Nets slightly improved, landing at No. 21 in the latest Power Rankings of The Athletic

Albeit taking a step back in their third quarter grade, Brooklyn climbed for three steps in the latest league leaderboard.

Peter Sunjic | Mar 6, 2024

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Brooklyn Nets

With 60 games already in the books, the Brooklyn Nets (25-37) are still stuck in mediocrity. But it's better to have something than nothing as they progressed for plenty of steps in the latest Power Rankings of The Athletic to conclude the third-quarter portion of the season.

Nets land at No. 21

In their third quarter report card, the Nets obtained a “D” grade from The Athletic — a much abysmal mark if compared to the C+ mark they saw in the previous period.

Brooklyn advanced from being at No. 24 to now a No. 21 team in the new Power Rankings of the sports outlet. But amid the improvement, they are still lowly categorized at Tier 5 of the league hierarchy and are classified as “Looking to make the Play-In,” — which is considerably realistic in their current scenario as the East’s 11th-seeded squad.

A disappointing season leads to a coaching assessment for the future

The Athletic’s Zach Harper has maintained his skepticism about the dubious defensive promise that the Nets have failed to meet for themselves throughout the course of the season. As they ended up disappointing in both their second and third quarter season progress, Harper believes that Brooklyn’s remaining segment of their campaign will now only revolve around observing the coaching capabilities of interim head coach Kevin Ollie.

“I’m consistently surprised that this Nets team isn’t better defensively with their personnel, and you can’t just blame it on Ben Simmons’ unavailability. Maybe it was a coaching issue, even though that seemed to be players not liking their offensive schemes/hierarchy. But the Nets should be a little better than what we’ve seen, and they’ve been bad the last 30 games or so. This final stretch is about seeing what they can do under Kevin Ollie and moving forward.”

Brooklyn gets a much-needed win against the Philadelphia 76ers

Published Mar 6, 2024

PETER SUNJIC

Peter's journey with basketball commenced in the first grade, and it has since evolved into an integral part of his life. Standing on the brink of a potential professional playing career, Peter ultimately chose to pursue a degree in Political Science and Journalism in Zagreb, Croatia. Despite this academic pursuit, his deep-rooted love for the game of basketball endured, undiminished. Now, as a writer and editor, Peter finds an avenue to channel his unwavering passion for basketball-related news and analysis. Whether it's deciphering the latest happenings or delving into the lore of old-school basketball, he covers every corner of the NBA world.