While the bar was set pretty low early, the Nets have at least shown improvement on defense after opening the year with some of the worst stats in the league.
As Ziaire Williams noted this week, “None of us are cool with finishing last in the league on defense.”
It was something the players were aware of and while victories have been elusive, at least they haven’t been run over by opponents lately.
After allowing 125 or more points in seven of their first ten games, they haven’t allowed more than 119 points in any of the last four as they travel to Boston to face the Celtics for a second straight game.
And the presence of Drake Powell has played a role in that improvement.
The 6-foot-1 rookie has earned more playing time because of his defensive prowess, something he was known for coming out of North Carolina when the Nets selected him 22nd overall.
He barely took the field in the team’s first eight games due to a sprained ankle, but over the last six games he played an average of more than 22 minutes.
In that time, he has shown the Nets what they expected on that side of the ball.
“He is very capable of being one of the best perimeter defenders in the league,” Jordi Fernández said after practice on Thursday. “He is just a newcomer now and he doesn’t even know it, but I see the tools. He just has to continue to embrace that part and believe he can do it. And what he is doing now is good, but it can be even better. If he has that belief, that belief and that work ethic, the sky is the limit for him defensively.”
More time on the field against top competition will only help Powell, according to Noah Clowney.
“With the length he has, he could be our best defender on the ball by the end of the year,” Clowney said.
It’s not just getting used to facing the best players in the world, which will be a challenge for this rookie-filled Nets team this season.
As Fernández noted, few if any have seen a schedule like the Nets’ this week, with three games in four days, all three in different locations (Boston on Friday, Toronto on Sunday and then at home against the Knicks on Monday).
You have to travel to go to every game, and that’s three in four nights,” Fernández said. ‘So how do you prepare your body? [and yourself] mentally because it can be overwhelming?” Fernandez said.
According to the coach, the mental side can be just as difficult as the physical side.
“Everyone talks about the rookie wall halfway through the season,” Fernández said. “I think you even have to narrow it down to, ‘How do you take it back-to-back [games]? How do you take threes and fours? How do you take five-and-eights? It’s important. It is very valuable for their growth.”
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