INDIANAPOLIS — Right now, every time the young Nets hit adversity, they go awry like a rudderless ship.
asserted
they → hit → ship
That means their stars are going to have to do a better job steering them.
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stars → mean → them
That means Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr.
“[We’ve] just got to be mentally tougher, understand what’s going on in the game, understand what we’re trying to accomplish, what we can take advantage of, stuff like that,” Randle admitted.
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Randle → mean → that
“But we just have to have better recognition in-game of what’s going on and just be better from there.
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what → have → game
But we get adversity right now as a group, and it just deflates us as a team.
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it → get → team
So I have to find a way to keep the group together, and get us out of those ruts when we’re facing those types of situations.”
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we → have → situations
As the only winless team in the East coming into Sunday’s tilt at Indiana, the Nets have faced those types of situations every game.
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Nets → come → situations
The result has been slumped shoulders, bad body language and the team coming unraveled.
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result → slump → ?
Granted, they played well at Cleveland and Boston.
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they → grant → Cleveland
But more often than not, they haven’t handled adversity well.
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they → handle → adversity
But for the Nets to compete, they’ll have to be leaders.
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they → compete → ?
On a team this green, it’s not enough that they play well.
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they → ’ → team
They have to help their young teammates play well — or at least play together.
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teammates → have → ?
“It’s easier said than done,” Porter said after Friday’s loss to Detroit.
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Porter → say → Detroit
“In the NBA when you lose five straight, it can be tough.
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it → lose → five
“But we’ve got to continue to watch film, and do our best to stay connected as a group, do our best to stay positive, to come out next game and do better than we did [the last] game.
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we → get → game
We took a step forward [in] the Boston game, a couple steps backwards [against Detroit].
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We → take → Detroit
We’ve just got to watch it and go from there.
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We → get → it
The Nets have glaring personnel issues that may limit their defensive ceiling, but they’ve underachieved offensively due to a lack of chemistry and cohesion.
uncertain
they → have → chemistry
They’ll need better cutting and spacing.
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They → need → cutting
Granted, Randle has done his job as a floor raiser.
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Randle → grant → raiser
The Nets’ plus-22.9 net rating swing with him on and off the floor is the best of any Net that has logged over 30 minutes.
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that → log → minutes
But against Detroit, he shot 4-of-13 with three assists, five turnovers and too much ball-pounding.
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he → shoot → assists
Porter finished a minus-25.
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Porter → finish → minus-25
Randle admits it’s on the veterans like himself and Porter to help guide this young team through its growing pains.
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it → admit → pains
“That’s a great question.
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That → ’ → ?
I don’t know.
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I → know → ?
,” Randle said.
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Randle → say → ?
“We did that, [though] we didn’t get the result we wanted in Boston, we did it.
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we → do → it
I felt like we were on the path to doing that to start the [Detroit] game, and then we took steps back.
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we → feel → steps
So, I won’t accept it, but I understand it.
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I → accept → it
But we’ve got to find a way collectively to be better and not let adversity affect us so much as a group.
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adversity → get → group
We keep talking about it, but we gotta find a way to come together.
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we → keep → way
We gotta bring guys together in the moments of adversity and recognize those situations quicker than what we are right now.
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we → got → situations
It’s a tough ask with Porter set for unrestricted free agency and expected by many around the league to be on the market at the trade deadline.
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Porter → ’ → deadline
Meanwhile, Randle — soon to be 32 — can opt out as well.
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Randle → opt → ?
Head coach Jordi Fernández defended both, saying he can’t ask either to step outside their comfort zones leadership-wise.
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he → defend → zones
“I always want them to lead and it’s got to come out of an honest place.
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it → want → place
I cannot force them to be out of character,” Fernández said.
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Fernández → force → character
“I think they’re both good people and they both mean well, so whatever they’re comfortable doing I’m very happy they’re trying their best to help the group.
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they → think → group
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
