GT: Hornets vs Nets - Wednesday, 03/21/18, 7:30pm EST

[MrDollarBills]

I hope you're wrong, but we'll see.

Was he "losing" the team when they were up 20 points? did he lose the team the last two games?

only after a bad loss does this stuff start coming up. it's bunk. if guys go out against cleveland and quit, or mail it in over the next 3 weeks, then I will concede your point. Until then, there is zero basis for this.

Kenny has lost you, and you are projecting your feelings onto the team. you have every right to lose faith in him. what is going on with the team in real time however, could be and probably is entirely different.

[JiggaMan06]

I HATE THE WAY WE DEFEND THE PNR!!! Why are the bigs playing so far back off the screen? Every guard in the NBA can hit the mid range jumper so why make it easy for them, hedge the screen (soft or hard). Just make it more difficult for them. On the And 1 by Kemba, Acy was damn near under the basket waiting to engage.

[NyCeEvO]

I HATE THE WAY WE DEFEND THE PNR!!! Why are the bigs playing so far back off the screen? Every guard in the NBA can hit the mid range jumper so why make it easy for them, hedge the screen (soft or hard). Just make it more difficult for them. On the And 1 by Kemba, Acy was damn near under the basket waiting to engage.

I have never liked it BUT I have come to accept that it's probably the best way (as far as analytics suggests) to defend in this era. With teams being so good at shooting the ball from deep at a high volume, floor spacing is at an all-time high; it's extremely difficult to challenge every shot from interior layups/dunks to deep 3s. Therefore, defenses have now been engineered to challenge the shots with the highest eFG%, namely interior shots and 3s, which leaves midrange shots unchallenged.

Unless you have a hyper-mobile big man who's capable of switching everything very quickly, you don't want your big man to challenge a midrange jumpshot only for them to succumb to a pump fake, after which the ballhandler quickly darts to the basket for an easy layup or force the defense to collapse/rotate, which could leave someone open from 3.

But if you do have a big man who is capable of rotating that well or if you're facing a team that shoots exceptionally well from the midrange and isn't good at attacking, you might want to scrap this strategy for that team.

Situations/context matter, which is why going fully old school or being fully reliant on analytics is not good. The best coaches have a healthy respect for the latter and use it extensively but they have a great feel for context and know when it might be appropriate to buck the trend.

[Roy Tarpley]

so the narrative is that he lost the team? wow.

you guys are being seriously off the rails right now. i can't.

You really arrive at some strange destinations sometimes. Or not strange, but you're very much all about definitive's and ultimatums. I am saying he will lose the team eventually, yes. You can candy coat it all you like, but that deleted Crabbe tweet from right after the game is incredibly telling of the direction this thing is heading in. I however did not say, he has already lost the team.

There was nothing teaching moment about last night, all he does is start playing mind games with the players and making guys who are loyal and would run through a wall for him at best question him and at worst resent and despise him. Something has to give.

You are implying that he's losing the team, and using a deleted tweet based off of momentary frustration from a player as evidence.

If that's how you want to frame it, fine. I'm not sugar coating anything. I'm just telling you guys that you're losing your heads over things that frankly aren't that shocking when you're dealing with a young team.

There's a thin line between losing one's head and shrugging your shoulders, and I think it's just a matter of a few games.

I didnt expect the Nets to be a 50 team. After all the injuries, I expected a low 20 wins team. But if the Nets had won a few more of the winnable games, I'd be good. Not those overachieving games where we almost beat teams like the Raptors or Celtics. I mean games like this one or against Sacramento or the Bulls, where we should've won, even as a young team, but for questionable plays/calls/decisions at the end.

[Paradise]

I HATE THE WAY WE DEFEND THE PNR!!! Why are the bigs playing so far back off the screen? Every guard in the NBA can hit the mid range jumper so why make it easy for them, hedge the screen (soft or hard). Just make it more difficult for them. On the And 1 by Kemba, Acy was damn near under the basket waiting to engage.

I have never liked it BUT I have come to accept that it's probably the best way (as far as analytics suggests) to defend in this era. With teams being so good at shooting the ball from deep at a high volume, floor spacing is at an all-time high; it's extremely difficult to challenge every shot from interior layups/dunks to deep 3s. Therefore, defenses have now been engineered to challenge the shots with the highest eFG%, namely interior shots and 3s, which leaves midrange shots unchallenged.

Unless you have a hyper-mobile big man who's capable of switching everything very quickly, you don't want your big man to challenge a midrange jumpshot only for them to succumb to a pump fake, after which the ballhandler quickly darts to the basket for an easy layup or force the defense to collapse/rotate, which could leave someone open from 3.

But if you do have a big man who is capable of rotating that well or if you're facing a team that shoots exceptionally well from the midrange and isn't good at attacking, you might want to scrap this strategy for that team.

Situations/context matter, which is why going fully old school or being fully reliant on analytics is not good. The best coaches have a healthy respect for the latter and use it extensively but they have a great feel for context and know when it might be appropriate to buck the trend.

Not sure if anyone has noticed but Kenny has made it abundantly clear that he’s a HUGE fan of Sam Hinkie’s philosophy. Especially, in the recent pre-game comments.

I personally think we could’ve won a few more games had we played traditional lineups with a slower pace with less possessions to turnover. I think he’s obsessed with the small ball to a fault. The league will revert back to bigger guards, bigger centers. Can he willingly adjust?

[MrDollarBills]

You really arrive at some strange destinations sometimes. Or not strange, but you're very much all about definitive's and ultimatums. I am saying he will lose the team eventually, yes. You can candy coat it all you like, but that deleted Crabbe tweet from right after the game is incredibly telling of the direction this thing is heading in. I however did not say, he has already lost the team.

There was nothing teaching moment about last night, all he does is start playing mind games with the players and making guys who are loyal and would run through a wall for him at best question him and at worst resent and despise him. Something has to give.

You are implying that he's losing the team, and using a deleted tweet based off of momentary frustration from a player as evidence.

If that's how you want to frame it, fine. I'm not sugar coating anything. I'm just telling you guys that you're losing your heads over things that frankly aren't that shocking when you're dealing with a young team.

There's a thin line between losing one's head and shrugging your shoulders, and I think it's just a matter of a few games.

I didnt expect the Nets to be a 50 team. After all the injuries, I expected a low 20 wins team. But if the Nets had won a few more of the winnable games, I'd be good. Not those overachieving games where we almost beat teams like the Raptors or Celtics. I mean games like this one or against Sacramento or the Bulls, where we should've won, even as a young team, but for questionable plays/calls/decisions at the end.

How many close games were lost to coaching, or a lack of player execution in the 4th?

[Paradise]

Despite the doom and gloom...

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Dinwiddie, J. Allen regressed during this stretch.

[MrDollarBills]

Dinwiddie and Allen have hit the wall. I really don't think Spencer's latest play should used as an indictment against him. efficiency issues aside, he's had a solid season.

[SpeedyG]

Right now Kenny is like a bad poker player who understands the game on a very deep and advanced level, but repeatedly makes the same mistakes over and over again during actual big hands he's involved in and gets stacked and rebuys, rinse, repeat.

Can he start enacting all the things he knows and understands, or will he get caught up in the moment and keep reverting back to simple defense mechanisms and lose game after game that a basketball mind like his should be adjusting to and winning? That is the question.

I'm with NyCe, Calamity and others who are fairly criticizing Coach K, but don't think he should be fired at this point. He should have next season as well. But if he's the same coach next year, he has to go in the summer of 2019.

There was nothing teaching moment about last night, all he does is start playing mind games with the players and making guys who are loyal and would run through a wall for him at best question him and at worst resent and despise him. Something has to give.

so the narrative is that he lost the team? wow.

you guys are being seriously off the rails right now. i can't.

You really arrive at some strange destinations sometimes. Or not strange, but you're very much all about definitive's and ultimatums. I am saying he will lose the team eventually, yes. You can candy coat it all you like, but that deleted Crabbe tweet from right after the game is incredibly telling of the direction this thing is heading in. I however did not say, he has already lost the team.

I have been telling this board from the get go...as someone who has already followed a team who preached progression and development...

That's all great and is absolutely necessary (even more so for a team that was lacking resources like the Nets), but at some point the development need to turn into wins.

If it doesn't, players are let go and coaches get fired.

The Nets have followed EVERYTHING that I've seen happened almost to a T.

Next season is going to be big for Kenny.

As much as the players need to show development and improvement, so does Kenny.

And it's quite possible Marks knows this all along

Bring in a guy who is a great player development, have him develop what little good talent we have. And if he himself doesn't improve by year 3 or 4, you can bring in an x and o guy to take that team and players to the next level.

And if he did develop as a HC? well then you hit the jackpot.

[MrDollarBills]

I think we'll have more wins next year. Will that mean playoffs? Definitely not, and frankly we could use that 2019 pick to land a high upside lotto talent player.

Agreed though. Kenny's development as a coach in game situations is just as important. He's doing a fantastic job in bringing the best out of everyone. But he himself has things to clean up.

[CalamityX12]

I think we'll have more wins next year. Will that mean playoffs? Definitely not, and frankly we could use that 2019 pick to land a high upside lotto talent player.

Agreed though. Kenny's development as a coach in game situations is just as important. He's doing a fantastic job in bringing the best out of everyone. But he himself has things to clean up.

oh god, that would be our freaking luck too... the one year where we control our own first rd pick, we'll be battling for a last seed rather than getting a top 5 selection... LOL

[Prokorov]

I hope you're wrong, but we'll see.

Was he "losing" the team when they were up 20 points? did he lose the team the last two games?

only after a bad loss does this stuff start coming up. it's bunk. if guys go out against cleveland and quit, or mail it in over the next 3 weeks, then I will concede your point. Until then, there is zero basis for this.

Kenny has lost you, and you are projecting your feelings onto the team. you have every right to lose faith in him. what is going on with the team in real time however, could be and probably is entirely different.

This is 100% spot on.

Kenny has not "lost" the team and if he did there is ZERO evidence to support that. if he lost the team then why do players continue to sing his praise? if he lost the team why are no players sending out tweets or making comments about that sort of thing? Why are guys continuing to bust their hump for him?

Obviously everyone wants to win, but thats not the goal or the focus. MArks/Kenny made the clear, the players know it, (most) fans know it.

Some fans cant accept a rebuild, and expect a group of 19-25 year olds (most who were late picks/2nd rounders/dleague) to be great down the stretch and great at closing out games.... just not realistic. Just because those fans dont buy into a rebuild and dont see the vision doesnt mean the players and coaches dont. they clearly do.

[Prokorov]

I HATE THE WAY WE DEFEND THE PNR!!! Why are the bigs playing so far back off the screen? Every guard in the NBA can hit the mid range jumper so why make it easy for them, hedge the screen (soft or hard). Just make it more difficult for them. On the And 1 by Kemba, Acy was damn near under the basket waiting to engage.

I agree with you... but they are an analytics driven team and the data says dare your opponents to take mid range or long twos. so they conceed that.

I personally like trapping avery high/middle pick and roll and hedge or switch the wing and baseline ones. but we wont see that anytime soon here.

[MrDollarBills]

I hope you're wrong, but we'll see.

Was he "losing" the team when they were up 20 points? did he lose the team the last two games?

only after a bad loss does this stuff start coming up. it's bunk. if guys go out against cleveland and quit, or mail it in over the next 3 weeks, then I will concede your point. Until then, there is zero basis for this.

Kenny has lost you, and you are projecting your feelings onto the team. you have every right to lose faith in him. what is going on with the team in real time however, could be and probably is entirely different.

This is 100% spot on.

Kenny has not "lost" the team and if he did there is ZERO evidence to support that. if he lost the team then why do players continue to sing his praise? if he lost the team why are no players sending out tweets or making comments about that sort of thing? Why are guys continuing to bust their hump for him?

Obviously everyone wants to win, but thats not the goal or the focus. MArks/Kenny made the clear, the players know it, (most) fans know it.

Some fans cant accept a rebuild, and expect a group of 19-25 year olds (most who were late picks/2nd rounders/dleague) to be great down the stretch and great at closing out games.... just not realistic. Just because those fans dont buy into a rebuild and dont see the vision doesnt mean the players and coaches dont. they clearly do.

It all boils down to a lack of patience with the entire process, and the players/coach. The coach is not perfect but he's getting the best out of his players and guys are improving and expanding their games. Was it aggravating watching a sure win slip right through our hands? hell yes. But things like that happen with young teams. It takes time for young players to figure out how to close out games on a consistent basis. It's not exactly a shock that the Nets blew that lead, hell I expected it especially against a team with veteran talent still out there plugging away. Coaching only goes so far when your talent level and experience aren't where it needs to be.

[Yit]

Tracking players performance vs Hornets 21 Mar 2018

DAR - 31 (+)
RHJ - 23 (=)
Harris - 27 (+)
Dinwiddie - 22 (+)
CLV - 22 (+)
Acy - 20 (+)
Allen - 18 (-)
DMC - 17 (-)
Crabbe - 16 (-)

Monster game by Howard killed us this game - our players weren't too bad performance wise.