Nets Are Scorching

Name: Bobby Simmons
Position: SF
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 210
Birth Date: June 2, 1980 (age 29)
Birth Place: Chicago, IL
Number: 21
College: DePaul University
Drafted: 2000, 2nd round, 41st overall by Seattle
Experience: 8 seasons
Contract: $11.2 million in 2009-10

On offense:

The Nets most expensive player was also their deadliest from three-point range last season. Simmons shot 45 percent from beyond the arc last year, good for 5th overall in the league. And Simmons is not afraid to shoot either. More than half of his field goals attempted (441) were threes (262) and 84 percent of all of his shots were jumpers according to 82games. That’s on par with his career numbers where 82 percent and 78 percent of his shots were jumpers his past two seasons. Simmons doesn’t do a whole lot to create his own shots either. By lining up in the corner, where Simmons launched 152 of his total threes (good for a 46 percent accuracy), Simmons generally got most of his shots off via the assist. About 87 percent of all of his jumpers were assisted to last season.

So as a good three-point shooter whose bulk of his shots were treys, Simmons also had a great True Shooting (TS) percentage. His 60 percent TS was good for 2nd among small forwards with at least 500 minutes of playing time last year, according to ESPN’s John Hollinger. His TS was ranked 27th league-wide.

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Over at their home page, the Nets have announced that their Barclays Center Showroom, currently at the New York Times Building on 8th Avenue in Manhattan, has been relaunched to reflect the new renderings released last week.

Karrie Jacobs of MetropolisMag laments the involvement of architect Frank Gehry on the Atlantic Yards development, saying he had “become a big hungry ego.” Gehry was notably kicked off the project for cost reasons earlier this year before a new architecture team was brought on.

The New Yorker takes its turn analyzing the new Barclays renderings. They seem to like the plans but “The rest of Atlantic Yards still remains—too big, and too indifferent to the fabric of residential Brooklyn, which it abuts.”

I’m linking to this about five days later that I ought to, but The Blowtorch is having some fun with the Barclays renderings and asks the million dollar questions – are you pregnant?

Pro Basketball News has their season preview of the Nets. Surprise, surprise, another analyst picks the Nets for dead last in the Atlantic and probably the Eastern Conference.

Hoops World has their fantasy preview of the Nets. The report lists Devin Harris, Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee as some players to watch for their positive fantasy value.

Well, if Dime’s predictions come true, Brook Lopez is going to be a defensive beast next year. The magazine has Brook as one of five new players to average 2+ blocks next year. They previously said he would be one of five new players to average 10+ rebounds. By the way, it’s been 20 days, since NAS asked Brook to join Twitter.

Zach Lowe at CelticsHub muses about potential destinations for an NBA-only Hall of Fame. His first choice, naturally, is Boston, but he also lists New York as a possible spot, not just because of the Knicks and their history but also because of the legacy of the Dr. J-led ABA New York Nets. Remember where we came from folks.

Ball Don’t Lie continues with its off-season top tens looking at the “Top 10 Feel Good” moments of the past decade. At #2 is Alonzo Mourning’s return to basketball. I’ve already noted, on a few occasions, my issues with ‘Zo, so I’m thankful author Kelly Dwyer does not that ‘Zo’s return was also a bit marred by his trade demands from the Nets and then his refusal to suit up in Toronto.

In their look at the Atlantic Division, Slam marks the acquisition of Courtney Lee as the best long-term move of the summer.

Name: Sean Williams
Position: PF/C
Height: 6’10″
Weight: 235
Birth Date: September 13, 1986 (age 23)
Birth Place: Houston, Texas
Number: 51
College: Boston College
Drafted: 2007, 1st round, 17th overall by New Jersey
Experience: 2 seasons
Contract: $1.629 million in 2009-10

On offense:

Sean Williams is a athletic freak of nature who can run the floor and finish strong in the paint.  That is the extent of his offensive repertoire though.  Williams is a poor ball-handler who has no real post game to speak of, and his small stature doesn’t allow him to bully players (think Amar’e Stoudimire.  Same athletic ability, but Amar’e is stronger and uses that strength better).  Due to these factors, Sean relies heavily on his teammates to get his baskets.  46% of his baskets were assisted on (64% of dunks).  In my opinion, Sean Williams is a tweener in the worst possible definition.  He doesn’t have the outside shot to play the 4, but he is undersized for the 5.  As John Hollinger puts it:

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Rory from Slippery When Nets talks bobbleheads. I was nearly blinded by a sea of white when it came time for the photo of the Keith Van Horn figure, and the headless Stephon Marbury bobblehead should be marketed to Knicks fans.

Liked those renderings of the new Barclays arena? Well, expect them to change a few more times, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The architecture team behind the Atlantic Yards designs gave a presentation to the public Monday night in Brooklyn, and presenters said the current rendering would likely be redrafted to make room for the development’s towers.

The Hoop Doctors have their preseason Rookie of the Year rankings up with Terrence Williams ranked #4. The report says “Williams has a chance to come in and produce right away.”

John Hollinger and Ric Bucher have a report up on the Nets for ESPN Insider members. The report says expect Chris Douglas-Roberts to play more of a role as a sixth man scoring option while Devin Harris’ player efficiency rating (PER) will likely trend down from last year as more defenses target him after the departure of Vince Carter.

A familiar theme for preseason predictions, the Orland Sentinel praises the young talent of the Nets but still pegs them to finish 29^th overall in the league.

It’s been 12 years since Tony Battie majored in communications at Texas Tech, but now thanks to an NBA Players Association program, the newly acquired F/C is refining his skills, according to Ben Couch.

Name: Eduardo Najera
Position: F/PF
Height: 6’8″
Weight: 240
Birth Date: July 11, 1976 (33 years old)
Birth Place: Meoqui, Mexico
Number: 14
College: University of Oklahoma
Drafted: 2000, 2nd round, 38th overall by Houston
Experience: 9 seasons
Contract: $3 million in 2009-10

On offense:

An injury-plagued season limited Najera to only 27 games and 319 total minutes in 2008-09. Despite having a reputation as a physical defender and rebounder, Najera has become more of a jump-shooter in recent seasons. Last season, 53 percent of Najera’s shot attempts were jumpers with a 32 effective field goal (eFG) percentage. The year before with Denver, 54 percent of Najera’s field goal attempts were jumpers, with a 46 eFG percentage.

With such a small sample season due to injury (he was shut down for hernia surgery in March), it’s tough to judge Najera strictly on last season. Still, in his limited appearances, Najera had a pretty miserable offensive season last year. His true shooting percentage of 47 ranked him 87th of 108 power forwards. He was a decent passer for his position with a 14.7 assist percentage, ranking him 14th for power forwards, but he was also very careless with the ball. His turnover percentage of 14.9 ranked him all the way down at 92nd among power forwards.

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With the start of  preseason play just a few weeks away, NAS will be providing  you with detailed scouting reports of all 15 players on the roster starting tomorrow. Stay tuned as we update a different player each day.wjerpt2sa5

In the ongoing courtship between Nets co-owner Jay-Z and Lebron James, Slam has a short report with Jay-Z saying he won’t pressure King James into coming to the Nets. “He’s my friend first so I wouldn’t do that to him if we didn’t have a chance of winning (the NBA championship,” Jay-Z said.

A little (very little) more insight into last week’s news that JR Rider is mulling an NBA comeback, possibly with the Nets. Hoopsworld says the Nets may let Rider try out with the team out of courtesy, but he will not be added to the regular season roster.

The Daily Record profiles PNY, the company that made a landmark practice jersey and facility sponsorship deal with the Nets.

The New York Observer talks with SHoP Architects about their company and their work designing the Barclays arena.

Justin Davidson of New York magazine says the new design is nice, but the Atlantic Yards development project is “too far gone to be rescued by a nice façade.”

Atlantic Yards opponents Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn write an open letter to SHoP.

On a league-wide note, the stat-tastic Charlotte Bobcats blog Queen City Hoops, has developed a new database that helps compare how NBA players defend.

I know Vince Carter has been gone for a little while now, but I finally got around to watching some of the Nets’ game from last year, and I was able to pull together some clips that show what the Nets will be missing without Vince Carter, both the good and the bad.

Now I like using videos like this.  It allows for everyone to see what is going on rather than you just reading about it.  For example if I say Vince Carter didn’t really play defense aggressively, that could mean a number of things.  However, when I say that and include video examples you guys know what I am talking about.

Look forward to more of this kind of stuff as the season approaches and during the season.