The topic du jour at practice yesterday centered around the Nets defense – or lack of it – the past three games where they’ve allowed 107.2 points and 55 percent shooting. Devin Harris reacts:
“[We had] some confusion on certain plays on what we’re doing, and it’s leaving us vulnerable on the weak side,” he said. “And we’re paying for it.”
What’s most dispiriting is even when the team was losing games earlier this year, I was thinking to myself, “well they still look a lot better than last year.” That hasn’t been the case as the competition has gotten better the past week, and if they can’t turn things around ten-fold, I can’t imagine Sunday’s game with the Lakers being even mildly competitive. I think part of it also stems with how bad the offense has been. The Nets are not making their shots and settling for jumpers, leaving them flat-footed in transition. But obviously, the biggest offender right now is the switch-offs and rotations on defense. This team just looks lost and if it’s because Avery Johnson is trying to implement some new schemes, he might want to consider simplifying things.
