The Brooklyn Nets fell to 0-6 in the 2025-26 NBA season following a 129-105 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Barclays Center on Sunday. This was the Nets’ third blowout loss of the campaign already, and head coach Jordi Fernandez stated in his postgame press conference that the players simply aren’t playing hard.
“I’m failing at trying to get my guys to play hard,” Fernandez said. “And I’m trying to ask questions, ask them questions. How can I do it? To get them to play really hard, and then you live with the result. I’m not living with this result because the effort is not there, and the defense is not there, and we’re turning it over. 19 turnovers for 20 points.
“So until we don’t have that, we’re not going to be able to fight for a win,” Fernandez continued. “It’s plain simple. How many games is it going to take? It’s six now. I’m going to keep preaching the right things. Once again, we believe in development right now. We’re not allowing ourselves to compete and to be coached because this focus and effort is not there.
“So, this is the reality of the NBA,” Fernandez added. “This is a really good challenge for me as a head coach, for our group, the players. And we’re going to love them. We’re going to challenge them. We’re going to hold them accountable, and we’re going to come back and try to fight. And if the fight is not there, we’re going to try again.”
The Nets have been absolutely atrocious on defense so far. Their 128.6 defensive rating is the worst in the NBA by a mile this season, as no one else is even over 125. The 76ers shot 52.1% from the field against the Nets, and you’re going to lose more often than not when that happens.
The offense isn’t all that better either. The Nets’ 112.9 offensive rating ranks 23rd in the NBA. Cam Thomas has led the way by averaging 24.3 points per game, but he is shooting just 40.6% from the field. Thomas has never been the most efficient scorer, but he has never shot this poorly in any of his previous seasons.
As for Michael Porter Jr., the new arrival, he is averaging 20.8 points per game on 46.3% shooting from the field. That’s solid production, but Porter hasn’t quite taken the leap that the likes of Trae Young expected him to so far.
Porter has also highlighted that the problem for the Nets is that they have rookies at the point guard spot. He thinks it’s hard to win without experienced players at the position. The Nets aren’t likely to bring in anyone, though. They want to develop their youngsters.
Getting back to Fernandez, he had led the Nets to a surprising 9-10 start last season, and you had wondered if he might be able to pull off a repeat. That’s clearly not going to happen, and the 43-year-old was asked what is going to have to change moving forward.
“It’s everything,” Fernandez stated. “It’s from the lack of attention to the body language. That all goes with energy, and like I said, starts with me. I’m asking to play really hard and to play with purpose, and we’re not doing it. So, I’m doing something wrong besides the coverages.
“I think that that’s the beauty of this job,” Fernandez added. “There’s not always one thing that works for all the groups. This group is different than all the groups that I’ve worked with. We want to create winning habits, and right now we don’t have them. We’re very far from that. We’re actually on the other side. So, like I said, good experience.”
Will there be an improvement from this Nets team after Fernandez just said all of this out loud? You’d like to think so.
The Nets are in action next against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Barclays Center on Monday at 7 PM ET.
