The Long Island Nets tipped off at 11:00 a.m. ET in front of 5,700 fans for “Education Day,” traditionally their biggest crowd of the season. Alas, they weren’t able to bring home the win, losing 114-107 in overtime.
Nolan Traore continued his string of positive performances with another very good all-around game today that fans can be proud of. Despite missing both his attempts from beyond the arc, Traore finished the game connecting on nine of his 14 shot attempts for a total of 19 points.
Traore
even flirted with a triple-double in this one, bringing in seven rebounds and dishing seven assists, also leading all players with four steals. Additionally, today’s game was another very positive game in Traore’s development when it comes to ball protection, as he had only had two turnovers. While the perfect number would be zero, two is much less than the six he had a few games ago.
Overall, this was a positive game for Traore, shooting the ball, rebounding the ball, and getting the ball to his teammates for good looks. On top of that, it was a decent game for Traore in ball protection, too. This is yet another game under Traore’s belt that fans can look at and see a huge positive step in his young development. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the other rookies.
Something clear in this one is the connection Traore has to his fellow rookie, Ben Saraf. Traore and Saraf have found each other with ease in some of these games. NetsDaily asked Saraf what it’s been like playing with Traore after the game and his impression of him…
“It’s great,” Saraf tells ND. “I really love to play with Nolan. He’s so fast, pushing the place, and that’s exactly how I want to play. He had a great game today, and a great last couple of games, and I think we all enjoyed it.”
Saraf was assigned to the Long Island squad by Brooklyn yesterday to get him some minutes while Brooklyn goes without a game for five days. This was a game that Saraf would like to forget in more ways than one. Looking at the stat sheet, it doesn’t look like an awful game for Saraf; he finished with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, and even had a steal and a block.
After the game, ND had the chance to speak with Ben Saraf about his performance and performing in front of close to 6,000 fans in attendance. “It was cool today,” Saraf says. “Playing in front of so many kids. The gym was loud, I love it.”
ND also had the chance to ask Saraf about working with the Brooklyn head coach, Jordi Fernandez, and being assigned to the Long Island team again.
“It’s great,” Saraf tells ND. “I think each one there is like some details for me that they’d like me to apply. But, I think in general the system is the same system. So, it’s easy to go down and play with the guys. The teammates are great here. So, it’s great so far.”
However, this may have been Saraf’s worst shooting performance of his young career. He connected on two of his 10 shots, with the two shots he made being two of his three shots from deep. His game from beyond the arc and from the foul line was fine. But some of his decisions on his shots inside the arc were questionable. If you’re looking strictly at the numbers, Saraf went hit zero of his seven attempts from inside the arc.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Saraf has a goal in mind. “Just to play as much as I can,” Saraf says. Whether it’s on Long Island or with Brooklyn, Saraf wants to stack days. Saraf also wants to “affect the game” as much as he can, and overall just “keep getting better.”
The good news is that Saraf is young. He has the potential to be a great player, but he’s not quite there yet. Some more time on Long Island may do him good, as he hopes to get to the level Wolf is already at. Wolf is a perfect example. He started his time on Long Island with one of the worst halves we’ve seen, but he became one of the best players on the team so quickly. So quickly that he’s already on the big club with no signs of being sent to Long Island again any time soon… Then, there was Drake Powell.
Powell made his Long Island debut in this game after spending the whole season so far with the big club. Powell quickly exceeded expectations in his time in the NBA, showing Brooklyn exactly why they drafted him. Similar to Saraf, Powell had a very weird game. Not bad, not good, just very weird.
Powell whiffed on all three of his shot attempts, but excelled at the foul line, hitting five of his six shots from the stripe. Powell’s final stat sheet reads eight points, seven rebounds, five assists, and one block. Not bad numbers by any means, but the three shot attempts he mustered up, and not hitting a single one, was a bit odd to see, especially from someone as high as Powell in team expectations.
The two two-way players – EJ Liddell and Tyson Etienne – remained with Long Island for this one. This marked both men’s third game with the team of the season. Liddell had a double-double in each of his first two games with the team in Delaware. Would lightning strike a third time? So close, but no, it would not.
Liddell finished the game connecting on three of his nine shots, including hitting three of his six attempts from beyond the arc. He finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. He came awfully close to his third straight double-double but was one rebound off. Liddell also had one assist and two blocks. He remains a blocking machine for Long Island, off to one of the best starts blocking the ball that we may have ever seen at the G League level.
As for Etienne, he finished with 14 points, connecting on six of his 16 shot attempts, including going 2-for-11 from beyond the arc. This was a far cry from Etienne’s career-high game, hitting 10 three-pointers, which he had the last time he was on the court on Saturday in Wilmington against the Delaware Blue Coats. Etienne was also credited with one rebound, two assists, and one steal.
When asked after the game about his mindset heading into his second season under the Brooklyn umbrella, Etienne told ND his mindset is simple: “win.” He continued, “My mindset is always to win. Whatever it takes for us to win, that’s just my mentality every single time, ‘how am I going to impact winning today?’ It’s the same mentality as always.”
Etienne spoke about his career night on Saturday, draining 10 three-pointers, the most of his professional career. “My mindset was just to go out there and win,” Etienne tells ND. “I knew it was the second of a back-to-back, so those games can go either way. I just wanted to be a leader for my team, bring the energy, and be someone they can rely on. Being on the road, the second of a back-to-back, I just wanted to make sure I was out there, helping my team. I wasn’t going out there trying to make 10 three’s or anything, I just went out there hooping.”
When asked about learning under Jordi and what the whole experience has been like for him and learning under Jordi, Etienne says it’s been “amazing.” He continues, “It’s nothing short of amazing. Playing for Jordi, everything that he’s about, his principles, what he values, those are things I kind of had to hold onto in my career just to get here. So to be playing for a coach and a coaching staff who come from the same mentality that I do is super gratifying. I know every day we focus on getting better, just a little bit better, and just seeing how that can compound over time. So, it’s been nothing short of amazing. I enjoy every single moment I’m able to put on a jersey, whether it be a Brooklyn jersey or Long Island jersey, I just want to represent the organization in the highest way.”
Looking ahead for Etienne, he said his goal for the organization is to continue to help them win games and grow personally. “Just continue to sharpen my ability,” Etienne tells ND. “Continue to be consistent with what I know I’m able to bring to a team, and continue to get better in my role, and continue to expand my skillset. My focus is just being the best basketball player I can be and being the best member I can be for this team and group.”
Etienne played a huge part in even getting this game to overtime, taking the ball to the rim for a lay-up with five seconds left to tie the game at 107. This was a very tough lay-up, which led to a very hard fall, causing Etienne to be on the ground for a bit, but he got up under his own power and stood in the game.
Nate Williams finished the game leading the team in scoring with 25 points. Williams connected on 10 of his 19 attempts, including shooting the ball very well from deep, connecting on four of his five attempts. He also had seven rebounds, two steals, and one block to his credit.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (5-7) return to the court tomorrow night, Wednesday, for a showdown with the Westchester Knicks. The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. EST in Westchester. It can be watched on ESPN+ and locally on MSGSN.
