PHILADELPHIA — For years, the only ball movement people saw in Brooklyn was the up and down as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving dribbled.
And it was only natural that they would try to lead two of the greatest isolation players of all time to victory.
But both are long gone, along with their prolific scoring and hopes of competing with the Nets.
Brooklyn is currently rebuilding and has to get back to basics and develop good habits.
And one of the non-negotiables that new coach Jordi Fernandez is touting is movement around the ball.
His early return was highly anticipated for Wednesday's preseason game in Philadelphia.
“Well, the quality of the shot was good,” Fernandez said. “That goes for not only ball movement, but body movement. Guys have been active. They share the ball. And there's energy on the ball. And when you pass that ball , everyone brings that energy. That's how we played very good, very fast.
“If you look at the total possession numbers, you can see that we are a little bit behind. These are raw numbers. [in the] Half court…the number of passes and cuts are very high. That means we're moving around a lot. We share basketball. So I'm happy. This creates high-quality shots. And we're getting to the free throw line pretty well. … So far, we've been very pleased with the buy-in from our members. ”
The Nets finished just 21st in the rankings last season, but entered Wednesday's game in Philadelphia with their first fast-break points of the preseason.
In assist-to-turnover ratio, they are now third, up from just 19th in 2023-24.
If there's one play that exemplifies the complementary basketball Fernandez wants, it's Cam Thomas's Dorian Finney-Smith 3-pointer that led to Dorian Finney-Smith's 3-pointer in Monday's win, in which all five Nets touched the ball. It was defense.
“Coach wanted to move the ball from side to side and we did that on the play and tried to find the best shot available. It was one of those plays.” Finney-Smith said. “On a play like that, everyone just touched it and got a dunk.
“The ball gives you energy and the coaches talk about that. When the ball touches you, it gives you this energy. Even when you're tired, [when] Having the ball gives you energy. I mean, it was one of those plays. And as you could see by the team, they really enjoyed that play because everyone was exposed to it. And then it went on top of that. ”
Thomas has been noted for inconsistent defense throughout his career, but he showed modest improvement last season.
And early in camp and this preseason, he seems to be taking more positive steps.
On Monday, with Brooklyn leading Washington 59-47 with 10:34 left in the third quarter, Thomas read a pass from Kyle Kuzma and picked it off.
And on the other side, everyone in the net touched the ball before making a perfect 3-point shot.
Thomas pushed it to Cam Johnson above the arc, and the wing passed it to Ziare Williams.
The rookie attacked the rim, collapsing the defense and kicking out to Dennis Schroder.
But instead of making a corner 3-pointer, the point guard quickly swung the ball to Finney-Smith for a wide-open 3-pointer. And Brooklyn built a 15-point lead the rest of the night.
That's what Fernandez expected to come into Wednesday's game against the 76ers, and it's what we should see during the season.
“The ball has energy. Everyone touches the ball. Everyone is happy,” Fernandez said at the beginning of camp. “We have to share that energy, which means we play a certain way and that way is to share the basketball, be more unpredictable, harder to guard. Do it through Nick. [Claxton] He’s going to really help us offensively.”
