Nets Are Scorching

Hey guys, here is your open thread for tonight’s game.  A few things to watch for:

• CDR and his defense.  I know I harp on this a lot, but this is what worries me about his move to SF.  The Nets did a good job hiding him on the defensive end last game (putting him on Jarred Jeffries), but that isn’t going to work tonight.  CDR is going to go up against a bigger Thaddus Young, so this is a true test for CDR.
• Three point shooting.  I sure do sound like a broken record huh?  The Sixers were the worst 3 point shooting team in the league last year, if they start hitting threes against us (they hit 1 last game), there are some serious problems.
• Can Yi stop Brand?  Yi has been more aggressive and has been somewhat consistent this preseason.  This is a big test for him, Brand is a great player out of the post, I don’t want to see Yi shy away from the physical play, I want him to get tough with Brand.

Team Name: Boston Celtics
Last Year’s Record: 62-20 (1st place, Atlantic Division)
Head Coach: Doc Rivers
Comings: Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, Shelden Williams and Lester Hudson (no. 58).
Goings: Leon Powe, Gabe Pruitt, Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury.
Blogger Thoughts, Zach Lowe, CelticsHub:

Contend for a championship. If the team’s top players – especially KG – are healthy, the Celtics are as good as anyone. Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels will provide depth the top-heavy ’09 Celtics lacked.

On the Nets:

The Nets will be an interesting watch because they’ve got one young star (Devin Harris), one young potential star (Brook Lopez) and at least two young guys who could become solid rotation players (Courtney Lee and Terrence Williams). But that’s all they are this year – an interesting watch. Once  Mr. Prokhorov takes over and the team clears cap space, well, then this discussion could be very different.
Read more…

Preseason Game 7 @ Philadelphia (5-2)

Projected Starting Lineup

1. Louis Williams | 6’1″ | 175 lbs. | 23.5 MPG | 12.5 PPG | 2.0 APG | 67% FT | 40% 3 | 100% FT

Not a pure PG, but somewhat effective when he is running the point.  Learning the position this year.  Looks to outquick defenders to get into the lane.  Solid albeit streaky shooter.  Must be physical with him.

2.  Andre Iguodala | 6’6″ | 207 lbs. | 25 MPG | 12.0 PPG | 6.0 APG | 58.3 FG | 42.9 3 | 87.5 FT

Eddie Jordan’s two guard set will allow him to bring the ball up every once in a while, along with Lou Williams.  The 6.0 assists per game average this preseason shows he may be embracing that.  Super athletic, great finisher when he gets inside the paint.  Streaky shooter, if he starts hitting, we need to watch out.  Solid defender, gambles a bit…might be susceptible to back-door cuts.

3.  Thaddeus Young | 6’8″ | 220 lbs. | 27.5 MPG | 8.5 PPG | 0.00 RPG | 43.8 FG | 33.3% 3 | 100 FT

His size at the 3 spot allows him to be a tough physical banger inside.   Good shooter when given time, but if you contest, he is wildly inconsistent.  Not the best ballhandler on the team, so you want to close hard on him to make him put it on the floor!  Defensively, need to use speed to get by him, probably won’t be able to out-muscle him.

4.  Elton Brand | 6’9″ | 254 lbs. | 22 MPG | 8.5 PPG | 5.5 RPG | 46.2 FG | 0.00 3 | 83.3 FT

A PF that likes to bang inside.  Must be physical with him and can’t let him catch it deep in the post.  Face up game is solid too, and he can hit from 10-15 feet.  Good passer, so you must be careful where you bring the double from.  Tough rebounder, must box him out!

5.  Samuel Dalembert | 6’11″ | 250 lbs. | 21.5 MPG | 10.0 PPG | 6.5 RPG | 53.3 FG | 0.0 3 | 66.7 FT

Not really an offensive threat from outside of 10 feet.  Struggles to hit from inside 10 feet as well.  Slow feet.  Can be taken advantage of in the pick and roll set.  Great timing and shot blocking ability though, must pump fake him!  Terrific defensive rebounder.

Bench

G.  Willie Green | 6’3″ | 200 lbs. | 12 MPG | 5.5 PPG | 2.5 APG | 44.4% FG | 50.o% FG | 50.0% FT

Not a true point either, but the truest point on the Sixers.  If they struggle getting into the offense, Green will come in off the bench to try and settle things.  Hard worker on defense, but he lacks the quicks to stay in front of his man from time to time.

G/F.  Jason Kapono | 6’7″ | 215 lbs. | 12.0 MPG | 7.0 PPG | 3.0 APG | 50% FG | 40% 3 | 100% FT

One of the league’s best 3 point shooters.  Has 30-foot range.  Need to stick with him and can’t help off of him.  Doesn’t do much besides shoot, so close hard and make him put it on the floor.

G.  Jrue Holiday | 6’3″ | 180 lbs. | Rookie: No professional stats

Wildcard.  Athletic and quick, but is an inconsistent shooter and he sometimes is a little loose with the basketball.

F/C.  Marreese Speights | 6’10″ | 245 lbs. | 22.5 MPG | 9 PPG | 9 RPG | 31.6 FG | 0.00 3 | 85.7 FT

We should all be familiar with this guy from summer league.  Possesses a great athletic ability for his size, and when he is hitting his shot he is tough to stop.  Needs to take a lot of shots to put up his numbers.  Good shot blocker, you can pump fake him though.  He has shown to be foul-prone.

F.  Jason Smith | 7’0″ | 240 lbs. | 20 MPG | 3.5 PPG | 4.5 RPG | 25% FG | 20% 3 | 0% FT

Missed all of last year with a knee injury.  Can play either the PF or C spot.  Has a nice back to the basket game and a nice touch on his mid-range shot.

G.  Royal Ivey | 6’4″ | 215 lbs. | 16.0 MPG | 4.5 PPG | 2.0 APG | 28.6 FG% | 0.0 3% | 83.3 FT

Defensive specialist with no real offensive game to speak of.  Quick and athletic.  Very aggressive and can be caught on back-door cuts.  Tendency to foul a ton.

G.  Dionte Christmas | 6’5″ | 205 lbs. | 9.0 MPG | 3.0 PPG | 1.0 APG | 0.0 FG% | 0.0 3% | 75 FT%

Terrific 3 point shooter who when gets hot can’t miss.

C.  Primoz Brezec | 7’1″ | 255 lbs. | 8.0 MPG | 2.0 PPG | 2.0 RPG | 33.3 FG | 0.0 3 | 0.0 FT

Played in the Italian league last year.  Nice touch for a big man.  Slow and weak on the defensive end.

F.  Brandon Bowman | 6’9″ | 225 | 17.0 MPG | 9.0 PPG | 4.0 RPG | 66.7 FG | 0.0 3 | 50.0 FT

D-League call up who is playing well.  Maybe well enough to make the roster…

G/F.  Rodney Carney | 6’7″ | 205 lbs. | No Preseason Stats

Out.

Offensive Tendencies:

One of the worst three point shooting teams last year.  Kapono helps, but he is the only 3 point shooting threat.  Must keep their 3 front-court off the glass on both sides of the court.  Must keep AI from getting hot.  Eddie Jordan will be implementing a Princeton-style offense this year.  Expect a whole lot of movement.

Defensive Tendencies:

A lot of aggressive athletic players who like to take chances.  Need to pump fake on both passes and shots.  Backdoor cuts can work against these guys too.

Keys To Victory:

Get Brook touches inside.  He can out muscle Dalembert and negate his athleticism.  Keep AI from getting hot.  Rebound!  Don’t let Elton Brand get position inside.  Close out on Kapono, make him put the ball on the floor.

For an organization that’s expected to finish in the bottom portion of the Eastern Conference this season while not making a single roster move after trading away Vince Carter in June, the Nets sure found a way to make headlines during the offseason.

By developing a series of “outside the box” ticket selling promotion, the Nets have earned national media attention, even if it’s coming at the chagrin of the core members of the team’s fan base. Earlier this summer, the Nets introduced a reversible jersey promotion, where ticket buyers would get free jerseys featuring a Nets player on one  side, and a member of the opposing team on the other, and most recently, the Nets raised eyebrows again when they promised fans who bought courtside seats to 10 games (to the tune of $25,000) that they could “rent” a Net of their choosing for an hour.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for CNBC, said the Nets have done an excellent job attracting attention to the organization this summer. And some of their ideas, aren’t all that bad.

“They are really good at getting attention,” Rovell told NAS during a phone interview. “In terms of attendance and quality of teams, they probably get the most attention of anyone that low on the totem pole. They’re legitimately trying to sell tickets. And the jersey idea is actually brilliant.”

While it might upset some die-hard Nets fans who’ve said the team is putting ticket sales to the Izod Center above drawing actual Nets fans to the arena, it will still benefit the financial health of the organization if they’re able to sell off more tickets to games, Rovell said.

As for the courtside ticket promotion introduced earlier this week, the market in this case is clearly the corporate client, Rovell said.

“For a corporation that’s doable,” Rovell said of the hefty price tag for the promotion. “That’s who the Nets are targeting. They think a corporation will do this.”

The catch will be how much will players – and their agents – put up with regarding the promotion.

“The player’s don’t get a piece of it,” Rovell said, adding that Devin Harris is going to be a very busy member on the team’s promotional circuit if the Nets get a lot of takers for courtside tickets. “How many times is (Harris’) agent going to let this happen?”

As for the Nets being the first NBA team to sell naming rights to their practice facility and jerseys to PNY (the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic soon followed with sponsorship deals on their own practice facilities and jerseys), Rovell said the deal is par for the course for the organization.

“The Nets will sell anything, that’s the thing,” Rovell said. “And they’re good at doing it.”

The NBA expect to vote on Mikhail Prokhorov‘s ownership stake in the Nets before the end of the year.

Prokhorov is a big-time spender. The NY Post also spies on his eating habits.

As expected, the Nets cut their roster to 15 yesterday, cutting Will Blalock, Bennet Davis an Brian Hamilton.

How does a rotation of Devin Harris-Courtney Lee-CDR-TWill-Brook sound to you?

In his new book on basketball, the Sports Fella Bill Simmons talks about the 1976 ABA-NBA merger and its impact on the Nets franchise.

The Brooklyn Paper takes a hard line on its editorial page about the possibility of Bruce Ratner not providing as much affordable housing at the Atlantic Yards development.

Here’s some video about the Prudential Center courtesy of the Star-Ledger:

Everyone you talk to during Nets practice believes Courtney Lee is going to raise his game on the offensive end this season.

Devin Harris, by all accounts the team’s number one option on offense this season, sees a little of himself in Lee.

“Courtney is going through the same situation I went through coming from Dallas,” Harris told the media scrum at the PNY Center yesterday. “He’s proving he’s better than he was in Orlando and he can do more on the floor.”

But no offense to offense, Lee still sees himself as a defender first – even after falling just short of scoring 5 points in 6 seconds at the end of Wednesday’s preseason game against the Knicks – instant offense to the truest form.

“Coach Frank said he was going to give me a lot of freedom on offense,” Lee told Nets Are Scorching during practice yesterday. “But the end that’s most important to the team and to me and to (Frank) is the defensive end.”

When asked if he sees himself as one of the team’s anchors on defense, Lee was very quick to agree, before giving credit to some of his teammates.

“Yeah, I got Devin, Brook, CDR and myself and the young boy Terrence (Williams) who’s going to be a tremendous player in the future,” Lee said. “So that’s what we have to feed off of. Our quickness energy-wise and being more active. And speed. We can run the lanes and pesterize you on defense.”

And don’t think Lee is thinking ahead to next Friday’s home opener against Orlando either.  He’s not about to admit that he’s looking to stick it to them on offense the way Devin Harris has made the Mavericks look foolish for trading him away two years ago whenever the Nets and Dallas square off.

“Taking it one game at a time, don’t matter who we play,” Lee said. “We’re going to go after them like they stole something and that’s our mentality for everybody else.”

Still, it’s worth taking note of the evolution of Courtney Lee on the offensive side this preseason. Going beyond points per game in his four preseason appearances, Lee is taking more shots per game than he did with Orlando. He’s averaging 11 field goal attempts this October, compared to 7 field goal attempts last season in his rookie season.

But what’s more eye opening is how Lee is generating offense this preseason. In Orlando last season, Lee was primarily a jump shooter, with 71 percent of his total field goal attempts coming as jumpers. During the preseason, Lee has showcased a more balanced scoring approach from both the inside and outside. According to ESPN’s preseason shot charts, Lee has averaged 6 jumpers per game and 5 close and inside shots. He’s shooting about 46 percent on those jumpers and 60 percent on the close and inside shots.

Will he maintain those numbers once the team is at full strength? Devin Harris wouldn’t mind, saying guys like Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts being more aggressive on the offensive end would take some of the burden off his own shoulders.

All eyes were on Lee in the closing seconds of Wednesday’s game, where some fortuitous bounces of the ball and some carless fouling by the Knicks put Lee on the free throw line with a second left in position to tie the game, despite the Nets being down by 5 points only a few seconds earlier.

After missing a few earlier free throws on purpose in order to generate offensive rebounds, Lee missed the free throw he needed to hit, capping a bizarre ending to the game.

“That was crazy,” Lee said with a smile. “You work so hard to get yourself back in that situation missing free throws and then it’s time to hit those free throws. I was pushing it hard, trying to get a hard bounce off the rim two times … then to shoot the regular way kinda throws you off a little bit.”

As an added bonus, here’s some audio from Lawrence Frank who talks about Courtney Lee and the team’s late game dramatics this preseason.

Lawrence Frank 10-22-09

Less than 24 hours after various media outlets were reporting that the Nets were debating breaking their lease at the Izod Center to set up a home base at the Prudential Center in Newark until if/when the team’s new arena in Brooklyn opens, the Bergen Record is reporting that a truce between the two arenas is drawing close.

Well that was quick.

According to the report, Carl Goldberg, chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and Jerry Zaro, Governor Jon Corzine’s economic czar, have been meeting for months and Nets chief executive Bret Yormark recently joined the discussion to make this deal happen.

The sticking points seems to be how to ensure that both arenas will generate revenue in the wake of the Nets leaving the Izod Center, the report said.  Currently, the Nets would have to pay the sports authority a penalty of about $7.5 million if they break their lease and move anywhere except Brooklyn.

A deal won’t likely be reached until after the gubernatorial elections November 3. The deal should be made regardless of wins the election, according to the report.

Don’t tell that New Jersey State Senator Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, who said today he opposed any lease breaking by the Nets – aiming his comments at the Democratic Corzine:

“It would be disturbing if Governor Corzine considers allowing the Nets to move from the Meadowlands to Newark without fulfilling its contractual obligation to the Izod Center. The Nets signed the contract with the Izod Center and should be held to the terms of that contract.”

First off to Gerald Cardinale – oh brother. Stop the presses, a Republican doesn’t like Jon Corzine.

As for the actual news here, I like that both sides are well into discussions on this matter. I’ve never necessarily been in the “Bring them to Newark” camp. I’m in favor of the solution that keeps the Nets competitive, thriving, and in my media market, whether that be in Newark, East Rutherford or Brooklyn. I don’t know how the Nets will sell on a long-term basis in Newark once the city is beyond “audition-mode,” but I do think playing in the Prudential Center next year will help add a touch of legitimacy as the organization tries to lure some free agents. And let me speak as one NYC-based fan that I will absolutely attend more games next season if all I have to do when I get off from work is take the subway to Penn Station and then take a one-seat ride to Newark.

Devin Harris won’t be playing tomorrow and he didn’t fully practice today (participated in non-contact stuff including running and sliding side to side), but he was still in high spirits talking to the media (including yours truly) today.  He expects to be ready to participate fully in practice on Sunday and should be ready to start the season next Wednesday against the Timberwolves.  Now, Devin Harris and his injuries have started to worry fans, leading to some calling for him to change his style of play.  That’s not happening, “I love the contact, I don’t think I’ll ever change…well maybe when I am 30, then I’ll start taking mid-range jumpers,” Devin told us.

The conversation then turned to the preseason play, including the good chunk he hasn’t been a part of.  When asked about the losses Devin said, “I mean, I think a lot of what I bring to the table will cure some of the ills going on out there.  But obviously it is good for those guys to go through it if I happen to sprain an ankle or something like that.”  Don’t take that as Devin bashing his teammates, because that isn’t his intention, in fact he really likes what he sees from most of the guys, in particular CDR, Courtney, and Terrence Williams.  ”You see what kind of fight that we can have.  With the way CDR can attack the basket, Courtney’s understanding of the game and knowing how to get shots, and Terrence’s bulldogish ways.  You see a lot of fight in those guys.”

We then turned our attention to when he gets back, playing with both CDR and Courtney in the lineup.  A lot of fans have been worrying whether or not there is enough basketballs to go around when these three are on the court.  Many have been expecting both CDR and Courtney to get less touches when he returns, but Devin is quick to point out that if they stay aggressive, it makes things easier for him.   “What I have been preaching to Chris is that when he is that aggressive, him and Courtney, it takes more pressure off of me so I can just facilitate and then when I have to pick my spots to be aggressive, we have three guys that they have to worry about stopping, instead of them just loading up on me.”

I guess the overall theme I took away from this interview with Devin is that he “gets it”.   I have never been worried that he didn’t, but it is just comforting to hear, you know?  He understand that his style works and that if he changes it makes him less of a player, but he also understands that if CDR and Courtney can become threats offensively he doesn’t have to go 100 MPH every possession, and being able to “pick my spots” as he calls it will leave him less susceptible to injury.  Also, hearing him talk, any worries of him being able to turn into a “true PG” have been put to rest.  He understands that while he is the one true scorer the Nets got, he the other guys around him to be aggressive.  If that happens both the Nets and Devin Harris will be much more successful.