Lichtenstein: Bad Loss On Tuesday Night Puts Nets' Progress On Hold

By Steve Lichtenstein
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The Nets have received their fair share of positive press these last few weeks for the manner in which they have been competing all the way to the season's end despite compiling a horrific 9-49 record by the end of February.

Brooklyn actually brought a surprising 7-8 March mark into Tuesday's home game versus Philadelphia. With point guard Jeremy Lin finally healthy enough to provide the spark, folks started to channel former Net Joe Johnson by musing that just maybe, "It ain't that bad here."

Well, if anyone, including this writer, needed a reminder of just how far the Nets are away from respectability, they should look no further than the game film from Brooklyn's desultory 106-101 loss to the Sixers.

Lin took responsibility for Brooklyn's debacle after misfiring on 10 of his 14 field-goal attempts.

"I didn't play nearly close to what I'm capable of," Lin said.

That may be true, but there could also be a misconception as to what the Nets are capable of.

MORE: Lichtenstein: New Blood Fueling Nets' Defensive Improvements

In hindsight, the Nets, with the exception of their March 6 win in Memphis, had been taking advantage of teams which were either tanking (Suns, Knicks), badly hurting (Hawks), or just flat-out dumpster fires (Kings, Pistons). It greatly contributed to the appearance that they were making significant progress.

One can argue that the Sixers met all three of the above characteristics. They showed up at Barclays Center with 40 percent of their roster in street clothes (and center Tiago Splitter limited to seven minutes in his first game back off a season-long injury). They're in a dogfight at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for the battle to earn the most ping pong balls at May's draft lottery. And while they're generally regarded as a hard-nosed club under coach Brett Brown, many years of losing has tended to weigh on them down the stretch of tight games.

Yet the Nets were outworked, outshot, and outcoached in allowing Dario Saric, Robert Covington and a group of no-names to escape with a win.

"I think they had more energy than us," Nets wing Caris LeVert said. "We don't really have the luxury of looking past a lot of teams, especially with the year we've had."

LeVert, an impressive 22-year-old rookie, was the focal point of perhaps the game's most crucial play. With Brooklyn clinging to a 101-100 lead with less than two minutes remaining, LeVert received the ball from Lin near the top of the key. Nets 7-foot center Brook Lopez, who put up a monster stat line of 26 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks, had 10 inches on 76ers guard T.J. McConnell after a switch.

LeVert, who said afterwards that he didn't see Lopez moving through the paint with McConnell on his back, let it fly from 3-point territory. He missed, and Philadelphia went on to score the game's final six points.

I use this example not as a sword to bludgeon LeVert, who may be hitting a wall after playing just 15 games in his senior college season due to recurring foot injuries, but to point out that severe growing pains lay ahead for even the Nets' most highly touted young players.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brooklyn's first-round pick in the 2015 draft, still has a long road to hoe in transitioning to a new position. As a slender, 6-7 power forward, he often gets manhandled by physical bigs like Saric, who tortured the Nets with 23 points. On offense, Hollis-Jefferson is not your typical "stretch-four" due to his herky-jerky perimeter shot. I guess you can call him a "slash-four," since he uses his speed advantage to get into the paint. However, that edge is negated somewhat when he struggles to finish at the rim like he did on Tuesday. Hollis-Jefferson shot 5-for-15 from the floor, of which only three attempts were from outside the restricted area, according to NBA.com.

Much has also been made of the Nets' bench, which tops the league with 48.5 points per game in March. With guards Spencer Dinwiddie and Isaiah Whitehead and forwards Quincy Acy and K.J. McDaniels, the unit has taken on a more athletic look since opening night. Of course, Brooklyn's bench has played more minutes (24.3 per game) than any team in the league this month, 2.5 minutes per game more than second-ranked Miami. So maybe total points scored isn't an ideal barometer.

A more accurate depiction of the bench's performance is its middling minus-0.6 points per 100 possessions net rating in the same period. The Nets' reserves outscored the Sixers, 39-24, but no one can dispute that the game turned in both halves when Nets coach Kenny Atkinson made his full line change to rest his starters.

To be fair, neither Atkinson nor general manager Sean Marks ever promised that their newly installed culture of development would bear any fruit this season. Or next season.

Looking back, I wasn't wrong to point out that the Nets were showing signs of improvement after Lin returned from a 44-game absence due to hamstring woes. They are better, statistically and aesthetically. However, I should have added a disclaimer that read, "Warning: progress may be smaller than it appears."

For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Jets and the NHL, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1