Brooklyn Nets: One Of The Most Unwatchable Teams In The NBA
The game of basketball is supposed to be exciting. Some teams excel at doing that, while the Brooklyn Nets continue to fail
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Basketball is an exciting sport. It features 2 teams that have 2 main goals: put the ball in the opposing team’s basket and prevent the opponent from scoring on their basket. Some teams make basketball unbearable to watch (Knicks and Lakers for example). The Brooklyn Nets are not on that level of unwatchable, but they’re certainly up there in terms of teams I don’t like watching.
They even have the worst local TV ratings in the NBA.
The Nets have been a mediocre team since coming to Brooklyn. But there are a lot of mediocre teams that are enjoyable to watch. The Suns are a fun bunch, the Pelicans with Anthony Davis are unpredictable. I can’t say the same for the Nets.
One of the main reasons why it’s not enjoyable watching the Nets play is because there’s no player on the team that people are dying to watch. The roster consists of stars past their prime (Joe Johnson, Deron Williams), injury prone can-be superstars (Brook Lopez) and some good role players. The only player that’s even the slightest bit intriguing is Mason Plumlee, who’s been playing well, despite his shooting percentages have dipped from last season.
This doesn’t look like a roster people want to see. Credit: NBA.com/Nets
Deron Williams is having the worst season of his career. He’s scoring the fewest points per game of his career since his rookie season, and is shooting his worst percentage from the field in his career. He even got benched at one point, being replaced by Jarrett Jack.
You could essentially say the same thing about Joe Johnson, although his shooting isn’t nearly as bad as Deron’s. But still, he’s averaging the fewest points per game since the 02-03 season, when he was still coming off of the bench.
| Season | Tm | MP | FG% | 3P% | FT% | TRB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-02 | TOT | 24.9 | .430 | .292 | .774 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 7.5 |
| 2001-02 | BOS | 20.9 | .439 | .273 | .769 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 6.3 |
| 2001-02 | PHO | 31.5 | .420 | .333 | .778 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 9.6 |
| 2002-03 | PHO | 27.5 | .397 | .366 | .774 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 9.8 |
| 2003-04 | PHO | 40.6 | .430 | .305 | .750 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 16.7 |
| 2004-05 | PHO | 39.5 | .461 | .478 | .750 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 17.1 |
| 2005-06 | ATL | 40.7 | .453 | .356 | .791 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 20.2 |
| 2006-07 ★ | ATL | 41.4 | .471 | .381 | .748 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 25.0 |
| 2007-08 ★ | ATL | 40.8 | .432 | .381 | .834 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 21.7 |
| 2008-09 ★ | ATL | 39.5 | .437 | .360 | .826 | 4.4 | 5.8 | 21.4 |
| 2009-10 ★ | ATL | 38.0 | .458 | .369 | .818 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 21.3 |
| 2010-11 ★ | ATL | 35.5 | .443 | .297 | .802 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 18.2 |
| 2011-12 ★ | ATL | 35.5 | .454 | .388 | .849 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 18.8 |
| 2012-13 | BRK | 36.7 | .423 | .375 | .820 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 16.3 |
| 2013-14 ★ | BRK | 32.6 | .454 | .401 | .815 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 15.8 |
| 2014-15 | BRK | 35.4 | .436 | .368 | .808 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 15.2 |
| Career | 36.3 | .443 | .372 | .800 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 17.4 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/5/2015.
Another reason it’s hard to watch the Brooklyn Nets play is because the home fans suck. They have the third worst total attendance in the league, per basketball-reference.com, only ahead of the Sixers and Bucks. And when your team plays in the most populated city in the US, that’s very alarming.
(Note: Brooklyn has a population of 2.592 million people. Only Chicago, LA, and the rest of New York City has more people than Brooklyn. Again, alarming)
And if we’re being quite honest, it’s not like the Nets fans are the best, even when the arena is packed. The Nets twitter account even took shots at their fanbase during the 1st round series vs the Raptors:
#Nets fans take note- this is what a playoff crowd sounds like..set your DVD and take notes #RAPTORSvNETS - LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) May 1, 2014
The Brooklyn Nets arena most of the time is among the most quietest venues to play basketball in. There’s no significant homecourt advantage for the Nets in Barclays Center unlike there is in Toronto, OKC and Portland. Fans usually come to the game for the opposing teams best player, as we saw with Stephen Curry on Monday. Arenas are usually half-empty come tip-off, and you can’t even notice when the arena is full because it’s the same level of energy when the arena is half-empty. It also doesn’t hurt to dim the lights.
For the first time since coming to Brooklyn two years ago, the Nets might not make the playoffs. And if we’re being honest, their fans don’t even deserve it.