The Nets are off to a historically bad start.
They have allowed 522 points over their first four games, the most in franchise history.
Poor defense isn’t terribly surprising for a Nets team that has the youngest roster in the NBA and is in its second straight season.
But that doesn’t make things any easier for head coach Jordi Fernández, who is trying to build a winning culture while the franchise looks to give itself the best chance of securing the top pick in next year’s draft.
So it’s left to Fernández — who called the defense “unacceptable” after Monday’s loss — to sort out the details, such as after the Nets gave up a record 137 points in Houston on Monday, with a home game against the Hawks on Wednesday in Brooklyn.
“A lot of it is just a lack of experience,” Fernández said after another lopsided loss to the Rockets. “But we’re going to challenge them. The coaches are great and we’re going to find a way to challenge, to keep the focus on every possession. It doesn’t matter if you play 20 seconds, if you play three minutes, if you play 10 minutes, your attention to detail and your effort has to be there. And I know the boys will learn from it.”
Fernández had better hope so, otherwise he and his team will face an even longer season than expected.
They’ve already allowed more than 130 points in three of their first four games, something they “only” did seven times a year ago.
The 42 points the Rockets scored in the first quarter were ugly enough, but then they saw Houston go on a 14-4 run to open the second half and put the game away, again thanks to poor defense.
“She [were] step out in the transition [and] nobody came back,” Day’Ron Sharpe said of the porous defense. “We need to do a better job of talking about defense… it’s just all the things that are about defense. We can’t make too many mistakes by not talking or [being] in the wrong place.”
Fernández called the start of the third quarter a consistent problem for his team.
“The start of the third wasn’t good,” Fernández said. “So that’s going to be addressed. Again, it’s just a matter of attention to detail and going out there and collecting assets on both ends of the floor and just being better.
And it’s not just that the Nets are being scored at an unprecedented rate.
No one else in the league has been as inefficient on that side of the ball so far this season.
The 130.5 points per game they have allowed is the worst in the NBA, as is the 53.7 field goals they have allowed to opponents.
And from three-point range, that’s 46 percent.
“You give up 140 points, 50 percent [shooting] It’s not going to be good from the field,” the coach said. “And right now this is the result we deserve as a group. But I know we can do better. So… I’ll keep working, [we’re] I will have positive energy and hold everyone accountable.”
Ziaire Williams, who missed Monday’s loss due to a lower back/gluteal contusion, was listed as questionable for Wednesday.
And Egor Dëmin, who rested on Monday as injury treatment due to his left plantar fascia tear, was not included in Tuesday’s injury report.
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