You are now in the Backcourt a Brooklyn Nets podcast presented by Ticketmaster.

This is episode twenty four and Sarah Coustock and I will be recapping another Brooklyn Nets season in the book.

Sarah, how are you feeling do.

I'm feeling bittersweet?

I think we talked about this a little bit last week, But yeah, it's always interesting when you wrap up a season and kind of reflect back on the highs and lows, the good and bad, really bad portions, but just challenges that obviously you watched and you covered and you saw so many of these individuals go through.

But yeah, it was a really fulfilling year.

I think we've talked about a lot of just watching the development of some of these players, coaching staff, and just some of the changes that had occurred will occur, and just kind of the direction of this Brooklyn Nets organization.

So yeah, so it's I think it's an exciting time.

It's an uncertain time, but it's an exciting time.

Yes.

The Jordy Fernandez has mentioned it a couple times as this upcoming summer being the most important one of our lives, which I love, and that really does you know, I'd like make a little poke a little fun at it, but it is reflective of just the day to day to read every day like it's your last process that I think we've seen from the Nets this year since we recorded last.

The Nets closed out the twenty twenty four twenty twenty five campaign with three games, three losses against the Hawks, Timberwolves, and Nick's a fun finale to the year at Barkley's Center.

I just wanted to get your quick opinion before we go more big picture.

Anything you saw from the last week, maybe that last game against the Knicks, anything that stood out to you, not from.

In particular that stood out.

I think it was a lot of the things that we had talked about with this group through the year.

I think the end of the season there was some really challenging moments I think for this group of just making sure to continue to you know, be in line with all the things that they have been about the whole year, and it's it's grooling.

An eighty two game season is grueling, and I think for me, the watching those last few games, the opportunity for so many players to get some whether it's their first NBA minutes, whether it's extended roun whether it was more time in different roles, maybe outside with some of the responsibilities were I think that's always a really I guess you could just say like it is something that you really feel like you're curious to see how players react to that and how they show up, and I think, you know, just getting a chance to kind of evaluate that, watch that, see that, see that opportunity given circumstances for Brooklyn, I think was something you know, for all of us, that was fun to watch and fun for them to have those moments, and you hope that they're able to build upon those in the future.

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, I think you know that was going to be the story of this season.

Exit interviews were on Monday, and there were some quotes from that that I'm sure we'll talk about.

But this was pretty much the sort of season that we expected.

And I am curious as to your, you know, evaluation of the season and what you just mentioned maybe relative to your expectations, Like is this kind of what you thought it would look like six months ago when we started seven months ago, or did you know things kind of jump out and leave you feeling surprised.

That's an absolute question, because I think it feels like there were so many iterations of this season, and I'm not even sure what the expectations.

I think it was very unknown going in one.

You had a new head coach and new coaching staff and Geordy Fernandez, So what the expectations were of what that may look like where the group would go.

I think from the start that we understood that it was going to be, in some sense a rebuilding year.

But they exceeded my expectations.

I think we may have talked about this Lucas very early on.

Training camp had pressed me so much.

The organization, the execution, the enthusiasm, a sense of purpose, seeing guys with like real motivation and chips on the shoulder of what they wanted to accomplish.

The level of belief of this group was to me something that I like, I'll still get chills at certain moments of and I we'll get into it.

But the earlier parts of the season are just what they were able to put together and how they played for one another despite so many different challenges of injury or trades or you name it, the uncertainty around a lot of parts.

I love that about this group, and so in that sense, I think they exceeded my expectations of just this was.

I know it was a hard one for what they endured at certain points, but it a fun one just because they were inspiring in so many different situations or circumstances or games and whether it resulted in wins or losses.

But I think it's hard to evaluate it in a certain sense of expectations because I think, you know, there was moments that you wish probably went a different way, and then there was others that I think they all gave us a lot of a lot of moments that we appreciated with how they were able to come together as a group with so many different lineups, so many different players, so many different opportunities that were grabbed and taken hold of, And to me, that was the fun part of watching what this group laid the foundation and kind of the identity that they laid early on.

Yeah, and we talked about how their season really felt kind of segmented.

You know, they were I think ten and thirteen.

They were nine and ten early in the season, and they had gotten out to a really strong start on offense.

They were a top half of the league offense, top ten offense in the half court.

You know, for the first two months of the season.

I'm looking at the stats here up to you know, the very middle of December, and then they make some trades.

Dennis Shrewder Dorian Finnie Smith, who I think, you know are no longer with the nets, but are worth shouting out as to you know, the beginnings I think of their seasons, and from there they kind of struggled that that January period, there was a two and fifteen stretch, and then they found the identity on defense.

And when they started winning games in February and you know, around that All Star break, they did it on defense, and so they won games in a variety of ways.

This year they end up twenty six and fifty six, but with a slightly better clutch record than that, So that was good for twenty fifth in the league, but the their clutch stats were twenty two to twenty three in terms of win percentage.

So it all kind of evens out, you know, the underlying matter.

But it's funny you never really think of a season that way.

You think of the wins that could have been losses, the big comebacks.

You know, we'll talk about our favorite moments, but some of mine were the West Coast comebacks.

I got to be on the road for those.

There's a three game winning streak in Sacramento, Golden State, and Phoenix, and all trailed by double digits, I think, except for the Phoenix game, but some major comebacks.

There were a couple losses late, you know, I remember the game against the Nuggets at home early, but kind of all evened out to a competitive season for the Nets.

And I just kind of told you my favorite moments.

You know, that included Tyres Martin dropping thirty in Phoenix, an incredible comeback led by Dennis Shrewder and others in Golden State.

Noah Clowney had a breakout performance in that Sacramento win.

So I want to ask you if you have a favorite moment, stretch, play, whatever, from from this season.

Now.

I feel like it's repetitive given the fact that you just brought it up, but I don't think it's indicative of what that felt like, because that if you remember that road trip just right before Thanksgiving, the Sacramento, Golden State, Sacramento Phoenix road trip it was coming off of.

It started in Philadelphia, was the first game and it was a very tough loss.

In Philadelphia, and I think leading up to that, whether it was windsor of this group, it had such an excellent vibe and feel good about what they were doing and how they were starting to put things together play for one another.

I think at that point they were they really were exceeding expectations in a sense of like how many, whether it was actually coming away with wins or games that were very close in their level of compete, and the Philadelphia one felt just grimy of like, Okay, maybe it's they're not going to be able to put it together.

Maybe some of those early wins, you know, were things that you're not gonna necessarily see consistently.

And Golden State Sacramento, and then capping it off with that Phoenix went to me was just the high of a high of really watching beautiful basketball and the mix of with the coaching staff led by Jordi Fernandez, how they were able to get a buying in a belief.

And then the veteran players you had mentioned it, you know, Dennis Shruter during Phinney, Smith, Cameron Johnson, how everyone really just played for one another, and whether it was the big Game, a Tyree s Martin or different guys picking one another up.

I just remember feeling such a like extraordinary appreciation love of calling those games because I'm like, this, this is why we love the game, this is why we love basketball, and this is why you are inspired by what these guys are doing on the floor, because you know the work they put in behind the scenes, playing for one another, all of those things.

And to me, even in those moments, I know it was not sustained in that level of wins.

I know that there were moving parts with the group.

To me, that was the stampus of if you want the culture for an organization, if you want foundation laid, like, this is what it looks like.

You're tangibly to me watching what it is you want your identity to be, and I think those guys put it together in such a really special way.

And to me, there's still that's part of the bricks that you're putting down now that you hope will continue on in the future, and that stretch, to me is something that will resonate and like continue to have me think about when I think about what this season was.

Yeah, and it felt I'm I'm glad you kind of brought it to full circle because with the Philly loss leading into that road trip, and then as you reflect on their season as a whole, it felt like Jordi Fernandez, who you know this season was going to be about rookie head coach, wanted to see what you had.

It felt like you was able to enforce a standard because you know, Tey Vegas didn't pick them win a lot of games.

They weren't expected to, you know, be very competitive, you know, national media wise at all.

And they started maybe a little hotter than expected.

We're six and nine and whatever, and they lose, like you said, that game in Philly, and it was just not acceptable because it was one of those days where they didn't have they just didn't play well.

They had a lot of turnovers in that one, like the energy was down, and they respond with three straight wins and playing as hard as they had and that it felt like that early West Coast road trip really, I know they had some wins before that, but really set the tone for what this season would be like you had a standard and you were going to play to it.

And you know, even through the end, like the guys that were on two ways or G league contracts are like true, Timmy not on the team came in and embraced that standard.

Obviously, the other moment we have to shout out is the which was the other real win streak of this season, which in early February, beating the Houston Rockets at home down four with like seven seconds left in hitting two threes back to back.

I would say that was the loudest Barkley Center was this season.

Were you in the building for that moment?

Yeah, yeah, I was calling that game when it was incredible.

It was absolutely incredible, and it's wild.

It's funny you said that.

We actually just showed that.

I don't want to some of our end of your plays, best place in the year, and yeah, the six points and six seconds and yeah, but but to your point, like that, that's what this to me, that's how I'll remember this group like there was a there's there's words you say, and there's cliches you throw out of like right until the final balls are never given up, and continuing to play, playing for one another, to me, consistently throughout the exemplified that.

I also wanted to ask, because we've said it at the beginning of the season.

I remember you saying it, where wins and losses and you know they went twenty six and fifty six won't be the telling the telltale sign of how this season and went kind of unlike twenty twenty four where they did go thirty two and fifty and it felt disappointing that they missed the playoffs.

This season, you know, they go twenty six and fifty six and missed the playoffs.

I don't think anybody is viewing that as a sign of distress.

And so Jordi Fernandez started saying at the end of the year, you know, these wins and losses that were racking up aren't just on the scoreboard.

Not to take away from anybody's competitiveness, but he said in his exit interview yesterday, We've got a lot of wins that what we consider wins from players getting better.

Right, So I'm giving you an example.

I put Tyrese Martin in a tough situation at times, I put him at the point, and he ended up with an almost two to one assistant turnover ratio.

That's pretty impressive.

Sayer shot.

I think his best percentage in the NBA from three at a little over thirty four.

Jay Will almost thirty four, Noah and Kean turned themselves into big attempt shooters, not exactly his words.

So I want to ask you what was a win like that, you know, a nugget of development, whether it's team wide, individual wide, that stood out to you.

I would more go team wide, just in the sense of I think you can go down every single player and point to those type of things.

I think in certain circumstances, everyone was asked to do maybe a little bit more than I don't even want to say what, but more than than what they were accustomed to doing, more than what would be expected of them, more than and I think it was the idea of like to me, the takeaway is like, don't put don't put players in a box, don't look and I think Jordi had said looting something in this so the players will show me what they can handle, what they can do.

And I think for all of us, like it's easy to say, oh yeah, you want to season that you see growth.

And but to that point, Zire Williams, from what we saw from a at Memphis, a former lottery pick, the three point shooting, you know, having always been a question, the fact that he took that on and he went there, you know, there was different points throughout the season where those type of shots he was making or the stretches he was on the level of confidence added on to the other things.

Tyree Smartin you said it like, I think people just assume, well, yeah, you're playing, you an NBA player, Yeah, you bring the ball for your initiating offense.

What's what's the difference?

You can there are certain roles in certain things being asked of players that I think just for all of us watching, like he don't fully understand some of the challenges that presents, and then when players do it, the expectation of how they should be able to handle it and what they should do consistently with it.

I think we talk a lot about Cam Johnson and the season that he had a career year.

Like to me, there was things about his game and how he played and I don't even know if you want to call it development or growth because I think he had it in them, but the opportunity to showcase with an added responsibility, uh in so many different areas and it wasn't just to me, like, it wasn't just about his his growth and his game in a more you know, complete way of what he was as a facilitator in what was happening defensively and obviously the three level scoring, but just like as a leader, like to me, he grew as we watched him in his leadership role of not just having him be by example and a vocal leader, but he took that role.

And then Dangel Russell coming back.

I mean, I'm going through a lot of guys, but I think you can go player by player, and you saw ways that they were able to expand their game and expand it outside of what you saw early on.

Noah Clowney being another one of those guys.

Really everyone and again I'm I don't want to miss out on any players because I think in every turn you look and you're like, okay, even Dayron sharp.

Again.

Now I'm gonna I should have kept it as a team though, Start thinking about players, and I think about what Dayron did you know, and dealing with some injury earlier, but then when he was healthy and he was playing in different moments that he was asked to do a whole lot more, or when he got a start, or just the way in which you felt like things were starting to click a little bit more.

The game was slowing down some and how he was playing roles in situations he was playing in on both ends of the floor.

That's my long winded way of saying that's fact.

Like guys taking jumps, guys developing.

Those weren't just words that you talk about in a season that the win lost record isn't you know, isn't what we've seen in the past.

Like there was a real growth and I think that's something that you should count absolutely as a success.

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The crazy thing is, before I get to that Jordy quote you alluded to, Dayron said because of his early season hamstring injury, he said he never in his exit interview said he never really got back to the plane weight shape that he was at last season what he considered ideal, which is crazy to me considering how often I've talked about his improvements.

So you can only imagine what a healthy offseason and exactly just year five will do for him.

He'll be twenty four next year.

And the Jordy quote you mentioned, which I really liked, you know, he said it at the beginning of April.

I asked him kind of about a general just philosophy question on long term player development, and he said, I think there's a good balance between what coaches playing for a player and what a player can show you that he can do.

When you give a player minutes, sometimes you may see it in different lineups, and then you maybe get to run a play for him that maybe in a different situation you wouldn't, and then he shows you things that you're not that you wouldn't know that he can do.

And that's always positive.

If they show you whatever they got to show you, then you have to learn from it as a coach and then probably put it in the development plan too.

End quote.

That's just a really interesting and kind of revealing, you know, quote from Jordie, and I think we saw it a lot this year.

Like Tyreese Martin, maybe his NBA future is kind of more so as a ball handler than just purely like an off ball wing.

You know, maybe Noah Clowney is gonna shoot ten threes per one hundred possessions and draw all these closeouts.

We weren't sure these things before the season, but you know, this was definitely a season of learning and folding that into the development plan for all these guys.

I want to ask you a big picture for your big picture Brooklyn's Finest Award.

I know it's tough to you know, single out anybody from the season because you talked about team wide development.

But if there's one player that just, you know, not the finest, but that you were just really impressed by, and then you'd like to give a shout out here on our end of season pod for their efforts for a game they had for whatever, what would you say, who does your mind go to?

Wait?

I think initially, I think there's a lot of players to point too.

I'm glad early on you had had shouted out during Finney Smith, Dennis Schroeter.

I think those guys were important facets of the growth of the team.

But I think on top of the coaching staff we talk about the belief of the resiliency, I think a big part of that was a consistent veteran presence.

And so I know I've talked about him a lot throughout the course of the year, but to me, like the Brooklyn's finest would be Cam Johnson and what he did both on the floor off the floor just kind of pitomizing the type of organizational player, in disposition, in leadership and how you come to work every day and then the play on the floor.

And there's a handful of guys who had career years, but I think at this point it felt like a pivotal point in the professional that he will be Yeah, And so I think to me, there was a different level of a trajectory that allowed for a base and allowed for a glue and allowed for a consistency through this whole year.

I think, yeah, And when we do our end of season, when we do some individual player wrap up, episodes, we'll talk about, you know, kind of what we've mentioned all year, what he got better at.

I'm sure I'll have some specific stats.

He had a bunch of interesting quotes on exit interview day, but I think that is probably a very fine choice for Brooklyn's finest.

In the spirit of shouting out one more guy, I'll say day Ron shar He just impressed me a lot this year.

I have a lot of specific stats, and obviously just the eye test would match it.

How much better he continued to get in year four.

And you know, now we really have a two year sample over the last two years of him having carved out, you know, a real role at a real valuable presence.

You know, he's going to be a restricted free agent, but it's great that he has proven himself to be a valuable NBA player, whether in Brooklyn elsewhere.

We obviously hope he's back.

Here's one stat though, this is why offensive rebounding.

And we had trivia last week where I talked about his offensive rebounding.

Here's why it's so important thinking basketball.

Just put out a video and he dropped his stat.

NBA teams score an average of one point per possession on the first chance, on second and third chances after an offensive rebound whatever.

They have a one to twenty two offensive rating, one point two to two points per possession.

So that right there tells you how valuable it is that day Ron attacks the glass like that, and then he got so much better on defense.

Then they played him in aggressive coverages, they played him up the floor.

He shot a couple threes.

So he's my Brooklyn's finest and I'm sure we'll get into more of it.

We obviously can't go without doing Brooklyn's Next Net, you know.

Again, taking it all the way back to the beginning half a year ago, Sean Mark said this season was about finding the next nets, and as the general manager of the team, that was really his job, especially as they you know, kind of pivoted really building something from the ground up here.

So who would you give a next Net award to?

Which is just dang, you know, he really maybe surprised me, like I want to keep watching him play.

He got some stuff to him whatever it is.

Again, I think there's a handful of players you would point to with this, but the ones like that immediately, I know we've talked a lot about day On sharp but the ones that jump out to tyres or looking at what you know, you look at what trendon.

Watford was able to do it at this point in just some of his growth, the final stretch, a little bit of the final push of Jalen Wilson in his continued development, Noah Clowney being one of those guys.

I'm not sure I can pick just one.

I mean Zion Williams we have obviously said as well, who I think was a huge part of this, but I think everyone kind of took a little bit of a jump to showcase areas of their game where they have shown strengths that they already have that they can improve upon, and some that have been question marks that I think they started to solidify in some consistent way.

So I don't know if I have just one, but I think all of those players showed in ways of their ability to really impact impact a team and impact how a team plays.

And so that's all things I think that you want to keep an eye on as the off season progresses, as next season comes into play, and just kind of what it looks like, because I know there could be a lot of shakeups in what these rosters and what this NETS roster looks like.

But I think more than anything, it's about, Okay, what does the next step of their NBA career look like?

And I think all of those guys had put themselves in a really solid position for that.

Yeah.

A guy I would also mention is Keon Johnson was not in the rotation to start the season.

He got one chance early in a win home win against the Chicago Bulls.

He threw down like a one to eighty dunk on the baseline and that just sprung him into a career season.

I remember talking to him at Summer League last year and he was playing on the team, and he was like, you know, I hope I can get a real contract, a standard contract.

I mean I was on a two way last year.

I have no more two way eligibility.

And not only did that did he get that contract, but he was in the rotation playing huge minutes and showed some stuff and showed how he can be kind of a defensive minded, smart off ball cutter, shoot enough threes, get out and transition.

That's a real NBA role for him.

And you know, he didn't have he didn't have a home last summer, and so I hope he really finds one, especially if it's in Brooklyn.

He had a fantastic exit.

My favorite exit interview quote of the day.

What do you think this isn't This isn't real trivia?

I guess we'll do two rounds of trivia to close.

What do you think Keon Johnson does in the off season and what do you think he wants his post plane career to be.

Well, I'm I'm familiar now with your idea, so I think you can tell the people that he has was a goat.

It's goats.

It's a farm with.

Goats, twenty five goats on twenty acres, so they have a lot of room.

As he said, uh he said.

He told me his major in Tennessee was agriculture, and that's really kind of what he wants to He wants to be a farmer once basketball is over.

I think that's incredible.

Yeah, own Land have my own vibe.

The goal specifically to eventually get into aquaponics, hydroponic, you know, fish farming, to be a fish farmer.

I didn't.

I didn't know.

Again, I didn't.

I didn't know that.

For well, I saw the fish farm and I should have put it two and two together with the aqua but continue.

On makes sense.

He was Ben simmons fishing partner on a road trip earlier.

Yeah.

Yeah, so hey, we got a very multi cultural, multi just you know, faceted team over here in Brooklyn.

Uh, we're going to wrap up with trivia, although that nothing can top that.

Thankful to Keyon for sharing that.

Do you know who and when the last Brooklyn Nets lottery pick was As we shift our attention to the offseason, Wait, are is.

This a lottery pick that that they were not talking about the Tatum the Boston Celtics trade.

No, a lottery pick that they made and suited up for the Nets.

I know this.

It's been a while.

It's been a while.

That's why a lot of fans are excited.

Ndy Martin, No, not quite that long.

It was another power forward though big It was Derek.

Derek's Oh I should have remembered that about Derek.

I know.

So now I'm going way back.

Okay, that is fifteen years.

It is the longest streak in the NBA currently between lottery picks, and that's obviously been in the playoffs a lot of times, and they've also had to trade some picks to build those teams.

So the next eight NETS fans should be looking forward to is the draft lottery on May twelfth.

We got the NBA Draft after that, Uh, and we got a whole off season full of free agents trades.

I'm sure you know whatever, Sarah and I will have you covered.

I'll have you covered.

I'm sure we'll have some NETS film focused episodes on end of season.

You know, trends and guys that really took a step up this year, as Sarah and I alluded to, there's a lot of them.

Uh and yeah, just thank you guys for rocking with us all season long.

Thanks to Sarah who has a lot less free time on her hands than I do, but made this podcast possible, which was awesome.

Thanks to everybody who edited the clips got us together.

Yeah, they know who they know who they.

Are Brooklyn nets Social content team.

That's and that's that there is best.

In the business.

They know who they are.

Yeah.

Oh and uh, do you want to shout out Frank to Grace.

He had his last games Yes Network producer NETS on Yes on the season finale.

Sarah obviously worked with him pretty closely.

I want to end with the shout out to him.

Because he's been a pretty integral part of the Nets for the last US.

Integral he's got and he's gotten a lot of love, deservedly, so deservedly so twenty six years.

Yeah, no, that'st and the best he's he's moved on to to run things over with with NBC, with NBA on NBC.

So yeah, but he's going to be dearly messed.

But his his presence and just everything that that he has put forth towards the Brooklyn Nets, towards the Yes Network, all of that, of course we'll steal.

We'll still be a part of all the broadcasts and everything that we do.

So yeah, he has beloved, no question.

Not a goodbye, to see you later, and we will see you pretty soon.

Then that's a very busy offseason, as you all know.

But this has been the backcourt of Brooklyn Net's podcast presented by Ticketmaster regular season edition.

Obviously we have stuff coming, but we will have more.

Thank you guys for listening this season to this episode, like rate watch, subscribe all of that good stuff, and it is time for the off season.

We will see you guys,