An overtime loss in which they gave up 147 points and 18 made 3-pointers, a low point of a slow-developing defensive effort thus far, will not prompt major changes with the Nets’ scheme.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn did not sound overly worried about his team’s defense — an area that projects as a strength but has been a surprising weakness thus far — and mostly attributed Wednesday’s ugly performance in Atlanta to Trae Young & Co. shooting lights-out.
“They made shots,” Vaughn said after practice Friday. “… I watched the game [film] a few ways. I watched it in succession of the 3s that they made and why they made the 3s and who made them. A high level of those were contested, whether Trae shot a 35-footer, whether we had some in transition that we shouldn’t have given up, whether [Dejounte] Murray squares up three dudes and makes a shot. So you gotta look at the quality of those shots at the time.”
There were exceptions and defensive breakdowns — Vaughn was unhappy about the fast-break triples that the Hawks found — but the Nets are not about to overhaul their defensive plans.
Partly as a result of their rebounding issues last season, the Nets this season have switched far less often on pick-and-rolls. Not switching helps ensure the Nets’ best rebounders are not pulled away from the rim.
The different approach this season has not resulted in immediate results for a team with many strong individual defenders, from Ben Simmons to Mikal Bridges to Dorian Finney-Smith to Nic Claxton.
“We’re doing a lot different defensive scheme than I think a lot of players are used to doing,” first-year Net Lonnie Walker IV said. “And that just comes with repetition, trusting each other and growing with it.”
Vaughn has been trying to instill the new defensive plan with different groups. The scheme has helped the team’s rebounding but led to opponents taking (although not always making) a ton of 3s.
The Nets entered action Friday having allowed the most 3-point attempts in the NBA, which can backfire.
According to Vaughn, it’s partially by design. In focusing on keeping teams away from the paint and focusing on rebounding, the Nets are choosing which shots to prioritize.
“Every player out here right now can dunk or make a layup — not all of them can make 3s, and that’s across the board in the NBA,” Vaughn said. “We have to decide what we’re going to give up.”
Simmons (nerve impingement), Cam Thomas (ankle sprain) and Dennis Smith Jr. (lower back sprain) did not practice and will miss Saturday’s game.
Johnson, who left Wednesday’s loss early upon cramping up, practiced and was not on the injury report.
The Nets recalled forwards Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead from G-League Long Island.