Caitrina Mullally ‘25
At the beginning of the season, the Nets started with a 2-5 record, lost their head coach Steve Nash, and one of their star players went through a huge social media scandal that led to a suspension.
The last time I touched upon this topic was November 20, and they had a 7-9 record and were low in the rankings. However, as previously reported in this paper, they were improving game by game, and now they have moved up into fourth place and have a 17-12 record. They have won eight of their last nine games at the time of writing this article.
A lot of these beneficial changes can be credited to the new coach, Jacque Vaughn. He brought a more positive attitude and outlook to the team, which has reflected onto all of the players as well. Many of the players have been down about the negative situations at the beginning of the season, but now they were taught to tune out the noise around their team and focus on the game itself.
Nic Claxton, center on the team, said, “You got to give a lot of credit to JV honestly, he’s done a phenomenal job changing our mentality. So you give a lot of credit to him.”
The changes on the court especially have been drastic and noticeable. The Nets have come out with energy and speed, scoring as many as 30 points in the first quarter. Their intensity is heightened, and obviously it has been beneficial.
If the Nets continue at this tempo they are destined to be in the running for high competition, maybe even the championship. The beginning of the NBA season may have led you to think the Nets weren’t going to get anywhere, but with the looks of these rankings, these underdogs could take home the chip this year.
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