In the 2021-22 season, in addition to the Nets abandoning Green, it is a pity, the remaining main rotation players Griffin and Brown have successfully stayed, and also signed Mills' value-added combat power, normally the team's chemistry is getting better and better, and the player's data will also usher in an improvement, but the fact is just the opposite. Brown's average per game data dropped from 8.8 points to 5.4 boards to 6.9 points and 4.3 boards, Griffin's average data dropped from 10 points to 4.7 boards to 5.3 points and 4.7 boards, and more importantly, the efficiency of the two people also fell sharply, Brown's shooting rate dropped by 8.8 percentage points, and Griffin's three-point shooting rate was only 15.8%.
What is more depressing about the Nets is that the players who have performed poorly this season are not only Brown and Griffin, claxton, who has high hopes, is also inexplicably out of shape, he was scheduled to start in the first three games of the season, the team only had 1 win and 2 losses, his ability to move when he was on the court was obviously not as good as last season, until later he learned that he had a "strange disease" of constant weight loss, and he also missed the next 18 games, and even once made fans think that he was used as a trading chip.
As the main rotation player of the team last season, Clarkston is very important, he is the team's only "eat pie" type of interior line, has excellent basket finishing ability, increases Harden's threat in the attack, his height arm span and movement speed in defense are also not available in other interior lines in the team, is the best player in the team to change defense, make up for the lack of Harden's defensive outside ability, is Harden's favorite type of interior partner, with Clarkston, Nash can put up multiple sets of lineups to deal with different opponents, It is strategic.
At present, Clarkston's illness has recovered, and the last 4 games have returned to the rotation lineup, Averaging 19.3 minutes per game, contributing 5 points and 4.8 rebounds, this data does not seem convincing, in fact, his role on the court is not reflected by the basic data, in the Nets' victory over the Lone Ranger and the Hawks, it is his defense of Doncic and Trae Young in the fourth quarter that changes the trend of the game, under his defense, the opponent only shoots 9 of 30 shots, shooting 14 percentage points below the average, and then look at Clarkston's high-level data of these 4 games, you can feel his importance:
When he was on the floor, the team's offensive efficiency was 111.9, defensive efficiency was 92.1, and the net victory over the opponent in 100 rounds was 19.8 points, ranking first in the team, higher than Durant;
When he was not on the floor, the team's offensive efficiency was 108.6, defensive efficiency was 116, and the net loss of 100 rounds was 7.5 points, the team was second only to Durant.
As can be seen from the data, his overall defense improvement of the team is very huge, the most critical thing is that Clarkston's state is getting better and better, self-confidence has been fully played, as the season progresses, he will further strengthen his strength, will be more energetic at both ends of the attack and defense, wait until Harris's return and Harden's physical recovery, the Nets' lineup will be more deep, even without Irving, the Nets still have the strength to fight for the championship, of course, if Irving can appear or exchange for better instant combat, it will be perfect, The mid-season trading market is about to open, let's wait and see!