Thoughts on Nash so far?

[therealbig3]

What has he done well? What has he done poorly?

Honestly? I actually think he's done ok. Sure, lots of basic mistakes, like not calling TOs at the appropriate times (he doesn't seem to like calling TOs in general, but sometimes he lets things go from bad to worse before calling one), questionable rotations and substitutions, no clear adjustments in-game, etc.

But I actually think he's gotten visibly better at all of these things as the season has progressed, which shows that he's willing to learn, that he's quick to learn, and he's not afraid to change things up when they're not working. You can also see this in terms of the staff he surrounded himself with...he surrounded himself with coaching veterans that he's willing to learn from, not yes-men so that he wouldn't feel threatened they would come for his job someday.

I think his willingness to change things up and try new things when something doesn't work is refreshing and is one of his strongest attributes. Like, Shamet sucks? Ok, he's benched. Allen better than DJ? Ok, he's the starter. DJ sucks? Ok, he won't play (like vs Denver). Brown is really good? Ok, he's in the rotation, and I'll even start him based on matchups.

He's constantly tinkering and isn't stubbornly sticking to one thing that may have run its course.

[sashaturiaf]

Hard to have a conclusive grade on it so far given he's essentially taken on a whole new team. But I think he's done what was expected of him so far in that he's by large stayed in the background and kept the big 3 happy.

Positives so far
- not afraid to make lineup changes game to game and not blindly loyal to any players.
- general lineups that he puts out are fine and there's none that leaves you scratching your head
- Guys seems to really pulling for each other and making the critics of the Nets potential chemistry issues look silly

Could improve
- defensively the energy levels are wildly inconsistent - explaining the poor record against bad teams. Suggests he isn't keeping the team accountable enough
- way too static on the sidelines - no reaction at all when we are jobbed on calls. I'm sure the guys will appreciate the coach more vocally having their backs - especially guys like Kyrie KD and Harden that feels slighted by the mainstream media.

[MrDollarBills]

I think Nash's biggest asset right now is his flexibility. If something isn't working he will change it. I think he's also learning to use his time outs better.

Rotation wise, I honestly don't think that he has much of a choice when it comes to managing minutes. Our depth is pretty sub par now so we aren't going to be able to keep the big 3 at 28-30 mins a night and expect to win games.

I think defense is mostly a personnel issue, but I think the over switching can be dangerous at times.

Overall I give him a C, he hasn't been great but he's not been completely bad either. I like the fact that he is calm and level headed.

[Prokorov]

What has he done well? What has he done poorly?

Honestly? I actually think he's done ok. Sure, lots of basic mistakes, like not calling TOs at the appropriate times (he doesn't seem to like calling TOs in general, but sometimes he lets things go from bad to worse before calling one), questionable rotations and substitutions, no clear adjustments in-game, etc.

But I actually think he's gotten visibly better at all of these things as the season has progressed, which shows that he's willing to learn, that he's quick to learn, and he's not afraid to change things up when they're not working. You can also see this in terms of the staff he surrounded himself with...he surrounded himself with coaching veterans that he's willing to learn from, not yes-men so that he wouldn't feel threatened they would come for his job someday.

I think his willingness to change things up and try new things when something doesn't work is refreshing and is one of his strongest attributes. Like, Shamet sucks? Ok, he's benched. Allen better than DJ? Ok, he's the starter. DJ sucks? Ok, he won't play (like vs Denver). Brown is really good? Ok, he's in the rotation, and I'll even start him based on matchups.

He's constantly tinkering and isn't stubbornly sticking to one thing that may have run its course.

I'd give him a B+ as a manager and a D+ as a coach. overall call it a C

He wasnt really brought in to coach. he brought in to manage egos. so i think those need to be seperated out. As a coach, he is still making mistakes that like 8-10 year old boys rec coaches dont make.

The rotations he can probably do better, and not overplay the big 3 so much, but all 30 teams fans are going to criticize rotations and its more complicated and the grass is always greener. so i try not to get on coaches for rotations as much. and he has shown alot of felxibility there. which is why the grade is D+ and not F-

He rolls out 3 hall of famers every game. so i mean, his job isnt hard. he overplays them. he misses challenges that are super basic that you have to challenge (i.e. 4th or 5th foul on your star on a shooting foul that was 50/50). He declined to foul up 3 with under 10 seconds which is ok but if you dont foul you also need to sub in your defenders there. Poor use of timeouts, not getting on refs when we are getting jobbed...stuff like that.

Also increased his grade as the last 2 games he didnt just trail on every 1-5 pick and roll and did some switching and doubling which made a big difference.

i think if you had spoelstra or someone like that here we would probably be 5 ppg better on D just from doing smarth things and have 3-4 more wins.

[Prokorov]

Downgrade Nash to an F-- after this game.

He is just a terrible coach. i know he is a good manager of egos and maybe the stars like him. but he just has no clue what he is doing. D'antoni or Vaughn need to take the reigns if he is going to stay on as a puppet coach.

[kan_t]

It seems he has no idea when to call a timeout and thinks team could get extra point by saving one.

[Shark]

I think he's been alright, but the one thing that worries me are in-game adjustments. Like others have said his flexibility with his lineups/rotations have been good, but I feel like he just adjust his rotations in game as well as he does game to game. He's overly reliant on TLC in game end situations in spite of his propensity for low bbiq plays. Also skews towards small lineups a bit too much, which was made evident last night when he didn't get DJ back in there even though he had a good impact when he was in the game.

Also not a big fan of the plays he's drawn up at the end of games. Often feels like there isn't enough of an effort to free up the Big 3 for the final shot. In the game last night he had KD just standing in one spot. Maybe the design of the play was to have him as a decoy so that TLC could make the cut towards the basket, but considering how many of our previous end game inbounds plays have gone, I doubt that the play went as it was designed.

[Prokorov]

Going small is a good idea when you want to space the floor and force your opponents to go small.

thats like, the opposite of what we want/need right now. if opposing teams are going big an zoning us sure. for 15 minutes a game? sure.

but having your opponent put more small/quick players on the floor while taking out our only shot blocker/rebounder/lob threat is like literally doing our best to take away any advantages we have,

We have kyrie/harden/harris/KD/ if thats not enough floor spacing for you, take up something besides coaching.

im still scratching my head at deandre not playing. like if it there was an issue or rift he wouldnt play at all. but its like, nash sees us suck without him, we were crushing it with him, and hes like let me continue to go small and get dominated.

[MGrand15]

I think he's been OK. The offense is structured beautifully. Our 3 stars have chemistry. He's getting a lot out of Harris, Green, Brown. He's flexible. The defense is a mess for a lot of reasons.

Honestly, if he can't figure out the minute management stuff - he should be fired. Harden is #1 in MPG. Durant is #3. Just unacceptable workload for that crew. The organization is a lot smarter than this. At least they WERE when Kenny was here.

[Prokorov]

I think he's been OK. The offense is structured beautifully. Our 3 stars have chemistry. He's getting a lot out of Harris, Green, Brown. He's flexible. The defense is a mess for a lot of reasons.

Honestly, if he can't figure out the minute management stuff - he should be fired. Harden is #1 in MPG. Durant is #3. Just unacceptable workload for that crew. The organization is a lot smarter than this. At least they WERE when Kenny was here.

i think minutes isnt even in the top 5 of things he is doing poorly.

It is hard for me to find a worse coach in the league, pro or college.

[DarkXaero]

Downgrade Nash to an F-- after this game.

He is just a terrible coach. i know he is a good manager of egos and maybe the stars like him. but he just has no clue what he is doing. D'antoni or Vaughn need to take the reigns if he is going to stay on as a puppet coach.

For someone who has been calling out people for so long for being overemotional and knee jerk, this is sure as hell ironic

[MGrand15]

I think he's been OK. The offense is structured beautifully. Our 3 stars have chemistry. He's getting a lot out of Harris, Green, Brown. He's flexible. The defense is a mess for a lot of reasons.

Honestly, if he can't figure out the minute management stuff - he should be fired. Harden is #1 in MPG. Durant is #3. Just unacceptable workload for that crew. The organization is a lot smarter than this. At least they WERE when Kenny was here.

i think minutes isnt even in the top 5 of things he is doing poorly.

It is hard for me to find a worse coach in the league, pro or college.

I have to disagree. If KD gets injured, we're screwed. Protecting his health is number 1 priority for the whole organization. All the other stuff can be fixed with time. Even Thibs is doing a better job of managing his guys.

[Papi_swav]

We should of just got Thibs , and I'm not even a fan of that guy but this defense needs a defensive mastermind.

[MrDollarBills]

I think he's been OK. The offense is structured beautifully. Our 3 stars have chemistry. He's getting a lot out of Harris, Green, Brown. He's flexible. The defense is a mess for a lot of reasons.

Honestly, if he can't figure out the minute management stuff - he should be fired. Harden is #1 in MPG. Durant is #3. Just unacceptable workload for that crew. The organization is a lot smarter than this. At least they WERE when Kenny was here.

Our bench is pretty bad. You saw what happened when we took KD and Kyrie off the floor, the bench gave up the lead. It seems like that happens a lot.

I don't think Nash has a choice. We don't play defense and we gave up our depth for Harden. Until the latter is resolved we are going to have to be over reliant on the Big 3 or we will lose games.

I mean we literally have 7 guys who are rotation worthy. TLC, Shamet, Perry aren't getting it done. The GM needs to fix it asap.

And no, I don't think these latest two pick ups will help that much.

[Claud]

I think it is more than safe to say that Green/KD small ball to close out games works amazing on offense but DEFENSIVELY it's utter DISASTER.

Especially if you consider our perimeter guards consist of Ky/Harden/Harris... none are good enough defensively to play 1v1 defense and contain their matchups.. aka they always need help. KD is actually a plus defender but he NEEDS another big guy to do the dirty work alongside him and as good as Green has been, that just isn't his game.

DJ has been decent since the Fro has left and by no means do I consider him a long time solution but I feel like Nash doesn't even give DJ a chance to finish games because he's so worried about our offense... but should he really be THAT worried about our offense when we have at least 2 of Ky/KD/Harden to close out games? Seems obvious that the priority would be DEFENSE but we continue to insist on finishing out games going small ball which has been killing our defense.

Even if we were to get a McGee or Drummond.. are you guys CERTAIN Nash would give them a chance to finish out games?

Listen I am all for small ball but you need a Draymond Green/Tucker type defensive player to make it work, otherwise, if you consider our lackluster perimeter defense, it's defensive suicide.

I am waiting on Nash to make an adjustment ASAP. This season's defensive effort has been a JOKE, especially since the Harden trade(Losing the Fro, Caris, Prince.)

We know our offense is INSANE but we MUST improve on defense otherwise we'll just be 2021's verson of MDA's old Phoenix Suns.

[Paradise]

Honestly, I need to see how he incorporates Shump, Pelle and Claxton this month before I truly make an assessment but as I just said in the game thread, I am not impressed whatsoever from the early returns of some of what I’ve seen and heard in postgame comments. This seems like a team that will need to win off pure talent every time to win games as a top contender.

29 teams were always going to bring their best shot at us and I’m not seeing him show the resolve to make these guys come out every game hungry to defend and I don’t see him showing the IQ to make a savvy move when the game is on the line either.

The fact he allowed Joe to take the ball out in front our bench, in front our basket and not call a timeout is ridiculous and unacceptable from a professional head coach in basketball. I’d say it if Kenny was still here too.

Last time it happened? Deron Williams passes to Pat Patterson while Kidd forgets he had a TO:

Watch on YouTube

[MGrand15]

I think he's been OK. The offense is structured beautifully. Our 3 stars have chemistry. He's getting a lot out of Harris, Green, Brown. He's flexible. The defense is a mess for a lot of reasons.

Honestly, if he can't figure out the minute management stuff - he should be fired. Harden is #1 in MPG. Durant is #3. Just unacceptable workload for that crew. The organization is a lot smarter than this. At least they WERE when Kenny was here.

Our bench is pretty bad. You saw what happened when we took KD and Kyrie off the floor, the bench gave up the lead. It seems like that happens a lot.

I don't think Nash has a choice. We don't play defense and we gave up our depth for Harden. Until the latter is resolved we are going to have to be over reliant on the Big 3 or we will lose games.

I mean we literally have 7 guys who are rotation worthy. TLC, Shamet, Perry aren't getting it done. The GM needs to fix it asap.

And no, I don't think these latest two pick ups will help that much.

I hear you but I just don't totally buy it. IMO - there are 3 legit solutions to a bad bench:

1. Obvious one is to sign someone or make a trade

2. Let them work through it. Hope that Shamet + TLC get back to the level they were at last year.

3. Adjust rotations + combinations.

Racking up heavy starter minutes is just a band-aid. A dangerous one. I get that we're pretty thin with Dinwiddie (and Clax) hurt. I get that we might lose games. I just really don't want Durant to go down with a season ending injury that could've been avoided.

[DarkXaero]

I think it is more than safe to say that Green/KD small ball to close out games works amazing on offense but DEFENSIVELY it's utter DISASTER.

Especially if you consider our perimeter guards consist of Ky/Harden/Harris... none are good enough defensively to play 1v1 defense and contain their matchups.. aka they always need help. KD is actually a plus defender but he NEEDS another big guy to do the dirty work alongside him and as good as Green has been, that just isn't his game.

This is statistically not true. According to Cleaning the Glass, our closing lineup has an incredible point differential of +22.9, and we give up 108.3 points per 100 possessions with that lineup. It's not good or great by any means, but it's actually one of our best defensive lineups (with significant minutes sample size). Our best defensive lineup by far (with significant minutes) this season was our starting lineup during first 3 games (with Dinwiddie) but unfortunately, that is no longer possible.

[TheNetsFan]

I'll give him a D. He's terrible in game. We also look under prepared. I don't give him an F, because the players seem happy and cohesive.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I'm giving Nash a C.

Were not bad enough to warrant a failing grade. But I don't see what Nash contributes. Our league leading offense seems entirely based on the Big 3 iso scoring, which is fine.

But defensive principles are installed by the coaching stuff. We have none of them.

The in game adjustments have often been terrible.

He's a rookie and could improve but I don't think he has done anything to make us better besides managing Kyrie's ego.

Had we hired a more seasoned coach I think the defense would just look a lot better.