Here is a pretty awesome video of the Nets helping out at a New Jersey Salvation Army before their trip out west:
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! See you all Friday.
GameFlow, Blazers Edge, Brook Lopez Interview, Lawrence Frank Interview
I am much calmer as I type this than I was after the Denver game. Why? The Nets showed effort, and they stayed competitive putting a scare into Portland. Portland simply had much more talent and while they were shuffling in guys like Rudy Fernandez and Andre Miller off the bench. The Nets responded with guys like Bobby Simmons. The gap in talent was very obvious. Like the Denver game, I sat down on the couch not really expecting a win, but unlike the Denver game, the Nets showed effort, a ton of it.
Most notably, Brook Lopez came out and showed fire. I was really worried about Brook going into tonight, mainly because he had a bad game yesterday and he was going up against a big center in Greg Oden. Brook has struggled against the bigger centers so far this year. Dwight Howard, Brandon Haywood, and Roy Hibbert all gave him problems. Not tonight though, Brook looked aggressive, and maybe most importantly, he showed much better body language. The only thing that has disappointed me about Brook has been his poor body language, whenever there is a foul he disagrees with, he shows his displeasure and usually picks up a cheap foul soon after. Not tonight, even when he picked up an early one against Greg Oden, he didn’t react or anything like that, he just went back to work. You know Roy Rogers is getting in his ear.
Chris Douglas-Roberts had a bounce back game as well. It was apparently early that he wanted to get to the rack. He didn’t start shooting jumpers until after he made a few line-ups. That is really good to see.
It just came down to the gap in talent, you had to know this was going to be a rough year, and though it has been a little rougher than most would have expected, this team is starting to put some things together and look better. If the Nets have this kind of game, they can put themselves to get a win on Friday. I tried to write down times and plays today so I can do some key plays, but when I looked at them after the game they were unreadable. Maybe it was because I was writing and watching the game at the same time. So no key plays today, but there are some bullets after the jump:
Al Iannazzone explains why he (and we) should be thankful.
Lawrence Frank is trying to resist playing Devin Harris and Courtney Lee big minutes as they come back from injury.
Meanwhile, the whispers about Frank’s future continue. If Frank gets fired, his replacement will likely come from in-house as the organization continues to pinch pennies.
Another article that gathers some reaction from the 88-89 Miami Heat and the 99-00 LA Clippers, aka, the two teams the Nets could soon be challenging for infamy.
Brett Yormark on WFAN yesterday.
There are still many steps that have to take place before Mikhail Prokhorov can take over as owner of the Nets.
The Atlantic Yards Report has some reaction from yesterday’s press conference by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn regarding the Nets planned move to Brooklyn. Here’s some video as well:
You can’t ask for much more than that from the Nets when they play a team like the Blazers. The real difference was the second unit. The Blazers were bringing in guys like Rudy Fernandez, Andre Miller, and Jarred Bayless. The Nets were bringing in guys like Bobby Simmons. Good effort though, and if the Nets play like that, they have a chance against the Kings.