Jordi Fernandez reveals how he ‘failed’ the team during a brutal 0-6 start

The The Brooklyn Nets were expected to be among the worst teams in the NBA during reservoir season. However, the rebuilt team looked worse than many could have imagined during a listless 0-6 start.

Brooklyn’s lack of effort and enthusiasm to open the year has head coach Jordi Fernandez looking for answers. After Sunday’s 129-105 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers, Fernandez admitted he wasn’t sure where to find them.

“I’m not succeeding in trying to get my guys to play hard,” the coach said candidly. “And I’m trying to ask them questions, how can I do it to make them play really hard? And then (if they do), you live with the result. But I don’t live with this result because there’s no effort and no defense and we’re turning the ball over. . . . How many games will it take? It’s six now.”

Through six games, the Nets rank 23rd in offense and hold the NBA’s worst defense by a wide margin. Fernandez tried to shake things up on Sunday, benching rookie Ben Saraf, who had started Brooklyn’s first five games at point guard, in favor of journeyman Tyrese Martin. He also limited rookie Egor Demin to 15 minutes, four of which came in the garbage.

Still, the Nets looked as day-to-day as ever, continuing to miss defensive assignments and struggling to create offense.

“It’s everything. From the lack of attention to the body language. It all goes with the energy. And like I said, it starts with me,” Fernandez said of the problems in Brooklyn. “I’m asking them to play really hard and play with a purpose, and we’re not doing that. So I’m doing something wrong besides coverage. I think that’s the beauty of this business. There’s not always one thing that works for all groups. This group is different than any group I’ve worked with, and we want to create winning habits for them, we’re not really far from that. “And we’re not right. on the other side.”

With Saraf out of the rotation, and Demin spending most of the game on the bench, the Nets’ defense remained uninspired and discombobulated.

Jordi Fernandez takes the blame for the Nets’ dysfunction during an 0-6 start

They allowed the 76ers, without Joel Embiid and Paul George, to score 73 points in the first half on 28-of-49 shooting (57.1 percent) with 17 assists and five turnovers. Kelly Oubre lit up Brooklyn with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the first quarter.

While Fernandez took responsibility for his team’s embarrassing performance, the players said they were responsible.

“I mean, at the end of the day, he’s not the one who goes out there and has to play defense. That’s on us,” he said Nic Clacton. “We’ve just got to lock down the schemes and look in the mirror. Obviously he’s going to take it hard. He’s going to take it hard too. He’s a competitor. He wants to win and nobody wants to start 0-6. But I feel like that’s on us too, at the end of the day. We all players understood the scheme…” (All players defend) Just drilling him, so I think that’s just what I want at the end of the day.

Despite limiting the minutes of their rookies against Philadelphia, the Nets also turned in one of their worst offensive performances of the season. Brooklyn shot 39 of 90 from the field (43.3 percent) and 7 of 38 from three (18.4 percent) with 18 turnovers.

Michael Porter Jr. and Cam Thomas once again battled to lead the team. Duo shot combined 6-of-21 from the field and 2-of-10 from three with three assists and five turnovers in three quarters before putting their stats in garbage time.

While draft position is a top priority for the Nets this season, they will need to find some semblance of continuity to prevent a locker room spiral. Where will that change come from?

“That’s a tough question. When you’re 0-6, it’s tough to figure out. I mean, it’s tough to pinpoint one thing, you know? It’s a little bit of everything. It’s just a tough job to tackle. So, yeah, it’s going to be tough.” Terrance Mann he said. “I think just our defensive presence (wasn’t there). After every game we come here and say the same thing: our defensive presence, our defensive presence… We’re going to have to (improve in that direction) or we’re going to keep losing. So that’s what the coach wants, if we don’t figure out how and we have the will to just be results. honestly, that’s just what it is.