Brooklyn Nets HC Jordi Fernández Praises Day’Ron Sharpe: ‘I’m Extremely Proud of Him'

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernández was full of compliments for Day’Ron Sharpe following his team’s Wednesday night loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Fernández said: “Day’Ron did a great job. I think it's great to see him in that position. [...] I'm extremely proud of him, how hard he played and how committed he was. Those are learning experiences for all of us. It's good that he can show me that he's started and he's done so well against a very good team, and it's not just good for him, but also his teammates can see it. That's how you build a trust.”

Sharpe made his first start of the season against the Thunder and finished with a dominant 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks in 31 minutes. The Brooklyn big was 8-of-10 from the field, converted two of his three attempted 3-pointers and went a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

“Jordi, Steve, Dutch, Juwan just give me confidence,” Sharpe said after the game. “They’re not really the type of coaches that tell you not to do this, not to do that [...] so just having my coaches having confidence in me, my teammates having confidence in me.”

Sharpe, as usual, was almost impossible to stop on the boards. Only Chet Holmgren (17) had more total rebounds in the game, and no one put in more work on the offensive glass. Seven of Sharpe’s 15 rebounds came on that end.

He said: “I’m just a beast on them boards, you know? I don’t really think nobody can mess with me in the paint when it come[s] to that. No matter how big, no matter how tall, it’s just what I do.”

Sharpe was involved in trade rumors around the Feb 6. NBA trade deadline, but stayed put with the Nets. The 23-year-old is a restricted free agent this summer, which means that the Nets ultimately control Sharpe’s future but other teams can pry away from Brooklyn.

“Luka [Doncic] got traded, so…” Sharpe started on Wednesday when asked about the buzz. “I could’ve got traded, but I really wasn’t tripping about it. It’s a part of the business. I’m just here to hoop, so wherever that might be, I’m still gonna do my job.”

Another storyline for the Nets on Wednesday was their three-point shooting. Head coach Fernández asked for more threes — and he got his wish. His team put up a franchise-record 61 attempts from downtown. Ziaire Williams was 5-of-13, Keon Johnson was 4-of-11 or Killian Hayes was 5-for-10.

Fernández said: “I don't care about missed shots. Some shots are gonna go in, some shots are not gonna go in. What I care is about [sic] lack of focus, so if we don't execute well and we turn it over, or we don't set it up, or defensively, we're trying to do a rotation, and we don't communicate it, we don’t execute it.”

The 42-year-old Badalona native is not under the impression that the Nets are going to shoot 61 triples on a nightly basis. However, Fernández made clear that he wants to see 45+ three-pointers from his team "hopefully every game, all the way through the end of the season." Up next, the Nets host the Portland Trail Blazers at home on Friday night.

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