Jordi Fernandez, Nets enjoy extra motivation NBA Cup games provide
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez reacts in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Count Jordi Fernandez is a big fan of the NBA Cup. The Nets coach is no stranger to in-season tournaments being a soccer fan and was enthusiastic seeing his team’s customized gray court at Barclays Center Tuesday.
“I love the court and I love the Cup,” Fernandez said to start his pregame news conference. “So we’re excited because we get this one, we’re fighting for it. And that’s what you want to do. You want to stay alive.”
In its second season, the NBA Cup, formerly known as the in-season tournament, feels a bit more natural than oddity. It’s taking time for fans to get used to but the players are more at ease after feeling it out last season.
For Jalen Wilson, it made for another memory in his rookie season. The Nets finished 3-1 in group play last year and tried to run up the score in their final win against the Raptors to advance to the knockout round.
They fell short but the passion added more juice to games in November and Wilson loved the high stakes surrounding it.
“It's an exciting feeling," Wilson said at shootaround Tuesday. "Guys want to compete for all the stakes. When you have the whole league shooting for one thing and that's to win the in-season tournament, win the cash prize, it just makes it fun. It adds this energy in the air, energy in those games.”
The Nets resume Cup group play hosting the Hornets. As a reminder, all 30 teams were divided into six groups. Each team plays four group play games and the winner of each group advances to the knockout rounds on Dec. 10 and 11. There will also be a wild-card team from each conference that has the best record out of the second-place finishers.
The four teams that win a knockout round game advance to the semifinals in Las Vegas on Dec. 14. The final is Dec. 17.
Both the Nets and Hornets lost their opening group play game. For the Nets, Friday’s loss already had enough stakes as they faced the Knicks and former teammate Mikal Bridges. Now they can put more focus on the tournament.
The customized courts have already provoked reactions from players and fans, especially the brighter ones, but the players also are happy with the tournament adding more edge to a usually quiet part of the season. Wilson added that the cash prize for every player on the winning team is a nice incentive as well.
“I mean, $500,000 to win a tournament ain't bad to me,” said Wilson, whose two-way contract was converted to a three-year contract in March. “But I think it's also fun to win for something. Obviously, you want to win all your games, but if you have a chance to win a tournament in a championship, any style, that makes it even more fun.”
Fernandez mentioned on Friday that the NBA Cup is similar to La Liga’s Copa Del Rey that he grew up watching. He also hinted that he changed his opening fourth quarter lineup that night partly because of knowing that point differential matters in the standings.
It also helped that the Nets rallied from an 18-point deficit to take a late lead before losing it on Jalen Brunson’s three-point shot with under seven seconds remaining.
"Whatever can fuel you to be more competitive, be more aggressive, to fight for something. I think it's good,” Fernandez said. “I think our guys have done it regardless. With this tournament, and the format and the court and so forth. I think it makes it fun. And I think it's fun for people watching it at home.”
Dennis Schroder was on the Raptors last season when the Nets tried to furiously add points in the final minutes in last year’s group play finale. But as a soccer fan from Germany, he also loves the tournament and the courts.
The only problem? He thinks the NBA should’ve had it sooner.
“I was always wondering why we didn't do it, you know, early in my career, when it was 2013 when I came in,” Schroder said. “I’ve seen soccer. I've been to a lot of games, and that's what they do. And I’m really excited about having the Cup. During the season, I think it's a lot more excitement to the game. You know, different courts, almost like a playoff type of atmosphere.”
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
