The Nets are still talking about having to want it more
Whenever a team loses a bunch of games, it almost always starts talking about having to "want it" more. But "it" is rarely ever defined.
Should they want to win more? Should they want to compete more? Should they want to score or prevent points or hustle more? Is it all of it? Does "it" define everything the team isn't doing well?
The 11-30 Nets are still searching for the definition, and all their quotes, even a week after the team fired Lionel Hollins and moved Tony Brown into the interim coach position, say Brooklyn still needs to "want it" more.
From Brian Lewis of the New York Post:
“We have to want it more,’’ Thaddeus Young said. “It’s just about having that grit and that fight, that passion about the game. I’m not saying guys don’t want it, we just have to show it more on the court.’’
They showed very little Saturday. Tied 57-57 with nine minutes left in the third quarter, they completely capitulated in a 114-86 loss.
“I looked up, it was tied 55-55, and next thing I knew we were down by almost 30 points,” Joe Johnson said. “I’m not sure where it went wrong, but from every guy who starts to every guy on down the bench, they’ve got to be ready to come in and play. That was the message Tony Brown told us after the game — no excuses, no feeling sorry for yourself.
“You got to stay with it, put this behind you and move forward, and we’ve got to give a better effort in Toronto.’’
Brooklyn has a rough stretch of games coming up, so things may actually get worse before they ever improve. The Nets head to Toronto on Monday and follow that contest up with games against the Cavaliers, Jazz, Thunder, Heat and Mavericks. Unfortunately, the Nets could want it more than any of those teams and still fail to pull out many victories there.
