Brooklyn Nets HC Jordi Fernández Comments on Team Development and Goals

The Nets have six wins in seven, and a tank increasingly distant.

Nov 24, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez (left) talks with center Nic Claxton (33) during the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets have won six of their last seven games following Wednesday night’s 100-96 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. Head coach Jordi Fernández spoke about his young team’s development after the game.

He said: “I think it goes back to breaking it down and trying to explain what's most important for us and … [it’s] the mentality of getting one percent better every day, right? Everybody thinks I'm going to go out there and today I'm going to be much better. Well, you don't need to be five or 10% better. You just need to be one percent better. And then this way you're building something consistent. If you take longer steps, you can fall because you don't have balance, right?

“And these guys have done a really, really good job, and you do it in a positive way, where you don't show up with a bad attitude. Yeah, we all have bad days, but that's why we help each other. And for the most part, the environment has been great, and the guys created, and the coaches created, and medical and performance and everybody around the club, and that's been enjoyable.” 

In the Nets’ victory over the Sixers, the team also held its opponent to under 100 points. Brooklyn have done that to six of their last seven rivals, and this has also been the case in the team’s last three games. This is quite the turnaround for the Nets, who only kept four of its first 47 opponents below 100 points this season.

Nic Claxton was instrumental for Fernández, putting a lid on the rim with five blocks. He also added a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass. Day’Ron Sharpe was a valuable contributor off the bench again, leading the team in plus-minus with a +13 and adding eight points, nine rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes.

A few weeks ago, Nets fans couldn’t stop refreshing Tankathon. Now, with Brooklyn teetering close to the play-in, they might be refreshing the Eastern Conference standings.

Fernández said: “I think the most important thing here is one game at the time, because [...] the most important game is the next game. And it's not just a game, but the first possession, the first quarter. And that's the mentality that we want these guys to have. Because if you get ahead of yourself, [that] is when you lose interest, and we're not there. The standings say it.” 

The Nets’ next game after the All-Star break is on Feb. 20 against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Barclays Center. Fernández started his NBA career as a player development coach with the Cavs in 2009. He also previously coached the Canton Charge, Cleveland's G League affiliate.

“I think that you can always get better and be better, but I like the way we're competing, the way we're working every day, and what we're projecting out there, but we all have to have higher standards, and don't relax,” Fernández said. “We have to come back and keep working hard and [...] get better in the last [...] games that we have left, and then we have a very important summer. So, you know, thinking like short term, mid term, because our long term plans are very exciting.”

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