NBA Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn Nets Have a Long Way to Go Defensively

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By @Bigwoolf5

Brooklyn Nets

Winslow Townson-USA Today Sports

After their opening night loss to the Boston Celtics one thing is clear: the Brooklyn Nets have a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the ball. After Jason Kidd abruptly left the team, the Nets hired Lionel Hollins, the former head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. Many fans assumed the Nets’ defense would automatically become better because of Hollins, but this game was a reminder that it takes time.

In Memphis, Hollins consistently had top-10 defenses, which is why many fans made the assumption of better defense, but he doesn’t have as much defensive talent in Brooklyn as he did with the Grizzlies. Remember, the Grizzlies had Marc Gasol, a perennial defensive player of the year candidate, to go with Tony Allen and Mike Conley, NBA all defense type players.

Deron Williams and Joe Johnson are solid one-on-one defensive players, but not on the same level as Allen and Conley. The biggest difference, though, is at the center position. Brook Lopez is pretty good at protecting the rim, but is nowhere near the caliber of defender that Gasol is.

Hollins is going to have to do his best coaching job yet to get this team to play solid defense. Their opening game in Boston proved the Nets’ defense is not where it needs to be if they want to contend. The Celtics were regularly getting easy looks in the paint and open jump shots. As a team, the Celtics scored 121 points on 56 percent from the field, and while some of the shots were well defended, including Rajon Rondo‘s bank three-pointer, there were way too many open shots.

Even though they were blown out, it isn’t all negative for the Nets. It seems like they will have no issue scoring points this season as they put up 105 points without Lopez, their best scorer, and with Johnson and Williams having off shooting nights. Another positive is that Williams looked healthy for the first time in a while. Since he came to the Nets, Williams has struggled to stay healthy, but after offseason ankle surgery, he is the healthiest he has been in his Brooklyn tenure. Even though he started 1-7 from the field, you could just tell he was moving better, which is huge for the Nets this season.

It would be easy for a Nets fan to overreact and think they are in for a rough year after a season-opening blowout loss to a Celtics team that won 27 games a season ago, but there are a lot of things to be positive about. If Hollins can somehow work some magic and get the Nets to play solid team defense, this team has a chance to compete. They have enough scoring and talent to hang in there with the better teams in the league.

Health and defense are certainly the biggest keys to the Nets’ 2014-15 season, and unfortunately right now none of those things are working in their favor. Lopez is expected back Saturday, so it is now up to Hollins and the coaching staff to tighten up the defense if the Nets are going to be a factor in the Eastern Conference this season.

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