After Brooklyn had suffered its eight straight loss on Friday night, Brook Lopez intimated the Nets were lacking belief and might be suffering a crisis of confidence. And as they prepared to play host to the Raptors on Super Bowl Sunday, coach Kenny Atkinson admitted doubt and uncertainty had naturally crept in.
“Sure, and I think that’s why we need a breakthrough here,’’ Atkinson said. “I think it’s just human nature. I think we’re searching, and when you’re searching and it’s not flowing, I think that’s where the hesitation is right now. And I’ve definitely seen that seeped in. So what we’re trying to do is show them our corrections and stuff we can get better at.
“But also we have to build them up. I think we’re kind of on that fine line right now. It’s learning how to execute under pressure, trusting each other a little more. And you can see we’re searching with our lineup. It’s twofold. A, I wish we had a more stable lineup. B, I think where we are, we need to try different lineups to find a solution. That’s a two-headed answer but there’s a lot of gray in this game.”
And probably in Atkinson’s hair if the Nets keep losing like this. Brooklyn has dropped eight straight — and 11 straight at home — to sit at an NBA-worst 9-41.
“I’d say frustration definitely does [creep in],’’ Caris LeVert said. “I wouldn’t say that doubt does, and even with frustration we try to look at the positives, try to find things we did well.”
One clear positive is the way the Nets have defended lately.
After getting shredded by the Timberwolves — allowing 129 points and 51.1 percent shooting on Jan. 28 — the Nets concentrated on defense and have improved vastly since. Despite being seventh-worst in the league in field goal defense at 46.4 percent, the Nets are third-best in the three games since that Minnesota debacle, holding foes to just 41.6 percent.
“I do think we had three pretty good defensive performances. After Minnesota we struggled, so we focused everything on defense, film and drills, so now we’ve had three good games,’’ Atkinson said. “So now [Saturday] we said we’ve got to get better offensively, so we shifted the focus back there. It’s a challenge.”
What they need is a happy medium. As soon as they focused more on defense, the bottom fell out offensively. The Nets committed 19 turnovers, looked out of sync and shot just 37.2 percent in Friday’s loss to Indiana.
“That’s on us coaches. We’ve got to figure that out. We didn’t totally ignore the offense after the Minnesota game but we definitely shifted the focus to defense and it helped. I really think when you do a few of these drills we do and you show them film and that’s the emphasis, it translates. So maybe from a coaching standpoint we can do a better job of balancing the two a little more, so we’re not tilted one way.
“That’s why I don’t like when people say defense wins championships. Balance wins championships. Our goal has got to be we have to be good in both areas and improve in both areas. … We’ve got to find that balance better.”
Finishing better at the rim would be a good start. The Nets are fourth-worst on shots within three feet, according to BasketballReference, and Atkinson said they made just 44 percent at the rim against the Pacers. That is 16 percent below league average.
Yogi Ferrell, waived by the Nets and signed by Dallas off their D-League roster, just signed a multi-year deal with the Mavericks. He averaged 17.8 points and five assists to lead Dallas to a 4-0 record in four starts.
“I’m just happy for him,” Atkinson said. “We enjoyed working with him. He did a good job with us in Summer League, a good job with us, a good job in the D-League. I’m just happy for the kid. That’s the way you’ve got to look at it. A kid that’s trying to break through. Just happy for the kid.”
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