Lichtenstein: With Nets Slumping, Bad Time For Hollins To Face Former Team
By Steve Lichtenstein
» More Columns
Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins doesn't come across as one who spends a whole lot of time wondering what could have been.
The straightforward 61-year-old Hollins seems like the type who does his job on his own terms -- and if that's not good enough, then it's time to move on.
But as Hollins prepares to play host to his former club from Memphis on Wednesday night, it wouldn't be shocking if he went through some sort of self-reflection as to what went wrong following the Grizzlies' appearance in the 2013 Western Conference finals. Hollins' contract wasn't renewed in that offseason, allegedly over disagreements with management. The Nets hired Hollins this past summer to replace Jason Kidd, who engineered a trade to Milwaukee after one season at the Brooklyn helm.
It hasn't gone so well here for Hollins, as the Nets have lost their last six games to fall to 16-22.
So I wouldn't begrudge Hollins if he took a peek down the sideline at some point on Wednesday night and saw coach Dave Joerger—Hollins' long-time assistant in Memphis—and then wished he could trade places.
The Grizzlies are 26-11 and in the thick of the West's brutal chase for postseason positioning. Seven of the defeats occurred during the nine-plus game absence of star forward Zach Randolph due to a knee injury.
Randolph is back and Joerger has augmented the Grizzlies' attack from Hollins' traditional grind-and-pound-it-inside orientation to one that can also beat you using the more modern three-point-heavy module. The Grizzlies rank 10th in the league in offensive efficiency.
The Nets, meanwhile, can't shoot their way out of a paper bag.
This seems to be the underlying root of Hollins' frustration with his new club, as each game goes by with him lamenting the fact that Brooklyn "just didn't make shots."
In their current skid, the Nets have hit on just under 23 percent of their three-point attempts. Devin Kharpertian of the Brooklyn Game dug deeper in a recent post and noted that the Nets have converted on only 25.4 percent of wide-open attempts behind the arc in January.
On top of that, Hollins "sees us passing up open shots to go drive and take a challenged shot. That's where we get into turnover problems—where we pass up an open shot and put it on the floor and go into traffic and make a turnover."
Since the turn of the calendar, the Nets are averaging 16.3 turnovers per game. The league average, per basketball-reference.com, is 14.5 per game. When you're in a shooting slump, the two things you don't want to do is turn the ball over (especially live-ball turnovers that initiate the opposition's fast break) and increase the degree of difficulty on your attempts.
Before Monday's 113-99 home loss to Houston, Hollins said, "We have established an identity—we don't make shots. That's an identity. I don't know what it is—maybe I'm the problem. But I don't shoot them."
All sarcasm aside, how much of this mess is Hollins' fault? We (and I include myself) all are prone to prematurely rush to run coaches out of town, but is it fair to expect Hollins to make chicken salad out of chicken uh, excrement?
Brooklyn general manager Billy King badly misjudged the talent on this roster, particularly at the wing positions. Bojan Bogdanovich was forced into the starting lineup despite not being NBA-ready. When he was benched, Sergey Karasev provided a brief spark, but his inept defense gave back more points than he created for the Nets. And since then Karasev misfired on his last eight three-point attempts and got demoted.
You may be surprised to read that the Nets' third-best three-point shooter (behind Deron Williams and Joe Johnson) is none other than Alan Anderson, the Nets critics' lightning rod. Of course, Anderson—whose release looks like a wind-up toy--is hitting those at a paltry 33 percent rate, well below the league average of 35 percent.
With Williams out for an undetermined length with a fractured rib, there's not much hope for improved numbers going forward. The Nets are just beginning a difficult stretch against the league's better teams and fill-in Jarrett Jack is getting worn down by excessive minutes—he's an aggregate 2-for-20 from three-point range in January.
Yet Hollins' schemes still rely on all these guys to open up the floor so that Johnson or center Brook Lopez can find room to work inside.
It's not working. The paint is so congested, with opposing teams ignoring the weak-side corner so they can help on the Nets' pick-and-rolls to the rim.
It was at its worst during the brief stretches Hollins tried to go small with Johnson as an undersized power forward. Maybe Hollins should look at the tapes from Avery Johnson's Nets, when he would do the same thing so he could have bricklayers Gerald Wallace and Keith Bogans hoist multiple three-pointers every game. It's not any different with Jack, Bogdanovich, and Anderson "spacing" the floor for Johnson and a big man (Lopez or Mason Plumlee).
Fortunately, Hollins has mostly eschewed that lineup with Lopez gradually increasing his minute count following a back strain that cost him nine games in December (not to mention the December 2013 foot fracture that shelved Lopez for the remainder of last season).
The problem is that Lopez hasn't been anywhere near the inside force he once was and has increasingly settled in mid-range areas to get off his attempts. Over a quarter of Lopez's shots this season has come from a distance greater than 16 feet. He's become Spencer Hawes, minus the bonus points for three-point makes.
Considering Lopez's inadequacies in the defense and hustle departments it's unfathomable that Hollins gives him as much time on the court as he does. Meanwhile, Kevin Garnett—the Nets best defender, rebounder, and high-post passer--sits for such long stretches that his 38-year-old body develops mold.
How about giving many of those minutes to Mirza Teletovic — with one caveat: since Teletovic's shooting has also slumped dramatically, he has to stop trying to become the all-court player Hollins has encouraged him to be.
Obviously, Teletovic has found it difficult to adjust his shot for the different ranges his attempts are coming from. He's taking more shots off the dribble (31.5 percent versus 20.4 percent in 2013-14) instead of setting his feet before launching what still is a sweet stroke.
Teletovic should be the player stationed in the weak-side corner. His three-point shooting percentage may have dipped to 31.6 percent this season, but he's made 43.5 percent of his uncontested attempts plus 9 of his 16 corner threes (56 percent). In contrast, Bogdanovich's numbers are 29.6 percent of uncontested three-pointers and 39 percent from the corners.
By trying to do more — i.e. penetrating, pulling up — Teletovic has been less effective. It's similar to what Plumlee went through earlier this season when he thought he was a low-post, back-to-the-basket scorer instead of someone content with taking advantage of pick-and-roll dives and offensive rebound putbacks.
While we're at it, Hollins should stop force-feeding Bogdanovich and Karasev on us. As much as Anderson's overconfidence in his offensive skill set pains me, at least he competes hard on both ends. It was embarrassing watching Dwyane Wade and James Harden snickering at who the Nets chose to defend their all-world talents. Get Anderson to commit to the off-the-ball movement the European duo did so well and you'll barely notice any difference in offensive output.
Finally, Hollins has to put the reins on Jack, especially until Williams gets back. With the first unit, Jack has to play more conservatively. The contested mid-range jump shots are just not falling consistently enough and the turnovers are piling up. And under no circumstances should Jack shoot a three-pointer — he's made just 17.5 percent from behind the arc this season.
Offense becomes tougher whenever you have a player who is not a threat from long range, but Jack can make his living on drive-and-kicks when the pick-and-roll gets taken away.
The bottom line is that even if the Nets figure this all out, their best outcome would merely be a low playoff seed and immediate first-round ouster to a Toronto or Atlanta. There's only so much a coach can do in a players' league.
I believe Hollins would have been a tremendous choice had King waited for him last season, when the Nets had a more diversified roster. Unfortunately -- like Hollins will surely tell the press on Wednesday -- there's no point in looking back.
For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Jets and the NHL, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
