‘Disaster’: Embattled Steve Nash calls contemplation from lowly Nets after new loss vs Pacers

Head coach Steve Nash can’t hide his disappointment on the continuing downslide of the Brooklyn Nets as they were rugged by the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

Nash can only describe their recent defeat as “disaster” in nature, as the Nets were sent crashing on the depths of the Eastern Conference standings.

“It was a disaster,” Nash said of the loss, courtesy of ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “How else do you say it? I didn’t see the will, didn’t see the desire, or the connectivity necessary to get stops and get rebounds. … We just got to make a bigger commitment and it’s got to mean more and we got to care more.”

The lack of effort and willingness to fight for opportunities can be seen on the game’s stat sheet. Despite shooting much consistently, the Nets (34) were outmuscled by the Pacers (54) in rebounding numbers. They also allowed the young club to drop a 125-point win to further stretch their ongoing abysmal defensive start this season.

Brooklyn, dubbed by many as a title contender being led by the star duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, was shell shocked by an Indiana team that is currently on course of their rebuild project bannered by Tyrese Haliburton and Ben Mathurin.

Durant admitted that it was a terrible showing in front of the lowly Barclays Center crowd, but the superstar forward reiterated optimism that something good would happen soon with still plenty of time remaining.

“It was a s—ty night,” Durant said about the depressing loss. “Excuse my language, it was a bad night. … We’re pissed. We enjoy basketball. We like to win, though, so of course when we lose the games it’s going to be a somber mood in the locker room. But it will change once we start playing some good basketball. We got a lot of basketball to be played ahead of us.”

Ben Simmons, who finished shy of a triple-double, revealed that the Nets conducted a needed meeting within the locker room to discuss their lapses and shortcomings.

“It was honest,” Simmons said of the meeting. “We had a conversation. Obviously, I’m not going to talk about, but it was honest. That’s what winning teams do. Hold each other accountable, be able to be open and talk to your teammates, and respect that and be men.”

For Nash, a sense of deep reflection is needed by the Nets in order to wake up and rise from the depths.

“We have to look deep,” Nash said. “Deep inside ourselves and what we want to do. What do we want to accomplish? Do we want to give up on this because it’s been difficult early or do we want to stay the course and start to build something?

“We’ve had a lot of really good days here early in the season and we’ve lost a couple games and it’s shook our mentality, shook our mentality hard. And we’re not seeing the same competitive spirit, same purpose, and if we don’t clean that up it’s not going to get better. It’s the only way to get out of difficult positions is to have character and competitive spirit.”