He believes his side can play much better defence.
He also believes his side has not yet committed to doing that.
It is an honest appraisal, and it comes in the wake of their 107-84 loss to the Franklin Bulls in Dunedin on Wednesday night.
It was the Nuggets’ third consecutive defeat at home. And, honestly, it was brutal.
The Bulls poured in 38 points in a first-quarter scoring blitz, which left the home team playing catch-up.
They were unable to mount any real defensive pressure to make a run at the Bulls’ lead.
It was shooting practice for the likes of Ethan Rusbatch, who drained eight triples and was allowed too much time and space to execute.
The challenge tomorrow afternoon is as daunting as they get.
They play the two-time defending champions Canterbury Rams in Christchurch, who also have plenty of scoring weapons.
The Rams will certainly test the Nuggets’ resolve on defence and Kelly has urged his side to show more commitment.
"It is obvious that we haven’t been committed to playing great defence consistently," Kelly said.
"I think we have flashes of good defence, but we’ve had big patches where we’re not committed.
"I just want to [stress] I like our group — I just don’t like our work rate on defence right now.
"I’m not saying we don’t have a group that can win basketball games.
"This group has the ability to do it but we just haven’t done it consistently enough.
"But I still have belief in our group."
The Nuggets’ well-documented defensive challenges were evident early against the Bulls.
"They just got off to such a great start.
"And our defence was so poor early that we really dug ourselves a hole.
"They have some good shooters out there and they mix it up going outside and inside.
"But when you don’t defend shooters, they tend to hit a higher percentage."
The Nuggets were slow in transition, their communication was patchy and there were some poor rotations which the Bulls were able to expose and get up a lot of early clean shots.
"We need to be committed every time we step on the floor that we are going to do everything we can to defend as a team.
"If we are not able to get that better, then it is not going to get better as a group."
The Nuggets’ import trio did not fire as a unit.
Jose Perez battled his way to 24 points.
But his lack of pace is a real liability in defence.
Jaylen Sebree went missing for long periods of the game and has not made a strong impression since replacing Todd Withers in the group.
Don Carey jun had a cold shooting night and some ball-handling issues as well.
But despite the struggles, Kelly is not considering making any changes to the import mix.
One positive area for the Nuggets was their bench stepped up and added 33 points.
Mac Stodart had his best night for the Nuggets, adding 12 points.
Christian Martin and Caleb Smiler brought a spark from the bench as well.
