The Brooklyn Nets are inching closer and closer to team training camp as September comes to a close. Head coach Jordi Fernandez looks to build more chemistry with the Nets and get a greater glimpse of who the team's primary contributors will be during the 2024-25 season. Fernandez is starting his first year as Nets head coach, but he is not afraid to dive straight in.
The Nets hired Jordi Fernandez in April 2024 after parting ways with Jacque Vaughn in February. Fernandez brings a wealth of experience to the team. He spent two years as an associate head coach for the Sacramento Kings and has been the head coach of the Team Canada men's national basketball squad since June 2023. Before his Kings stint, Fernandez spent six years as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets.
Fernandez will have to make keen observations during Nets training camp in October, but he revealed the inspiring priority he has for those few days during a Sep. 26 press conference:
"I feel very excited. And I think that's the number one thing... bringing energy into everything you do in your life, that's very important because I think that's contagious," Fernandez said, via the Nets' X (formerly Twitter) page. "The energy I'm going to bring, and the coaches... I think we're going to have a really good training camp cause what we can do at this second is control the controllables. And everything else, what I cannot control, I'm not worried about it."
Fernandez said he will inevitably make mistakes, but he can live with them as long as those mistakes are done doing what is best for the team. He wants the Nets to have the same mentality.
How does Jordi Fernandez want the Nets to play in 2024-25?
In late August, rising second-year forward Jalen Wilson revealed Fernandez's desired play style. He said the head coach is emphasizing up-tempo play, specifically, playing "fast and confident." The Nets should certainly be able to play fast, given the players on their roster.
Most of Brooklyn's roster is young, athletic, and can play both sides of the ball. However, the point guard position will be vital in maintaining the team's tempo goals. Dennis Schroder can rise to the challenge, but if Ben Simmons has an expanded role, he will do well in pushing the pace as well.
All in all, Nets fans are ecstatic to see how Jordi Fernandez's squad looks once the regular season starts.