The Brooklyn Nets have cruised to an impressive 6-1 record since P.J. Carlesimo replaced Avery Johnson as head coach of the team. According to Mike Mazzeo of ESPN New York, "management has been impressed" with Carlesimo and will almost certainly let him coach the team for the remainder of the season.
P.J. Carlesimo likely to finish season as Nets coach, according to report
The Brooklyn Nets have cruised to an impressive 6-1 start under new head coach P.J. Carlesimo, and now it appears the team is primed to keep the veteran coach around for the remainder of the year.
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Star point guard Deron Williams reportedly did not get along with Avery Johnson, but he says things have changed for the better under Carlesimo:
“Our system hasn’t changed much, our defensive principles haven’t really changed much,” Williams said. “It’s just how we practice and how we prepare is just a different style.”
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“Carlesimo] does a great job of balancing [humor and constructive criticism]. It’s not like he’s just screaming all the time. He’s doing a good job of teaching us as well. Sometimes he yells to get his point across. That’s when you know he’s serious.”
The Nets came into the season with high expectations, but they stumbled to 14-14 start and failed to get consistent contributions from Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez. In the seven games under Carlesimo, things have changed for the better. The Nets have outscored opponents by a margin of 6.9 points per 100 possessions over their last seven contests, per NBA.com, which is a mark equivalent to a top-five team in the NBA. The offense has been particularly efficient (109.5 pts / 100 poss, equivalent of No. 2 rank in the NBA).
Although the pace of play hasn’t picked up much in recent weeks (91.51 pace vs. 90.46 overall team mark), Deron Williams has played especially well. In his last seven games, D-Will has scored an average of 17.4 points and hit 45.2 percent of his threes to give him a deadly efficient 59.3 True Shooting percentage, up from his 53.1 percent mark for the year.
Everything is sunshine and lollipops in Nets land at the moment, but there are reasons to wonder if some of the recent surge is a product of a light schedule. Brooklyn's recent wins have come against a string of inferior opponents: the Bobcats, Cavaliers, Thunder, Wizards, Kings and 76ers. OKC stands as a quality win, but the one loss during that stretch came at the hands of the Spurs, who delivered an emphatic 31-point beat-down to the Nets.
Perhaps Carlesimo is the answer for the Nets, but his .414 career winning percentage (210-297) doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in his ability to lift this team of veterans to contender status in the Eastern Conference. Then again, if he can coax top-notch basketball out of Deron Williams for the rest of the season, anything can happen.
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