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

Where Can the Nets Improve? (cont.)

Tyler Dencker: Without a doubt, the defense. They’ve given up 110+ points in over 10 games, and 120+ points in six of those games. That’s inexcusable. Even when the offense is clicking, it’s more than a lot to ask them to put up more than 110 on a consistent basis, especially when Lin is hurt. A big reason for the defensive woes could be that they’re allowing their opponents to shoot 47.6 percent from the field, which is second worst in the league. Clearly, it seems the opponent has all the space in the world to shoot. The Nets’ defensive game plan, whatever it may be, is clearly not working and they need to do something about that if they want to be competitive. The Nets are not a team where their offense can bail out their defense night-in and night-out, so their defense needs to improve before they can get back on a winning track.

Malcolm Ireland: The Nets have struggled heavily in rebounding and defense to this point in the season. For the most part the Nets should be more concerned about their rebounding. For starters, the Nets are shooting the ball a lot and trying to adopt the three point culture in Brooklyn. With that said, their thought process is that scoring can make up for their poor defense when healthy. The problem is their rebounding will not improve when healthy. The Nets are pounded on the boards night in and night out. This allows teams to have second chance points, when the Nets can’t afford to give up any. The only way this will change is with roster improvement. Trevor Booker can only play so many minutes in the game. When he comes out, the Nets lose toughness and rebounding.

Manan Modi: As observed by many basketball analysts and writers, the Nets have struggled the most in the 3rd quarter. Given that Lin is injured, the Nets have already seen their set of best players to be under-represented. The Nets are lacking that additional facilitator who could provide an additional 2nd half boost that they’ve needed. I hate that he got injured; however, I feel that Jeremy Lin needed to sit out and truly watch how his teammates play, and this may turn out to be a positive, a blessing in disguise — for both him and the entire Brooklyn Nets squad in the long-term. In the month he has been sidelined, he has been taking notes (literally) on how his teammates are playing individually as well as together, and as a result, he has gotten more insight and perspectives on how he would better fit this team when he comes back.

Max Prinz: Two areas: defense and third quarters. The defense is allowing 108.9 points per 100 possessions, second most in the league. That number is simply unacceptable. Similarly, the Nets have come out of the halftime break sluggish far too many times this season. The Nets need to stop letting games slip away in the third frame.

Matt Pisani: From a box score and statistical stand point, Brooklyn needs to work on rebounding and points in the paint. They are even or maybe even slightly ahead some nights, but, there are a good amount of nights where Brooklyn gets decimated in those categories. Trevor Booker is an eight-and-eight kind of guy, and everyone knows Brook Lopez will put up points. But, when you have two big men near seven feet tall in Lopez and Justin Hamilton off the bench who cannot rebound the ball, you are going to have issues. Their style of play kind of leads into the next question about three-point shots. Maybe the big men need to rely on their height rather more than their shot and stay down low more in order to be in better position to grab rebounds. Not getting rebounds will hurt any team, especially one as mediocre at shooting the ball and playing defense as Brooklyn is. Brooklyn needs to improve their play down low or they will be screwed.

Darnell Gilet: The Nets need to improve in one area and one area only. That area is talent. It is hard to criticize a team that lacks the horses but fights hard every night.  While the Nets have not won much, they have earned my respect for their grit and resilience in spite of being out matched on most nights.