The Nets are cleaning up after Monday's disastrous loss.
The Nets played their first game without veteran leader and point guard Dennis Schroder, who was traded to the Warriors in a tanky decision by the front office on Sunday, against the Cavaliers and former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson. They lost with 130 points. 101 losses at Barclays Center.
In exchange for Schroder, they acquired De'Anthony Melton, but Melton will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on December 4 to repair a partially torn ACL. Newcomer Reece Beekman. 3 second round picks. And a completely new style of basketball.
“We're trying to blow that game away and learn from it, but you know, we're trying to win tomorrow,” Dorian Finney-Smith said after Wednesday's practice. “The coaches told us things to work on, especially defensively. We started to do a better job defensively, keeping guys out in the middle of the paint and trying to win tomorrow.” You have to strive for it.”
After committing 22 turnovers (which Cleveland turned into 34 points), giving up 29 free throw attempts to the Cavaliers and allowing 24 second-chance points, the immediate holes are in the possession game and pace. It seemed like there was.
These were the two points that head coach Jordi Fernandes focused on in helping his team adjust.
“These things add up and it's about how can we make our execution better,” Fernandez said Wednesday. “Spacing so you don't turn it over. The technique of our defense is not always getting sent to the line. Finding bodies, especially now that we're bigger, there's no excuse not to complete possessions. I mean, all of those things would have helped us, but now we can't play that game anymore.
“So we're looking at the next piece. The guys owned it. They've got a great attitude about it. But what kind of performance do they have for 48 minutes in the next game?” I want to see if I can do it.”
The Nets, with Ben Simmons as their primary point guard, played what Fernandez thought was their fastest game on Monday.
Simmons is effective in transition and is known for taking the lead and getting fast break points.
This is a big change from Schroder, who typically adjusts plays towards the end of the shot clock.
On Monday, the Nets put up 16 fast-break points to the Cavaliers' 21, but a lack of ball care led to a blowout loss.
“I think the pace was positive. I know I wasn't feeling positive at all in that game, especially at the start of the game,” Fernandez said. “Obviously, a lot of turnovers often creates more space, but especially if the turnovers happen early and turn into quick shots the other way, you don't want to increase the pace. But it's not about reversing it.”
This season, the Nets were short-handed at one point due to injuries to Dayron Sharpe, Trendon Watford, Nic Claxton, and Noah Clowney.
Still, the Cavaliers' 38 second-chance points in the paint, as well as being outrebounded 42-35, were a glaring problem on the stat sheet.
Despite the lack of backcourt talent, the adjustments have also affected players in the paint.
“It starts with defense. We have to protect our players,” Finney-Smith said. “We have to take care of the ball. We turned the ball over, but it wasn't just turnovers. It was live ball turnovers that led to dunks and wide open threes. We had to take care of ourselves and we had to rebound with our size. If we win the possession game and get some stops, we can get into a transition period where we can be pretty good.”
The Nets have a chance to bounce back this week against two of the league's worst teams — on the road against the Raptors (7-20) on Thursday and at home against the struggling Jazz on Saturday. Play against (5-20).
