Last season, with the two cores of the title "Durant + Irving", the Nets management also won Harden through a multi-party transaction. And with "Durant + Irving + Harden" as the absolute core, successfully formed the post-Warrior era, the most luxurious championship lineup in the league.
After the formation of the super big three, the Nets did play a certain dominance last season, especially in the background of Durant's long injury and Irving's absence from time to time in the regular season, they still achieved the second record in the East; even if Harden and Irving had not retired in the second round of the playoffs, the Nets might have already defeated the Bucks and won the championship trophy long ago...
It is precisely because of the overall strength shown by the Nets last season + the chemical reaction between the big three, so when the nets still retain the "Durant + Harden + Irving" group of super three combinations in the new season; whether it is the rise of the Bucks, the Warriors, or the Lakers' equally luxurious big three lineup, in fact, they can't move the cradle net in people's minds - the status of "the most likely to win the championship".
8 consecutive defeats! Even with the Big Three, the Nets will not escape the fate of falling into the playoffs
Since the new season, Harden has been infinitely weakened by injury + new rules, and Irving has missed most of the games because he refused to be vaccinated. However, despite this, the Nets, under durant's leadership, did not stagnate like the Western Lakers, and even overwhelmed the eastern teams in the middle of the season and sat in the first place in the east.
Originally thought that the new season the Nets would firmly occupy the top three positions in the East under Durant's power. Unfortunately, the much-relied Durant was still injured...
After Durant's injury, the Nets had only one way to win — relying on Harden and Irving as they did in last season's regular season. However, this year, Harden's overall performance has declined seriously, Irving cannot play the home game, and the few games that Harden missed have not been able to help the Nets maintain their record.
In the end, the Nets lost to the Timberwolves, Lakers, Nuggets (2 times), Warriors, Suns, Kings, and Jazz, suffering an 8-game losing streak. And this wave of 8 consecutive losses also directly sent the Nets into an additional season (29 wins, 24 losses + seventh in the East).
I believe that no one can think of such a result, whether before the start of the season or at the beginning of the season. After all, the Nets have a big three lineup, and they will not fall to the point of not having a star to lead the team...
So, knowing that they have a super big three, why did the Nets fall to such a point?
1, the paper paste of defense, resulting in the Nets difficult to win. In the past two seasons, durant has recovered from injuries with broken Achilles tendons, and even played a very eye-catching data performance. However, due to the decline in athleticism and physical fitness, Durant has been unable to play the defensive intensity of the past in the Warriors.
In addition, Harden's "eye defense" has become his label, and Irving is limited by the influence of physical talent, and it is difficult to provide high-quality defense for the team. So as early as the big three joined forces + Nash coaching, the outside world already knew that the Nets are a team that attacks strong and defends weakly.
Since the new season, the Nets' overall defensive efficiency value is 111, ranking 19th in the league. After durant and Millsap's absence, the Nets' defensive efficiency during the eight-game losing streak was 121.9. For comparison, the only team that has performed worse defensively than them during this time is the Rockets in the lotto zone...
It is precisely because of the nets' overall poor defensive performance in recent years that they will lose to teams such as the Timberwolves, Warriors, nuggets and other teams in the game. Otherwise, with their reserves and offensive firepower, even if they will lose, they will not lose 8 consecutive games and fall into the play-off zone.
2. The lineup is not complete enough, and the Nets have never been able to play their full strength. As early as the beginning of the Nets' formation of the Big Three last season, the outside world has understood that their advantage is entirely in the efficient offensive firepower of the Big Three. After all, Durant and Harden are super scorers who have scored 30+ points and won the scoring king.
Although Irving does not have a hard honor blessing, his singles scoring ability is also the top existence among superstars. So normally, as long as the Nets Big Three can play normally on the offensive end, then they are not far from winning the game.
But during the recent Nets' 8-game losing streak, their lineup wasn't complete. New signing Millsap has been absent for more than half a month, and Joe Harris has been absent since November 15. More critically, in this wave of eight consecutive losses, Durant was all absent due to injury, Harden missed half of the games, and Irving missed 25% of the games.
Especially during the 8-game losing streak, there are only 3 games in which the two giants are present at the same time. It is precisely because of the lack of super scorers such as Harden and Durant in most games that the Nets cannot play their offensive advantages and cannot play their full strength.
3, the Nets did not create a qualified tactical system. The reason why the Lakers in the 20-year playoffs were able to defeat the Blazers, Rockets, Nuggets, and Heat in succession without a dominant lineup, and successfully win the championship, is not just because the "Zhan Mei Combination" played well.
More importantly, at that time, Vogel created a system with good offensive and defensive skills according to the technical characteristics of James and thick eyebrows, which improved the overall strength of the team. Otherwise, even if James and Thick Brow's personal ability is excellent at that time, without the assistance of teammates, the Lakers will not be able to win the championship.
Even judging from the overall performance of the Warriors in the new season, Curry's performance is not the fundamental reason for their top record. The reason why they can return to the top three in the West, and more importantly, in Kerr's system, Wiggins, Poole, Cuminga and others have played, so even if Curry plays abnormally sometimes, the Warriors can win the game.
And now this Nets team under Nash's coaching, there is no tactical system to speak of. Their tactics, in addition to letting the Big Three singles, are to let Thomas single, it seems that all tactics are based on the individual singles ability of the stars.
So when the Big Three took turns to miss the game, the Nets not only lacked defensive intensity, but also couldn't play the offensive firepower they deserved. So in the end, in the case of insufficient defensive intensity and offensive advantage, the Nets ushered in an 8-game losing streak. And if Nash could have paid as much attention to training and cultivating role players as Cole, then in fact, after the big three missed the game, as long as the tactical status of role players is improved, I believe that there may not be people who play well like The Warrior Poole.
In summary, when the team lineup is not complete, the defensive intensity is insufficient, there is no qualified tactical system, and the Nets, which rely too much on the personal ability of the Big Three, are reduced to the play-off area when the Big Three are absent in turn, it is actually not surprising.