With Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons, the Brooklyn Nets have a solid foundation of stars. With those three, they hope to build a contender and validate all the drama they have endured over the past three years.
So far this season, however, the Nets haven’t met expectations, and shortcomings from their big three have been a big part of the reason why.
One of the lone bright spots of this season has been the emergence of Yuta Watanabe, who has quickly surfaced as one of the league’s best three-point shooters.
He is leading the NBA in three-point percentage this season, showing amazing accuracy and consistency from beyond the arc. While Kevin Durant still wouldn’t pick him over Steph Curry, Kyrie did say that he’s the best shooter in the world right now.
“He’s the best shooter in the world right now,” Irving said of his teammate. “Stats prove it right now. He’s the best shooter in the best league in the world right now. We just want him to remain confident and shoot the opportunities that he gets out there. He makes the game a lot easier for us. We have guys that are willing to sacrifice their body night-to-night and you want to reward them, especially when they’re shooting the ball well.”
Kyrie Irving on Yuta Watanabe:
"He's the best shooter in the world right now. Stats prove it right now. He's the best shooter in the best league in the world right now" pic.twitter.com/Oe1q9LdSFN
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) November 24, 2022
Can The Brooklyn Nets Bounce Back After A Rough Start To The Season?
Watanabe has been huge for the Nets this season, but there are some major question marks about what the other guys can provide this team. On defense, especially, the Nets have shown a tendency to get lost.
But it’s not just this year for the Nets. Since the arrival of KD and Irving, they have been an underwhelming mess, and Charles Barkley has called them out on it before.
“It’s so amazing to me about basketball. This team has been around for 4 years and when they went there 4 years ago, we were all like ‘they’re gonna win a couple championships’. They aren’t even close and it’s almost over,” said Chuck. “Because at the end of this year, there’s gonna be some wholesale changes. When you got a good team, you gotta take advantage of it. You can’t be screwing around with it. This is a wasted 4 years for these guys.”
In the end, it’s hard to disagree with Barkley’s analysis. Kyrie Irving himself pointed out how great of a shooter Yuta Watanabe has been for this year, but it doesn’t matter if they can’t get a stop on defense. This whole campaign has been wasted.
But it’s not too late for the Nets. With a few adjustments and maybe some more moves, they can still be the team everyone imagined coming into this season.
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