With training camp just days away, we’re going to ask a question per day about the upcoming Nets season.
After playing at nearly the slowest pace in the NBA last season, will the Nets play faster with a new coach and several new players?
Nobody could have confused last season’s Nets with a track squad.
Under both Avery Johnson and P.J. Carlesimo, the Nets played as one of the NBA’s slowest teams. They finished the season with an average of 91.23 possessions per 48 minutes – good for 28th in the NBA, ahead of only Memphis and New Orleans.
When the season ended and Nets general manager Billy King began his search for a new coach, he and the players — nearly to a man –- made it clear they wanted to speed things up in the coming season, both by pushing the overall tempo of the offense and by trying to eliminate some of the static isolation sets the Nets frequently used on offense.
That point seemed to be reinforced by Jason Kidd when he was hired in June and discussed how, as an opponent, he noticed the Nets’ offensive attack ran out of steam.
“My experience as a player [with the Knicks] against Brooklyn last season was once they got to 88, 89 points, they kind of get unplugged,” Kidd said during his introductory press conference. “I want this team to explode early, get up and down.
“This is a team that hopefully can get to 100 points because they have that type of talent. … So we want to play that type of basketball.”
Of course, that was before the Nets traded for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry –- who will be 37, 36 and 36, respectively, when the season starts. All three are expected, along with big men Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche, to be part of the Nets’ core rotation.
But the personnel changes do not necessarily mean the Nets will once again play at a slow pace next season.
Take the Spurs, for example. Led by Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili — who played last season at 36 and 35, respectively — the Spurs were sixth in the NBA by averaging over 96 possessions per game. How did they do it? By getting into their offensive sets quickly and getting quick baskets, much like what the Suns did under Mike D’Antoni in the middle of the last decade.
Like the Spurs with Tony Parker, the Nets have an elite floor general in Deron Williams who is capable of pushing the ball up the floor and exploiting mismatches in the defense. Then, if nothing is there, the Nets can go into their offense and get the ball to one of several available options on the floor.
Since the trade, Kidd has hinted his initial ideas about pushing the pace will be reined in a bit, so don’t expect the Nets to be a top-10 team in pace like San Antonio. But don’t be surprised if the Nets try to push more than they did and finish in the middle of the pack in pace next season.