Defensive-Minded Brooklyn Nets

One of the concerns for the Brooklyn Nets this upcoming season is their lack of defensive prowess. With Lopez's reputation and Deron's dogging it last season, there are questions to be answered about how this team will answer to the offensive powerhouses across the league.

Avery Johnson hopes to make it click defensively.

He's taking this so seriously that according to Lopez, Johnson handed out handbooks filled with philosophies and ideas as well as four written tests on defensive principles.

At the media day, Lopez said the following.

“We want to be a pretty defensive-minded team. I’m just focused on being the guy in the middle that everyone can count on. If they get beat, I’ll be back there. We just have to be prepared to help each other out.”

As for the goals Coach Johnson as set for this team, he says

“We’ve gotta be in the top 10 -- that’s one of the barometers for us defensively. We have a certain amount of points we wanna give up this year -- defensive field goal percentage, we know where we want that to be this year. In the last two minutes of a game, I want to see a team that’s physically and mentally tough.”

Looking at the past champions, almost all were in the Top 10 defensively, or close, along with a strong offensive attack. The offensive side seems to be taken care of with the like of Deron, Joe Johnson, and Lopez as well as players off the bench like Brooks and Euro-star Mirza Teletovic.  Avery agrees.

“We’ve gotta improve significantly in rebounding, and that’s everybody,” Johnson said. “I believe in balance. I had a reputation of being a ‘defensive coach’ in Dallas, but most of my teams were balanced teams that were good defensively and offensively.”

We'll see how things pan out this season, but Avery Johnson seems to be bringing a new attitude to Brooklyn, and we should not be expecting anything less than exceptional coaching from him.

ESPN - Johnson Schooling Players on D, Literally