Nets coach and gamers loved ‘chippy’ scrimmage: ‘tremendous enjoyable’

Earlier than their journey to San Diego for the second half of coaching camp, the Nets held what Cam Johnson known as a “chippy” scrimmage Thursday to simulate an actual recreation six days forward of their first preseason recreation in opposition to the Clippers.

The staff was break up into two — one led by assistant coach Steve Hetzel and the opposite by fellow assistant coach Juwan Howard — and every staff had analytics personnel and an athletic coach throughout three 12-minute intervals.

“Yeah, it was tremendous enjoyable,” Ziaire Williams stated after observe at HSS Coaching Middle. “I haven’t actually competed like that in an actual setting in a few months. … Guys had been flying round, speaking smack, every part was nice.”

Johnson stated: “Individuals had been all around the floor, diving for the ball, pushing one another, perhaps some elbows, perhaps some knees, perhaps some journeys, but it surely was good.”

Williams stated he was positioned on a staff with Ben Simmons, Trendon Watford, Amari Bailey, Day’Ron Sharpe, Killian Hayes and Johnson. Nevertheless, there was no which means behind the staff placements, in accordance with Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez. The groupings weren’t a sign of starters, bench or rotation items. That may begin to come extra into view in San Diego from Saturday by means of Monday.

This was the primary day to really feel game-like to the Nets after two days of managed contacts together with stop-and-go play eventualities.

The scrimmage led to a tie, which was Fernandez’s determination, but it surely was not effectively acquired by the gamers.

“We didn’t like that …” Johnson stated. “Neither staff appreciated that.”

Sitting in the course of all of it was Fernandez, who was inspired by what he noticed from his gamers, particularly their degree of conditioning heading to San Diego, which has been an enormous focus for the coach.

“It was extraordinarily aggressive,” Fernandez stated. “We scrimmaged for 3 quarters and the blokes introduced it. The communication on the courtroom, the trouble to make profitable performs. It was very shut, very aggressive, and that’s what we need to see. [We’ll] use the movie tomorrow and have a non-contact day as a result of we simply labored actually laborious for 3 days. … I’m pleased with how issues are going.”