New head coach, same result for the slumping Brooklyn Nets as they were blown out in their first lick of action post-All-Star break by the Toronto Raptors Thursday evening, losing by a final score of 121-93.
From their clunky offensive sets that saw them constantly hoisting up long-range shots to their seemingly nonexistent transition defense, Kevin Ollie's game plan didn't appear to be all that different compared to ex-headman Jacque Vaughn's outside of perhaps the uptick in usage for Dennis Schroder.
Fortunately, it appears his players understand the fact that change wasn't destined to come in just a few days, as Brooklyn's new coaching regime will need a bit of time to work through some of the kinks. Still, this didn't stop guard Cam Thomas from admitting that he was a bit "confused" by how things were being run during Ollie's coaching debut with the Nets.
Nets guard Cam Thomas admits he was 'confused' by play calling
"I feel like we did some [good stuff]. Obviously it's our first game [with Ollie]. It's tough. You got a little different terminology on offensive stuff... Until we actually process what was said and what run, we're already at like eight, nine seconds in the shot clock. We're getting grenades. I got a few grenades off of everybody being confused. Even I was confused on offense with some of the plays. That just comes with it. It's our first game, first game actually running everything against somebody different but I think we'll get used to it and we'll figure it out quickly because we have to, honestly."Cam Thomas
Back-to-back from @24_camthomas to end the half 🪣 pic.twitter.com/YJqqjwpE0i
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) February 23, 2024
Despite his lack of understanding of the new offensive game plan, unsurprising considering the expectations that have come with the coaching shakeup, Thomas still had himself quite an impressive showing, as he dropped 19 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the floor to go along with 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals in 30 minutes of action.
Unfortunately, outside of him and Mikal Bridges (21 points), the Nets offense proved to be tremendously inefficient, as they shot just 41.2 percent from the floor and 29.7 percent from deep while their defense gave them no help on this front by letting Toronto convert at an efficient rate of 48.8 percent shooting from the floor and 45.2 percent shooting from deep.
While initial struggles were expected with Ollie now taking over the charge on the sidelines, at 21-34 and with three wins separating them and the Atlanta Hawks in the race for the final Play-In Tournament slot, Brooklyn must find a way to work through things sooner rather than later, otherwise their season could be over before they know it.