“Change” The Theme Of Nets’ Practice Today
Dec 21, 2009 Chris Douglas-Roberts, Del Harris, Jarvis Hayes, Kiki, NAS At Practice, Rafer Alston, Yi
I was once again allowed to go to Nets practice today, and the theme of today’s practice was “change.” Before we get to the Kiki interview I got, I wanted to go over some things I noticed. First, it was a long practice, the media assembled around noon in the waiting room, we weren’t allowed in practice until 1. When everyone entered the practice, the team was still running through some things. I have only been to 3 practices this year, but I have to say the energy was different. Everyone on the court were going through in game situations, and they were going hard. The team looked like they were enjoying themselves as well. They were celebrating after every big play, and looking like a real team. Also, from what we saw, the team was doing everything together as one unit. When Lawrence Frank was coaching the team, he had everyone split up, but Kiki had everyone together.
The other thing that the media got to see, was Del Harris coaching the Nets up. The part that we got to see was the Nets working on their pick and roll defense and offense, as well as doubling the big man and how they handle getting double teamed. Coach Harris was stopping play every once in a while to correct something or to give the guys something to look for. It was awesome to watch. As for coach Kiki, he wasn’t just standing around, he was pulling guys aside and coaching them up individually.
After the practice, when the media gathered around Kiki, he went out of his way to tell everyone this is the team’s first real practice. “This is the first chance we’ve had to have a real practice.” Kiki also talked about the length of the practice, “I am not a proponent of long practices, but today we needed it.” So what did they talk about? Well Kiki went on to explain, “We tried to do a couple things a little bit differently,” he went on, “Obviously when you come in and the team is 0-18, you have to change some things, and we have.”
One thing that won’t change is Kiki urging his team to run. “I think we are a very good transition team when we get out and run. Devin is very good in the open court. Our guys are scorers and they can take it to the basket.” Meanwhile stopping the break seems to be a problem, and Kiki is looking to correct it. “Transition defense is something we need to work on. As you guys can see, it is going to take a little while.”
The rest of the interview was talking about the team’s injuries. Kiki opened up these talks by joking, “Everybody is still injured.” But he then got serious and talked about the three guys who are still battling back from injury.
Yi:
Will he play Wednesday? “We don’t know, he practiced today, obviously he hasn’t played in 6-7 weeks. It takes more than 1 or 2 practices to be ready. He wants to play very badly, we just have to make a judgment call to see if it is the right thing to do,” Kiki said. I personally saw Yi running through some conditioning drills, and I was very impressed. He was running full speed with no sign of injury besides the wrap on his knee. He also looked very good when going through the live stuff as well.
Jarvis Hayes:
Kiki talked about him briefly. “Jarvis practiced, got a good run in . We pulled him out a little bit early, as we should. It was great to see him back on the court.” Jarvis was pulled out before the media was allowed in, but Kiki is right, it is good to see him out on the court. Once Jarvis and Yi returns, the Nets have 2 shooters at their disposal.
CDR:
CDR put to rest any chance of him playing. He told reporters that he was doubtful for Wednesday, but he went out of his way to say that he wasn’t worried too much about the injury. He said that it was ok because it was just an ankle and not his knee. I would expect him back by Saturday, but ankle sprains are funny. Kiki said that we will know more when they re-evaluate after the game on Wednesday.
An interesting note here. The Nets were going starters for second unit, and Rafer and Devin were on the court with Courtney playing the three. That could be how this team approaches playing the Timberwolves without CDR. If Rafer and Devin are both playing at the same time, who is the backup point? Terrence Williams was taking PG responsibilities for the second unit.
Fan On The Couch: Episode 2
Dec 21, 2009 Fan On The Couch, Tony Maglio
E.A. SPORTS: It’s In The Game (Unless You’re Josh Boone)…
By Tony Maglio
On Wednesday, the NBA’s worst two teams will battle each other with the winner being awarded the ultimate in lame bragging rights: 29th best team in the league. I can’t even imagine what the attendance will be when the Minnesota Timberwolves come to New Jersey to play the Nets – the Izod Center will be emptier than a lonely old person’s funeral. To add some flair to it, I think the game should be played with WWE Retirement Match rules, where the losing coach has to leave NBA for good (until he ultimately returns as a heel). I’m not sure that I’ll be able to watch the actual game without getting worse at fundamental basketball through osmosis, so what I decided to do is load up “NBA Live 10” on my PlayStation 3 and see how this contest of inadequacy goes down in a simulated world.
If you think real-life Josh Boone sucks (and we all do), video game Boone must be even worse. I had to download “Dynamic DNA” (which is a cool new feature in the “NBA Live” series that updates attributes and injuries in accordance with the happenings of the current NBA season) just to get Josh Boone ON MY ROSTER. He wasn’t even originally on my bench; I thought I was going to have to create Josh Boone just to get the proper starting lineup. I was a little disappointed when I didn’t have to do that because I wanted to see just how low I could set the attributes before the computer argued that there’s no way this could be an NBA player that I was creating, and promptly self-destructed.
For reality purposes, I set the game in the inexplicably packed Izod Center, with 12-minute quarters, and set the “Game Environment” to “Season” (as opposed to “Playoffs” or “NBA Finals” which for realism should both be automatically disabled options when you’re playing with the Nets or Timberwolves). Mercifully, I will not be controlling either team, we’ll let the computer A.I. tackle this storied rivalry.
A final pre-tip-off note: Video game Brook Lopez has the thickest uni-brow and meanest expression I’ve ever seen. He is unkempt and he is PISSED. I can’t really blame virtual Brook, look who he’s surrounded by. I’m just not sure why EA Sports took such a liberty with his extreme hairiness – he looks like a Geico Caveman. If you recall in Episode One, I referenced a story about how smitten the Lopez twins were with their PS3 – so you would think EA Sports would give him a break on the ugliness of his likeness.
Is Courtney’s Lower Body The Reason For His Slump?
Dec 21, 2009 Analysis, Courtney Lee, Shooting Mechanics, Video Breakdown
Watching Courtney shoot the basketball is starting to get real frustrating. I am not talking about him as a player really, but this slump is almost unexplainable and incredibly frustrating. Yes, his shooting percentage was supposed to go down with his increased usage, and his detractors are going to say he was never that good to begin with, but every time Courtney makes a correct decision (for example, pump faking a three, taking two dribbles and pulling up), it sucks to see him miss. If he can get his shot going, Brook would have more room to operate and the opposing defenses wouldn’t be able to load up on Devin.
So why can’t Courtney hit a shot? I have been watching his shot all year looking for something, and I haven’t been able to find it. Up top, his form is very good. His elbow in, hands in the right spot, and he has a very good release. On Saturday though, I noticed something down low, something with his feet. As a shooter, you want your feet to not only be shoulder width apart, but you want them pointing to the basket. If your feet are pointing towards the basket, your whole body by nature is forced to be aligned with the basket. This gives you the best chance to make a basket. You also want to land where you take off on jump shots. In the NBA, players tend to fade more often (because defenders are tall and good at contesting shots), but you still want to be taking off and landing more often than not.
On Saturday against the Lakers, I noticed that Courtney’s feet were too close together, and they were pointing in the wrong direction. I decided to look back at past games to see if this was a one time thing, or if this is something that could be leading to his shooting troubles. On his makes, Courtney usually does everything right from up top to down low. On his misses though, his feet are usually in the wrong spot, and he has a tendency to fade.
Nets on the Net: 12/21/09 Civil Disobedience Edition
Dec 21, 2009 Brooklyn, Nets on the Net
In a sign that opponents of the Atlantic Yards development are going to continue to disrupt the progress of this project, despite the recent legal victories and financing handed over to developer/Nets owner Bruce Ratner, patrons at Freddy’s Bar in Brooklyn, which is slated to be knocked down for the Nets new arena, chained themselves to the bar in protest.
Meanwhile, on the legal front, opponents are jumping on recent statements by New York state Senator Bill Perkins, who said the bonds issued for the project, may not be legal. From Saturday’s Atlantic Yards Report:
Had the bonds been issued by an Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) subsidiary, they could be repaid via for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), but the issuance would have had to have been approved by the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB), Perkins wrote in a letter. However, in an apparent effort to avoid the PACB, the ESDC created the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation (BALDC), and that murky entity–which issued $511 million in bonds–should not possess a property tax exemption, the letter said.
Here are some photos from the chaining event. There’s also some video from YouTube: