The Brooklyn Nets are becoming scary good
For a long time, there has been only one team in New York and that was the Knicks. They had the Madison Square Garden, more fans, more money, and better history. But in the past years, as both teams were struggling, Brooklyn Nets seemed to be the one which would recover faster than its rival.
However, to be the best in the NBA it is not enough to be better than the other team in the city. No, you have to become the best in your conference and then eventually get to the NBA Finals. Although LeBron’s departure in the West created a sense of anarchy and gave a slight hope to every team in the East, there were still some great competitors. Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Toronto Raptors were seen as the best three teams in the conference, while Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat or Washington Wizards were seen as good teams. Still, no one expected Brooklyn Nets to be a great team.
Halfway into the season and Milwaukee Bucks is on the first spot, followed by Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics. These were already viewed as the best teams in the conference but the organization on the 6th spot is the big surprise. As you probably know, with a record of 28 wins and 24 losses, the Brooklyn Nets are standing on the 6th place in the Eastern Conference, having 7 more wins than Detroit Pistons, which occupies the 9th place. More than that, the Brooklyn Nets managed to win 7 out of their last 8 games, which makes it one of the hottest teams in the NBA.
This comes as a big surprise because if we look at this team’s roster we don’t see any superstar. The Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Raptors have Kawhi Leonard, the Pacers had Victor Oladipo until he suffered a heart-breaking injury a few days ago, the Philadelphia 76ers have Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Jimmy Butler, while the Boston Celtics have Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and a ton of young talent. However, Brooklyn Nets with a young team led by De’Angelo Russell managed to beat teams like Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers twice, Toronto Raptors, and Denver Nuggets.
In my opinion, this team’s success is due to two factors: great coaching and unity in the group. Kenny Atkinson does a tremendous job motivating his players and keeping them alert in any moment. He managed to create a tough team to beat on their home court and he deserves all the credit for that. In the same time, the players have stepped up, starting with Russell who averages 19.3 PPG, 6.4 APG, and 3.8 RPG. He is shooting 44.1% from the field and 81.1% from the free-throw line and countless times he was the leading scorer of his team. Also, another impressive player is Spencer Dinwiddie, who I’m convinced will be a future star in this league. His hard work paid off as he is putting up pretty good numbers this season: 17.2 PPG and 5.0 APG. Of course, there are a lot of other great contributors such as Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, Shabazz Napier, DeMarre Carroll or Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
However, I don’t think that in a 7-game series Brooklyn Nets stands a chance against teams like Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks. But the way that they’re playing gives them hope for the future and more than that attracts other great players to come to this organization. Maybe in the summer, they will manage to sign a superstar free agent and some great veterans and from then on, everything is possible.
David Istrate, info@brainbasketbal.net
