The players and interim coach Kevin O’Ree still don’t have answers for the fourth-quarter blunders that have plagued the Nets all season.
There’s a lack of not only shooting numbers but also a general lack of composure when opposing teams start pushing late to take the game away — most recently in the Nets’ 105-93 loss to the Knicks on Saturday.
The Nets have lost six games in a row.
On March 17, against the Spurs, they led 83-80 going into the fourth quarter, trailing the worst team in the West and sending the game into overtime.
However, only 5 points were scored in the 5 minutes of extra time.
In two of those six games, against the Pacers and against the Knicks, they closed the gap to within 10 points.
Olly said he sees the group as lacking a “superstar” to rely on.
This is a group that lacks a “competitive edge” and doesn’t focus on the basics of the game in the final minutes.
We need to depend on each other to win.
“We have to focus on the little things. I just said it tonight: We can’t turn the ball over, we don’t have the depth that we don’t have — I’m not going to say the level of talent, but we have We don’t have superstars, we have that that we don’t have,” Ollie said after Saturday’s loss. “So we have to be a collective group, we have to play together, we have to do everything together, we have to come together offensively and defensively to win games. Must be. And I’m not saying that to you guys, I’m saying that to the team, that’s how we had to play. I mean, no turnovers, no missed shots. You see it, and then you see the offensive rebound. That’s how you lose games.”
The Knicks dominated the glass 47-41, and a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd saw the Knicks collect 16 offensive boards compared to just eight for the Nets. .
The Nets also committed 15 turnovers and the Knicks had 10, but their East River rivals scored 19 points off those mistakes.
The Nets won 26-3 in second-chance points and 18-5 in fast-break points.
Cam Thomas, who scored a team-high 19 points, admitted he was speechless after losing the series late in the game.
Asked if his drop in the standings in the fourth quarter was due to a lack of “competitiveness” as Ollie suggested, or for other reasons, he said: “I think it’s a little bit of both.” he answered. “I don’t know. I don’t really have an answer to that.”
Cam Johnson suggested the team needed to “connect a little more” and “trust each other a little more.”
Perhaps it’s the overall eerie atmosphere in the midst of a season of hardship.
O’Ree, whose Nets are 5-12, admitted he doesn’t understand why the basic details of the game are so difficult to understand.
Despite what he observed, the coach did not back down from finding answers within the locker room regarding the time left in the head coaching role.
Ollie will likely be replaced at the end of the season.
“I’m going to continue coaching. We can’t not trade anybody, we don’t want to trade anybody, we can’t do that. This is our group and they’re going to do it in the next 11 games. . I told you, they have everything to play for,” he said. “Don’t go to the locker room and have a pity party saying you have nothing to play for. You have everything to play for. You have the pride to play. That’s my message: I’m going to continue to coach them and I’m not going to run away from my responsibility.”
The Nets fought to tie the score at 80 against the Knicks in the final quarter, but missed 11 consecutive shots and glazed for nearly four minutes, then went more than eight minutes without a basket.
The Knicks outscored the Nets 25-16 in the fourth quarter.
The Nets have 11 games left to try and turn those moments into positives or improvements of any kind.
Their next chance comes Monday night against the also struggling Raptors (23-48).
Toronto has lost 10 straight games and sits in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, just below the Nets.
