Nets players meet as Steve Nash criticizes team's 'desire'

play

The Nets held a players-only meeting after their loss to the Pacers. The Nets lost for the fourth straight time this season.

Steve Nash said it was a disaster. How are you saying it? I didn't see the will or the desire to get stops or get the rebound. We need to make a bigger commitment and we need to care a lot more.

The Nets looked lifeless at times Saturday night as the undermanned Pacers played on the second night of a back-to-back and outhustled them.

Kevin said it was a s---ty night. It was a bad night and I apologized. We are angry. Basketball is something we enjoy. When we lose a game it's going to be a somber mood in the locker room. It will change once we play some good basketball. There's a lot of basketball to be played.

There were signs of a meeting after the Nets' loss. Nash was late getting to his news conference after the game. After Nash's news conference, the Nets' locker room was closed, which is normally open right after the speech. The players headed out of the locker room after the locker room finally opened.

Simmons said the meeting was honest. We had a discussion. It was honest and I'm not going to talk about it. Winning teams do that. They said to hold each other accountable, be open and talk to your teammates, and be men.

In his experience in the league, did meetings help a team come together?

We're in constant communication. We all talk about what we need to do as a team if it's a scheduled meeting. We always have that even if it was after a meeting. I wouldn't say it was special because we are always talking about what we need to do as a group.

Nash was asked if his message was getting through to his teammates.

Nash said that they were hearing it. They argue about missing coverages and the lack of communication. Too many mistakes. There are a lot of errors and lack of effort. It's not always about schemes.

The frustration within the group seems to be boiling over as the Nets have not had enough of that.

Nash said we have to look deeper. We want to do what we want. We want to accomplish something. Do we want to give up because it's been hard, or do we want to keep going and build something?

We've had a lot of good days early in the season but we've lost a few games and it's affected our mentality. If we don't clean that up, it won't get better. Character and competitive spirit are the only things that can get you out of a difficult position.