Ollie: Younger Nets eager to learn

Brooklyn's interim coach focused on player development

April 10, 2024 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Noah Clowney hopes to finish his rookie season strong after making his first career start Sunday against Sacramento at Downtown's Barclays Center. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer

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Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie won’t lead Brooklyn back into the playoffs for the sixth straight year no matter what they do over these final three games.

He also doesn’t have a full complement of players as a slew of late-season injuries has shortened his roster heading into Wednesday’s home finale vs. visiting Toronto at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

The one thing Ollie can be sure of, however, is the desire and eagerness to learn of his younger, less-established players as this regular season winds down to its disappointing end.

“They just got to continue to learn, play through these situations and just learn from each other,” Ollie intimated following Sunday’s 30-point home loss to Sacramento.

Brooklyn (31-48) was without starters Nic Claxton (ankle), Dorian Finney-Smith (knee) and Cam Johnson (toe) against the Kings, who are in the middle of a hunt for playoff positioning while the Nets ran out of time to stay in the play-in tournament race last week.

Also, the Nets were down backup point guard Dennis Smith Jr. due to an ongoing hip ailment.

Claxton and Johnson are listed as probable for Brooklyn’s Barclays Center swan song for this year while Finney-Smith and Smith have been ruled out.

The latter two may see action in the final two road games of the campaign at Madison Square Garden Friday or Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.

Regardless of who suits up for the Nets over these next three games, Ollie and, perhaps most importantly, general manager Sean Marks will have an opportunity to evaluate players like rookies Noah Clowney and Jalen Wilson as well as emerging second-year power forward Trendon Watford.

Clowney made his first start of the season at forward alongside Wilson against the Kings, playing a career-high 35 minutes.

The 6-foot-9 Alabama alum and first-round pick amassed seven points, 10 rebounds and a steal.

In his previous two contests, Clowney averaged nearly 20 points and eight rebounds as Brooklyn opened this final homestand with consecutive wins over Indiana and Detroit.

Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie would like to see second-year forward Trendon Watford cut down on his turnovers. AP Photo by Darron Cummings

But he had to deal with Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis Sunday and was almost helpless to stop the Kings’ dynamo from racking up his 61st consecutive double-double with 18 points and 20 rebounds.

“(Clowney’s) just gotta be in it, you know? This is good for him,” Ollie insisted. “He’s gotta be in it and experience it, learn from it, just as long as you don’t quit in it, and he’s not gonna quit in it.

“These guys have been around, Sabonis is an All-Star, so hopefully he watches the tape and maybe gets something from Sabonis to bring it in his game, go lift some weights, all that stuff.”

Wilson, picked out of Kansas in the second round, also established a new career high with 32 minutes on the Barclays hardwood. The 6-foot-6 slasher finished with 11 points, six boards, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

Watford, who is in his second year out of Louisiana State, is averaging a career-best 12 points per game in four April outings.

The 6-foot-8 power forward has proven to be a force off the bench for Brooklyn, but Ollie was less interested in his 16 points and seven rebounds against the Kings than he was in his four turnovers.

Watford has given the ball away four times in three of his last four contests.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be hard to play him if he gets four turnovers,” Ollie noted ahead of Sunday’s loss. “I don’t care how aggressive he is. He can’t have four turnovers.

“It’s gonna be hard to play him that way but you also want him to play with freedom and then just keep showing them tape.”

The Raptors (25-54) aren’t playoff-bound either. Though they did enjoy a two-game winning streak of their own prior to Tuesday’s 140-123 loss to the Pacers in their home finale.

RJ Barrett scored 23 points and Kelly Olynyk added 22 for Toronto, which has also been severely hampered by injuries of late, including rookie Grady Dick due to a sore groin.

Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley got the night off as well for the Raptors, but Javon Freeman-Liberty filled in admirably with a career-high 20 points.

“That’s not a position that he’s used to playing a lot, so he’s playing out of his position,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic told the Associated Press.

“He did a good job trying to get us organized, communicating and learning on the fly.”

The younger, less experienced Nets are learning on the fly as well in these final days of the season.

“These minutes are crucial for their learning growth, getting some valuable minutes so they can have some great experiences coming back for next year,” Ollie said.

Brooklyn rookie Jalen Wilson and the Nets will try to end the home portion of their schedule on a high note Wednesday vs. Toronto. AP Photo by Morry Gash

NOTHING BUT NET: The Nets have won two of the first three meetings with the Raptors this year, including a 96-88 victory in Toronto on March 25. Dennis Schroder and Watford each scored 19 points as Brooklyn ended a season-high six-game losing streak. “I told these guys it’s hard to win in the NBA,” Ollie said that night. “We’re going to get a nice team dinner. The wine is going to taste a little bit better.” … Shooting guard Cam Thomas has been the Nets’ leading scorer in each of the last seven games. That streak began after he missed Brooklyn’s previous meeting with Toronto due to lower-back tightness.