Nets head coach Jordi Fernández hasn’t framed Drake Powell’s latest transfer into the beginning lineup as a reward a lot as an analysis, and that theme carried into his pregame feedback forward of Friday’s matchup towards the Chicago Bulls at Barclays Heart.
The rookie wing began his third straight recreation towards Chicago and made essentially the most of his earlier two, averaging 13 factors and three rebounds in 24.5 minutes per recreation whereas changing 81.8% of his two-point makes an attempt. The manufacturing has been clear, environment friendly and impactful, the type of stretch that reinforces why Brooklyn focused Powell as a long-term piece slightly than a short-term mission.
However Fernández made it clear the beginning function continues to be fluid.
“Starting is not a guarantee,” Fernández mentioned. “He’s going to have to keep trying really hard, and from there we’ll go one game at a time.”
That line matches the broader means Fernández has dealt with roles all through the season, typically experimenting with gamers in numerous spots to see what interprets when the sport hurries up and the obligations develop. In Powell’s case, the coach isn’t simply happy with what he’s given Brooklyn to date. He’s brazenly pushing for extra, believing Powell’s ceiling is way past “rotation wing.”
“Drake did an amazing job last game,” Fernández mentioned. “We believe he can be not just a good but a great two-way player.”
Fernández rattled off the guidelines that makes Powell so intriguing, describing him as a shooter and playmaker who can be utilized on the second aspect of actions, deal with in transition and guard the opponent’s finest perimeter menace. It’s a uncommon mixture for a rookie, and it’s why Powell has regarded extra comfy every time his function expands. His athleticism, Fernández added, is “top in the NBA for his position.”
The ask now could be consistency.
THE NEXT STEP
Egor Dëmin is wanting extra comfy by the sport, and Fernández mentioned the most important signal is that the rookie isn’t taking part in sped up anymore. The reads are coming cleaner, the pictures are coming in rhythm, and the Russian guard has been in a position to knock down 3-pointers with out forcing the offense to revolve round him.
“I think his ability to shoot the ball in the flow of the game has been impressive so far,” Fernández mentioned, noting Dëmin can get to it “off the catch or off the dribble.”
However because the season pushes towards its second half, Fernández needs that consolation to show into aggression. The coach mentioned Dëmin’s subsequent step isn’t simply making pictures, it’s utilizing his measurement and talent to constantly contact the paint, end with steadiness and create benefits that don’t rely on the jumper falling.
“If he is aggressively touching the paint… I think right there is where he makes the difference and takes the next step,” Fernández mentioned.
RINSE AND REPEAT
The Nets had dropped 5 straight getting into Friday’s recreation, and the standings don’t go away a lot room for optimism proper now. However Fernández insists the method can’t be about carrying the final consequence into the following one, even when he admits he doesn’t personally let it go that simply.
“As a group, we got to believe that the next game is the most important game,” Fernández mentioned.
For him, shifting ahead doesn’t imply forgetting. It means finding out. Fernández mentioned the close-game moments have grow to be fixed classes, from timeout utilization to late-game decision-making, and he treats each like a be aware for the following time the Nets are in that scenario. He known as these experiences “super valuable,” not only for the roster, however for the teaching employees too, as a result of there’s hardly ever one appropriate reply within the NBA’s tightest moments.
The precedence, he mentioned, is being linked when the margin shrinks, staying aligned, and trusting the plan with out second-guessing. That’s the problem for a younger workforce attempting to develop by way of losses: hold the urgency, hold the assumption and ensure the teachings truly present up earlier than the following recreation turns into the identical ending.
“You’re right there, but you don’t win,” Fernández mentioned. “And those lessons are very important for us, very important that you understand the NBA. The games keep coming and whenever it’s fast, it’s fast, but no moral victories, we got to go out there and believe that those little things are going to help us get the next one.”
