“The Nets have no perimeter defense” – NBA analyst asserts several Eastern Conference teams are better than Nets

The Brooklyn Nets have had a tough start to the season after getting blown out against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first game of the 130-108 season. What was the issue for the Nets? Their interior and perimeter defense. This squad can’t get anything going on the defensive side of the basketball. It’s a major issue right now and will continue to be for the remainder of the season unless they can figure it out or make moves to add better defenders.

They believed when they acquired Ben Simmons that they would be better on that side of the basketball, but that hasn’t been the case, yet. We can’t judge them too much because it’s only been one game. However, none of the guys outside of Simmons have shown much on the defensive side of the basketball throughout their careers.

NBA analyst Tim Bontemps of ESPN had a ton to say about the Nets and their below-average defense.

“This Nets team has no size. You go up against Jonas Valancunis and Zion Williamson two big dudes what happened? Those guys combined for 22 rebounds, they combined for nine offensive rebounds. They completely Pummel them inside. The Nets have no perimeter defense DJ goes off Brandon Ingram goes off this team has no athleticism defensively outside of Ben Simmons and you could argue maybe Royce Young or Royce O'Neil I should say, not Royce young, a former colleague. Nick Claxton and Sharpe are the only bigs on the roster. If you look at these and Nick Claxton weighs as much as me. If you look at these other teams in the East Cleveland Atlanta Toronto Miami the three teams at the top that we've talked about a ton, I just think all these teams are flat-out better than this Nets team”

Toronto Raptors v Brooklyn Nets

Can The Nets Figure it Out?

This is now the third year that the Brooklyn Nets are hopeful of becoming the team that many expected them to be. At the moment, the Nets truly don’t look like that’s ever going to be the case. Their issue isn’t even just on the court, but also off of it. They have too many guys that are worried about way too many other things and it could be part of the reason why they aren’t finding the success that they’re looking for.

Outside of Kevin Durant, who also asked for a trade this offseason, how many guys can we really trust on the Nets? Kyrie Irving has more issues than anyone, Ben Simmons has shown to have his own issues, and the other guys that play heavy minutes have dealt with injuries throughout their careers.

When Does Steve Nash Get Fired?

At this point, it seems like the most probable solution would be firing Steve Nash. It’s not all his fault that the Nets haven’t achieved what they’re looking for, but coaches are typically the scapegoats and there’s a good chance that Nash is going to be the one guy that gets fired because of the lack of success that they’ve found.