All people had their job within the Nets ecosystem. Some have multiple, some extra necessary than others.
As a rookie head coach, Jordi Fernandez has a bunch of latest duties — from implementing methods on each ends of the court docket to managing the sport to coping with the media.
However no job is extra necessary than improvement.
Not simply creating gamers, however creating a profitable tradition.
Which means setting an ordinary they’re going to measure as much as.
“Yeah, that’s my No. 1 priority,” Fernandez mentioned earlier than Sunday’s 114-104 loss to the Knicks on the Backyard. “That comes with what you do in your everyday, proper? Are you keen to get 1 p.c higher every single day? Are you keen to construct relationships together with your gamers? Are you keen to simply accept your function, and never simply settle for it however embrace it? These issues are on the finish of the day, what’s going to maintain constructing our identification.
“So far, I’m very proud of the guys. You guys can see the games and how these guys fight. If the mistakes are honest mistakes, we’re trying, it’s all good. But you don’t see the day-to-day, what they do in practice and how they interact with each other, and I’m very happy with how the process is going so far. We’re not close yet, but we’ve made progress. So, it’s just the beginning, and we have a plan.”
The Nets had dropped 4 out of their previous 5 going into Sunday’s recreation on the Backyard.
However no person who has watched them — even earlier than they erased Friday’s 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to take a lead with 12 seconds left — may deny that Fernandez has them shopping for in and taking part in onerous.
The Nets drew simply 9 prices all of final season, the least of any crew since such stats began being tracked, per Elias Sports activities Bureau. However they got here into Sunday with seven in 13 video games, tied for ninth-best within the NBA this season.
However for a franchise coming off a 32-50 season so disappointing that it prompted them to commerce Mikal Bridges to the Knicks and begin a rebuild, it isn’t nearly how they play.
It’s about how they follow. Even how they reside.
Therefore Fernandez’s “get one percent better every day” mantra.
“[It came from] plenty of the coaches that I’ve labored with. Beginning with Mike Brown, Byron Scott, David Blatt, Ty Lue, Michael Malone, Sergio Scariolo, all these coaches that I’ve labored with, I’ve plenty of respect for them. Serving to me perceive that sure, video games are necessary, all people will get excited with taking part in video games. However when you care for getting 1 p.c higher, particularly when persons are not taking a look at you, watching you, what you do.
“It can be getting shots on your own, but also it can be, ‘I’ve got to take care of my body. I need to rest. I need to eat the right things. I need to take care of my body. I need to handle my stress.’ There’s a lot of ways in our job to be better that it’s going to help the overall performance. For the guys, it’s just not basketball. It’s not just shooting the ball. It’s not just playing defense. But it’s everything that we do.”
Fernandez has leaned on Brooklyn’s veterans to assist preach that.
His most popular beginning lineup of Dennis Schroder, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton is their most-used quintet at 98 minutes collectively, and of three dozen lineups to log 50 minutes collectively they’d the seventh-best Internet Score (13.2) and Defensive Score (104.6).
“The NBA is mentally tough, especially when you’re young. And then the veteran players, they just know how to do it. So we’re getting there,” Fernandez mentioned. “Yeah, dropping hurts. And it hurts to all of us. However constructing an identification [is the key]. … I’ve received to offer them the positives, the negatives and the challenges, after which we’ll go from there.
“At the end of the day, building this foundation, establishing our identity is the most important thing for us, because we have a plan in place, and sustaining this success is what we want to do.”
