There is no more damning accusation in the NBA than for a team to be called soft. Those, swear to Charles Oakley, are fighting words.
Yet the Nets basically were called that over the weekend. And it was the Nets themselves making the accusations.
“That’s something we’ve got to have more of, more toughness,” said Brook Lopez, who had a weekend to forget in Florida, shooting 8-of-33 (24.2 percent) with 22 points and eight rebounds in losses to the Magic and Heat. “It’s got to come from everyone. It’s got to start from someone like myself.”
The issue surfaced after Terrence Williams hard-fouled LeBron James into the first row Saturday and later admitted he felt the need for someone, anyone, to take a stand against the Heat, who were driving and dunking at will with impunity. So Williams gave a hard foul that was deemed flagrant. Some comments afterwards ticked off James, who promised “I’ll be ready” for the teams’ April 3 rematch.
“In some situations, we have to do more of what T-Will did,” Anthony Morrow said. “That was a good hard foul. He wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. He was sending a message. They were getting a lot of dunks in transition.”
And they were celebrating, bumping hips in mid-air, making the Nets look, well, soft.
No one is advocating taking a tire iron onto the court or trying to harm. But the Nets and the 11th Commandment — “Thou Shall Not Enter the Valley of the Paint” — have not quite met this season.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a hard foul. It can be [taking] a charge, a blocked shot. We just can’t let a guy come in and lay the ball up without repercussions,” Devin Harris said. “Sometimes we let them get to the lane a little bit too easy. I’m not saying we need to hurt guys, but we do need to protect our basket more and send these guys to the free-throw line more.”
Well, they might not want to aim for that. During their current four-game losing streak, which the Nets hope to end tomorrow at home against the Cavaliers, the Nets have been outshot at the line, 118-64, or 29.5 per game to 16.
On Friday, after Dwight Howard and the Magic dominated the Nets, coach Avery Johnson, noting an awful drop-off in the third quarter, observed, “We’ve got to get in better physical and mental shape [for] more of a sustained effort.”
Or stop being soft. All around.
“Guys guarding need to be more physical,” Harris said. “Obviously, we need our big guys to protect our paint a little bit more. It’s a joint effort.”