You are now in the backcourt of Brooklyn Nets podcast presented by Ticketmaster.

Thank you to them.

I'm Lucas Kaplan, writer for NETS Daily, host of NETS Film Focus, all that stuff, and alongside me for some not quite many episodes, but shorter episodes some player reviews you know of their seasons.

Is Sarah Cusack, commentator for Yes Network, all all those things NETS on Yes College Basketball.

Someone who knows how to evaluate players, that's for sure, and that's what we're doing today.

So how are we doing?

Sarah?

Fantastic?

I'm here talking Brooklyn Nets basketball with you, Lucas, So we're good.

What could be better?

I believe this is episode number twenty seven.

Recording this on a very sunny day outside the NBA playoffs are on.

What a great time of year.

You got it like an NBA Playoffs prediction finals hot take.

Wow.

I didn't realize you were coming hot with this.

I didn't want you to think about it before.

I didn't want to.

I didn't want you to prepare.

Uh, you know what I I'm rocking with?

Okay, see in the West.

Yeah fair.

I know people talk about experience and age and whatnot, but love them, love how they play and uh, the East, I'm gonna go with my my a little bit of my head but more of my heart.

And I'm gonna pick the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I'm gonna pick that matchup.

That'd be awesome.

That would just be an awesome matchup.

I'd love to see it.

We got a lot of love for for all the connections that we have in Cleveland.

So and I additionally too, Yeah, that.

Would be great play.

Yeah, I'm loving it so far.

I'm right.

I'm covering this uh insane Denver Clippery series for Swish theory if you guys, any you guys want to read my work there, But yeah, that if this is out before that series ends.

But this is it's been fun.

That's that's why I hope.

I was wondering if you're gonna make us look silly if something happens, but I don't think it'll happen.

No, No, I hope.

Hey, who knows.

That's the joy.

It's fun to be wrong.

However, we're certainly not going to be wrong when we talk about these nets that we're reviewing.

And again I said it last time we talked about Dayon Sharp and Tyres Martin.

So many individual positives, which is really what you want to see in the first year of rebuild.

A new direction, a new head coach, a lot of young guys in the rotation, a lot of guys in the rotation.

In general.

The Nets played a ton of starting lineups, a ton of guys logged minutes.

For them this season.

I believe the final number was somewhere in the high twenties.

Anyway, tonight today we're just focusing on two.

And I gave you the choice last time, but I wanted to start this time with Cam Johnson.

I don't think I'll hear any objections.

Cam Johnson, we talked about him a lot every week.

Now we can to focus some of our thoughts.

Give me, you know, not a hyper specific takeaway from his season, but something whether it's super nerdy, just spiritually as a leader, something that stood out to you, a quality a game, a month that you know you're going to reflect on when you think of twenty twenty five.

Cam Johnson, I appreciate you giving me the option of spirituality.

Yeah, he was a fun gay.

I do think a broad range takeaway.

Probably my most poignant takeaway from watching him throughout the course of the year was about the spirit that he consistently brought to the group each and every day and the leadership that that provided.

And I've seen a lot of teams, a lot of we talk about the iterations of this Brooklyn Net season, but I think just iterations of what this organization and what the team has looked like, the roster has looked like since coming to Brooklyn.

That's what I've been there since.

And I think there have been few players that have come through that have impacted in ways we can talk about his career year in terms of numbers, but impacted in a way in terms of the level set of expectations of how everyone was showing up on a daily basis.

And I think given a top of credits to coaching staff and Jordi Fernandez, but that also goes hand in hand with leadership and the vets who have on your team, And I think it was critical watching just how he was able to help a lot of the guys.

And it was a handful of players that came through, whether it was that a shooter or during Finney Smith, but he in particular who saw it throughout of understanding what it takes to be a true pro and in that way, it's filtering into the rest of the team and the disposition and the personality of the team, and I think that's a huge part of how we were able to watch that.

And he could talk a ton about the evolution, if he would call it that.

It's parts of his game that he was given more responsibility that he took on.

But to me, the evaluation of the season was not eltwins and losses.

It was about a foundation laid and I think he was such a critical part of what that looks like and what you want to build upon.

And I don't think that's easy to come by with a lot of individuals with what's being asked of them throughout the course of what was in many ways a very challenging season.

Yeah, it's there were a lot of all individual positives, but it's not easy, you know, to go twenty six and fifty six if you're Cam Johnson and you've been to the NBA Finals, and it's not easy to constantly be in trade rumors, have a couple of ankles, brains, all that.

But he was just happy to work as hard as he could and happy to be as available as he could be for everybody on this team.

I remember there were you know a lot of rumors in November they were on a West coast road trip and he kind of tweaked his ankle versus Golden State, and you know a lot of people, myself included, we're like, Wow, it's crazy that he's fighting, trying to fight through this and playing this game, and the Nets ultimately mount a huge comeback in Golden State and like one of their most fun wins of the season.

So when I'm thinking about highlights for Cam Johnson and sort of the less x's and o's sort of way, that really comes to mind.

But he was just, I don't know how else to say.

It was just a joy to have on the team this season and really fun to watch.

And a huge part of that obviously is the x's and o's and like what his statistical production and all that.

He really was the main option this year.

You know, when you think about whole season, guys who were available, guys got injured or traded aka Camp Thomas, Dennis Shrewder, stuff like that.

He had to carry a huge burden for this Nets offense.

How did he pull it off?

He had never really done that in his career.

How do you think he he pulled it off quite nicely.

I see.

That's what goes the the you know, weaving of everything we spoke about earlier about him being the ultimate pro, about how he showed up every day.

I think it was the stuff that he did to prepare himself for seeing every defensive look, the defensive coverages, the double team that splits it like you name it.

Defenses were keyed in trying to stop him and get the ball out of his hands.

And so I think the respect that that shows by opponents, and then how he continued to deal and adjust that, and I you know, he's a player who when you think about his game the end of the season, in particularly throughout the course, but every defense keyedd in on him, how they were focusing.

It's that term that's used that you can actually watch a player and it seems so cliche, but it felt like the game had entirely slowed down for him, that he had total command.

He can get to wherever he wanted to on the floor, his reads of pick and rolls, his communication with his teammates, the shots and news taken, not taking how much he was facilityating and created like the orchestration of offense for himself but those around him, and having the pulse of okay, when do I need to do what?

There were so many games that he just to me looked like it was a different level of a player.

And I think we had talked in in past podcasts this about.

To me, the biggest pivot point in player taking leap is consistency knowing every single night, every single day, how they're going to perform and what they're going to show up like.

And it felt like even a greater shift of how he was able to read a defense, see a defense, possession by possession, and that's the different coverages, that different looks at, different changes in how he was being played, And that to me was just a beautiful thing to see because I think for understand understandably a challenging season with the different iterations of the lineup, the rotation his challenge is with some injuries.

To watch that and see that at that point I thought was just a really special special jump.

Nets were six and a half points per one hundred better on offense.

With Cam Johnson on the floor per cleaning the glass which filters out garbage time.

They had an offensive rating of one thirteen, which is about fortieth percentile, far above where they were as a whole, and he really you could see the progression and you could see the game slow down.

You know, I know that kind of sounds like a cliche, but I'm glad you said it because I think it's very true.

There was a huge there.

There was a shift where in the beginning of the year he was awesome.

He was making shots, he was coming off curls, you know, a couple dribble handoffs, making every spot up three.

And then right after the Nets traded, Dennis shrewder like right after I believe their second or first game, I think second was against the Utah Jazz, Cam Johnson to handle the ball a ton, turn it over six times, genuinely like, made some rough decisions, a little overwhelmed by a team that normally drops, really trapping him.

You know, that's fine, growing pains rest of the season.

You know, he turned it over six times, just twice more, but was great at reading the floor getting good shots for himself.

He knew he couldn't get all the way to the rim all the time, especially in isolation, so he worked in some comfortable mid range looks, but he kept firing from three and ended up thirty nine percent on high volume.

As always, he shot nearly a career high, like a smidge under his career high at the rim and from two self.

Creating a lot of those attempts.

It was just a perfect marriage of career high volume and efficiency.

And I'm not really sure how a guy taking such a leap in usage and responsibility could have handled it much better.

I don't know what an even better outcome for him, you know, offensively would have looked like.

He ends up averaging nineteen four and three and a half on forty eight thirty nine eighty nine shooting splits.

A game that stands out to me is the comeback win against Washington in March.

They were down sixteen in the second quarter.

Yeah, and the whole offense to get back in the game was really cam isolates at three, cam runs off his screen, hits a three cam gets fouled.

He went to the line seven times that game, made all seven draws, two swing swing for another guy.

So that's a game that really to me encapsulated his growth And if any NETS fans want to go back and watch it to see just how good he was this season, that's the game I would recommend because it wasn't perfect.

You know, he didn't make every shot, he only quote unquote only scored eighteen, but it was this is our guy on offense, and he can get us back in the games.

Did you have a favorite moment or story or interaction or game from him.

I don't know if it was one.

I think it was just again I'll circle back to his understanding of just the way in which he could elevate the level of everyone around him and doing so in a way that he was still had a really beautiful balance between when he needed to get his own and what it took to get wins.

And it was a lot of those little things.

And I think even too, like the value of someone isn't always just when they're on the floor.

It comes like we saw when he was still on the bench and how engaged and active he wasn't making sure you know, whether support in your teammates, whether it's communicating with them, whatever that looked like even when he was injured.

It circles back to our original point of leadership and like that type of leadership and watching that, watching that in him where being new to the team, whatever it was two and a half seasons ago now and just kind of his growth and development of feeling things out and what his role would be, the responsibility, and this year it just it felt like he understood what was needed out of him.

It's so many different areas and he embraced that.

Andra.

Yeah, he did it in it really again, it's I can't think of it but a really, really beautiful way.

And I think I can't imagine that was easy given all the chatter, all the talk, and he invested himself in ways that I think we're so valuable for this group and not just collectively for this organization, but I think you will continue to see it in the ways that it impacts individual players as well and then what they're able to become.

Simply put, he went above and beyond I think what was asked of him this year, and everyone was better off for it.

Quick not really trivia before we move, okay, kind of trivia mini trivia.

Do you want to guess how many NBA players this year shot fifty seven percent from two, thirty nine from three and eighty nine from the line, Because that's what he did.

It's not it's notim it's not like a trick question.

So good gas five five pay.

I figure there probably wasn't a lot.

No, that was perfect.

He matched Sam Houser, Sam Merrill and Aaron E.

Smith, who are not did not have the offensive responsibility good players as they are that he had.

Shake.

Gilles Alexander was the other one and Shae will likely win MVP.

Yeah, so that should exactly exactly.

Brooklyn Nets fans, dugs, tns and no looks are great on TV, but catching the from the hardwood as a whole different experience because nothing compares to capture your nets irl, And that all starts to tying tickets a Ticketmaster the only official ticket market place of the Brooklyn Nets.

Even if you're headed to the game last minute, you'll find tickets and Ticketmaster right up until tip off so you can catch every highlighting person.

And if you've got tickets but can't make it, including season tickets, Ticketmaster is there for the assist you can easily and safely we sell your game tickets on Ticketmaster.

There's no better brag than being able to say you saw it live, see your courtside, Brooklyn.

Do you want to talk about one other guy I had mentioned, Jalen Wilson Jalen Wilson, sophomore who led the team in minutes this year, which will be a fun trivia I think fact down the line, what did you make.

Of Jalen wil total minutes?

Right?

Total minutes?

Sorry, total minutes minutes not that good?

Good?

Gotch.

I had to double check that one.

I was like, wait a second, that can't be.

I thought it was.

I thought it was such a bright spot in a solid year to see the ways on which he continued to grow his game, get more comfortable, and really just go through the riggers of a full NBA season.

You mentioned it he played in seventy nine games.

Yep, had started in twenty two.

But just the ebbs and flows of what things looked like when things were going well, when he was hitting shots, when he has some really really big important games, and then also when he was going through stretches where he was still trying to figure things out.

And I think that's that's what happens.

That's the just kind of the inner working, is what things look like in your second year in the league.

And I think he handled it just with such calmness and understanding.

And again, we keep kind of circling back to a word of like embracing what the role looks like in ways and try to improve it.

And I think he's a guy who continued to show that.

And you're going to get an opportunity to keep watching and kind of see, Okay, what does this look like looking at the strengths the three point shooting, yes, but using his size, the rebounding aspect, the fifty to fifty balls, like all of that type of stuff.

I think he continued to put in that type of.

Work, definitely, And I think it's important to note, for the second year in a row, just like his work, gear Brooklyn was slightly better with him on the court, not statistically insignificant two points per one hundred better with him on the court just about.

For the second year in a row.

He ends up averaging ten.

Three and two on forty eighty two splits.

Encouraged by the free throw shooting, ends up shooting fifty percent from three over the last two weeks.

Thought he shot confidently.

I kind of thought to be a little nerdy.

He moved his shooting pocket a little little to the right, a little on his right shoulder.

Okay, maybe I'll send you a couple of clips.

You can tell me if I'm wrong, But I think it's always good when you think a guy makes an adjustment and then it leads to more made shots.

Maybe it's not just a small sample sized thing.

The key for Jalen, I think is figuring out, obviously, what's the selling point when the three point shot isn't going in?

What do you think?

You know, he had more takes to the rim that were impressive this year, more drives, a little more variety.

What do you think the cell is on a night where he goes zero of five from three.

Which inevitably will happen, will happen for any shooter, and so I think one you would set it just confidently shooting at and he continued to do that.

The drives to the rim, it's a really important part of driving close out, especially for a three point shooter.

I think he plays well off the ball, and so just some of those cuts off the basketball that looks like in spacing, I think the I don't know if you want to say questions, but just those points of okay, what does it look like defensively the rebounding aspect, you know, what did the rebounding numbers look like?

Steals numbers, not even just steals, but more of the disruption or denial or being in the right spots, the understanding functionally of what the team is trying to do on that in the floor.

I think that's that's always the value of If you're not making shots, that's fine, that's one thing you assume it'll happen at some point during the game or whatever.

But can you carry carry your load and carry that weight and make an impact on the other end.

And so I think it's just that continued consistency defensively of how that pans out.

He had pretty incredible rebounding numbers as Ricky.

They dropped a little this season.

I think, you know, answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

How far in the middle you know, will matter.

He almost doubled the three point volume from five and a half attempts to nine per one hundred possessions, and he went up almost two percent, about a percent and a half.

So the trend lines looking up, played a ton of minutes, seventy nine games.

Jeordie was very happy with him with this effort.

All of that stuff under the hood looks good and the guy out, you know, under contract, I'll be excited to watch in year three.

Any any closing thoughts on either Cam or Jalen, these these couple of wings that were huge for Brooklyn this season.

I just I thought, similar to what we've been saying, this was despite what the record looked like.

I found such pleasure in enjoyment in covering this group, in this team.

And you could point to these two guys.

I think there's a lot of them, but these are two of the players that I would I would put in that box and category of ji.

How they showed up their character, their personalities, the work ethic, all of those things, and I think, you know, those are such important pieces to have on a group, regardless of what kind of season you're having.

And I think you can you can certainly say that about these two guys, of just what their attitudes and then their mentalities were on a daily basis.

It's hard to imagine Brooklyn won't be better off for the guys they had in the locker room this season and the vibe of this season they had.

And it is hard to imagine that you all won't be better off for listening to the backcourt and learning more about your favorite Brooklyn nets.

Hopefully you learned something in this episode and you enjoyed hearing us talk about Cam Johnson or Jalen Wilson.

Will be continuing with these mini episodes of the Backcourt Player reviews, off season stuff, draft, lottery coming up, draft after that.

Summer league basketball never ends.

I'm covering the Liberty too, if you care about that ball.

Yeah, that's the best.

That's probably the best part of it.

It never ends, at least to me.

You got you got to come out to some Liberty games this season.

I promise.

Oh, I'll be out there.

I'll be out.

There defending champs.

Baby.

Although I'm supposed to be an impartial journalist, so pretend I didn't say that season great color More teams need to do teal nets if you want to do a little one year they had that one.

Oh I don't know if you can see my nails.

Is audio listeners.

Sarah has very exactly Liberty.

Yeah, it was unintentional.

I had I had pink last time on purple, so yeah, I was just shaking it off.

But there we go.

Maybe subconscious maybe the Liberty being so good ingrained the thought of teal.

And great Bran I agree.

Yeah, Hey, that's decision makers, if you ever want to do a teal inspired city edition, something uniform, I don't know what goes into that, but that'd be cool.

And it'd be cool if you could rate and like and subscribe and do all those fun things for our podcast.

We really appreciate it.

We appreciate you listening.

And I guess, as I head, basketball never stops, so we will see you when we see you.

Yeah,