DALLAS — When Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately,” the sentiment was about building a country. 

It also applies to building a team. 

The Nets are finding that out the hard way. 

They enter Wednesday’s tilt in New Orleans a disheartening 2-8. And with a rare road practice the day before in Dallas, the Nets went in intent on keeping the morale up, the energy positive and — most importantly — the team together. 

“That was one of my points after the [Dallas] game; it’s what we need to not only get better, but also come together,” Jordi Fernández said. “Our practice, the energy was outstanding and we got better. So right now we want to go out there and play a good brand of basketball.” 

The Nets had played a bad brand of ball in their 130-93 loss to the Mavericks, a desultory defeat in which they were disjointed and disconnected. 

Getting on the same page was a main point of emphasis in their practice, as was getting in a good headspace. 

“There’s a lot of things to be down about. But it’s a long season, and if we get down already, then it’s going to be a longer season,” admitted Michael Porter Jr. “So coming here with good energy and get better was what we needed to do.” 

The proof will be in the pudding, or against the Pelicans. 

Brooklyn was disorganized offensively against the Mavericks, with 21 turnovers resulting in 25 points. 

It’s a recurring theme after coughing up 22 giveaways for 28 points the night before in a heartbreaking 124-121 loss in Atlanta. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty simple, right? I know the guys are not trying to turn it over, so put less pressure on yourself when you make those decisions,” said Fernández. “It’s more about our spacing and then how we do from there because we’re pretty unorganized early and then that doesn’t help. So I don’t want them to play tentative; I want them to play aggressive, and making their decisions and playing very hard. 

“And then defensively it’s going back to what is going to make us be a very good defensive team is ball pressure first. Build our trust through communication, our coverages, and then finish with multiple efforts. We’ve shown it at times, and now in this next set of five games we want to see improvement.” 

The turnover issue has been death by a thousand cuts. And worst of all, those slices are self-inflicted wounds. 

Shoddy spacing, bad reads and similar gaffes lead to giveaways. 

Brooklyn began Tuesday third worst in the league in turnovers and turnover percentage, and fourth worst in points off those giveaways. 

That was a huge focus in practice. 

“That’s what we’re going over, so that’s all I know,” said Day’Ron Sharpe. “Especially transition, just get into our spots of transition and just being aggressive and making the right play. We’re all basketball players, we all know what to do, so just having faith in what we work on and hopefully that transitions to win.” 

Knowing what to do hasn’t always translated on the fly. 

“(It’s) reading how the defense is guarding us. Sometimes they’re switching and we’re not having the right reads off of that,” said Porter. “So we slowed down some parts of practice and walked through the different ways we can attack different coverages when teams are staying with their own vs. switching vs. top locking. All those things will help. 

“I mean, we’ve got no choice. Any trial or tribulation can be viewed as a lesson, and that’s what we’re choosing to do. We’re just trying to grow as a team because we’re stuck with each other. And we’re right where we wanna be: here. So we have no choice but to get better.”