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Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash and his staff only recently learned they would be without the services of one of the 20 best players in the NBA. No team, no matter how stacked, brushes off a bombshell news story like that without so much as a hiccup. Yet the absence of Kyrie Irving is already causing overreactions.
Here are 5 overreactions from the Nets' season opening defeat in Milwaukee on Tuesday.
5) The front court rotation is going to struggle
On paper a group of Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Claxton, Paul Millsap, and others seems solid. Griffin will be fine. The others are more of a question mark.
Steve Nash gave Nic Claxton a very big opportunity. The young player struggled. Young players gain experience and get better. That we know. But Claxton, who drew the start, might be the most reliable option after Griffin in this group and he's likely to have his ups and downs as all neophytes do. We also saw some signs that the team may need to change their defensive approach a bit when Aldridge is in to get LMA some help defending screens.
Seems like a safe bet this unit will struggle a bit.
4) Jevon Carter wasn't wasn't up to speed
Nash threw us a bit of a curveball here in the wing rotation. Jevon Carter saw an impressive 19 minutes when it was still a reasonably close game. Carter likely got such a big opportunity because of his ability to knock down open shots (career 38% 3-point shooter) and harass a ball-handler. With Nash presumably placing a premium on shooting to perhaps make up for Irving's absence, he turned to the former Grizzlies and Suns guard.
That meant relegating Bruce Brown and De'Andre Bembry to garbage time. It was a little surprising because Brown was an important part of the rotation a season ago. He was one of precious few holdovers from last year's team. During the preseason Nash even gave a start to Brown.
Brown still might be one player poised to breakout for the Nets. But he only logged 4 minutes, about the time coach Nash threw in the towel during the second half. Carter went 0-3 and the team was outscored by 29 points in his brief stint, a team low plus-minus. Nash would probably be better off flipping their minute totals in the next contest.
3) Defense is going to be a major challenge…again
Last season the Nets ranked 21st defensively, giving up 112.9 points per game. They ranked just 22nd in defensive rating allowing 110.6 points per 100 possessions. In the season opener the defense simply wasn't there. Jrue Holiday only played 18 minutes (suffering a heel contusion) for Milwaukee and still they dropped 127 on Brooklyn. It would have been even worse had the Nets remained competitive. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer didn't need his stars down the stretch.
Now it should be noted the Nets did a fantastic job once the playoffs rolled around in 2021. Blake Griffin received lots of help but he was a marvel, walling off the paint against Giannis Antetokounmpo's relentless rim attacks during the Conference Semifinals. The Nets improved to 4th defensively by last year's playoffs.
But this is an older team and they know this is a marathon not a sprint. We saw no signs on Tuesday that they're going to bring playoff-mode defense anytime soon. It seems as if they'll really struggle to contain good teams. Milwaukee had 21 fast break points (to Brooklyn's 15) and 42 points in the paint (to Brooklyn's 34). That's not a recipe for success. It wouldn't be a surprise if this group hovered around 21st overall in defensive rating again in 2022.
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2) Patty Mills will be the 6th man of the year
This was already one of the off season's best value signings. A long-term Kyrie Irving absence vaults the Patty Mills acquisition (for a paltry $5.8M annually) into the stratosphere.
💦 @Patty_Mills didn't miss from deep in his @BrooklynNets debut.
21 PTS
7-7 3PM pic.twitter.com/d9IsH3FcyI— NBA (@NBA) October 20, 2021
If they keep Mills in a reserve role he might run away with 6th Man of the Year.
1) Holy mackerel will this team miss Kyrie Irving
There are four million reasons to preach a patient approach and mostly dismiss the first game. Much of the focus may have been on what's going on with Irving, no matter how many times the team tells us they're not focused on that. There are plenty of excuses for anyone who wants to make them.
This same group might waltz into Philly and carve up the (likely) Ben Simmons-less Sixers on Friday. But maybe…maybe they're going to miss Irving more than forecasters (who currently project the Nets as title favorites even with this Kyrie situation) think.
There exists a narrative that the Nets can make it work with just two (and sometimes just one) of their big three available.They proved that at times last season. Had Harden not been hobbled with a hamstring injury they would have defeated the Bucks. Durant was recently ranked the top player in the world. Harden whenever healthy is an MVP candidate. They may still be the most talented team in the entire NBA without Irving.
I'm comfortable saying this much: if Irving is on this roster but never plays, they're probably not going to win the title. He'd have to get vaccinated and ball out or the team would need to swing a blockbuster trade before you could change my mind here.
My head knows better but my gut was screaming these overreactions during the game. Feel free to dismiss. I'm trying to do the same.
