May 8, 2025 • 23 mins
In Episode 28 of The Backcourt, YES Network’s Sarah Kustok joins NetsDaily’s Lucas Kaplan for another installment of their season-long player breakdowns, this time focusing on Ziaire Williams and Noah Clowney. They discuss Ziaire’s evolution on both ends of the floor and his impact on team dynamics, then shift to Clowney’s strides in Year 2 and what his development means for the Nets’ future.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You are now in the backcourt of Brooklyn Nets podcast
presented by Ticketmaster. I am Lucas Kaplan, writer for Nets
Daily of NETS Film Focus, got a bunch of cool
stuff coming there and joining me as always for these
off season episodes for these player specific recaps is Sarah Coustak,
who you all know.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Sarah, How are we doing?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Awesome?
Speaker 4 (00:29):
It's great to see Lucas.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I know that you are in the trenches of New
York Liberty training Camp. Exciting till there's a lot going on.
We're getting ready to start the w season. Playoffs have
been bananas in the best possible way. So yeah, I'm good.
In draft lottery is coming up.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So it's the absolute busiest time of the year. It's
great the Nets have the lottery, as you mentioned, coming
up on May twelfth, we'll find out where their first
of four first round picks will be. By the way,
great series, the first episode of which dropped him. Oh yes,
Scouts And I don't know why you would ever think this,
(01:07):
but for anybody who doesn't think that a ton of
brain and manpower go into who is going to be
the next Net, this series proves you wrong.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Off to a great start.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I thought you're going to say, anyone that doesn't think
that the Brooklyn Nets content team is the absolute best
in the business.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
They are.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It is extraordinary, oh so.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Good, so good, Well nobody thinks that, So I didn't
even address it, but that too. We are going to
recap two Wings Forwards, whatever you want to call him
today and we're going to start with Zia Williams. So
Sarah coming into the years, are, you know, traded to
the Nets from Memphis player. You know, we probably heard
(01:51):
about Memphis was a pretty good team in the playoffs.
He was kind of on the fringes of the rotation
at times. So I think we all knew who he was,
but definitely had some questions. What was your biggest question
for Ziere? You know when he got to Brooklyn, not
having watched him day in and day out, I think.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Just you you immediately see the athleticism, h the grittiness
he plays with, how you can get after it on
the defensive end, the length, there's all these these parts of.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Of how he's physically made up that you know is
the makeup of why he was a lottery pick. You
see the tremendous personality, the great add to a locker room,
the willingness to compete. I think the question for him
has always been can you find a consistency from the
three point line on the offensive side and just continue
to show a level of development and acclamation and fit
(02:45):
into the league and in what's being asked. And I
think he answered a lot of those questions in a
really solid way. And there may have been some dips
or different stretches given the injury that he he had
mits and just kind of how that looked. But in
terms of hitting some really big three point shots, slash
(03:05):
ability again, the tenacity on the defensive end, of being
able to pressure the ball, playing off the ball, the
pressure scheme that Jordy Fineis was implementing. I thought he
you know, he did all these things that sowed a
level of growth and as a twenty three year old
player that is kind of trying to find his spot
here in where he will best fit on a team
(03:28):
and a roster. I love it and I'd love to
see it. And he had some really big moments, some
solid games, and again he was just he was a
bright spot with his attitude, with his mentality and with
the energy that it always felt like he stepped onto
the court. With that then filtered into his teammates.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
He ends up with a career high sixty three games,
he averages about ten to five and an assist. After
missing most of December within the issue that thankfully didn't
really pop back up. He should shot forty one percent
from the floor, thirty four percent from three, a career
high on by far career high volume, and that was
(04:08):
really the question for him. It was a question he
talked about all the time, something he was very conscious of.
And you know, you look at the end of the
year and not only is it a career high in
terms of percentage.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
But he is averaged. He averaged about.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Ten attempts per one hundred, which is a very very
high volume mark, and he shoots a career high. So
he also shoots I have it right here. He also
shoots eighty two percent from the free throw line. So
there are these indicators that you know, the touch is real,
(04:46):
the shooting is real. It could keep progressing and that
is really critical to his future. But it was a
major positive for him this year in just his age
twenty three season, which is something big to Rema. His
I think highlights to me, there was the overtime loss
in Indiana, because all Indiana does, I guess has played
(05:08):
crazy games. He had twenty two and five, he had
six threes. I remember the comeback against Golden State he
had nineteen and ten and was just kind of all
over the floor. And then of course he had seventeen
the first time they played Memphis, his former team, and one.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So I have a stat.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Query that is, I would say ethically ambiguous, a little
cherry picked, but I think one representative of kind of
his all around impact.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And what you want to see from him going forward.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
He had a two percent steal rate, which means he
stole the ball on two percent of opponent possessions. He
rebounded fifteen percent of available misses on defense, shot at
least eight three pointers per one hundred, and shot thirty
four percent from three. That whole list this season was
Luka Dancis, James Harden, Brandon Pajemski, Paul George, and Zia Williams.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Wow that I say that it's a list I know
not exactly the player that he'll be.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And you know, if you lower the steel rate a
little and raise the block volume, the list grows a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
But what does that say?
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Kind of about his potential all around impact on a
very good team because I'm not sure you know he's
there yet. There's some holes and obviously, but it seems
like right best case scenario for him, he'll just kind
of be all over the floor.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
And I felt like he is his effort and activity
in a purposeful way, and that continued to grow throughout
the course of the year. And I say that and
saying there's some like chaotic energy and just a disruptive
get everywhere and all over the place, and and that
could work in spurts, but I felt like he understands
(06:52):
and continued to better understand just whar and win and
how to channel that and what that looked like in
the context of what the defensive scheme was, how he
was playing alongside teammates. And I think even too, for
a player like him, we focus a lot on the
three point shooting. That's an aspect of the NBA. You've
got to, I think, in some regard at least be
(07:13):
a solid three. You know, what he did was thirty
four percent from three. That's you can get. That's solid
because teams still need to respect you in a way
of how they're going to defend the completeness of what
an offense looks like and not putting too much pressure
on teammates. But I think just like how he was
able to play off of teammates and slash and his
(07:35):
reads for the game, all of those things, I just
I do. I feel like as the year progressed, you
saw that, and it is it's important to remember that
when you're you're getting a change of environment, a change
of scenery, change, a coaching, change of teammates, all of
those things can sometimes you know, they can be a
challenge at first, but they also can be really fruitful
(07:55):
for a career. And I think we saw that Anxiere
this season, and I think we saw him work through
a lot of different spaces and areas. Even though some
of those big shots that he made, like you mentioned
his games where he had really significant plays, there's many
memories in a minor remember of like him hitting a
really timely three point shot, And to me, that's that's
(08:17):
where the give and take of what a player can
be and what they can do when they're able to
come through in moments what it matters. And I feel like.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
He was able to do that, and yet you know,
again Zaire a restricted free agent this upcoming summer, and
there are very clear I think paths of development for
him and thinks he has to get better at you know,
I'll ask you what the biggest next step you'll see
(08:44):
from him that you want to see from him is.
But for me, it's really carving out a defined defensive role.
You know, he applied a lot of pressure this year.
He's point attack defender. He was great at it in spurts,
and it feels like he's has to find, you know,
his right matchups because occasionally the real small, you know,
(09:05):
jitterbuggy guards in the league could kind of get around
him at times, and then dealing with the bigger, stronger
wings of the league, Zire Williams was just a little
bit kind of in the middle of that. So I
would love to see him, you know, find the right
matchups for him and just continue to maybe protect the
rim on the weak side, maybe rack up some more
blocks because the defense was great, that was really good
(09:28):
this year and I think it can be great and
he's close to it. And then on offense, you know,
it's what are you doing when teams run you off
the line? The two point finishing is still a little
below league average. I really saw some nice I don't
know if you felt this way, some really nice moments
of reading the floor, passing, attacking a close out and
(09:49):
getting it to the other side of the court a
little bit reminiscent of Royce O'Neill, who was not the
greatest finisher, had had lower finishing numbers then Ziere, but
was a great kind of extra passer.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So where do you see those are awesome areas.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Where do you see the next step in Zire's game
potentially coming?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I think tying all that in the bow is just
decision making, and to me, that's that's offensively and defensively,
defensively decision making. You know this, we watch this, but
players more than anything, if you're thinking or overthinking or
split second late to half second how you're moving on
the basketball like that, these are the best to the
(10:29):
best of the best players in the world, and so
that progression matters. And so I think figuring that out
on the defensive end positionally, where to be, when to
take those risks, what that looks like in terms of
the skills that he does possess. And then offensively, to
your point of you know, when am I taking three
point shot? One am I How am I able to
(10:49):
get in the paint when I'm being run off three
point line to then create for my teammates? Or what
does it look like when I'm playing off a player
who's getting a ton of pressure moving off the basket.
All we saw certain instances of you know, when defenses
are double team and another guy or what that looks like.
How can you be advantageous in opening up the game
for your teammates and you know in that way for yourself.
(11:12):
But I think all of that is just decision making.
You know, it's taking care of basketball, like those little things.
But again I circled back to you saw steps, and
it's really important to remember this is a player that
is he's still twenty three years old. You know, when
the seasons start next year, he'll be twenty four years old.
So there is a progress This sometimes takes place for
(11:33):
that level of you know, continuing to acclimate yourself to
what things look like and and that will allow you
to improve not only just the physical aspects of the game,
but also the mental parts of it.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
And I think you know Jordie's drive and kick heavy
offense and the spacing principles they got down did help
zay Air some indicators that might tell you he's headed
in the right direction with his decision making.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
By far, drew the most fouls of his career.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Usage kind of kept the same and yet the turnovers down,
so some of the margins are improving for him.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
We'll kind of wrap.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Up this section on Zaire with what he said at
his exit interview, and he was really you know, I
know he's a restricted free agent who knows what the
summer will entail. Nets fans know that better than anybody,
but he said, I really appreciate Jordi Fernandez and the
staff being consistent every day. He's going to tell you
how it is, straight up, and that's how I was
taught and raised, and I love that method. I think
(12:26):
it's really the only method to winning, holding each other
accountable and being there for one another. So credit to
Jordie Man. He's done an amazing job so far, and
we prove to people, you know that we're a special
team with a lot of with a lot of potential.
So those are Zia's end of year feelings, those are
our end of year feelings on him.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
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on TV, but catching them from the hardwood as a
hold different experience because nothing compares to capture your nets irl.
And that all starts a tying tickets a Ticketmaster, the
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(13:07):
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courtside Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Now I'll move to an even younger player, twenty year
old Noah clowney Uh in his sophomore season. What was
your big question mark, the big thing you wanted to
see with Noah entering the year.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I don't know if I felt this so much entering
the year, but I feel it overall of just like
wanting to see more and the availability on the floor,
and you felt for him. You feel for any player
that's got to deal with injuries or missus time or
they get to a point where they're starting to take strides,
especially a player like Noaho's twenty years old in a
(13:51):
second year, and you could see that level of improvement
in so many instances, but it's like, oh, you just
you want him to get longer, run better, more of it,
or you know, not deal with so many of those injuries.
But but I would say just his continued he is
a presence. We were talking about Zayia. He is such
a presence on the defensive end, and how he can
(14:13):
impact a game certain circumstances like the I think just
the variability of how you can play him in the
optionality that he brings in, what that looks like, where
his best position will be, what it looks like, and
who he should be guarding. You know, there's a lot
of aspects on that side of the floor and in
I think we have talked about this before with Noah
(14:35):
on the offensive side. I love his improvement or you know,
the the green light you would say, the toorty Fernandez
wanted him to have from the three point line. You
saw that, you saw that growth, but I would love
to see more of a blend of and that's a
part of his development and that's part of the plan
sure that the team had. I want to see more
(14:56):
of a blend of the shot selection and the decision
makes on the shot selection, of what that looks like,
of his ability to put it on the floor, get
to the basket, use the quickness, use the strength, his length,
all of that stuff. But I think overall, there's so
much optimism for the player that he can become and
(15:17):
what he could be. It just was you felt for
him that he dealt with so many different injuries and
injuries that had him missed so much time this year.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So four ankle sprains limit him to pretty much half
the season played. He averages nine to four and one.
And I think it's really telling that his best stretch
of the season came before the first injury. He pretty
much made it the first six weeks of the season
or so without an ankle sprain, and he was really improving.
(15:48):
I remember that early game in New Orleans where he
hit a bunch of threes and made a bunch of plays.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
You were definitely on.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
The call for that game, I remember, and as well
in Sacramento, which is the game he suffered that first
ankle sprain. It was a great test for him, because
I remember his rookie year, nets were really playing him
at center. Down the stretch of the season. He was
the only big. He was matched up with the Montas Sabonis.
The game after, I think he had a great game
against the Pacers, and Sibonis, you know, kind of took
(16:16):
it to him a little in the ways that you
can imagine with the size the physicality difference. He comes
back the next season and though he's not the starting center,
always matched up with Sabonis, he just has a great
game against Sacramento. He's hitting a bunch of threes, he's
getting a bunch of deflections, and then he gets hurt,
and I think Sarah really encapsulated. You just keep wanting
to see more, to the point where like even when
(16:38):
he came back, every time he put the ball on
the floor and tried to do something, you were kind
of just thankful that you were getting to see more
of his game. And you know, the common refrain is
he shot seventy percent of his shots from three this year.
He really became a catch and shoot, you know, catch
and shoot first guy. And so I have my theory
(16:59):
as kind of you know, why this happened, Why this
is the development plan for him.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Sarah, what do you think it is?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Well, I now I'm curious here that you think that.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You go to me.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
It just seems very intentional because he struggled finishing around
the rim in his first year. He has clearly put
on some weight. There were really positive signs last Summer
League throughout this season finishing at the rim. But I
think you know, you kind of draft this quote unquote
tweet er. You know, is he a four, is he
(17:33):
a five?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Whatever?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
And he more of his impressive takes in Long Island
wherever have been let me pump fake from the three
point line and get to the rim with these long
strides rather than let me catch it on the roll
and elbow somebody and like finish through a lot of contact.
So I think the nets have actually been really smart
in I mean, to my you know, amateurize.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Seeing that getting forcing clothes.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Thus he's shooting ten three points per one hundred, he's
shooting more than that, and guys close out on him,
and he starts the year thirty seven percent before the
first injury ends it at thirty three thirty four. Sarah
can tell you that did not make a difference. In
how teams closed out on him, teams that do not
leave his open. It's really all about volume. And so
I think this is the first step. You know, now
(18:23):
you draw closeouts. Now you get past them and have
to decision make. And it's just a bummer that I
think we would have seen more of that if his
season wasn't so stop and start.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
You're spot on and you nailed that. And I think
that's the important part of that of we started its
stretches even before he got injured at the very end
of the season figuring out, Okay, I'm gonna draw this
close out or I'm getting run off the line. Because
I felt like that you almost understood throughout the course
of a stretch of the season where he was still
(18:54):
quick shooting when maybe that pump face drive a close
out was available. And so I think that's again that's
all a part of it, the reads and and two
we see this with so many players in the ability.
I see him as someone who then would have an
ability to draw, draw on a new defender, engage another
defender and hit your teammate. Can you spray it out?
Can you continue uh to force rotation on a defense
(19:18):
and playmate because I think he had that and we
saw certain areas of his game, whether they were putting
him on the elbow, what they were working with him
top of the key, where he's got a vision and
he can see the floor, and so all of those things.
I think that's part of, you know, just knowing that
there's other levels to his game that I think he
was just beginning to unlock. And injuries are unfortunate for anyone,
(19:41):
but you do you feel for him and that And
I think too, even just for a player, like he's
a good free throw shooter and got the line a
little less of two times per game, So can that
be an area too that he bulks up some of
those numbers of being able to put pressure on the
rim and in the same way you do it with
a three pointer of you got to just keep taking
them to get comfortable making them, Like you just got
to keep getting to the rim to get comfortable finishing,
(20:04):
Like I am a big believer in that and finishing
through content and like create that as a part of
your game is something that you are working on the
same way that you're working on that three point shot.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
No, that's a great point, and yeah, I definitely don't
mean to imply that, you know, he's kind of this
is where he is as a finisher forever. And it's
a great point. You look at Biggs the Nets of
drafted recently. Jared Allen really had trouble finishing through contact
the first couple of years. Totally changed his game, like
it really changed his career, new found ability to do so.
(20:34):
Nick Laxton struggled with the same thing early on, ends
up leading the league in field goal percentage, you know,
in his third fourth year in the league. So by
no means is he not going to finish. But I
think you've seen the archetype. I think you see more of.
Maybe this was a very different defense for the Nets
this year. Noah wasn't just around the rim weak side
help guy, I'm going to time this block. He had
(20:56):
to make much more rotations. They were scrambling more often
to get comfortable with that. And the good news really
is he is not twenty one yet. He will be
twenty one next season. The Thompson Twins are in his
draft class. They're you know, starring in the playoffs, getting
a bunch of deserved praise. Those guys are twenty two
right now. He's twenty not making an apples tapples comparison,
(21:18):
but I'm really excited. I hopefully he can get up
to you know, sixty seventy games next year.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
And the last thing I'll say to that, I just
like his disposition, like just how he approaches things, just
how he seems to be very, very steady regardless, and
I think that matters. I think that's impressive to see
any young player.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
When you talk to people around the nets, that is
one of the first things that always comes up. They
you know, maybe you might think he's a little quiet whatever,
but really he's in taking information, he's staying even Keel
doesn't get too high or too low, and you know
their ankle sprains. I think he'll be okay, I'll put
on wait and I'm really excited for Noah Clowney in
year three. And I'm really excited to continue recapping specific
(22:03):
players on the pod as we've been doing. One thing
I wanted to mention my colleague C. J. Holmes of
Newsday wrote a great long feature on ZII Williams earlier
this season, So if you're looking for more content, I
would go. I would definitely go and recommend that. Obviously,
writing on nets Daily written a bunch about both players,
but Sarah, any partying words before next time.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
No, I'm just keep on rocking with the Liberty, get
set for the w season. I hope these playoffs just
keep getting better and better, because they certainly feel that way.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
And five days from the lottery folks, I'm very excited
over it. They'll be writing it, yeah, and the Liberty
ten days from the Liberty season opener.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
So a bunch going on. Just a great time of
the year.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
As always, thank you for listening to the Backcourt as
always presented by Ticketmaster. It's been Lucas and Sarah and
we appreciate you listening, liking, subscribe, rating all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
And we'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Yeahm
You are now in the backcourt of Brooklyn Nets podcast
presented by Ticketmaster. I am Lucas Kaplan, writer for Nets
Daily of NETS Film Focus, got a bunch of cool
stuff coming there and joining me as always for these
off season episodes for these player specific recaps is Sarah Coustak,
who you all know.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Sarah, How are we doing?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Awesome?
Speaker 4 (00:29):
It's great to see Lucas.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I know that you are in the trenches of New
York Liberty training Camp. Exciting till there's a lot going on.
We're getting ready to start the w season. Playoffs have
been bananas in the best possible way. So yeah, I'm good.
In draft lottery is coming up.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So it's the absolute busiest time of the year. It's
great the Nets have the lottery, as you mentioned, coming
up on May twelfth, we'll find out where their first
of four first round picks will be. By the way,
great series, the first episode of which dropped him. Oh yes,
Scouts And I don't know why you would ever think this,
(01:07):
but for anybody who doesn't think that a ton of
brain and manpower go into who is going to be
the next Net, this series proves you wrong.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Off to a great start.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I thought you're going to say, anyone that doesn't think
that the Brooklyn Nets content team is the absolute best
in the business.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
They are.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It is extraordinary, oh so.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Good, so good, Well nobody thinks that, So I didn't
even address it, but that too. We are going to
recap two Wings Forwards, whatever you want to call him
today and we're going to start with Zia Williams. So
Sarah coming into the years, are, you know, traded to
the Nets from Memphis player. You know, we probably heard
(01:51):
about Memphis was a pretty good team in the playoffs.
He was kind of on the fringes of the rotation
at times. So I think we all knew who he was,
but definitely had some questions. What was your biggest question
for Ziere? You know when he got to Brooklyn, not
having watched him day in and day out, I think.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Just you you immediately see the athleticism, h the grittiness
he plays with, how you can get after it on
the defensive end, the length, there's all these these parts of.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Of how he's physically made up that you know is
the makeup of why he was a lottery pick. You
see the tremendous personality, the great add to a locker room,
the willingness to compete. I think the question for him
has always been can you find a consistency from the
three point line on the offensive side and just continue
to show a level of development and acclamation and fit
(02:45):
into the league and in what's being asked. And I
think he answered a lot of those questions in a
really solid way. And there may have been some dips
or different stretches given the injury that he he had
mits and just kind of how that looked. But in
terms of hitting some really big three point shots, slash
(03:05):
ability again, the tenacity on the defensive end, of being
able to pressure the ball, playing off the ball, the
pressure scheme that Jordy Fineis was implementing. I thought he
you know, he did all these things that sowed a
level of growth and as a twenty three year old
player that is kind of trying to find his spot
here in where he will best fit on a team
(03:28):
and a roster. I love it and I'd love to
see it. And he had some really big moments, some
solid games, and again he was just he was a
bright spot with his attitude, with his mentality and with
the energy that it always felt like he stepped onto
the court. With that then filtered into his teammates.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
He ends up with a career high sixty three games,
he averages about ten to five and an assist. After
missing most of December within the issue that thankfully didn't
really pop back up. He should shot forty one percent
from the floor, thirty four percent from three, a career
high on by far career high volume, and that was
(04:08):
really the question for him. It was a question he
talked about all the time, something he was very conscious of.
And you know, you look at the end of the
year and not only is it a career high in
terms of percentage.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
But he is averaged. He averaged about.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Ten attempts per one hundred, which is a very very
high volume mark, and he shoots a career high. So
he also shoots I have it right here. He also
shoots eighty two percent from the free throw line. So
there are these indicators that you know, the touch is real,
(04:46):
the shooting is real. It could keep progressing and that
is really critical to his future. But it was a
major positive for him this year in just his age
twenty three season, which is something big to Rema. His
I think highlights to me, there was the overtime loss
in Indiana, because all Indiana does, I guess has played
(05:08):
crazy games. He had twenty two and five, he had
six threes. I remember the comeback against Golden State he
had nineteen and ten and was just kind of all
over the floor. And then of course he had seventeen
the first time they played Memphis, his former team, and one.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So I have a stat.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Query that is, I would say ethically ambiguous, a little
cherry picked, but I think one representative of kind of
his all around impact.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And what you want to see from him going forward.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
He had a two percent steal rate, which means he
stole the ball on two percent of opponent possessions. He
rebounded fifteen percent of available misses on defense, shot at
least eight three pointers per one hundred, and shot thirty
four percent from three. That whole list this season was
Luka Dancis, James Harden, Brandon Pajemski, Paul George, and Zia Williams.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Wow that I say that it's a list I know
not exactly the player that he'll be.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And you know, if you lower the steel rate a
little and raise the block volume, the list grows a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
But what does that say?
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Kind of about his potential all around impact on a
very good team because I'm not sure you know he's
there yet. There's some holes and obviously, but it seems
like right best case scenario for him, he'll just kind
of be all over the floor.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
And I felt like he is his effort and activity
in a purposeful way, and that continued to grow throughout
the course of the year. And I say that and
saying there's some like chaotic energy and just a disruptive
get everywhere and all over the place, and and that
could work in spurts, but I felt like he understands
(06:52):
and continued to better understand just whar and win and
how to channel that and what that looked like in
the context of what the defensive scheme was, how he
was playing alongside teammates. And I think even too, for
a player like him, we focus a lot on the
three point shooting. That's an aspect of the NBA. You've
got to, I think, in some regard at least be
(07:13):
a solid three. You know, what he did was thirty
four percent from three. That's you can get. That's solid
because teams still need to respect you in a way
of how they're going to defend the completeness of what
an offense looks like and not putting too much pressure
on teammates. But I think just like how he was
able to play off of teammates and slash and his
(07:35):
reads for the game, all of those things, I just
I do. I feel like as the year progressed, you
saw that, and it is it's important to remember that
when you're you're getting a change of environment, a change
of scenery, change, a coaching, change of teammates, all of
those things can sometimes you know, they can be a
challenge at first, but they also can be really fruitful
(07:55):
for a career. And I think we saw that Anxiere
this season, and I think we saw him work through
a lot of different spaces and areas. Even though some
of those big shots that he made, like you mentioned
his games where he had really significant plays, there's many
memories in a minor remember of like him hitting a
really timely three point shot, And to me, that's that's
(08:17):
where the give and take of what a player can
be and what they can do when they're able to
come through in moments what it matters. And I feel like.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
He was able to do that, and yet you know,
again Zaire a restricted free agent this upcoming summer, and
there are very clear I think paths of development for
him and thinks he has to get better at you know,
I'll ask you what the biggest next step you'll see
(08:44):
from him that you want to see from him is.
But for me, it's really carving out a defined defensive role.
You know, he applied a lot of pressure this year.
He's point attack defender. He was great at it in spurts,
and it feels like he's has to find, you know,
his right matchups because occasionally the real small, you know,
(09:05):
jitterbuggy guards in the league could kind of get around
him at times, and then dealing with the bigger, stronger
wings of the league, Zire Williams was just a little
bit kind of in the middle of that. So I
would love to see him, you know, find the right
matchups for him and just continue to maybe protect the
rim on the weak side, maybe rack up some more
blocks because the defense was great, that was really good
(09:28):
this year and I think it can be great and
he's close to it. And then on offense, you know,
it's what are you doing when teams run you off
the line? The two point finishing is still a little
below league average. I really saw some nice I don't
know if you felt this way, some really nice moments
of reading the floor, passing, attacking a close out and
(09:49):
getting it to the other side of the court a
little bit reminiscent of Royce O'Neill, who was not the
greatest finisher, had had lower finishing numbers then Ziere, but
was a great kind of extra passer.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So where do you see those are awesome areas.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Where do you see the next step in Zire's game
potentially coming?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I think tying all that in the bow is just
decision making, and to me, that's that's offensively and defensively,
defensively decision making. You know this, we watch this, but
players more than anything, if you're thinking or overthinking or
split second late to half second how you're moving on
the basketball like that, these are the best to the
(10:29):
best of the best players in the world, and so
that progression matters. And so I think figuring that out
on the defensive end positionally, where to be, when to
take those risks, what that looks like in terms of
the skills that he does possess. And then offensively, to
your point of you know, when am I taking three
point shot? One am I How am I able to
(10:49):
get in the paint when I'm being run off three
point line to then create for my teammates? Or what
does it look like when I'm playing off a player
who's getting a ton of pressure moving off the basket.
All we saw certain instances of you know, when defenses
are double team and another guy or what that looks like.
How can you be advantageous in opening up the game
for your teammates and you know in that way for yourself.
(11:12):
But I think all of that is just decision making.
You know, it's taking care of basketball, like those little things.
But again I circled back to you saw steps, and
it's really important to remember this is a player that
is he's still twenty three years old. You know, when
the seasons start next year, he'll be twenty four years old.
So there is a progress This sometimes takes place for
(11:33):
that level of you know, continuing to acclimate yourself to
what things look like and and that will allow you
to improve not only just the physical aspects of the game,
but also the mental parts of it.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
And I think you know Jordie's drive and kick heavy
offense and the spacing principles they got down did help
zay Air some indicators that might tell you he's headed
in the right direction with his decision making.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
By far, drew the most fouls of his career.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Usage kind of kept the same and yet the turnovers down,
so some of the margins are improving for him.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
We'll kind of wrap.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Up this section on Zaire with what he said at
his exit interview, and he was really you know, I
know he's a restricted free agent who knows what the
summer will entail. Nets fans know that better than anybody,
but he said, I really appreciate Jordi Fernandez and the
staff being consistent every day. He's going to tell you
how it is, straight up, and that's how I was
taught and raised, and I love that method. I think
(12:26):
it's really the only method to winning, holding each other
accountable and being there for one another. So credit to
Jordie Man. He's done an amazing job so far, and
we prove to people, you know that we're a special
team with a lot of with a lot of potential.
So those are Zia's end of year feelings, those are
our end of year feelings on him.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
Brooklyn Nets fans dugs times and no looks are great
on TV, but catching them from the hardwood as a
hold different experience because nothing compares to capture your nets irl.
And that all starts a tying tickets a Ticketmaster, the
only official ticket marketplace of the Brooklyn Nets. Even if
you're headed to the game last minute, you don't find
he gets a ticketmaster right up until tip off, so
you can catch every highlighting person. And if you've got
tickets but you can't make it, including season tickets, Ticketmasters
(13:07):
there for the assist. You can easily and safely sell
your game tickets on Ticketmaster. There's no better brag than
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courtside Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Now I'll move to an even younger player, twenty year
old Noah clowney Uh in his sophomore season. What was
your big question mark, the big thing you wanted to
see with Noah entering the year.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I don't know if I felt this so much entering
the year, but I feel it overall of just like
wanting to see more and the availability on the floor,
and you felt for him. You feel for any player
that's got to deal with injuries or missus time or
they get to a point where they're starting to take strides,
especially a player like Noaho's twenty years old in a
(13:51):
second year, and you could see that level of improvement
in so many instances, but it's like, oh, you just
you want him to get longer, run better, more of it,
or you know, not deal with so many of those injuries.
But but I would say just his continued he is
a presence. We were talking about Zayia. He is such
a presence on the defensive end, and how he can
(14:13):
impact a game certain circumstances like the I think just
the variability of how you can play him in the
optionality that he brings in, what that looks like, where
his best position will be, what it looks like, and
who he should be guarding. You know, there's a lot
of aspects on that side of the floor and in
I think we have talked about this before with Noah
(14:35):
on the offensive side. I love his improvement or you know,
the the green light you would say, the toorty Fernandez
wanted him to have from the three point line. You
saw that, you saw that growth, but I would love
to see more of a blend of and that's a
part of his development and that's part of the plan
sure that the team had. I want to see more
(14:56):
of a blend of the shot selection and the decision
makes on the shot selection, of what that looks like,
of his ability to put it on the floor, get
to the basket, use the quickness, use the strength, his length,
all of that stuff. But I think overall, there's so
much optimism for the player that he can become and
(15:17):
what he could be. It just was you felt for
him that he dealt with so many different injuries and
injuries that had him missed so much time this year.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So four ankle sprains limit him to pretty much half
the season played. He averages nine to four and one.
And I think it's really telling that his best stretch
of the season came before the first injury. He pretty
much made it the first six weeks of the season
or so without an ankle sprain, and he was really improving.
(15:48):
I remember that early game in New Orleans where he
hit a bunch of threes and made a bunch of plays.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
You were definitely on.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
The call for that game, I remember, and as well
in Sacramento, which is the game he suffered that first
ankle sprain. It was a great test for him, because
I remember his rookie year, nets were really playing him
at center. Down the stretch of the season. He was
the only big. He was matched up with the Montas Sabonis.
The game after, I think he had a great game
against the Pacers, and Sibonis, you know, kind of took
(16:16):
it to him a little in the ways that you
can imagine with the size the physicality difference. He comes
back the next season and though he's not the starting center,
always matched up with Sabonis, he just has a great
game against Sacramento. He's hitting a bunch of threes, he's
getting a bunch of deflections, and then he gets hurt,
and I think Sarah really encapsulated. You just keep wanting
to see more, to the point where like even when
(16:38):
he came back, every time he put the ball on
the floor and tried to do something, you were kind
of just thankful that you were getting to see more
of his game. And you know, the common refrain is
he shot seventy percent of his shots from three this year.
He really became a catch and shoot, you know, catch
and shoot first guy. And so I have my theory
(16:59):
as kind of you know, why this happened, Why this
is the development plan for him.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Sarah, what do you think it is?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Well, I now I'm curious here that you think that.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You go to me.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
It just seems very intentional because he struggled finishing around
the rim in his first year. He has clearly put
on some weight. There were really positive signs last Summer
League throughout this season finishing at the rim. But I
think you know, you kind of draft this quote unquote
tweet er. You know, is he a four, is he
(17:33):
a five?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Whatever?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
And he more of his impressive takes in Long Island
wherever have been let me pump fake from the three
point line and get to the rim with these long
strides rather than let me catch it on the roll
and elbow somebody and like finish through a lot of contact.
So I think the nets have actually been really smart
in I mean, to my you know, amateurize.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Seeing that getting forcing clothes.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Thus he's shooting ten three points per one hundred, he's
shooting more than that, and guys close out on him,
and he starts the year thirty seven percent before the
first injury ends it at thirty three thirty four. Sarah
can tell you that did not make a difference. In
how teams closed out on him, teams that do not
leave his open. It's really all about volume. And so
I think this is the first step. You know, now
(18:23):
you draw closeouts. Now you get past them and have
to decision make. And it's just a bummer that I
think we would have seen more of that if his
season wasn't so stop and start.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
You're spot on and you nailed that. And I think
that's the important part of that of we started its
stretches even before he got injured at the very end
of the season figuring out, Okay, I'm gonna draw this
close out or I'm getting run off the line. Because
I felt like that you almost understood throughout the course
of a stretch of the season where he was still
(18:54):
quick shooting when maybe that pump face drive a close
out was available. And so I think that's again that's
all a part of it, the reads and and two
we see this with so many players in the ability.
I see him as someone who then would have an
ability to draw, draw on a new defender, engage another
defender and hit your teammate. Can you spray it out?
Can you continue uh to force rotation on a defense
(19:18):
and playmate because I think he had that and we
saw certain areas of his game, whether they were putting
him on the elbow, what they were working with him
top of the key, where he's got a vision and
he can see the floor, and so all of those things.
I think that's part of, you know, just knowing that
there's other levels to his game that I think he
was just beginning to unlock. And injuries are unfortunate for anyone,
(19:41):
but you do you feel for him and that And
I think too, even just for a player, like he's
a good free throw shooter and got the line a
little less of two times per game, So can that
be an area too that he bulks up some of
those numbers of being able to put pressure on the
rim and in the same way you do it with
a three pointer of you got to just keep taking
them to get comfortable making them, Like you just got
to keep getting to the rim to get comfortable finishing,
(20:04):
Like I am a big believer in that and finishing
through content and like create that as a part of
your game is something that you are working on the
same way that you're working on that three point shot.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
No, that's a great point, and yeah, I definitely don't
mean to imply that, you know, he's kind of this
is where he is as a finisher forever. And it's
a great point. You look at Biggs the Nets of
drafted recently. Jared Allen really had trouble finishing through contact
the first couple of years. Totally changed his game, like
it really changed his career, new found ability to do so.
(20:34):
Nick Laxton struggled with the same thing early on, ends
up leading the league in field goal percentage, you know,
in his third fourth year in the league. So by
no means is he not going to finish. But I
think you've seen the archetype. I think you see more of.
Maybe this was a very different defense for the Nets
this year. Noah wasn't just around the rim weak side
help guy, I'm going to time this block. He had
(20:56):
to make much more rotations. They were scrambling more often
to get comfortable with that. And the good news really
is he is not twenty one yet. He will be
twenty one next season. The Thompson Twins are in his
draft class. They're you know, starring in the playoffs, getting
a bunch of deserved praise. Those guys are twenty two
right now. He's twenty not making an apples tapples comparison,
(21:18):
but I'm really excited. I hopefully he can get up
to you know, sixty seventy games next year.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
And the last thing I'll say to that, I just
like his disposition, like just how he approaches things, just
how he seems to be very, very steady regardless, and
I think that matters. I think that's impressive to see
any young player.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
When you talk to people around the nets, that is
one of the first things that always comes up. They
you know, maybe you might think he's a little quiet whatever,
but really he's in taking information, he's staying even Keel
doesn't get too high or too low, and you know
their ankle sprains. I think he'll be okay, I'll put
on wait and I'm really excited for Noah Clowney in
year three. And I'm really excited to continue recapping specific
(22:03):
players on the pod as we've been doing. One thing
I wanted to mention my colleague C. J. Holmes of
Newsday wrote a great long feature on ZII Williams earlier
this season, So if you're looking for more content, I
would go. I would definitely go and recommend that. Obviously,
writing on nets Daily written a bunch about both players,
but Sarah, any partying words before next time.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
No, I'm just keep on rocking with the Liberty, get
set for the w season. I hope these playoffs just
keep getting better and better, because they certainly feel that way.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
And five days from the lottery folks, I'm very excited
over it. They'll be writing it, yeah, and the Liberty
ten days from the Liberty season opener.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
So a bunch going on. Just a great time of
the year.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
As always, thank you for listening to the Backcourt as
always presented by Ticketmaster. It's been Lucas and Sarah and
we appreciate you listening, liking, subscribe, rating all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
And we'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Yeahm
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