Raptors Guard Fred VanVleet Discusses The Differences He Sees In The Brooklyn Nets

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet has played against the Brooklyn Nets four times this season. While his team was swept in the four-game regular-season series, he still understands the Nets better than most NBA teams since they play each other four times every season.

In a recent episode of the “Old Man and the Three” podcast published on Saturday, VanVleet explained what he saw in the Nets before Steve Nash was fired and what he sees in the team now. Nash was fired on Nov. 1 after a drama-filled offseason and 2-5 start. Before his firing, the Nets played the Raptors one time and won 109-105. After Nash was fired, the Nets played the Raptors three times and won by 8.6 points per game.

Where that is not an average margin of victory indicative of a blowout, it does indicate that the Nets were the better team. VanVleet explained the differences he sees in the Nets:

“Great teams in the league are playing great (expletive) team basketball and that’s the biggest difference that I’ve seen, especially this year. We played Brooklyn when they looked like they didn’t want to be there and they hated each other and Steve was there and you could tell it was messed up. Then, we played them recently where it was just like they’re on a rhythm and they’re on a clock and everybody’s bought in and everything’s flowing the right way.”