Nets players reveal Jordi Fernandez's unique approach that has led to surprise start

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The Brooklyn Nets are among the NBA’s top surprise teams early this season, and much of the credit has gone to first-time head coach Jordi Fernandez. Despite many labeling them as the league’s worst team entering 2024-25, the Nets are off to a 4-4 start. Fernandez’s squad has routinely outworked opponents, overcoming a high-end talent deficit to post the Eastern Conference’s fifth-best point differential.

Several players have credited the coach’s direct approach when speaking on Brooklyn’s surprise start.

"Jordi is going to keep it real with you, straight up. He’s not gonna sugarcoat anything,” Ziaire Williams said. “He expects us to play at a certain standard every night, and if we don't play to that standard, we’re gonna hear from him. So he doesn't care who you are or what you've done. He wants five guys on the floor competing at all times and the rest of the guys on the bench cheering us on."

Asked Ziaire Williams if anything is unique about Jordi Fernandez's coaching style:
"Jordi is just gonna keep it real with you, straight up. He's not gonna sugarcoat anything… He expects us to play at a certain standard every night, and if we don't play to that standard, we're… pic.twitter.com/fZkBtqV1Pe
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) November 7, 2024

Fernandez, the first Spanish-born head coach in NBA history, has taken a stern, disciplinarian approach with the Nets.

Jordi Fernandez’s direct approach seeing positive results with Nets

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Several veterans described this year’s training camp as the most difficult of their careers. Fernandez set the tone during the preseason, calling out individual players for poor efforts following a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The approach has seen results thus far. The Nets look different in the hustle department compared to last year. They’ve posted the NBA’s tenth-best offense, moving without the ball and grinding opposing defenses late into shot clocks.

Defensively, they’ve embraced Fernandez’s emphasis on ball pressure, forcing forcing 15.8 turnovers per game, the sixth-most in the league. They’re allowing the NBA’s fifth-fewest offensive rebounds and have already drawn four charges after recording nine all of last season.

“I think it goes with what you believe in life. You don’t need to be mean. You just need to explain to somebody what you think they have to be doing, especially when you are in a leadership role,” Fernandez said of his coaching philosophy. “For me personally, since English is not my first language, when I came here I learned that I had to be able to explain things more directly because I didn’t have enough words… So I had to be direct with what I have to say to players and to people in general. It seems to work so far.”

“But it’s not always easy. You have to be willing to have uncomfortable conversations at times. But this group of guys, they do whatever is best for the team. Even if they get feedback that they don’t love, they look at themselves in the mirror, they work hard and they do great things for the collective.”

Fernandez spent time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings before landing the Nets job. When speaking on his former assistant’s success, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone emphasized Fernandez’s ability to connect with players off the court. While the Nets coach has been direct in letting players know when they’ve come up short, they’ve appreciated both sides of his personality.

“I just like coach because he likes to fight. He wants everything tough… That’s who he is as a person,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “But coach also asks about my kids so much, and that means a lot because he cares about more than just Doe the basketball player. He cares about me as a person, and he wants us to do the same with each other. So if your coach is doing that, it’s easy to follow his lead.”

The post Nets players reveal Jordi Fernandez’s unique approach that has led to surprise start appeared first on ClutchPoints.

Nets players reveal Jordi Fernandez's unique approach that has led to surprise start

Jordi Fernandez’s direct approach seeing positive results with Nets

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