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Brooklyn Nets: Don’t Hate Kenny Atkinson, the Coach is Working

By Charles Daye

Jan 28, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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When Sean Marks hired Kenny Atkinson to be the 21st head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, he knew rebuilding would be a long process. With over half of their first season completed, it is still too early to judge the rookie head coach. Do like they do in Philadelphia, and “Trust the Process.”

The Brooklyn Nets are 30 games under .500 and when teams are perennial basement dwellers, the fans can get restless. Trade rumors start to circulate and dominate discussions. Hypothetical situations can turn into unrealistic expectations because the fans just want something positive, something to cheer about. When these dream scenarios don’t manifest into reality (usually by the trade deadline), cynicism takes over and then with a mob-like mentality, the fans call for someone’s job, usually the head coach.

Even though the record doesn’t show it, the Nets are in a much better position than they were just one year ago. That is because of Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson. These two men took over the franchise to cultivate a new culture in Brooklyn (a la’ the Spurs) and develop the young talent around a team-orientated culture.

There’s an old saying, “you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans,” and nothing has gone according to plan for the Nets. Atkinson headed into the season believing his starting point guard would be Jeremy Lin and his back up would be Greivis Vasquez. Both went down with injuries, and Atkinson was soon trying to simultaneously run his offense and develop the young talent. Rookie Isaiah Whitehead has started 23 of Brooklyn’s 48 games when the original plan was to have him play with Chris McCullough in the D-League.

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Could you imagine an NFL coach being on the hot seat just eight games into his first season after his starting quarterback and backup quarterback went down after the first game? No, because that doesn’t make sense, especially when your plan is not to win now, but to build for tomorrow.

Some of Atkinson’s lineups have been questionable, but when your team has yet to win 10 games over halfway into a season, no one in the starting lineup is untouchable.  Some of Atkinson’s in-game decisions have been questionable, like choosing Bojan Bogdanovic to guard Jimmy Butler in the closing seconds of a tight game. However, Atkinson is a rookie head coach in the NBA, so growing pains are inevitable.

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Atkinson’s team has not quit on him once this season. No matter how bad it has gotten, they have remained competitive and kept fighting. This is more important than who starts and who doesn’t, more imperative than any rotation. It doesn’t matter who is on the court; they will give their blood, sweat, and tears. Coaches go their whole career without that, and Atkinson already has it in Brooklyn.

Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily reported that the young Nets (Caris LeVert, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Whitehead and McCullough) “walk around calling each other brothers,” and that is vital for what Atkinson and Marks are trying to accomplish. Those four young men are the foundation of the Nets’ future. The fact that they feel so close to each other on this nine-win team in Brooklyn shows that the new culture is in fact, an actuality.

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The record does not show the development of the Brooklyn Nets. Stay positive, Rome wasn’t built in a day. “Trust the process” and embrace the future.