© Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
Why Kevin Ollie loved the Brooklyn Nets’ resilience in the win against Philly
The Nets were under intense pressure after losing to the Grizzlies on Monday night. That result made the game against the Philadelphia 76ers become a must-win game for Coach Kevin Ollie.
Brooklyn's first-half performance against Philly was lackluster, leading to Coach KO making a motivational speech during the halftime break. It led to a spectacular second half, as the Nets played with a sense of urgency.
“Their resilience. We talked about that earlier,.Philly came out, and they were up by 14 points or something like that. We just dug in, stayed together, stayed connected. I challenged the guys in our pre-game walk that we have to stay together, connectivity, and they did that,” Coach KO said about what part of the game he was proud of.
The Nets are becoming hunters
When Coach Ollie took over from former coach Jacque Vaughn, he asserted that he wanted “hunters” on his team. That’s a short way to describe players who can out-work and out-hustle their opponents. He already has players with that skill set, like Dennis Smith Jr. and Dorian Finey-Smith.
However, Ollie wanted everyone to follow their examples and play with aggression and a never-say-die attitude. He got that across the roster as lesser-used players contributed purely based on their energy, like Jalen Wilson and Keita Bates-Diop.
Apart from the usual suspects, players who don’t have the reputation as the hustle players became more engrossed with that playstyle. Cameron Thomas, Cameron Johnson, and more bought into the system, which led to them playing well under Coach KO.
Brooklyn should keep playing Ollie’s style
After losing to the Grizzlies, Coach Ollie said Brooklyn is not talent-laden like the elite teams. However, he wants the Nets to play hard enough to bridge the gap and beat the opponents. Out-working the opponents can be the difference-maker for Brooklyn, and Coach Ollie knows that can happen when his players follow his system.
Playing and thriving through adversity is also a big part of playing under Coach Ollie, which happened for this game against Philly. Brooklyn went down by 14, but that didn’t demotivate the Nets. The team mounted a comeback, winning the game 112 to 107, proving Ollie is influential to his players.
