Thoughts on the Game: Wade Wins It, aka Another Nets Nightmare
Nov 15, 2009 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Heat, Thoughts On the Game
I guess it would be poor form for me to start off a game recap by saying “the Nets are jinxed.” No one is going to take me seriously if I start speculating about how maybe this is the “curse of Vince Carter” or maybe this is some retribution from the basketball gods who are trying to stick it to Bruce Ratner for desperately wanting to move this organization to Brooklyn.
That’s just ridiculous, right? Because 0-10 starts to the season, along with a horrific amount of injuries to key players and losing a game by 1 point because of a Dwyane Wade buzzer-beater after Trenton Hassell literally blanketed Wade during the possession, are just routine, totally acceptable occurrences in sports. Going the route of jinxes, or curses, or offended sports gods is just not rational.
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In all seriousness (yes, I was sorta joking above), these are the kinds of games as a fan that just give me nightmares. While the Nets have had some questionable end-of-game scenarios since the season began, there was nothing about how last night’s 81-80 loss to the Heat ended that I could kill the Nets for, besides the actual results. With about 25 seconds left in the game, Quentin Richardson drilled a three to tie things up while Chris Douglas-Roberts was playing him about as well as you could ask for from a defender. And still, the Nets came back with 4 seconds left with a tip-in from Brook Lopez off the Rafer Alston miss. Yes, the Heat still obviously had more than enough time to take the game back, but finally, for the first time this season, momentum was all on the Nets’ side in the game’s final seconds.
The Wade play, which ended up giving the Heat its final three points and the win, looked like it was about to busted up by Hassell. Wade had briefly lost possession of the ball during his dribble, but was able to recover to get the shot off, with Hassell still in his face. But Dwyane Wade is a superstar, one of the best players in the NBA who’s born to make these kinds of killer shots. There is nobody currently playing for the Nets right now that comes remotely close to Wade’s level of deliverance.
Trying to mention something positive about this game, the Nets saw a Sean Williams last night who looked like he had some legitimate star-power. I had mentioned after Friday’s loss to Orlando that Sean Williams seemed to be turning a corner, so during this period of win-lessness and injuries, he deserved to get his number called more by Lawrence Frank. Last night, Williams didn’t get an opportunity until the third quarter, but he ended up playing perhaps his finest 15 minutes as a Net. It wasn’t just that he scored 12 points on 6-7 shooting that was impressive, it was how and when he was doing it. He was grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring on a series of putbacks and jump hooks. Then, with 42 seconds left, he drilled an absolutely clutch jump shot from the right elbow as the Nets looked to be breaking down on offense. On the next play, Williams made a fantastic block on Michael Beasley in the corner while he was attempting a three-pointer. The only problem was he couldn’t keep the ball inbounds, so Miami regained possession, which of course led to the Richardson three-ball to tie the game.
After last night, there is no reason for Lawrence Frank not to play Sean Williams early and often. He doesn’t have to start at PF, but considering how Bobby Simmons (who missed last night’s game for personal reasons), isn’t really a very good option at the four, Josh Boone seems afraid to attempt any kind of field goal outside of garbage putbacks, and Eduardo Najera is just not a very good defender anymore, the time has come to just give the keys to the car to Sean Williams. If he ends up crashing it after a couple of games, then you take it away again, but after watching him the past two nights, it’s just outrageous to think about how this team has been playing with 8 healthy players for more than a week, and Williams is only now just getting into games. These are the kinds of fickle coaching decisions Lawrence Frank makes that make it very hard to defend those who want to give him the benefit of the doubt. You have to put your team in a position to win, and not using Sean Williams when your roster has been decimated by injuries because you’re still trying to teach him some kind of lesson about concentration and effort is just insane. Let the kid play. He’s earned it.
In a one-point game there are a lot of plays you can look back at as key plays, so let’s examine a few after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Nets on the Net: 11/15/09
Nov 15, 2009 Lawrence Frank, Nets on the Net, Rafer Alston, Sean Williams, Terrence Williams
Rafer Alston tries to see the bright side of things and compares the current Nets team to the Miami team he played for 2003-04 that started out 0-8 but still ended up making the playoffs.
Sean Williams is not deterred by his early-season lack of playing time and is ready when his number is called.
Lawrence Frank wants Terrence Williams to work more on his driving and ball movement.
Speaking of TWill, ESPN Insider’s John Hollinger lists him as a disappointment in the early going due to his poor shooting and turnover rates.
With the firing of Byron Scott in New Orleans, Celtics Blog looks at other coaches potentially in danger of losing their jobs and mentions Lawrence Frank.