{"id":67053,"date":"2025-07-16T11:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T11:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/67053\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T11:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T11:13:10","slug":"nets-rookies-early-problem-arises-again-in-summer-league-loss-to-knicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/67053\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets rookies’ early problem arises again in Summer League loss to Knicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 The single biggest worry about the Nets\u2019 all-important rookie class was its 3-point shooting \u2014 being both errant and reticent.<\/p>\n

Tuesday night did nothing to allay those fears. If anything, it only amplified them.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn\u2019s 97-93 summer league loss to the Knicks \u2014 dropping them to 0-3 in Las Vegas \u2014 put those problems on display.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just the inability by the Nets to hit 3-pointers that was vexing. It was their unwillingness to even take them.<\/p>\n

The Nets finished just 5-for-25 from deep, while the Knicks went 10-for-38.<\/p>\n

With Nets coaches prodding their young team to get up at least 40 attempts even in a shortened summer league tilt, it was timidity that won\u2019t go over well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a little too much hesitation,\u201d said Brooklyn assistant Steve Hetzel, who is coaching summer league. \u201cOur philosophy is let it fly. We come out here, we want to shoot 40-plus in a 40-minute game, and we\u2019re not getting to that number (Tuesday). I thought (Sunday) we did. The bottom line for us, it\u2019s not whether it goes in or we miss, it\u2019s the attempt. And we did hesitate too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s going to be a huge factor in determining just how successful this record crop of five first-round rookies ends up being. <\/p>\n

Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf combined for 13 points on 5-of-21 shooting Tuesday against the Knicks, but most concerning was the fact they attempted just three 3-pointers, missing them all.<\/p>\n

\"NolanNolan Traore looks to make a move during the Nets\u2019 97-93 Summer League loss to Knicks on July 15, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the coaches have told us, try to get as many 3-pointers as we can. The most important thing for us is to get [3s] after a paint touch or out of transition, wide open. But yeah, we want to shoot a lot of 3s, and we can do it better. It\u2019s, as I said, part of the process,\u201d said Saraf. \u201cWe need to make adjustments, me and all the other guys. And we will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Granted, Traore finished with just two points in 19:13, taking a hard fall and having his back tighten up on him. <\/p>\n

The French rookie will be held out Wednesday against Orlando (7:30 pm Eastern), as will Saraf.<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Saraf drives to the basket during the Nets\u2019 Summer League loss to the Knicks. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, lottery pick Egor Demin and first-rounder Danny Wolf were rested against the Knicks, as were two-way players Tyson Etienne and Tosan Evbuomwan. <\/p>\n

Those four will all play against the Magic.<\/p>\n

But on Tuesday, Brooklyn missed their offense.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Knicks guard Tyler Kolek tormented Brooklyn in the pick-and-roll, especially early on. <\/p>\n

He had 23 of his 25 points in the first half to put the Nets in a 41-39 hole at intermission.<\/p>\n

The deficit grew to double digits at 66-56 with 1:26 left in the third on an Anton Watson 3. The Nets couldn\u2019t mount a comeback.<\/p>\n

Drew Timme was Brooklyn\u2019s only reliable offense, coming on late to finish with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Caleb Daniels and Quincy Olivari \u2014 making his summer league debut after being on a two-way last season with the Lakers \u2014 each added 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 The single biggest worry about the Nets\u2019 all-important rookie class was its 3-point shooting \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3124,1260,35848,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-67053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-brooklyn-nets","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-nba-summer-league","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114862621411073376","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}