Fernández decries a "lack of effort and readiness" after the Nets' one-sided loss, questioning his team's mental approach.
The Brooklyn Nets opened up their second-half stretch of the season by suffering a 112-84 beatdown at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers' star-studded talents on both ends of the floor Thursday night.
In a game the Nets never led, the squad's prioritized prospects and developmental projects came out flat and remained so for the duration of the contest, shooting 34.5% from the field and allowing the Cavs to hit on 51.2% of their tries.
Virtually every player on the team outside of Ochai Agbaji and Terance Mann experienced painful shooting performances, and a contagious lack of shot-making affected their defensive effort and head coach Jordi Fernández's view of the group's collective mentality.
Following the contest, ClutchPoints' Erik Slater shared statements from Fernández during his post-game media availability, where the lead strategist highlighted the team's concerning level of effort.
"“It was everything," Fernández shared, according to Slater.
"The physicality, intensity, all those things we didn’t match. Their physicality, their intensity, was as it should be for a winning team. We were not even close.”
"It was the lack of effort and readiness, and I’m not going to let it fly. And we didn’t wake up..."
Fernández surely understands the situation Brooklyn finds themselves in as a rebuilding franchise prioritizing draft lottery position, but that doesn't mean he won't expect every ounce of effort out of his promising talents.
Of the variety of Nets who seemed out of rhythm for the whole night, a few rookies became the focus. Nolan Traoré experienced a rough 3-for-11 night from the field to finish with eight points and five assists, but his play-making and consistent defensive effort against both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden might allow Fernández to cut him some slack.
Danny Wolf, on the other hand, might not receive the same kind of feedback. Wolf was out of sync on offense with the ball in his hands on the perimeter, and Cleveland's vaunted defensive frontcourt duo of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley pointed it out in a massive way.
On certain plays, it appeared as though Wolf might not have realized the caliber of defenders he'd been matched up against, routinely coughing up the ball to a pressing Allen or willingly running into monster blocks at the basket by Mobley.
In all, his head wasn't in it, and the Nets were taken by surprise as a whole, it seemed.
Wolf scored 11 points on 12 shots, though his team-high seven assists might indicate that potential exists as a playmaker for the No. 27 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Join the Community! Don't miss out on our NETS ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news! It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected.