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It’s finally upon us … the era of 7/11 has begun. What started out as a party kicker on the Instagram account of none other than star point guard Kyrie irving now it has culminated in the first official game –– well, more like unofficial… but that’s neither here nor there –– basketball game with the FULL Clean Sweep trio.
And who better to usher in the great new era of Nets basketball than head coach Steve Nash, the Hall of Fame point guard who will be entrusted with running the Brooklyn operation from the bench.
Like the rest of us, Nash was delighted with the opportunity to coach what should be an offensively prolific basketball team (perhaps on an all-time level). Here’s what he had to say about opener.
“It is a strange thing; you feel so close because you play for 18 years. But then when you are really in the place, you realize all that it entails and you feel further away in a sense. It’s great for me to have this experience and start and acclimate to what it’s like to be there (gestures to the bench)… how does it feel, what are the demands night to night. I’m excited that our guys come out in a different environment, they replicate a game a little more than practice.
“And then for me, obviously, it’s a bit more secondary, but I need to feel comfortable on the sidelines. So it’s a good opportunity for the two of us to get going. “
As philosophical as he comes, Nash issued some simple wishes for his new boy group in their opening exhibition showdown.
“Things you want every night: effort, connectivity, acceptance. And then as far as the details … get into our defensive principles and schemes. Making sure to be diligent with recognition, arrive early, and make our work a little easier rather than being late and reacting. That’s the number one priority for our team – being diligent with our principles on the defensive end. “
But look. While all of that is fine and excellent. Let’s get into the important stuff. Why are you (probably) clicking on this article.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Since Media Week, many have been pondering the same kinds of questions: Will Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving play in preseason? (Yes!) If so, how much will they play? Will Nash use his heavenly scorers sparingly, for fear of re-injuring one of his TWO All-NBA threats?
Friends and readers, ease your worries. This is what Nash said about all of that.
“I think we would like to bring them to 20 or so if we can. But, like I said, I think it’s easy to say before the game starts, we’ll see how it goes. With only 2 exhibition games, it would be ideal to take them north of 20 minutes if we can. We’ll see how it goes. Obviously, you don’t want to over-expose them in this first scenario. But that would be ideal to take them to 20-20 minutes before the next exhibition game. And then obviously hopefully one more dress rehearsal will somehow allow them to play toward a more normal minutes and intensity toward normal against the Warriors. “
So yeah, Nash wants to give his stars plenty of time to do their reps and feel the flow of the game in their veins. That same message goes to the rest of the Brooklyn players. But what happens outside of that? Is the goal to win?
“No,” Nash said. “This game is an exercise. When we take the floor, we always want to win. The exercise and the opportunity here is to keep building and growing. There is a line where we want to double our growth and build our bases, even if it’s not going to give us a win tonight if that makes sense. Maybe we can get away from some of the things that we are trying to implement to win tonight’s game, but there is no prize for winning. There is a prize in reward: to build and improve tonight, so we always want to win when we take the floor, but at the same time, that is not the goal for tonight. “
Of course, Nash prepared fans for what to expect, as he often did in his brief tenure as head coach, in the preseason meeting with the Washington Wizards. As for nuanced sets and detail-oriented offense … well, don’t expect too much of that. Again, pacing and fluidity is the goal here, as well as earning reps for stars returning from injury.
“To be honest, we haven’t invested a lot,” Nash said. “We have been practicing for a week. We have realized that we only have two exhibition games, so a big emphasis for us is that our guys play a lot, to get in shape and the air not to punch them. Having them in the gym for many hours and we have made it a priority to make sure their health and ability to sustain the demands of the game is as high as possible before we begin. We are a team that would like to compete for a championship and the way to do that is to be healthy at the end of the year. In order to physically support the riggers for the season, that became the priority. This is functional progress. We have not implemented almost most of the things that we are going to implement.
“We are focusing on other areas at the moment because first things first, to get off to a healthy and competitive start rather than overloading them with the tactical elements of the game that perhaps take away their physical preparation. Plus, it puts a little more risk of injury or doubt. That is the way we decided to approach this. “
So … a beautiful moving offense that replicates the 2015 Golden State Warriors … Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening Sunday night.
Before exiting the stage on the right, Nash gave the Nets community a glimpse of his expectations for Brooklyn’s lavish third star, local talent. Caris LeVert. In addition, it fueled the daydreams of many Nets fans and a handful of major league experts regarding a paper for the Michigan product of 26 years.
“I’m still working on it,” Nash said. “Caris is a starter. Will it start with us? I’m not sure yet. He’s so good with the ball in his hands. It can be argued that he plays that [Manu] Ginobili’s role where he is clearly the owner. Manu played in All-Star games, starred off the bench, ran that second drive and closed out games. We’ll see how it goes. It is a great luxury to have it and there is a thought where you can have more repetitions with the ball in hand. He captains the second unit for two legs in the game and then plays to the headlines in moments or to close. All that remains to be resolved, but it is a great decision for a coach. ”
Caris Ginobili. I like the sound of that.
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