We’re closing in on the end of the NBA regular season, and the Nets are hoping to make the playoffs. Despite the fact they have an absolutely brutal schedule, thanks to two huge recent road victories their playoff odds as of this writing are 90%. Brooklyn has 8 games remaining, so let’s recalibrate on where the team excels.

Data and Tools

A big part of what differentiates us here at bball-index is our player grading system. Well, lucky you, Mr./Mrs. Reader, because today you’re going to get a little bit of a peak behind the curtain.

Based on our grading system, we are able to determine where each team ranks in the 11 categories we grade for players based on roster. As a result, we can use this information to determine the strengths and weaknesses of every team. For instance, here are the Nets’ five biggest strengths on the season.

The numbers on the side represent the percentile in which the team falls in the corresponding category. If you prefer a more visual representation of the data, we have two pretty cool spider charts. The first simply shows where a team is in the 11 categories by percentile ranking.

The second is a similar spider chart, only broken down by positions on the roster.

Pretty neat, right? Now that we have this information, let’s take a little bit of a deeper dive into it.

Guard One on One Play

It should come as no surprise that the biggest strength of Brooklyn’s roster is their guards ability to go one on one. On this website, we have broken down how good D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, and Shabazz Napier have been this season. A part of why they have all been so good is because they’re elite one on one players. Each player’s grade in the one on one category is as follows:

• Russell: A-
• Dinwiddie: A
• LeVert: A
• Napier: A-

The Nets are rolling into games with four lead guards that are fantastic at breaking down their defender. Each guard shares a similar trait: an ability to get into the lane at will.

Once they’re there is where they differ. Napier is so quick he will take any potential opening to get to the rim. Russell, Dinwiddie, and LeVert are more methodical once they reach the paint. Still, Dinwiddie and LeVert are much more explosive athletes and attack the basket more consistently, while Russell is more skillful at setting up teammates or hitting a barrage of mid-range jumpers or floaters.

Guard Perimeter Shooting

Part of why this quartet can get into the paint so easily, at least in theory, is because defenses are terrified of them shooting. This admittedly applies to Russell and Dinwiddie much more than LeVert and Napier.

In the case of Russell, teams simple refuse to switch against him. The majority of the time his defender will chase him around a screen, while a dropping big awaits the Nets All-Star on the other side. Teams are encouraging Russell to drive as opposed to pulling up from beyond the arc.

And we haven’t even talked about Joe Harris. He is the one really driving home this 90th percentile ranking. The 3-point shootout champion has been the Chris Kyle of the 2018-19 NBA season. As of this writing, Harris is leading the NBA in three-point percentage at 47.1%.

Harris is joined by teammates Allen Crabbe, Russell, and Dinwiddie as Brooklyn guards shooting at least 35% from distance on the season.

Wing Interior Defense

The two players to highlight here are DeMarre Carroll and Rodions Kurucs.

Of particular note is how well each player grades in this category when filtered among all wings that have logged at least 1,500 minutes this season. The DeMarre Carroll acquisition continues to be one of the more savvy maneuvers on Sean Marks’ resume. Carroll has provided quality 3-and-D play for the Nets while also netting the team an extra first round pick just to eat his inflated salary.

While we have previous covered how Kurucs has a ridiculous knack for jumping passing lanes and getting fast break layups, it is our duty to inform you that he recently did it three times in a single game.

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Is Kurucs the best Latvian player in the NBA right now?