Steve Nash says Nets’ poor record at home ‘should be the opposite’
There has been a noticeable trend since Kyrie Irving has returned to the Nets: They haven’t had that same oomph, that same pizzazz, that same — as Steve Nash calls it — “care factor” in games at Barclays Center.
Irving refuses to get vaccinated and is thus unable to play in home games due to New York City’s vaccine mandate, which makes the Nets two different teams. The Nets are 4-1 on the road since ruling Irving eligible as a part-time player, but have just a 1-5 record in front of their own home fans since the announcement in late December.
“It should be the opposite,” Nash said before another homestand against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. “You have an opportunity at home to play, to play more, to have more responsibility and prove we can win when he’s not available. That’s the approach we have to have.”
It shouldn’t be that much of a difference. After all, the Nets took control of the East’s No. 1 seed before welcoming Irving back to the rotation.
Yet some of that has been smoke and mirrors: The once vaunted Nets defense has regressed beyond recognition and has been responsible for several of Brooklyn’s losses at home. Turnovers have also been an issue at times, slow starts have become the norm, and rebounds continue to plague a team with no one-size-fits-all answer at the center position.
Those problems did not just surface with Irving back on a part-time basis.
“We’ve only had him for a few games this year, so it shouldn’t be that foreign to us,” Nash said. “More so than looking forward to when he is back, we have to take care at home and get better and grow. Grow a little bit more of a presence at home. Continue to improve. We address and look at head on some of our weaknesses and that’s one of them is we haven’t played great at home.”
But the Nets know their best foot forward is when Irving is on the floor. His presence is why they were able to blow out the Chicago Bulls on their own home floor. Without Irving, the Bulls defeated the Nets in their first two outings this season.
When Irving isn’t around at home, Nash says there isn’t much communication between the two.
“I’ve got my hands full trying to communicate with the guys that are playing tonight and with my staff,” he said. “I really don’t get to communicate with him much because we’re just so inundated with tasks on a game day, with the game that night, with the players and coaching staff, performance, analytics, video. So it’s not straightforward where I get the chance to give him a call every day.”
But Irving is watching — either with his son and his fiancee, or at home by himself. The Nets make all their resources available to their road star while he’s away from the team, but Nash said they are more focused on him developing a rhythm for the unique season that lies ahead.
“The No. 1 thing for us with Kyrie, even ahead of his cohesion, is his adaptation physically,” he said. “It’s a different rhythm for him, not just having a long offseason until the last week-and-a-half, but you can’t replicate NBA games, so it’s a process we have to be aware of.
“He’s still adapting to the demands and also adapting to a different and new cadence to play — what did he do: he played one week, played a week later, then a couple days later, so it’s different and it’s something that we’ve gotta give him time to adapt to get to his best.”
The Nets still remain optimistic they’ll find a pathway for Irving to return to the floor for home games, but for now the status-quo is an improvement on the past. And if they can somehow find a way to protect home-court in games their star guard is unavailable, they’ll be that much more dangerous of a team when he’s laced-up on the floor.
