PHILADELPHIA — With their three large males all down, the Nets handed younger Noah Clowney a begin at heart Wednesday.
The second-year battled — however not sufficient, roughed up by Andre Drummond in a 117-95 preseason loss.
“I feel he didn’t battle laborious sufficient. Clearly it’s a nice studying expertise for everyone,” coach Jordi Fernandez mentioned. “There’s technicalities clearly, like the way you entrance anyone, the way you push him out. It’s undoubtedly a problem. However I might have preferred to see a greater battle.
“And it’s simply not simply Noah, it’s everyone else. I can go down the road with Keon [Johnson], Ziaire [Williams], everyone, the starters. Sooner or later, this isn’t about you. That is about us. And if we don’t play laborious as a group, we’re simply not adequate.”
With Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe — the one two pure large males on the roster — each out, Ben Simmons had began the primary two video games.
However Sharpe received a scheduled evening off because the Nets handle his return from surgical procedure.
Clowney had 11 factors, eight rebounds and two blocks.
However Philadelphia moved the spindly sophomore off the block and received into the paint. It was a troublesome lesson.
“Yeah. You gotta develop from each recreation. You may take the sport one among two methods,” mentioned the 20-year-old Clowney. “I gotta develop from it. If I don’t develop from it then I don’t consider. … At this degree, you’re both gonna get higher and be taught from it otherwise you’re gonna go the opposite manner.
“The dimensions of the individual I’m going in opposition to just isn’t what issues me about how we performed. What issues me extra is my self-discipline to make the fitting calls, get my group in the fitting place, ensure that once I’m on the backline that my group is aware of what they’re doing and after we’re doing it, and simply speaking higher.”
Killian Hayes has missed all three preseason video games now with a sore hip.
“I’d like to see him. He’s doing nicely. He’s rehabbing,” Fernandez mentioned. “He’s been simply engaged on getting again and getting proper. And I’d like to, however we’ll assess him after we get again and see what we are able to do.
“We’re not going to hurry him, as a result of his well being is our precedence, similar as each different participant. So it’s no have to threat. He’s carried out an excellent job. … We have now our personal analysis on him, and we’re very proud of him.”
The Nets haven’t determined to fill holes with their open two-way (backup heart, backup level guard) or apply it to the very best out there.
“Yeah, that’s gonna be a dialogue between myself, [general manager] Sean [Marks] and his group,” Fernandez mentioned. “As soon as we undergo these video games, we’ll sit down and we’ll focus on how we really feel. I like the fellows which were right here for now. And that’s all I can say at this second.”
