{"id":2419,"date":"2016-11-14T17:23:38","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T22:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=2419"},"modified":"2016-11-14T17:23:38","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T22:23:38","slug":"surprising-brooklyn-nets-off-hot-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/11\/14\/surprising-brooklyn-nets-off-hot-start\/","title":{"rendered":"The Surprising Brooklyn Nets Off to a Hot Start"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Heading into week four of the 2016-17 NBA season, the <strong>Brooklyn Nets<\/strong> are surprising the NBA. Many pundits forecasted doom, despair and gloom for this Nets team, yet they continue to amaze. Make no mistake the Nets, who are currently 4-5, will not contend for the NBA championship this season. They will not even contend for the conference title this season. More than likely the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2016\/09\/09\/brooklyn-nets-rebuilding-efforts\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nets will not make the playoffs<\/a> this season. That said this team is here to stay and they intend to enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Surprising Brooklyn Nets Off to a Hot Start<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>The Pundits Were Very Opinionated<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As the NBA off-season wound down, all eyes were on the new upcoming season. During this period, there were\u00a0assumptions, presumptions, conjectures, and prognostications by the so-called experts. In Las Vegas, Nevada, bookmakers and odds-makers forecasted the Nets would win twenty games this season. Nate Duncan of the <strong>Dunk\u2019d On Podcast<\/strong>, as well as <strong>Danny Leroux<\/strong> of <strong>Real GM<\/strong> radio thought it best not to mention the Brooklyn Nets for more than a minute in each of their forecast programs. <strong>Kevin Pelton<\/strong>, ESPN\u2019s premier analytics expert has been savage in his \u2018objective observations\u2019. Surprising the NBA and its pundits are no mean feat.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Nets aren&#39;t exactly brimming with talent. There&#39;s a reason they&#39;re going to win 25 games or less. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZRM3Ic0xPQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/ZRM3Ic0xPQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TimBontemps\/status\/790668413236449282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 24, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>West Coast Road Trip<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Nets have embarked on their first road trip of the season, beginning with the first trip to <strong>Madison Square Garden<\/strong> where they faced their hated rivals and self-appointed big brothers the <strong>New York Knicks<\/strong>. Coming off a high-energy victory against a youthful, talented\u00a0<strong>Minnesota Timberwolves<\/strong> at home, the Nets faced the Knicks. The Nets led the entire first half and deep into the third quarter, but was besmirched by <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anthoca01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carmelo Anthony<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s greatness. Midway through the third quarter, Anthony scored six consecutive baskets effectively shooting the Nets out of the game.<\/p>\n<p>After that heartbreak administered by Anthony, the Nets headed out west. First up, the great state of Arizona. The <strong>Phoenix Suns<\/strong> are a young squad led by young Head Coach <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/watsoea01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Earl Watson<\/a><\/strong>, who is in his first full season at the helm. On Saturday night, the Nets stormed into \u2018Talking Stick Resort Arena\u2019 and took the fight to the Suns leaving victorious. The Nets scored one hundred and twenty-two (122), on an opponent\u2019s floor. A western conference opponent no less.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Atkinson is the Man with the Plan<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Rookie coach <strong>Kenny Atkinson<\/strong> continues to <a href=\"http:\/\/nypost.com\/2016\/11\/14\/rondae-hollis-jefferson-a-case-study-in-player-development\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accumulate effusive praise for his masterful leadership<\/a> thus far. Apart from losing to the <strong>Chicago Bulls<\/strong> Halloween, the Nets were either victorious or in close-hard fought losses thus far during this regular season. Atkinson is first to express his dissatisfaction with the team\u2019s results thus far, but he tempers that with his satisfaction of the team\u2019s gritty mentality.<\/p>\n<p>Atkinson\u2019s ability has been on full display. The Nets\u00a0defeated the\u00a0<strong>Detroit Pistons<\/strong>, the <strong>Indiana Pacers<\/strong>, the <strong>Minnesota Timberwolves<\/strong> and the <strong>Phoenix Suns<\/strong>. No one can deny that the Nets were the lesser talented team in each of those matchups. Next up the Staples Center in Los Angeles where the Nets face the <strong>Los Angeles\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Clippers<\/strong> on Monday and the <strong>Los Angeles\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Lakers<\/strong> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Atkinson and\u00a0the Nets are surprising the NBA with his preparation. This team is supposed to\u00a0lose, however Atkinson didn&#8217;t receive the memo. Though the offense is still spotty the Nets average close to one hundred points per game. The defense is a work in progress.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nets Wrecked by Injuries<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Nets have been beset by injuries to a few players. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/linje01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Lin<\/a><\/strong>, the team\u2019s starting point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2016\/11\/03\/jeremy-lin-out-least-two-weeks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is still out with hamstring troubles<\/a>. Rookie <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whiteis01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Whitehead<\/a><\/strong> who replaced Lin in the lineup has been out the past few games with a concussion. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leverca01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caris LeVert<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0continues to recover from a Jones\u2019 Fracture surgery. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foyera01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Randy Foye<\/a><\/strong>, the veteran combo guard who was brought in as cover, is just returning to the line-up after games out as well. Consequently, the Nets released injured veteran point guard <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vasqugr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Greivis Vasquez<\/a><\/strong> to sign undrafted rookie point guard <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/ferreyo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yogi Ferrell<\/a><\/strong> from the D-League affiliate the <strong>Long Island Nets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As it stands the Brooklyn Nets are surprising in these nine games, have been four wins and five losses. Put into perspective, last season the Nets fourth victory came after seventeen (17) games.\u00a0 This is verifiable progress with a much less talented team. A team also hampered with injuries. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brook Lopez<\/a> has been outstanding in his play. Only if he would improve his rebounding numbers. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/scolalu01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Scola<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/booketr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trevor Booker<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=hamilju01,hamilju02&amp;search=Justin+Hamilton&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Hamilton<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kilpase01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sean Kilpatrick<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harrijo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Harris<\/a><\/strong> has all played well during most if not all the previous games. These were all outcasts from last season, now they&#8217;re surprising the NBA with good and even stellar play sometimes.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kenny Atkinson should be getting as much or more attention as Luke Walton for what he&#39;s doing w\/ a less talented roster<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NateDuncanNBA\/status\/797654979859214336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 13, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nets are about to be 4-5, including two wins without a single NBA point guard. Absolutely ridiculous job so far by Kenny Atkinson.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TimBontemps\/status\/797655407363637248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 13, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Nets are\u00a0surprising the NBA not because of\u00a0talent. They surprise the opponent by embodying the spirit Kenny\u00a0Atkinson. &#8220;BrooklynGrit&#8221; is real and evident each time the Nets play. How many more surprises do the Nets have in store? Stay tuned!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/460865814\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 62.962963% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/460865814?et=AJ1l-t8sQBBbVi5gKGODdw&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=ZHwakalKrhV41cvOjcRYiNfFCdltMnsS2czO6XzXGyA=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"374\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The surprising Brooklyn Nets are off to a hot start. Many pundits forecasted doom, despair and gloom for this Nets team, yet they continue to amaze.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":2440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,62],"tags":[65,233,232,236,96,201],"class_list":["post-2419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nets","category-featured","category-nba","tag-basketball","tag-brook-lopez","tag-jeremy-lin","tag-kenny-atkinson","tag-nba","tag-nba-development-league"],"modified_by":"Harrison Marcus","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}