It's rare to see a team at the top of the division so lacking dominance, and the Nets are a sight to behold. With 14 wins and 6 losses, nearly 15 games and 12 wins, there is no doubt that the Nets are the most stable team in the league, but they also play the "pseudo-strong team" that lacks the temperament of a strong team. The home team met the back-to-back suns on the road, and the overall suppression of both offensive and defensive ends of the field completely confirmed this. A game can be seen that the Nets have a lot of problems...
Harden's question
Leaving irving aside, the Nets' double-peak MVP lineup strength is still enough to see the league. Harden can not be blamed for playing like this, he is one of the team's double core with more than 40 million annual salaries. Nearly 1/4 of the season has passed, and Harden has never found his own state, and has never found a balance between scoring and organization. Three points are not allowed, two points are not shot, and there is no end to the inside line. The body can't keep up with consciousness, the pass or attack hesitates, all kinds of cerebral hemorrhage stop ball to find someone to find someone and unforced mistakes make Harden look so awkward on the court for the first time. This feeling of struggle comes from the sequelae of hamstrings or lineup problems, which should not be an excuse.
It is true that Harden's problem is very big, but the Nets' problem is not only Harden's problem, and the three major auxiliary factors are also obvious.
1. Deformed lineup
Defensive reinforcements for the Big Three in the offseason were meant to correct last season's offense overflowing defensive deficiencies. Irving's failure to play triggered a butterfly effect that led to the whole body, the offensive end is prone to constipation, and the lineup is awkward. Especially after Harris retired from injury, the team's space was extremely poor. Ader's starting for Griffin can be said to be a double-edged sword, and the space is better and will be infinitely targeted by defenders like Curry Paul. And Harden's favorite partner's pie inside line, the whole team did not meet the requirements. Although Jordan Jr. has problems with defense, at least the offensive end can also play with Harden, and Although Clarkston has many problems, at least the athletic ability is there, and there is a threat of eating cake on the inside. But now there is not a single one. (Jordan Jr. was traded, Clarkston was sidelined, And Sharp didn't make it into the rotation.
2. Coaching level
Without Irving, but the Nets have to start the new season with such a lineup, Nash as a rookie coach obviously does not have much to do to face such a sudden situation. In the case of no big move in the core lineup, the game played for a month and a half, but Nash has not been able to discharge a fixed set of starting and rotating lineups, which is not the so-called run-in reason, but this lineup is not working, then change another set, this style of play is not OK, then change another kind of "touch prize" coaching. The end result is that Griffin doesn't play like Griffin, and Harden doesn't play like Harden.
3. Team level
The Irving incident appears to have a much greater negative impact than the reimbursement for injury seasons. Since the beginning of the game, the whole team has always had many questions: When will Irving return to the team? Is Irving still back? Will Owen trade? When will the team trade? Problems such as these have greatly affected the atmosphere of the Nets' locker room. Whether it is a trade or a return, this "time bomb" is not dismantled, and the Nets will not be better.
Faced with the dilemma of being invincible today, how should the Nets break the game?
Game-breaking scheme
The subsequent returns of Clarkston and Joha may alleviate the Nets' problems, but they will not solve the underlying problems. If Irving doesn't come back, the Nets will have to trade him for a quality starting center and a point guard at least average, with five people allowing at most one drag space, and Harden's lineup is either "one-star four-shot" or "one-star three-shot" when harden is on the floor. Harden plays his most familiar center block, break through to create opportunities, or attack or pass, KD as a super endpoint, this is a stable offensive system.