Sure, 𝓰part of the Nets’ defensive uptick is due to a break in the sch💝edule. But most of it was due to a look in the mirror.
“Yeah, it got a lot better, guys finally understanding how we need to play defensively, how we need to help e🌳ach other,” DeꦍMarre Carroll said. “Early on, guys weren’t taking pride in their one-on-one defense, so we were letting guys beat us on the perimeter, and guys have to help and we’d get fouls or they’d score layups.
“Now guys are taking it personal when coach shows them on film getting blown by, stuff like that. Guys are taking it personal. And when you’ve got a rim protector like [Jarrett Allen], it’s also key. We’ve also got to keep playing hard defense and hope that JA can come and knock🍨 some of those shots away.”
The Nets come into Monday’s game with the Pistons on a three-game win streak. Granted, Dallas, Cleveland and Atlanta aren’t powerhouses, but꧑ the Nets did hold the three te📖ams to a combined 37.6 percent shooting.
“We just want to ℱtighten the screws consistently and get better as a group,” Spencer Dinwiddie said.
The Nets smothered the Hawks, hold🐠ing them to 37.1 percent Saturday and the Mavericks to 35.6 last Monday, after holding only a pair of foes under 40 percent in the 23 games before that.
“Another really solid defensive performance,” coach Kenny Atkinson ꦚsaid.
And much of that comes down to pride.
Film doesn’t lie, and when some of the younger Nets’ porous defense stuck out like a sore thumb in film sessions, they were properly incentivized to fix the pr🐭oblem.
“Yeah, you’ve got to take it personal. If you’re a basketball player you don’t want to be embarrassed on film every day,” Carroll said. “As a young group, coach did a good job of kind of getting on them without taking their confidence down. So it’s been key … I think it’s helping them.
“It’s simple: We’re playing defense. I think it was effort before. We were losing a lot of 50-50 balls. Now we’re playing defense, we’re playing together, we’re helping each other. We’re not leaving ꦑone person on an island. That’s key.”
The perfect example of that was Sat🐎urday in Atlanta. Early on in the game the Nets weren’t rotating over when Allen got sucked in by Tra🐟e Young’s drives, and John Collins had a field day on the glass. But they shored that up as the game went on.
And with them playing switching defense on the final play, despite Dinwi🍬ddie failing to switch off Youn🌃g, Joe Harris came over to help on the backside when Collins rolled. And even though it left Vince Carter open, Rodions Kurucs’ strong closeout helped force the decisive miss.
Shabazz Nap🃏ier (personal) is expected back against Deཧtroit.
Allen Crabbe is averaging just 6.l points on 28.3 percent shooting in hi🐓s last eight games.