BROOKLYN – After the Nets suffered one of their worst losses of the season, Kenny Atkinson insisted there would be a heavy film session the following day. Then he changed his mind.
“I think sometimes you’ve got to turn [things into] a positive,” Atkinson explained after Thursday’s practice at HSS Training Center. “I thought we did a ton of good things. I will continue to say the hardest thing to do in professional sports is close out a game.”
Atkinson pointed to the fact that, aside from DeMarre Carroll, his lineup ranges from a 19-year-old Jarrett to Allen Crabbe, who’s 25. As the Nets continue to develop their young talent, every result, including their disappointing defeat against the Hornets, is a chance to gain experience and progress, according to the Nets head coach.
“Hopefully, we put it in the bank and we learn from it,” Atkinson said. “When we’re a more experienced coach and more experienced players we’ll be able to push through and close out a game like that.”
He added, “We can get into the nuance, we can talk about rebounding, talk about made or missed shots, free throws. There’s a lot of things we could talk about from a basketball standpoint. But I think from a psychological standpoint, sometimes it’s time to stay positive, push forward and learn from a game like this.”
Brooklyn led by as many as 23 points against Charlotte at Barclays Center before capitulating in the final 12 minutes due to Dwight Howard’s monster 32-point and 30-rebound game. Both the players and Atkinson have expressed regret towards letting a potential win slip away, there are some factors that the Nets can build on as they head into their final 10 games.
Brooklyn is 2-2 since reintroducing Rondae Hollis-Jefferson into the lineup. In those four games, the team is 11th in offensive efficiency at 112.7 – a jump from their season ranking of 24th at 104. After struggling in the points in the paint battle for most of the season, the Nets have only been outscored once in that area in their past four games (against Memphis).
While defense and rebounding remain a concern, Brooklyn showed some signs of progress in the former on Wednesday night. The team held Charlotte to 38.3 percent shooting and was dominant in that area in the first half, holding the visitors to a cold 29 percent shooting second quarter. It was ultimately rebounding that proved to be the crux for Brooklyn as it surrendered a 68-46 advantage. That margin allowed the Hornets to get to the line – to the tune of a whopping 47 attempts – and also slowed down the Nets’ effectiveness on offense.
“I think the first half was a clinic defensively,” Caris LeVert said. “I think we got complacent and we can’t do that, we’re not a good enough team for that. We’re too young to do things like that. But like you said that first half, we can definitely look at that and try to mimic that in every game.”
LeVert pointed to what will be ultimately the most important factor of the remainder of the season: How will this young team respond to the challenges and opportunities given to them?
As general manager Sean Marks and Atkinson continue to evaluate this roster and make their plans for the 2018-19 season, moments like Wednesday night can define and determine what next season’s team will look like. Atkinson admitted in his press conference prior to the game against the Hornets that he is using these games and situations as teaching moments to see how players will respond.
“We also understand that we might have to take some risks and put a younger player in there. Just so he gets some experience in these moments,” Atkinson explained. “It’s a discussion we have in our huddles, ‘Do we want to go with a veteran guy or do we want to keep a young guy in there?’”
However, Atkinson stressed that he doesn’t want to completely go young with his lineups, there’s a value to integrating some veteran presence with youth.
“You need some older guys to lead, talk to those guys,” Atkinson said. “When Jarrett Allen is playing next to Dante and he sees him knock a guy into the stanchion he’s maybe like ‘Man, that’s how he does it.’” He added, “For the younger guys, the undervalued [part] is the unseen part of this game – the tricks that older guys, veteran guys in this league, have learned.”
Carroll, who played under Atkinson when he was an assistant at the Hawks, understands the value of integrating things that can factor into the future. While most NBA fans will remember his breakout year came during Atlanta’s 60-win 2014-15 campaign, he points to the team’s 38-44 season in 2013-14 as the reason behind that success.
“People always forget, in my first year at Atlanta I think we lost 15 games in a row,” Carroll said after practice in late February. “People never remember that because people only remember the games you win. The next year we go 60-22, people only remember that year...Going into next year, we want to build.”
While the circumstances between Atlanta then and Brooklyn now are certainly different, the expectations are the same. The Nets want to keep growing. And the next 10 games will play a big role in determining what the foundation of next season will be.