In case you haven’t heard lately, the Brooklyn Nets have been in the news a lot in the last 48 hours. It’s not because Kevin Durant is leading the Eastern Conference All-Star votes; and not because they added James Harden to an already championship-contending team. Instead it’s because of Kyrie Irving sounding off yet again.
“We look very average,” said Irving. “We have the talent that the eye test presents, that we should be dominating. We have the experience in terms of some of our guys that have been through certain things [and] circumstances to be able to battle through and we’re dealing with a lot of the reality that we’re putting this together on the fly.”
This statement came after the Nets got dominated in Detroit by the Pistons 122-111 on Tuesday. That was their third loss in a row and their third loss in four games in February.
Not to mention ever since the blockbuster James Harden trade last month Brooklyn has been in the news for playing historically bad defense. That bad defense has led to an 8-6 record in 14 games.
Before we get into the vegetables though let’s focus on the two good things about this new-look Nets team since the trade. Firstly, Brooklyn is averaging 122.1 PPG, ranked 2nd in the league. Secondly, they’re averaging 27.2 APG, ranked 5th in the league.
Okay, now here’s the broccoli. Brooklyn is averaging 14.9 TOV, ranked 25th in the league. Here’s the cabbage. They’re averaging 8.ORPG, ranked 28th in the league. Lastly, the asparagus. The Nets are averaging 18.9 PF, ranked 17th in the league.
Now in all fairness, Nets Head Coach Steve Nash’s lineups have been all over the place due to injury and health and safety protocols. It’s also still early. However, these things can’t go unnoticed if this team truly has title aspirations as soon as this season.
After all, isn’t that why this roster was constructed the way it is?
“We’re the team that is literally battling against so many odds that at this point it’s not even a reason to continue to comment on,” said Irving. “As a warrior that I am and the energy that I have alongside my teammates we just have to turn that corner and we haven’t done it yet but we will and I’m telling you the league’s going to be on notice when that happens.”
