Maybe this was just what the Nets needed yesterday in meeting with President Clinton in Newark. See, the Nets are a bit down after two losses. But here was living proof of survival when the ceiling, the walls and the roof collapse on your head.

So Don Casey, conducting a late-afternoon practice and film session following the meeting, summed up the day as “Getting the country back on track, getting the offense back on track.”

The country part might be the easier task.

In circles pertaining to the Nets, the dilemma is growing. It is a debate for minds greater than that of mortal man. Is the Nets offense stagnant and grinding to a halt because Stephon Marbury is shooting too much? Or is Stephon Marbury shooting too much because the Nets offense is stagnant and grinding to a halt?

“Yes,” Casey answered.

Well, that sort of ties it all up into a neat and tidy package.

In the two defeats, Marbury launched 59 shots, including a career-high 34 in the season opener. Down the stretch, the Nets’ offense became Marbury right, Marbury left, Marbury outside, Marbury everywhere.

So yesterday, the Nets sought to correct the problem while offering various theories. The defense is killing them. Valid point. Opponents have shot .472 to .393 for the Nets, who continually find themselves bringing the ball up after made baskets. Not at all conducive to the push-it-up style the team was built to provide. Then there is the breakdowns-leave-Marbury-with-no-time-on-the-clock suggestion. That happens. But not too often. The absence of an inside game has turned the Nets into a perimeter bunch. With that team mark of 39 percent, Marbury (.373) may just figure he can miss just as good as the next guy. So the Nets watched film of last season and pre-season games when the ball moved smoothly.

“We had a series of talks with the point guards and showed them the tape of last year. We’re getting very few pushes,” said Casey, convinced it will change at home against the Raptors tonight. “So if you’re always coming down in a quasi setup, it’s normally going to be in your point guard’s hands more than it should be because we’re not getting up to get it up. That has to change.”

And it is not all Marbury’s fault, despite the hideous shot total.

“Everybody knows with Stephon scoring all the points,” offered Kendall Gill, “we got kind of used to him doing his thing and everybody began to watch. That’s something we can’t do.”

Beyond the 34 shots one night, the 25 the next, the single most disturbing number concerning Marbury has to be his assist total in Cleveland in the 97-90 defeat Wednesday: one. As in almost, but not quite, two. One assist is not a Marbury number.

“I don’t think I’m shooting too much. I’m being forced into certain situations to take unnecessary shots, shots that aren’t there,” Marbury said, maintaining total confidence in the abilities of his teammates. “The shot clock is going down and I’ve got the ball in my hands and the offense is stagnant so it’s a lot harder. If I was to pass it up … people would be like, ‘Why is he giving him the ball? Why won’t he take that shot?'”

Marbury is expected to be the crunch-time, late-in-the-clock option. But with so many Nets hanging outside, the offense in two games was as boring as it was unproductive.

“I have confidence in all my players. Right now the ball isn’t going in,” said Marbury. “But it’s only been two games. Either we don’t know how to shoot or we’re not getting the ball in the right situations.”

That not-knowing-how-to-shoot theory intrigues. These are the Nets, you know.

“I had one assist that goes to show when guys are hitting it makes it a lot easier for me to score a lot easier for me to get to the basket,” Marbury shrugged. “We’re in a funk but we’ll get out of it.”

And almost unanimously, the feeling is to get out of said funk through the defense. The Nets have forced 47 turnovers in two games but have not capitalized the way they should. And they certainly haven’t stopped anybody cold. But even that is tied to rotten shot selection. “We’re shooting the jump shots again and they’re coming down getting fast breaks. You take it out of the net, you walk it up and you’re running set plays again,” Casey said. “We just fire jumpers, with long rebounds, I might be home for Christmas.”