Nets Are Scorching

Welcome to the season review series.  Here we will be taking a look back at a few themes of the season and evaluate them.  In this first edition we will be talking about the Nets rookies.

Yes I am going to be using this picture every time I mention these three rookies.  The Nets’ rookies were a real bright spot this season.  All three made significant contributions during the year (Brook Lopez throughout the season/Ryan Anderson towards the second half of the season/CDR towards the tail-end of the season), which is something that usually doesn’t happen (especially when you got a second rounder thrown in there).  I am going to be looking at them one by one.  In this post, I am going to be looking at Brook Lopez.

Brook Lopez

Brook Lopez is every one’s number two Rookie of the Year this year.  I knew he was going to be a great player, but I thought it was going to take a year or two.  False.  Brook has been a dominant force on both ends of the court.  In my mind he is a franchise type center.

Lets look at his numbers.

• Brook played in every Nets’ game and averaged 30.5 Minutes Per Game.  Brook scored 13.0 PPG (11th among NBA centers/6th among rookies) and averaged 8.1 RPG (14th among NBA centers/2nd among rookies).  Add in his 1.8 BPG (9th among all NBA players) and you have the complete package.

What he did well?

• He didn’t foul.  Brook only averaged 3.1 fouls per game.  With a guy who gets as many blocks as Brook did (especially as a rookie) this is a great thing.  Compare this to Greg Oden, the guy who was supposed to be the defensive stopper among rookies.  Greg had 3.9 fouls per game in about 10 minutes less time.  In terms of blocks per foul, Brook averaged 1.02 blocks per foul.  Greg Oden had 0.45 blocks per foul.  This can be attributed to his knowledge of the game, solid footwork, and fantastic timing.

• He was fantastic from the line.  Yes, I said fantastic.  Brook shot 79.3% from the line (10th among NBA centers).

What he needs to improve on:

• Crashing the offensive boards. Of his 8.1 rebounds per game, only 2.7 are on the offensive side.  If he gets that number up to around 3.5 or 4, it would be fantastic.  Now I think this comes with experience.  The more shots you see go up, the better you will be at reading the bounces off the rim.  He can also spend some time this offseason watching some tape and seeing how defenders boxed him out this year, then he can work on some techniques that will help him grab more boards.

• He needs to expand his range. Let’s take a look at his shot chart.

• Brook was 333-549 from right under the basket.  Which is real good, but look at the number of shot attempts he got away from the basket.  He only took 303 (35% of his shots) attempts away from the basket, and only hit 106 of them (34.9%).  If I can pick up on this, teams are going to be able to as well.  Teams are not going to let him catch it as deep as he has been, and they will try to force him to make his catches farther away from the basket.  This offseason I really want to see Brook expand his range.  I am not even talking foul line extended, I am talking like 8-10 foot range (Think Yao), and if he does that, he will be pretty hard to cover.

The outlook for next year

Brook has the ability to become a 20-10 guy next year, and that is no exaggeration.  I really think that this will happen.  Over the year Brook has displayed a work ethic that shows me he will work hard this upcoming season to improve the flaws in his game.

So I have been searching for a Nets podcast to quench my thirst of Nets knowledge and after an exhaustive search, I haven’t really found a high quality Nets podcast.  Therefore, I have decided to start my own up.  The Nets Are Scorching Podcast will begin next Monday or the Monday after that (depends on how long it takes to get everything set up and figured out), and will soley devoted to Nets discussion.  Now I am still a little unsure about the format, but I do know I want there to be a question and answer portion so if you have any Nets related questions that you want me to answer, please feel free to e-mail it to:

podcast@netsarescorching.com

I will keep everyone posted as to when it will start, but make sure you send in some questions!

ESPN is running a feature called NBA’s 65 in 65 where they have 65 NBA chats.  These chats will feature analysts, writers, and players.

This Saturday the NBA chat featured Devin Harris.  It is a little disappointed that I just found out this today (nice job advertising these ESPN – I kid…), I would have asked him some awesome questions.  You can find the whole chat here, but I picked out some excerpts that I found pretty interesting.

On the Nets’ losing atmosphere:

Yes, it bothers people. But it’s part of our job. You just try to turn a losing situation into a winning situation.

On whether or not the Nets should go after LeBron in free agency:

Definitely. For all sorts of reasons. He makes the team around you better. He’s definitely an unselfish superstar and he’ll attract other players. So he’s an all-around great pickup.

On the rooks:

They have such upside. Brook is definitely coming on. People got to see what he can do this season. He can really be a superstar. He’s a tremendous talent.

On the biggest shot of his life:

The buzzer-beater this year, probably. I also had a free throw in college to win a conference championship. So it’s a toss-up between those two.

On if he thinks he should be the MIP:

I do.

Now the stuff I took out and put here wasn’t even half of the chat, so you should go check out the rest.  It is an interesting read.

According to DraftExpress.com, Davidson G Stephon Curry is declaring for the draft:

Sources close to the situation tell us that Curry will call a press conference shortly to announce he is putting his name in the draft. From what we understand, it’s very likely he keeps it in too.

Good for him right?  Well, yeah, but there is this:

Curry looks like a pretty solid bet to get drafted somewhere in the 8-15 area, with teams like the Knicks, Nets and Suns currently looking to be the most interested amongst that group.

DraftExpress.com is probably the best draft site out there, but we don’t know who this Nets source is.  However, if the Nets’ interest is true, let me be the first to say “No!  No!  No!  Do not fall for this Kiki!”

Now don’t get me wrong.  Stephon Curry is a great player and he will become a great pro EVENTUALLY.  That is the key word, because if the Nets want to make the playoffs next year they need to draft a rookie who will have an impact right away.  Any 3 or 4 the Nets would be able to take at the 11 spot will be more pro ready than Stephon Curry will be.  Plus we don’t really need a 2 right now, we have more glaring problems in our frontcourt.   Plus, I would love to see VC playig the 2 next year, not the three.  It creates more mismatches.

This all may be a moot point though.  Hopefully our draft position moves up due to the lottery, and we won’t even have to consider Steph Curry.  We will eventually see how true these rumors are, but I would like it to be known that I am one of the first ones on the “Don’t Draft Stephon Curry” bandwagon.

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for the record, and his writing about the Nets can be found all over the internet (In the ‘Zzone & The Nets Insider).  Al Iannazzone has been writing about the NBA since 1996 for the North Jersey Herald News and The Record. He covered the New Jersey Nets for the Herald News from 1996-2000. From 2001-04, Al was The Record’s New York Knicks’ beat writer, but also covered the Nets in their playoff runs those years, which included two trips to the NBA Finals. In 2004, Al returned to the Nets’ beat for The Record and has been covering them since. He also has been YESNetwork.com’s Nets’ Insider since the start of the 2004-05 season and has contributed to the YES Network’s pregame show the past two years. Al resides in New Jersey with his wife, Donna, and their son, Anthony..  Mr. Iannazzone has allowed me to ask him a few Nets’ related questions, and here is the interview.

NAS:  Looking back on it, was the Richard Jefferson trade a complete failure?

The trade doesn’t look good today, but it’s too early to fully judge it. We have to see if Yi Jianlian becomes a player or whether he and Bobby Simmons can get the Nets something via trade or because Simmons’ contract expires earlier then Jefferson’s. There were many reasons the trade was made. It was about getting salary-cap flexibility, but more than that. The Nets wanted to change their locker room up, and it’s no secret anymore that Jefferson and Lawrence Frank had more than their share of philosophical differences. Jefferson also was close – and still is – to Devin Harris. Jefferson could have influenced Harris negatively. So the Nets wanted to try to prevent that possibility.

NAS:  How impressed were you with the rookies this year?

Mr. Iannazzone:  I was very impressed. I didn’t think any of them would turn out to be as good and productive as they were, starting with Lopez. I figured we’d see signs of him becoming a serviceable big man and then with work a good player. Well, he showed he can be a franchise center, which are few are far between in this league. He cares about getting better, so he will. He’s also very mature for being 21, even if he acts like a kid a lot. I like Anderson’s work ethic and nose for the ball. Like everyone else, I thought he would just knock down shots. But he was a better rebounder and hustle player than shot-maker this season. He mixes it up inside, which is a great trait. And Douglas-Roberts, the most heralded of the three, was just waiting for his opportunity to show what he can do. He’s one of the Nets’ most competitive players, which they love about him because you can’t teach that. Overall, it was a great draft by the Nets.

NAS:  I think we got a diamond in the rough with CDR.  Do you think CDR can be a starter for the Nets someday?

Mr. Iannazzone:  I think he can be, but not while Vince and Devin are here. You have to let the kid develop. He needs to improve in all areas, including his shot making. But he’s a tough kid and comes from a winning program. He also has a chip on his shoulder to prove not only he belongs in the NBA but can be a very good player in the league. It’s going to make him work harder.

NAS:  Would you conisder the Nets season a failure?

Mr. Iannazzone:  No, it wasn’t a failure, but it’s hard to call 34 wins a success. Part of the plan was developing the young guys and other than Yi, the Nets did that. The Nets were young, but still had some veterans in Carter, Harris, Keyon Dooling, Jarvis Hayes and Eduardo Najera who had been on winning teams. So they expected a lot of themselves. Overall, though, it was a better-than-expected season. But when you start the way the Nets did, the players became a possibility and they just couldn’t close it out. Better than expected season, not a successful season, but not a failure.

NAS:  What is your opinion on Vince Carter?  Is he staying or going?

Mr. Iannazzone:  I think he’s staying, in part because his contract is tough to move, and I think he should stay. I think Vince was great as a leader and a player. I would have liked to see him do more offensively from a scoring standpoint. But remember, it was about developing the young guys so he had to take a little of a backseat. Vince handled it well, better than expected. And I say this with complete confidence: if he’s not back, you’re not going to get equal value for him, and players like Harris, Lopez, Hayes, Simmons, Anderson will not get the open looks they got or score as easily. Carter makes players better, plain and simple.

NAS:  Does Lawrence Frank need to go?  If so, who would you like to see replace him?

Mr. Iannazzone:  I think Frank deserves to come back. He did a great job this year considering the mission statement. You can’t point to some of the things he did wrong – too much Yi, too much Hassell, the small lineup too often – but overall he got a lot out of these players. We’ll find out in a few days if he’ll be back. If not, you look at what’s out there, starting with Eddie Jordan. Other big coaches are available, too. So we’ll see what happens

NAS:  What do you think the Nets are going to do draft wise?

Mr. Iannazzone:  I think you have to wait and see what happens in the Lottery. If they move up to No. 1 they’ll take Blake Griffin. If not, they probably will try and trade up to get a Blake Griffin. If they stay in the 11, 12 range, they could go for a DeJuan Blair of Pitt, Tyreke Evans of Memphis, or Earl Clark or Terrence Williams of Louisville. But it’s way premature,

NAS:  Yi.  Do you think he will be on the team next year?  If so, is he just going to be riding the pine?

Mr. Iannazzone:  I think he’ll be on the team. I think the Nets will see if there’s interest but if a second team in two years tries to move Yi then it could raise red flags about him and and a team could try and fleece the Nets. It’s too early to say what he will be next year for the Nets if he’s back.

—

The only thing that I disagree with him about is his opinions of the Yi-Richard Jefferson trade.  In my opinion it isn’t too early to say that the trade is a failure.  This is because Yi was expected to help out this year in replacing Jefferson’s production (I wasn’t expecting him to do it himself, I was hoping a combination of Yi/Brook/Harris increase in production).  Would replace Richard Jefferson’s numbers.  Now I know we do have an expiring contract that is easier to move with Simmons, but that wasn’t the main part of the deal it was Yi AND the contract.  Just my opinion though and Mr. Iannazzone brings up some valid points.

I wanted to thank Mr. Iannazzone for taking the time to answer some questions for me.  I really enjoyed reading his answers, and I agree with him (for the most part) on his opinions.

Don’t worry fellas, he’s not rock climbing on some mountain, he is doing it at some facility as part of the NBA’s Passport to Fitness:

Is this a video a little cheesy?  Yes, but it does show that Devin is willing to go out and be a part of the community.  In my opinion this means he is enjoying his time being a part of the New Jersey Nets.  Am I reading too much into this video?  Probably, either way, I hope you enjoyed the video.

Ed Note: I know I haven’t been putting out my normal work-load the past two days, so that is why this weekend I am going to hit you guys with a bunch of fun videos.  We will be back on schedule with the regular content on Monday.

Brook Lopez is a big comic book fan, so the Nets thought that it would be a good idea to send him and his best friend on the team, Ryan Anderson to New York City’s Comic Con.  This was a little while back, but I just came across this video…enjoy guys (The Nets are calling this video The Brook and Ryan Show episode 1 – so  expect some more of these…awesome)

This best part of this video was seeing how starstruck (he was at a loss for words) Brook was in front of his favorite comic book artist.  It’s funny because in my opinion, most people would be starstruck in front of him.

Well, the season is over.  But over here at Nets Are Scorching, the fun is just beginning.  Here is what you should look forward to the next couple of days.

• Season Reviews
• Last Year’s Offseason Moves Reviews
• State of The Roster
• Top Prospects for the Nets
• NBA Draft Lottery Live Blog

Now I am going to hold off on the doing most of the draft stuff until after the lottery.  This way I can be more realistic breaking down who can be a Net.