Written by Sean Woodley at Bloguin
The Nets were always going to be an arduous watch this season.
With its mishmash of crafty, vertically-challenged scorers, a nineties-era point guard, and a slew of flawed prospects trying to merely prove they belong in the NBA, Brooklyn was never going to be capable of churning out an entertaining brand of basketball. Not even the franchise’s top-notch broadcast duo of Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello was enough to entice Zach Lowe to watch the Nets on the regular: he slotted them 28th on his annual League Pass Rankings last month (pour one out for Grantland, by the way).
Man, have they ever lived up to expectations. Over the course of an ugly 0-4 start, Lionel Hollins’ team has cemented itself as the model of inefficiency in the NBA.
All of the usual first week caveats apply here. We’re one twentieth of the way through the season, and the Nets’ four opponents to this point were all playoff teams last season. That doesn’t mean we can’t pick some low hanging fruit and marvel at the ugliness of this team. Brooklyn, on the back of a bottom ten rank on both ends of the floor, has been outscored by a hideous 17.1 points per 100 possessions, good for second worst in the NBA next to the banged up Pelicans — a team that’s had the misfortune of facing Steph Curry two times already.
The offense is of particular concern right now. Give the Nets credit; they’re a unique team in 2015. After the Warriors paced and spaced their way to an NBA title, and last year’s conference finalists were all three-point shooting juggernauts, the Nets have resisted the urge to go the way of the copycat. Through four games, the Nets have hoisted 14.3 three pointers per game, hitting just 24.6 percent of them — good for 29th in the league on both accounts. Curry has tried 10.8 threes a night on his own.
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