Basketball coaches at every level love to preach defense, but Kenny Atkinson spent his entire film and practice session Monday hammering home to the Nets the need to improve dramatically on that end of the floor.
The Nets lost a heartbreaker Sunday night to Philadelphia — when they blew a 20-point lead, culminated by Jimmy Butler’s last-second 3-point bucket — but the more pressing problem for Atkinson has been his 8-13 team’s recent defensive ineffectiveness.
The Nets have allowed 120.1 points per game over their past seven losses, including three in a row entering Wednesday’s home game against Utah. They rank 25th in the NBA in defensive efficiency this season, offsetting a strong No. 10 ranking on the offensive side of the court, according to ESPN.
“That disparity is the reason we don’t have two or three more wins. Our defense has got to improve,” Atkinson said after practice Monday in Brooklyn. “We only talked about defense today. From the first day of training camp that’s been our emphasis. I’m a little frustrated we’re not doing better there. We’ve definitely identified that as a problem.”
Atkinson said his primary points of emphasis Monday were how the Nets have been “getting absolutely hammered” in rebounding on the defensive glass, as well as the need to limit the number of fouls they commit. The Sixers attempted 13 more free throws (33-20) than the Nets did Sunday night, and as Atkinson put it, “it’s just hard to win that way.”
Atkinson still plans to use Spencer Dinwiddie off the bench, rather than inserting him into the starting lineup alongside D’Angelo Russell after the two lead guards combined for 69 points against the Sixers.
One change that might make an eventual difference defensively, however, is the reinsertion of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson into the starting lineup. Hollis-Jefferson has mostly come off the bench since returning from a groin injury suffered in August until replacing Jared Dudley as a starter Sunday night.
“We don’t know if it’s set in stone, but just being able to have that start, it felt good,” said Hollis-Jefferson, who started in 59 of his 68 appearances last season. “You know you’re not going to be able to start just because. You’ve gotta put in the work and do the little things. So knowing that I’m doing the right things and everything, it feels good.”
The 6-foot-7 small forward was paired mostly against point guard Ben Simmons throughout Sunday’s game, helping hold the 2016 No.1-overall draft pick to 13 points, before switching to Butler on the final possession.
As his health and stamina have improved, Hollis-Jefferson also has been used for shutdown purposes on the likes of Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Miami’s Josh Richardson in recent games.
“I haven’t decided yet [on a lineup], but I liked the change,” Atkinson said. “As Rondae’s come back from injury, I think he’s slowly starting to get back to his last year form.
“We can put him on a point guard, we can put him on a four, we can put him on a five. It’s just a huge advantage, his defensive versatility.”
Especially for a team looking for any improvement at that end of the floor.
“That’s what I do. I love to play defense and I love to take pride in getting stops,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “[Atkinson] knows that, I know it and we’re both on the same page.”