After Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson took part in the first team FIBA scrimmage for Team USA, the Locked on Nets guys take a look at how the two fit into a mix of superstar NBA guys. The early results look good and give some insight into how the Nets could build going into the future.
Plus, there’s talk about the mobile defensive bigs and how Brooklyn has stockpiled some of the league’s best of this archetype with Nic Claxton, Ben Simmons, and even Darius Bazely.
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14 Comments
Nothing to be “bummed” about. The Nets guys looked great.
Good morning everyone. First I would like to say Im very proud of Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson aka The Twins for not only continuing to be courageous in their new roles as leaders of this new core in Brooklyn but constantly looking for new opportunities to expand their games and evolve their skillsets. Taking part in this FIBA cup is a tremendous challenge and they are definitely going to grow from it and gain some great experience on team USA….
While Mikal Bridges continues to step up as a leader and the new franchise guy for Brooklyn Cam Johnson continued evolution and development in this FIBA cup will probably be even more important considering he has a different variety of ways he can impact the game from scoring, layups, dunks, three point scoring, defense, rebounding etc….
Solid eposide as always guys. Henry Winkler classic quote there from Adam. Do hope JV can mix and match as you alluded to
Again looking at Ben Simmons and Nic Claxton ability to coexist on the floor one thing that is so necessary is they both can't be non scorers on the court. Nic Claxton especially has the ability to expand his offensive game and add a jump shot and three point scoring. If Ben Simmons can find great scoring opportunities for Nic Claxton as well that will only increase the offensive output of this team and force the opposition to put more defense on Claxton which would allow Ben Simmons more freedom to go to the rim more and figure out his scoring balance….
This discussion was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be based on the title. I’m not bummed about anything. I’m getting a more positive vibe day by day. The Nets have a really nice collection of players that should be fun to watch. They will be strong defensively and as a result strong in transition as well. Their bench rotation should be solid. Teams will not be able to take them lightly.
Alright folks I’m going to go on a little bit of rant here because the topic of position-less basketball and how the term has been bastardized by coaches and people I question their true basketball knowledge. It just pisses me off because it’s just so freaking wrong.
Position-less basketball aka let’s copy what the Warriors do is NOT what most people think it is or should be. It isn’t just find a bunch of small forwards and undersized fives and put them at every single position. That’s been the Nets model and an ignorant thought process of many supposed basketball heads I’ve either watched or spoken to. It is this simplistic understanding of position-less basketball that makes me roll my eyes.
What does positon-less basketball actually mean?
It means looking at a players actual skillset both mental and physical and assessing whether they have the ability to play multiple roles on your offense and defense. That doesn’t mean hey let’s play Royce O’Neal at Point guard, that doesn’t mean hey let everyone shoot three pointers, that doesn’t mean you don’t need centers. It doesn’t mean oh Ben Simmons is 6”10 so let’s play him at center and let him bang down low with back problems. THe Nets were 29th in the league in defensive and Offensive rebound percentage do you know what that means? It means that for all there iso defensive skills they don’t control the paint or the glass and rebounds equal possessions. That also tells me you are putting players in positions where they do not have the actual skillset they need. Dennis Rodman was 6”7 and he could guard Shaq because he had the skillset. That doesn’t mean that every 6”7 guy with a 7 foot wingspan should give it try. It is so silly.
And here is what is very much doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that size no longer matters. Golden State were able to go small because Draymond Green is a singler talent with a massive basketball iq to be so effective that it worked. That’s doesn’t mean DFS can be draymond green because they are the same size.
And while the Nets keep trying to recreate the golden state warriors minus hall fame players like Draymond, Klay and Curry with different iterations of small ball lineups the rest of league is starting to move past that and begin to go back to Size but not just size. Skilled size. So 6”10 plus guys who are highly skilled.
When does fiba finish up?
Many people are sleeping on CJ, his ceiling is very HIGH
literally have the best player in the league right now are Nikolaj Jokic and Joel Embiid. So basically, according to Doug, the joker doesn’t exist and those days are over basically can’t play those guys.
Doug is simply wrong on this front. There is a difference between something not working, and having a stylistic preference. Doug is absolutely correct that the league did move in a direction that turned a blind eye to players like the joker. That’s why he was drafted in the second round but thank God a team like the Nuggets had some balls to go outside a copycat league that was trying to be golden state and said hey here is a guy here who is highly skilled and just because he’s slow doesn’t mean he can’t dominate.
Listen, I love Nic Claxton and I think he made amazing improvement last year. However, can we be honest about what actually occurred? For all the amazing iso defense I also saw him make guys like Mason Plumlee look like all stars and the team get routinely outrebounded and it wasn’t just because he was off the floor.
Brook Lopez there’s another guy who’s been just fine.
Again, this isn’t about what doesn’t work anymore. This is about stylistic preference and right now the nets have the same stylistic preference that Doug has with small ball and for years, it has failed miserably as they keep trying to follow the ghost of Mike D’Antoni.
It’s just mind-boggling to be how we can watch. A guy win two straight MVPs and an NBA title this year in Jokic and still come to the conclusion that traditional centers don’t work in the modern NBA. I just don’t see how you come to that conclusion.
Also, I’m not sure what Doug means by traditional center because I think Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was very skilled not to mention Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing.
I would say a guy like Gobert, or Clint Capela are horrible examples of traditional centers because the traditional center based on actual nba history is a multifaceted, defensive anchor who can also score of the basketball and a focal point of an offense. Embiid is a traditional center and so is Joker. Anthony Davis would be a traditional center.
The tradition of the center position comes from the archetype of a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaquille O’Neal NOT Rudy Gobert and Clint Capela.
Gonna be a very fun team to watch and a great defensive unit I’m excited to watch this szn
Always Locked On Nets! Adam and Doug plays a big part in building up my excitement for both the preseason and the regular season ahead. Interestingly, Sean Marks often takes a different approach from what you guys suggest, yet I must give you props for consistently finding a positive angle after his decisions unfolds. By the way, Jacque Vaughn was ranked the 27th best coach in the NBA. Thats a bit concerning. I would love to see you guys delve into that on a future Podcast.
This should be the lineups by Midseason:
Start:
Simmons
Cam Thomas
Bridges
Cam J
Claxton
Bench:
Smith
Dinwiddie
Royce
DFS
Bazley
Reserves:
Lonnie
Sharpe
Clowney
Dariq
Dinwiddie has kinda hit his peak… eventually they should start Thomas cause he could be a young goat in the making. And When he's hot, the combination with the Twins and Ben is tremendous. They need shooters for space, Thomas will improve defensively this year as well.
Dinwiddie with Smith moves Dinwiddie to the comfortable role of dominant 2 guard with a competent point guard. Bench gets stronger. Bazley over Sharpe for shooting a and defensive versatility reasons. That bench is SERIOUS. 3 and D with a veteran presence. Would win a lot of games in the regular season.
Just hope for health, growth, and heart in these guys. Nets are hella deep. Jacque just gotta coach them up.