GETTING DEFENSIVE
In their slow climb from the NBA cellar, the Nets added offensive punch last summer and hope they addressed their rebounding woes this offseason.
It will be for naught, however, if they can’t shore up a leaky defense.
“We’ve kind of stayed at the same level defense-wise over the past two seasons. I’d really like to take a jump and improve that area,” said coach Kenny Atkinson, whose Nets open camp on Tuesday. “We were 30th in the league in creating turnovers. That’s an area where upping our activity, that’s a big area for us this year of improvement.”
The numbers bear that out. Their eight-game improvement was the second-best in the Eastern Conference last season, coinciding with essentially halving their average scoring margin (minus-6.7 to minus-3.7) and boosting their offensive rating from 28th to 21st. But that defense cost them, especially in close games. It’s hard to finish off good teams with defense more fit for Dyckman or Rucker Park.
The Nets were dead last in steals, and their defensive rating took a step backward, from 108.0 (23rd) to 108.5 (25th). The league median was 105.0, but the Nets didn’t have a single starter with an individual rating better than 107.7.
Without adding any standout individual defenders in the offseason, any improvement will have to come organically, from either individual player development or tweaks in the scheme. That starts in camp.
“I think it’s all of the above,” Atkinson said. “I think it starts with individual improvement. You look at a guy like Jarrett Allen. I think he had an excellent year protecting the rim, he had an excellent year playing pickand-roll defense. But his rebounding numbers have to come up for him to take a jump. And I think that’s the case with each of our guys, they have to make individual jumps.
“And then collectively as a staff, we can improve on better schemes, more adjustments. We have to provide the schemes that allow these guys to be in positions to be successful. It’s a challenge because the game is changing so fast. A lot more switching, we saw it in the playoffs last year. I think we’ve had a long offseason to talk about that as a staff. [We’re] ready to get going.”
The Nets are giddy when they talk about Allen, the second-year center, but he must improve his defensive rebounding after averaging just 3.4 last season, and his 18.2 defensive rebound percentage ranked 10th on the team. D’Angelo Russell will have to guard more consistently, his 111.7 defensive rating 473rd out of 523 players ranked. Nearly every player must improve individually, as must Atkinson.
When Atki ns o n took the reins two years ago, he employed a far more aggressive defensive scheme, but the players’ inability to execute it forced him to scale back to a more conservative approach, one that resulted in notching the fewest steals in the league. After adding length this offseason, Atkinson must boost their activity level.
The Nets can only hope that improved defense lets them avoid some of the heartbreaking losses they suffered last season. They had the second-worst margin (minus-47) in close moments, and lost the second-most close games (31). Figuring ways to get key stops late will have to start in camp.
“Guys having gone through the process of losing close games, having the ball in their hands at certain moments of the game, and we’ve seen it at times a couple different scenarios and you learn from experience,” general manager Sean Marks said. “We’re all growing. And the players will look forward to getting out there and having those opportunities again.”