Jordi Fernandez Frustrated With Nets' Three-Point Shooting

The Brooklyn Nets have managed to turn the prospects of their season around throughout the course of February, going into the month in the 12th spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 16-33. This was before they would go into the final days of the month up one spot, only managing to drop four games leading into their match on Friday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.

As a result of this impressive run of form, the Nets find themselves on the cusp of a spot in the Play-In Tournament, sitting only a game and a half back from the Chicago Bulls, who they still have to play one more time in mid-March.

One of the things that has made this run so impressive is that they've had to do it without two of perhaps their most important players on the offensive end, Cam Thomas and D'Angelo Russell, who was sidelined earlier on in the month due to a sprained right ankle.

Their saving grace in lieu of these absences has been their iron clad defense, who has managed to hold their opponents to below 100 points on five separate occasions, with Nic Claxton leading the way for the Nets on the defensive side of the court, recording 25 blocks and nine steals throughout the month, which has led him into earning a defensive rating of 105.0.

The defensive masterclass that Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez has been putting on has seen the Nets' defensive rating skyrocket towards the top of the league's rating, sitting in the fifth spot right below contenders such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.

While their work on the defensive end of the court has been remarkable, the same can't be said for their offensive production, with their 105.1 points per game sitting in the second-to-last spot, only leading the Orlando Magic by 1.2.

To be particular, their production from beyond the arch has been brutal, sitting with the third -owest conversion rate throughout the month, while sitting in the bottom half of the league in three-point attempts per game, something that Fernandez isn't too pleased about.

"It's frustrating because I'm begging these guys to be ready to shoot," stated Fernandez. "If you don't shoot a catch-and-shoot 3 that somebody created for you, that's not being a great teammate."

These comments came before the Nets' loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, a match in which the hosts attempted 61 shots from beyond the arch, converting 23 of them, which is a season-high.

Fernandez demanding more shots from downtown isn't exactly new, as earlier on in the week, he was opening about his yearning to see recent 10-day signee Killian Hayes take more chances from three-point territory.

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