The Brooklyn Nets were awful. Head Coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez groveled before his team and the media, simply asking for effort\u2026<\/p>\n
The day after those comments, Brooklyn fell to 0-7, losing to the Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves 125-109. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Wolves posted a 137 offensive rating in that one, grabbing 47% of their own misses and shooting 17-of-21 at the rim, excluding garbage time. A bad performance by Brooklyn, but somehow a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we took really positive steps,\u201d said Fern\u00e1ndez postgame. \u201cYou saw the fight and the purpose and winning two quarters, also allowing less than 30 points in two quarters. For us right now, that\u2019s a win. And I\u2019m really proud of these guys for keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought Jordi was just playing Good Cop after his Sad Cop act the night prior. Maybe the bar was really that low. Or maybe he saw the signs: Since that loss to the Wolves, Brooklyn is 9-12, and 9-9 when Michael Porter Jr. plays. Given their start to the season, that otherwise unremarkable record is astonishing, but having the league\u2019s best defense in the month of December is downright incomprehensible.<\/p>\n
A brief aside on The Tank. Brooklyn still has the league\u2019s sixth-worst record, and three of the teams below them don\u2019t own their own pick, so it\u2019s not dead yet \u2026 but with the Nets playing like this, start researching hospice.<\/p>\n
Listen, they traded for their own picks back. Sean Marks, championing asset accumulation and flexibility, surrendered four picks\/swaps (mostly via Phoenix, mostly post-2027) for Brooklyn\u2019s own pick in the 2025 and 2026 NBA Drafts. It was a great trade. It dims with each passing win.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let that stop you from enjoying the wins, though. Brooklyn has beaten three division rivals in the past month, including awesome road wins over Philly and Boston. The rookies are contributing, Noah Clowney is ascending, and Nic Claxton has a fresher lease on life than George Bailey. How are they doing it?<\/p>\n
First, they\u2019re reaping the fruits of length. Outside of Day\u2019Ron Sharpe, the Nets don\u2019t have any Weight Room Warriors, but among the ten guys Fern\u00e1ndez played in Philly, Terance Mann had the shortest wingspan at 6\u20197\u201d. Even he blocked a Joel Embiid dunk (though that feat grows less impressive by the week). It\u2019s no coincidence Tyrese Maxey had his worst game of the season, shooting 3-of-14, nor is it that Jared McCain shot 3-of-11\u2026<\/p>\n
Per Cleaning the Glass, the guard-heavy Sixers are the NBA\u2019s least efficient rim-finishing team. Let it also be known that Brooklyn\u2019s schedule over this 6-3 stretch has been as soft as the slush covering Atlantic Avenue.<\/p>\n
With those caveats in mind, Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s team is executing an extreme defensive strategy right now, allowing the highest rim-rate in the NBA in December, but the sixth-lowest conversion rate. They\u2019re also allowing the lowest 3-point attempt rate.<\/p>\n
Allowing paint touch after paint touch probably isn\u2019t a recipe for a league-best defense, and Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez hinted at that while complimenting his team\u2019s defense after a win over the Toronto Raptors: \u201cWe\u2019ve had good winning plays where you have to go get out to the 3-point line to a good shooter, and limit that three. So, happy with that. Still, we have a lot of work to do with defending the rim, some containing the ball, especially in transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, those weren\u2019t bunnies for Maxey and McCain, not around all that length. In one clip, Maxey drives around Danny Wolf, then Day\u2019Ron Sharpe, only to find himself sandwiched between Egor Demin and MPJ. Last season, you may recall Brooklyn went 7-3 in a stretch that wrapped around All-Star Weekend, buoyed again by the league\u2019s top defense. D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu? Uh, no. Per Cleaning the Glass, Brooklyn had the best mid-range and 3-point defense in that stretch, playing their butts off but more so a beneficiary of cartoonishly good luck.<\/p>\n
Good fortune is always involved in small-sample success, but this ain\u2019t that. Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez, scarred by his team\u2019s start to this season, has dialed the blitz way back, instead opting to switch most ball-screens. This season\u2019s Nets are forcing fewer turnovers, but as Fern\u00e1ndez explains, the constant switching decreases stress on help defenders: \u201cThe other thing is switching a little bit more pick-and-roll. It creates less help, less rotations, and you know, you can defend the 3-point line easier, and then the multiple efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
On this possession, Nic Claxton switches onto and contains Jared McCain, but keep an eye on Egor D\u00ebmin in help\u2026<\/p>\n
All four help defenders are fairly attached to their marks, including D\u00ebmin. In a more aggressive coverage, he\u2019d have to sink down toward Andre Drummond to try and prevent a dump-off pass. Not today. With Claxton containing McCain, Noah Clowney is body-to-body with Drummond. Thus, D\u00ebmin has a much shorter closeout to Eric Gordon, who he runs off the line and into a difficult scoop. Brooklyn does allow an offensive rebound (they\u2019re still just 21st in that category post 0-7, often a drawback of frequent switching), but Clax alters the follow-up.<\/p>\n
Their win over Philadelphia was also instructive thanks to the depth: All ten guys that played had at least a few positive moments \u2014 even the rooks \u2014 but one headline performer was Day\u2019Ron Sharpe, who entered the game after Clax picked up two early fouls. Sharpe completely shifted momentum, finishing as a +16 on the night, and just, look at this dude\u2026<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve discussed Nic Claxton\u2019s improvements this season, thereby limiting Sharpe\u2019s minutes. Don\u2019t mistake that for Brooklyn\u2019s backup center taking a step back, though. He\u2019s having \u2014 by far \u2014 his best season finishing at the rim, a glaring weakness for him previously, while doing all the little things that make him a trade machine darling for nerdy fans of contending teams.<\/p>\n