Jordi Fernandez puts emphasis on conditioning with tough Nets camp

SAN DIEGO — After the Nets underachieved last season — enough so that they’ve embarked on a tear-it-down rebuild — new coach Jordi Fernandez has come in intent on resetting the culture and conditioning.

To that end, he’s been running one of the toughest training camps even his most experienced players have ever seen.

“Probably one of the most unique, and hardest training camps I’ve been through in these 12 years now,” Dennis Schroder acknowledged. “Like it, though, so far. Everybody’s buying into it. Coach and coaches are doing a great job of keeping us organized and together. It’s been great.”

With a team-high 11 prior NBA seasons under his belt, that says a lot coming from Schroder. But other veteran teammates concurred.

“It’s been good,” Cam Johnson said. “It’s been high effort, high intensity … we’ve been getting after it.”

Forewarned is forearmed. Dorian Finney-Smith had asked around the NBA about Fernandez, and been told he’s all about hard work.

“We’re going to be well-conditioned,” Finney-Smith laughed. “The people I talk to around the league, they all had great things to say about him, so I knew what to expect. I heard he was a hard worker and he’d want us to compete. That’s what he’s been asking us.”

Both Jacque Vaughn and then Kevin Ollie had asked the same last season. Both failed.

The end result of that failure was a 32-50 mark so disappointing that the Nets traded Mikal Bridges and started a rebuild. But while the front office contemplates lottery positioning, Fernandez is intent on building a positive culture from the start.

Or more accurately, fixing the questionable culture the Nets had.

“A lot of reps. A lot of physicality. How you want to play. Changing the culture a bit,” Schroder admitted. “You’ve got to pick up full court, but then on the other side when you’re on offense, they’re picking you up full court. So it’s been great. You know, we’ve got to adjust to it; but it’s coming together.”

When faced with a lack of stars, size or experience, the young Nets are going to have to play at a frenetic pace on both ends.

That means being in better shape than their opponents, which starts now. It may not be the Junction Boys, but it won’t be easy.

“It’s been a lot,” Johnson admitted. “It’s been a lot of running, of movement. … They’re urging us to pick up full-court and really play hard on that end, pressure the ball.

“And those things — as you’re playing in scrimmages and you’re playing in live play — are easy to slack off of if you’re not fully in shape. So yeah, we’re playing through some fatigue. Everybody is, and they’re holding us accountable on that end, which is going to go a long way in us playing at that high level of conditioning.”

Fernandez is leading the way in that. A players vs. coaches shooting contest in practice saw Fernandez out on the court doing push-ups during practice.

There are a number of nights this season where Fernandez’s team is going to get outshot and outplayed. He’s striving to see they’re rarely outworked.

“We’re trying to find our identity,” Ziaire Williams said. “Being the most physical and fastest team up and down the floor.”