Jordi Fernandez didn’t sugarcoat what went wrong after the Nets’ loss at New York: the ball stopped moving, the shots dried up and Brooklyn never found enough offense to make up for it.
The Nets held the Knicks to 103 points, a number Fernandez said ought to be enough to win on most nights. Instead, Brooklyn put together a season-low 90 points and finished the fourth quarter 3-of-16 from the field, with just 11 points and five turnovers in the final period.
“I think it’s more about us not being organized, and then if you have empty possessions, you don’t run anything for anybody, like nobody’s in the right spot,” Fernandez told reporters. “You don’t touch the paint.
You don’t move. You don’t reverse the ball, and you get either no shots or terrible shots.
… Everybody’s got to do their jobs because whether we call a play or not, you got to run to your spots, and we didn’t do it enough times, and that’s the frustrating thing. When we do it, we get good results.
When we don’t do it, we get bad results.”
Brooklyn spent the summer trying to raise its offensive ceiling, bringing in Julius Randle via trade, signing Keon Ellis and Moritz Wagner and adding Mikel Brown Jr. in the draft. But the early numbers have been rough. The Nets are 29th in scoring at 105.6 points per game, 28th in offensive rating, 29th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.21, 28th in turnover percentage at 18.3 and 28th in field goal percentage at 41.7.
Randle said the answer starts with the group as a whole.
“Just gotta remain disciplined,” Randle said. “We know what we need to do … you can’t just put it on one person.
It’s a team game. It’s five players out there, so we got to be better at communicating, understanding the moment, what’s going on.
It’s all five of us. We all got to be better out there.”
Fernandez is also keeping Chaney Johnson in the starting five, even though the scoring hasn’t followed. Johnson has played 19, 31 and 28 minutes over the last three games while scoring only 12 points combined, but Fernandez said the other parts of his game still matter.
“He can guard one through five. He makes winning plays. He’s earned it,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez also addressed Drake Powell and Ben Saraf, saying that when either second-year player is sent to the G League, the role should match what Brooklyn needs from them at the NBA level. He wants those minutes to carry real value, not just become a chance to jack up more shots against lesser competition.
And before tonight’s game, Fernandez said he wants to put Randle in better positions to produce more consistently.
“I think that it’s on me to put him in better spots and situations that he’s more comfortable and he’s more efficient,” Fernandez said.
In Other News...
Danny Wolf Just Gave The Nets A Real Rotation Decision
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Jordi Fernndez had reason to like what he saw from both Wolf and Terance Mann, especially in the way they were ready to go when called upon. Michael Porter Jr. also pointed to the teams growth and adjustments after a recent loss, and his 26-point night helped frame a win that felt like more than just a relief, it also opened up a real question about how the rotation might look moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Rookie Mikel Brown Jr. Is Making His Ceiling Hard To Ignore
Mikel Brown Jr. gave the Nets another reminder of why his long-term upside has become one of the more intriguing storylines around the roster. In a recent game against the Hornets, the rookie guard put up 18 points with two rebounds and four assists in just 20 minutes, flashing the kind of efficiency and poise that can make a young player stand out even in a short stint.
Brown did have a couple of late turnovers, and he was clear afterward that he expects himself to operate at a high standard no matter the setting. For Brooklyn, the bigger question is how much more of that version it can get in the near term, since his playing time is still being carefully managed while the team handles his back. [Read more 🡒]
Julius Randle Sent An Early Message About What These Nets Want
Julius Randles presence around the Nets is already shaping the tone of the group, even in the small moments that tend to get overlooked. In Brooklyns win over Charlotte, the veteran opted to stay on the bench late rather than force his way back into the action, a choice that fit the kind of selfless, team-first feel the Nets have been trying to build early in the season.
It was the sort of detail coaches notice and teammates remember, especially for a roster still defining its identity. Brooklyn has been looking for signs of buy-in and balance, and Randles approach in a 114-104 win over the Hornets offered one of them, even if the bigger question is how often that mindset shows up when the games get tighter and the rotations get tested. [Read more 🡒]