Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie has preached energy and consistency since replacing Jacque Vaughn after the All-Star break. Neither have become part of the team’s identity with just 16 games left in the regular season.
Brooklyn has lost three of its last four games entering Saturday’s road matchup against the Indiana Pacers. It feels as if each time the team takes one step forward, it follows with an uninspiring performance that erases all of the momentum it has created for itself.
The Nets won back-to-back games against the Atlanta Hawks at Barclays Center on Feb. 29 and March 2, only to lose three of its next four games against Memphis, Detroit and Charlotte — three of the worst teams in the league.
Wednesday’s loss to the Orlando Magic was just the latest example of this team’s inconsistent nature. After having one of its better overall performances of the season against Cleveland one game prior, it started slowly at both ends of the court inside Kia Center and ultimately left with another disappointing loss.
Why the Nets’ energy levels fluctuate so dramatically from game to game has been one of the great mysteries of the NBA season. The team cannot season to figure it out. Ollie can beg for change all he wants, but at the end of the day it is the players who have to take action.
“You just have to keep demanding it and you have to keep letting them know that’s how we win games,” Ollie said. “I see it in them. It’s just the consistent part of it and bringing it out. And the toughness part of it is, that’s what we have to be. And I just want them to keep looking in the mirror. I keep looking at myself in the mirror, how can I get them better, how can I do certain things.
“I take the challenge on each and every day and they take the challenge on, but that has to become our identity. We just can’t win any other way.”
While the Nets do not have much time left to correct course, postseason aspirations are still within reach. Brooklyn is just three games behind the Hawks for the final Play-In Tournament spot in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn will return home to face the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans following Saturday’s game at Indiana.
Next up will be its last extended road trip of the season where it will play the Milwaukee Bucks, Knicks, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards. Whatever they have to do to channel consistent play, it has to start now.
“At a point in time, you just got to stop saying it and we’ve just got to do it at some point,” Cam Thomas told reporters in Indiana. “What is it game 66 or whatever this is, and we’re still talking about effort? That’s a problem. We’ve just got to figure out a way to get it done.”
