Nets looking to change starting lineup to fix struggling defense
DETROIT — Change could be coming to the Nets’ starting lineup sooner than expected as Jacque Vaughn added more thoughts on his first five’s performance.
On Friday, he said it would be “unfair” to make changes since injuries kept the current starters from having enough time to prove if they were the right unit. Tuesday, Vaughn said that based on what he's seen, there could be a different starting group in the beginning of the new year.
"I'm definitely concentrating on getting this win tonight but not to say that we won't have a different starting lineup in the beginning of the year. The thought process behind it was to have four shotmakers and a big who could roll and get to the rim that that would offensively be pretty good for us,” Vaughn said before facing the Pistons. “That we'd be able to score enough and cover up some more sins with offense, and that would be enough to get the defensive side of the basketball done.
“But it just hasn't produced itself and so it's staring us in the face and the numbers are behind it.”
The current starters — Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas, Spencer Dinwiddie and Nic Claxton — have opened the past 11 games together entering Tuesday. The quintet’s defensive rating of 123.3 points allowed per 100 possessions during that stretch would be the worst in the league, well behind the Wizards’ rating of 121.4.
Also in that span, they’ve been outscored by 19 points per 100 possessions per NBA.com, the second worst net rating for the league’s 40 most played lineups.
Vaughn said last week he’s been disappointing with how the team’s rebounding has taken a dive. Add that to his defensive concerns and it’s not a surprise that a shakeup is coming to the starters as the Nets hover around .500.
“The numbers have not been efficient or sufficient enough for us and so there probably will be a change at some point,” Vaughn said. “What that change is, I’ll continue to see what they need and what's best for the group like I've always said I will do.”