Winning isn’t the assignment in Brooklyn right now. Growth is.
This Nets team is unlikely to be competitive today, tomorrow, or anytime soon. Unless patience becomes a box-score category.
The process may
be frustrating, but Jordi Fernández appears to be the ideal coach for the long, unglamorous road ahead.
The second-year coach is built for the slow burn, handling the delicate mindset of his young players with a mix of patience, constructive criticism, and encouragement.
Tough Love Pays Off
Fernández has had no problem identifying where his young players fall short, both privately and in public. Each rookie has taken a turn under the spotlight, with Fernández addressing his concerns to the media when necessary.
His messages are blunt and direct, and they often come with immediate results.
After rookie Drake Powell played just over two minutes during a 119–111 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on December 12, Fernández didn’t sugarcoat his decision to sideline the rookie. When asked about the 20-year-old’s limited playing time, he made it clear that Powell’s performance leading up to that moment didn’t meet his standard.
“These young guys need to understand how important every minute you play is,” Fernández said. “If the intentions are there, I’m completely fine. But if the mistakes are from easing into the game, that’s not how we do it here.”
Powell responded the next game by scoring 13 points while adding four rebounds, three assists, and a steal during Brooklyn’s 127–82 blowout win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s continued to show steady improvement on both ends of the floor over the past month, highlighted by a career-high 16 points in Wednesday’s 116–113 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, even knocking down a clutch three to cut the deficit with five seconds left…
Powell said he welcomed the honesty and understood where Fernández was coming from.
“I respect him for that,” Powell said of Fernández. “It just shows that he cares, not only about me as a basketball player, but as a human being.”
Following the Dallas game, he delivered a similar, but shorter, message to fellow rookie Egor Demin, who shot just 14 percent from the field while forcing several contested attempts.
“He’s gotta be better, otherwise the minutes are gonna go down, and somebody else will take advantage of them,” Fernández said.
Demin responded with a statement game of his own, leading Brooklyn with 17 points against Milwaukee and carrying that momentum throughout the month. At this point in the season, he ranks second among all rookies in three-pointers made with 79 on 39.1% shooting and is on pace to break Kerry Kittles’ franchise rookie record of 158 made threes. Moreover, in the month of January, he’s shot better and made more threes than Kon Knueppel in one fewer games.
Fernández’s criticism is direct, but it’s also balanced. Just as quickly as he challenges his young players, he’s willing to praise them when they deserve it. Less than a week after calling out the two rookies, he highlighted the way they bounced back.
“I think they both did a great job. We knew that that was in them,” Fernández said. “Our guys care and we know how much they care, especially these two kids. They came back and they did what was best for the group and their performance was up to our standards.”
For inexperienced players who are still acclimating and adjusting, sometimes they simply need to be reminded of what they are capable of.
A Different View of the G League
In many organizations, being sent to the G League can feel like a punishment.
For Jordi Fernández, who spent several seasons as the head coach of the Canton Charge, the league is viewed as a developmental tool that allows players to log meaningful live reps as they adjust to the pace and physicality of professional basketball.
“We have a system in place. It’s important for players to see what the path is to get better,” Fernández said. “I’ve been in the G League as a head coach. All of our players but one have played in the G League. It’s something that we embrace and believe in.”
All but one Nets rookie — Demin — has spent time with Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, as Fernández maintains a consistent line of communication with the developmental staff.
Fresh off Danny Wolf’s 25-point, 13-rebound performance against the Capital City Go-Go on Nov. 10, the rookie forward pointed to the continuity between both staffs.
“We’re one big group. My position coach here and my position coach back in Brooklyn are in communication,” Wolf said. “They talk about the same things, watch the same film and help me. They do a great job sharing ideas with each other.”
By the end of the month, the Michigan product was ready for consistent NBA action, scoring a career-high 22 points while adding four assists and four rebounds in a 116–99 loss to Milwaukee.
Within the span of three months, fellow rookie first-round pick Nolan Traore went from struggling in the G League and looking unplayable at the NBA level to earning a call-up and averaging 21.6 minutes per game for Brooklyn this month.
“He took full advantage of the opportunities he had with Long Island,” said Fernández. “And when he came back here, he did so with a different spirit and a lot more confidence.”
Just this week, Long Island’s Grant Nelson who played for Brooklyn in the Summer League and training camp, credited the Brooklyn and Long Island performance teams with helping him get beyond knee soreness than has troubled him since his freshman year in college five years ago.
“I think it really shows how good the performance staff is here and what they’ve done to get me back on the court and be ready for when I get back on the court,” Nelson told ND’s Scott Mitchell. “The performance staff did a great job, and everyone really cares about me, which really meant a lot.”
Letting The Work Show
While the process doesn’t need to be rushed, each of the team’s young investments appears to be trending upward, despite the scrutiny and confusion that followed the team’s draft decisions.
What was once questioned as drafting three players at the “same position” has proven to be far from it. While the media guide may list Demin, Traore and Ben Saraf as point guards, Fernández has found a way to emphasize their unique skill sets to the team’s benefit.
Meanwhile, Powell’s strengths are being maximized to make him look like a value pick after serving a limited role in college, while Wolf has surprised many by translating his unique combination of size and coordination to the NBA after earning Fernández’s trust.
For the first time in a while, Brooklyn’s direction is starting to feel clear.
