Brad Penner-USA Today Sports
Jason Kidd admits that the Brooklyn Nets lacked in the offensive creativity department in 2012-2013, but he doesn’t foresee that being the case this upcoming season.
“It was just vanilla,” said Kidd recently. “I think you guys can see, after the trade with [Kevin] Garnett and [Paul] Pierce that it’s kind of changed. So I think we’re doing the right thing with changing the identity.
“It was just [that] there was no flavor and no identity … with that trade, that changes the whole game.”
Does the Nets roster look a lot shinier than it did last season? No question about it.
But does that automatically translate to a much smoother overall offense? Not necessarily.
Depth doesn’t equal creativity. Remember, it’s not as if the Nets lacked talented players last season. Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez, all very skilled offensive players, comprised the starting lineup that Kidd referred to as “vanilla.”
A heavy reliance on isolation basketball was blamed as the main reasoning for that, but even though Kidd has made it clear that the Nets are attempting to avoid isolating as much as possible, that’s easier said than done when you have a team filled with an abundance of scorers that can create their own shots easier than most other players around the league.
It will be Kidd’s responsibility to discourage isolation, preach selflessness and be both bold and fun when it comes to drawing up offensive sets. Most importantly, Brooklyn’s offensive efficiency will all come down to ball movement. That will begin with Williams, but it cannot end with him.
So if the Nets want to be a more exciting flavor than vanilla, Kidd will have to make it happen and not hope that the big trade does the trick all on its own.
Mike B. Ruiz is a Brooklyn Nets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikebruiz and “Like” him on Facebook.
