All eyes are on the Brooklyn
Nets, and why wouldn’t they
be?
With three offensive powerhouses
woven into the starting lineup in Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and
James Harden, it’s difficult to not want to tune in
regularly and see what they’re capable of. Considering this, it’s
no surprise that the team’s inner workings and inconsistent start
have garnered extra attention, leaving fans wondering about the
validity of any deep playoff run.
There are a few things to note
in the Nets’ current positioning. They’re clearly not finished in
regards to team building -- an observation simply based on the ages
of their stars and the perceived goals for the season after the
blockbuster acquisition of Harden. Nets GM Sean Marks has said that
they aren't done making moves.
This is a team with immediate championship aspirations, so they’ll
be assessed as such, with all the speculatory and accusatory
fascination that comes with existing in the space of a team that
could win it all. Located in New York to boot! And all of this is
before even coming to terms with three stylistically-unique players
in their primes, finding a way to alter the skill-sets familiar to
them as a means to coexist.
BasketballNews.com covered the
absence of All-Star point guard and NBA champion Kyrie Irving
(read my piece
here), and Brooklyn’s
team was off to an instantly controversial and hotly-debated start
to an already-so-very-strange season.
Recently, Irving himself
commented on the many disruptions to the Nets' roller-coaster
season, referencing the interruptions
due to the coronavirus as well as an alleged conspiracy against the
team by the league’s referees.
"We are the team that the NBA
put the most games on. We're the team that gets someone taken out
during COVID, during the games. We're the team that has to deal
with the refs. We're the team that is literally battling against so
many odds, that at this point, there's not even a reason to
continue commenting on it," Irving said. "They are what they are.
As a warrior that I am, and the energy that I have alongside my
teammates, we just have to turn that corner, and we haven't done
that, but we will, and I'm telling you, the league's gonna be on
notice when that happens."
His comments, no matter how
ambitious, speak less to the facts of the season and more so to the
bubbling frustrations felt by the roster itself. So far, the Nets
have experienced multiple interruptions to their player rotation
due to exposures. These interruptions are not unique to the team,
but it doesn't make them any less valid.
Literally, in the midst of a
recent matchup with the Toronto Raptors, Durant was pulled from the
game after 20 minutes of play because of an inconclusive COVID-19
test from someone within Brooklyn's entourage. The strange event
began with Durant entering the game (in spite of the inconclusive
test) and culminated with the superstar small forward being pulled
from the contest -- an action that was, up until that point,
unprecedented in the NBA. When coupled with Irving's seven-game
absence -- and the unsavory controversies surrounding Harden's
departure from the Houston Rockets -- it's easy to understand the
poorly-veiled annoyance from the players, and even rookie head
coach Steve Nash.
But all hope isn't lost... far
from it, actually. A newly assembled team boasting intense star
power has become synonymous with early chemistry issues (think of
the 2010 Heatles, the 2018 Celtics, etc.).
It seems the issue of contact to
a revolving door of team staff members, acquaintances and
entourages of assistants and drivers has left star players in a
constant state of susceptibility to exposure. Logically, star
players would be in frequent contact with supporting staff in
accordance to their workload and price tag, so this issue may not
be resolved before season’s end, which is where I believe Irving’s
frustrations lie. My
curiosity's hinge on whether these interferences (that all teams
are currently dealing with, to some extent) are having an impact on
the Nets' actual play.
As it stands, Brooklyn,
unsurprisingly, sits among the NBA's top-five offenses. You may
have also heard that the team sits among the league’s top-five
worst defenses. This year, barring any issues of health, we'll
learn if these two facts can simultaneously exist within a team
that possesses championship aspirations. I'm guessing "no," only
because the Nets not only hold front-office competency, but they
also have the assets required to make the marginal changes that
have the potential to revamp their defense.
Because the changes are so
marginal, it leads me to believe that those will be the franchise’s
next steps -- with minor upgrades on the defensive end with their
center and wing depth, having the potential to drastically alter
the current lackluster effort on the court.
The first step is acceptance,
and judging by what we’ve heard from the team, they are well aware
of their deficiencies. Coach Nash evened echoed the
sentiment.
"It's about personal pride,"
Nash said following the team's disappointing loss to the Detroit
Pistons. "We have to decide what kind of team we want to
be."
One can’t help but be compelled
to watch closely as a franchise so self aware navigates the NBA
season on their quest to attain what is, essentially,
perfection.