You\u2019ll notice that the subhead here says \u201ca week of dreadful Nets basketball\u201d and not \u201ca dreadful week of Nets basketball.\u201d Many, including myself, will argue that losing these basketball games as the 0-4 Brooklyn Nets have done so far benefits their long-term goals, which is to say, the tank is off to a terrific start. So I can\u2019t exactly call Brooklyn\u2019s opening week itself dreadful. Sure, these \u201cday-to-day\u201d injuries for Drake Powell and Danny Wolf are bummers, but unlike last season, the organization is accomplishing one of its main goals for 2025-26 (losing) right out of the gate.<\/p>\n
However, the basketball itself has been horrific, only watchable if you consider Brooklyn\u2019s defense a type of performance art. The Nets are allowing 131.8 points per 100 possessions, over a dozen points more than last year\u2019s league-worst Utah Jazz. Even in just a four-game sample, they\u2019ve managed to separate themselves from the pack; only one other team has a defensive rating above 120!<\/p>\n
Opponents are shooting 46% from three against the Nets so far. Unsustainable! you might say. Technically, you are correct, but it feels like every 3-point attempt they\u2019ve surrendered has been wide open; Brooklyn cannot make more than two successful rotations on a defensive possession before their shell disintegrates. In simpler terms: They deserve every bit of that 46% mark, and the horrid 59% mark opponents are shooting from two.<\/p>\n
Right now, everything is a mess. Their season-opening loss to the Charlotte Hornets was the worst defensive game they\u2019ve played since I started writing about this team six seasons ago; the effort\/execution has only gotten marginally better since then. Firstly, nobody seems interested in stopping the ball in transition\u2026<\/p>\n
On the occasions they do stop the ball, there no communication as to how to matchup. With NBA teams emphasizing a faster pace than we\u2019ve seen since the 1980s, Brooklyn\u2019s defense has no chance to be functional until their desire and focus in transition improves.<\/p>\n
In the half-court, Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez has tried to increase the defensive intensity from last season, when Brooklyn was already blitzing\/trapping ball-screens more often than any other team in the league. Barring the occasional turnover, this leaves any three of Brooklyn\u2019s guards\/wings to defend a four-on-three situation. One problem: the Nets have perhaps the least athletic guards and wings in the league, a recurring problem for this roster.<\/p>\n
Guys like Tyrese Martin, Ziaire Williams, Jalen Wilson, Noah Clowney, Egor D\u00ebmin, etc. often don\u2019t have the burst\/explosion to fly around the court and play effective 4-on-3 defense. And then there\u2019s players like Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. who \u2014 on top of athletic limitations \u2014 have spent much of the season visibly disinterested when the ball isn\u2019t in their hands \u2026<\/p>\n
I cannot imagine what Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez, not only as the head coach of this team but as a basketball nerd, is thinking while watching this defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just unacceptable to take an NBA game for granted,\u201d he told the New York Post\u2019s Brian Lewis after Monday night\u2019s loss to the Houston Rockets. \u201cAnd our guys are trying. They just don\u2019t know how much harder and focused they can do things. And I believe they\u2019ll keep taking those steps. A lot of it is just lack of experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know what else Fern\u00e1ndez, who built up plenty of goodwill last season, is supposed to say. But I can\u2019t buy that when looking at someone like Terance Mann or Ziaire Williams or Michael Porter Jr., who elevated his defense immensely while winning a ring with the 2023 Denver Nuggets. Ben Saraf making a mistake while blitzing the pick-and-roll is one thing, but that\u2019s not why Brooklyn is getting killed in their blitzing\/trapping right now.<\/p>\n