So with another week of losses, another week of being ranked at the bottom, what’s new with NBA power rankings?
The Nets are so bad they deserve pity.
Read the rankings closely and you’ll find a shake-my-head quality to the Nets plight. It’s not a good thing. There is some suggestion of hope as some pundits mimic Zach Lowe and say nice things about Caris LeVert and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Yeah, we’re getting cynical.
The Nets' losing streak has reached 10 games and things are getting uglier. After playing pretty competitively against good teams over the first half of the streak, they lost three of last week's games by 20, 19 and 25 points, with their defense began falling apart again. They led Thursday's game against New Orleans (without Anthony Davis) by six points in the fourth quarter, but committed seven turnovers and got outscored 31-16 in the final period. With Jeremy Lin out, they just have nobody with any experience running an NBA offense.
The Committee can admit we've been quietly pulling for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson ever since we wound up on the same team in last June's Steve Nash annual charity soccer match in Manhattan. So we've enjoyed seeing the increasingly frequent references to Hollis-Jefferson as a Nets bright spot alongside Caris LeVert, who is beloved among those who populate Nets Twitter. But only so much enthusiasm is reasonable to expect on behalf of the Nets' kids with Brooklyn possessing the league's only single-digit win total and the reality that it's a lock to send Boston no worse than a No. 4 pick in June. Par for the course: Jeremy Lin (hamstring) was forced Sunday to sit out Jeremy Lin Bobblehead Night.
If you ever find your job difficult, try and imagine being in a meeting trying to come up with slogans for the Nets' ticketing department.
Losers of six in a row, and they recently had a stretch of 7-in-10 at home and went 0-7 at Barclays. Still no timetable on Jeremy Lin’s return as the Nets are being cautious. In a “rearranging a the deck chairs on the Titanic” move, the Nets have released Anthony Bennett so they can sign Quincy Acy.
You might be wondering why the Nets are so bad this season, given that they have no real incentive to tank. Remember, Brooklyn's draft pick belongs to the Celtics, via a pick swap.
The answer: experimentation! The Nets are giving minutes to guys like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert to see what they can do. With nothing to lose, why not?
Jeremy Woo, Sports Illustrated (30)
After another loss to the Sixers…it’s probably time to trade Brook Lopez and cash out.
AJ Neuharth-Keusch, USA Today (30)
We're not sure what's worse — the fact that the Nets haven't won a game since Dec. 26 or the fact that they've won just one of their last 15.
Grant Hughes, Bleacher Report (30)
The Brooklyn Nets have the fewest wins and the lowest net rating in the league, so there's not much to explain here. Instead, let's hit a bright spot.
Rookie Caris LeVert is showing early signs of rotation talent. A rangy 6'7" shooting guard, he's flashing the playmaking skills teams crave in secondary creators. The highlight of his young season was when he put up 19 points, five assists and four rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 6.
And you can see his fluidity as a ball-handler in this clip from Brooklyn's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.
See that? Reasons for optimism!
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