After the dreaded offseason, Nets fans were excited to finally see basketball again, despite a 10:30 PM start EST. Going into a rebuild, fans had many on-court-related questions. Has Cam Thomas taken a leap? Does Ben Simmons look like his All-Star self? How do sophomores Noah Clowney and Jalen Wilson look? And many more questions regarding the roster and the system newly hired head coach Jordi Fernández would run. Before any of these questions could be answered, fans were met with an unexpected obstacle: the game was not being televised.
In the first 3 minutes, the Nets went down 12-0; however, the those minutes were not streamed or televised, something even Nets forward Trendon Watford commented on, as he was at home due to a hamstring injury. Eventually, League Pass got the stream running, giving us lower-quality footage and no commentary—shocking, given the year and the NBA recently signing a massive TV deal in the offseason.
When the game was available to watch, the Nets were playing catch-up. Down 12, the Nets' ball movement led to a DFS slam to the rim, ending the scoring drought. While it is one preseason game and we shouldn’t be drawing long-term conclusions based on one game, there were some positives and negatives that should be noted. Starting with the positives, Cam Thomas is still an excellent player, scoring 12 points, 2 assists on 3-5 FG, driving to the rim and hitting catch-and-shoot 3s. Regarding his playmaking, you can see him play within the flow of the offense, attracting attention with his on-ball gravity and finding his teammates in transition. Another positive was recently acquired Ziaire Williams from the Memphis Grizzlies, who had 10 points, 3 steals on 5-9 FG. Williams was a physical on-ball defender against the Clippers, even showcasing some rim protection as a small-ball 5 in some lineups. The jump shot is still a concern as he went 0-2 from 3PT; however, his ability to cut off the ball and pressure the rim is valuable.
In the 2nd quarter, the Nets came to life, outscoring the Clippers 39-20. In that quarter, the Nets' defensive intensity kicked up a notch, with multiple players picking up full-court pressuring the ball, making great switches in the half court, the point-of-attack defender staying in front of their man, and when beaten, there was plenty of help defense. Offensively, when Simmons was on the floor, the Nets relied on a lot of off-ball cutting to the rim to generate offense in the half court. When their primary on-ball creators, Cam Thomas and Dennis Schroder re-entered the game, they were able to generate legitimate half-court offense.
Regarding the negatives, Ben Simmons did not look any different from last season. To his credit, he did have some really nice passes in the half court, leading to easy layups; however, he was an offensive liability. His lack of 3PT shooting and rim pressure allowed his teammates to get doubled, leading to turnovers. Defensively, he struggled to protect the rim, leaving the interior defense to DFS, Clowney, and Williams. When faced against a much smaller Kevin Porter Jr., Simmons was unable to take advantage of the mismatch, and it resulted in a missed fadeaway. While coach Fernández wants the benefits of Simmons’ passing, playing two point guards in Simmons and Schroder prevented Thomas from getting on-ball playmaking opportunities, as he was mostly off-ball when those two were on the floor with him.
Overall, while there were some negatives, there were plenty of positives to take away from the first preseason game. It is important to remember that this is a rebuild, and the Nets are going to experiment with lineups and play styles throughout the season. So far, it looks like coach Fernández has instilled good fundamentals and basketball philosophies within these players.
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