a total of 171 points, which is about 17 points per game. That’s horrible, considering that, at one point, they also lost 7 games straight. And they probably know that already too. However, we can’t entirely blame the Nets, because none of us expected Lin to be injured. At the moment, they don’t have a clear leader on the floor. We don’t know who is the clear ball distributor, which the Nets need in order to consistently play well. Nevertheless, Sean Kilpatrick, for instance, has stepped up and definitely shown his potential for leadership, so we can’t knock him for playing well and proving that he is indeed a key player on this squad. But at the end of the day, individual successes need to bring about team success and eventually translate into wins.

Grade: C+

Max Prinz: This grade is probably a little high given that the Nets have just 3 wins without Jeremy Lin, but I really thought things would get much worse. The Nets are largely bereft of players who can create for others without Lin, and they’ve still managed to remain competitive. The team continues to play hard every night, and head coach Kenny Atkinson deserves a ton of credit for that. 

Grade: B

Matt Pisani: I think, considering the win projections and the injury to Jeremy Lin, getting three wins in three weeks he has been out is miraculous. Many experts thought, even with Lin, Brooklyn would have right about the same, if not less, wins than they currently do. In that aspect, it is fair to say that they have been playing well without Lin. The fan side of me, seeing constant near-20-point losses, makes me want to say they have been playing terribly. Some nights are certainly terrible, and some nights are actually quite good. Beating the Clippers in double overtime really was something special. This team is certainly better with Jeremy Lin, but, considering their outlook and his injury, this team has been playing about as well as it realistically could.

Grade: B

Darnell Gilet: I do not know if the Nets’ record would be any different with Jeremy Lin in the lineup. Prior to the season, we expected the Nets to struggle.  With Lin in early on, the Nets overachieved. We all expected them to come back down to expectations.  That is what has happened. Beyond the record, there are positive takeaways. One is the emergence of Sean Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick is turning into the best young (ish) prospect for the Nets. The other is the competence of Isaiah Whitehead at an early stage in his career as a second round pick. Bojan Bogdanovic has been extremely consistent. These are players that can serve a strong role if the Nets can ever land a big time free agent. 

Grade: F