Nets Are Scorching

The Nets lost another heartbreaker at home tonight, falling to the Houston Rockets 98-93.

• This was a fun game, and the Nets were able to to use a great defensive third quarter where they held the Rockets to 13 points to get themselves back into this game headed into the home stretch. They exchanged the lead a few times in the fourth, but Yi Jianlian and Keyon Dooling both missed threes in the closing minute, while Aaron Brooks made a clutch layup and four three throws to ice the game for Houston.
• In his first start since early November, Yi didn’t have the touch he had on Wednesday night against Minnesota, but was aggressive to the hoop all game, and finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds on 6-13 shooting. However, Yi’s last two points may have been the turning point for the Nets, as he hung on the rim after the dunk, earning an ill-timed technical from the refs.
• The biggest flaw for the Nets all evening was their rebounding. They allowed a team without a legit center to grab 16 offensive rebounds, and 51 for the game.
• Brook Lopez have another double-double, 17 points, 11 rebounds (and 3 blocks), but only scored 4 points in the second half.
• Keyon Dooling provided another boost off the bench with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. He nailed a three down the stretch to tie the game at 91, but the Nets were never able to get over the hump.
• Carly Landry went for 26 points and 9 rebounds off the bench for Houston, to lead all scorers.
• Devin Harris had 19 points, but needed 22 shots to do it.
• Tracy McGrady was not with the Rockets tonight.

What’s going on everyone?  Hope you all had a good holiday, the Nets are getting back into the swing of things with a game against Houston tonight.  Before we talk about this game, I want to point something out from the game against Minnesota (there will be a video breakdown tomorrow, so this will be quick).  Hoop Data now has advanced box scores, and it is awesome.  Taking a look at the one from the Minnesota game, it become obvious that missed shots at the rim probably cost the Nets the game.  Josh Boone was 1-5 at the rim.  Brook Lopez was 1-6.  As a team, the Nets were 13-28 at the rim…ouch…

Anyway tonight should be interesting.  Nobody expected the Rockets to be 17-12 at this point, and they are doing it without Yao and without T-Mac for most of the year.  They spread the scoring load around.  Four guys average over 14.7 PPG, including Carl Landry who is averaging 16.6 off the bench. T-Mac is back, but he hasn’t played more than 8 minutes in a game, he has been pushing for more minutes, and we will see if he gets them tonight.  Onto the matchups!

Devin Harris vs. Aaron Brooks

This is going to be a fun match-up to watch.  You got two quick guys who like to get into the lane and create things for themselves and their teammates.  Neither are the best defenders either.  Devin for once is going to have a size advantage, and hopefully he will be able to use it, especially when he pulls up for his mid-range jumpers.

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. Trevor Ariza

Courtney Lee has had his best game since the Bobcats game where he put up his career high.  He had 20 points on 8-16 shooting including 2-3 from 3.  What was most impressive was his willingness to  attack the basket and not settle for jumpers.  The Trevor Ariza signing has had mixed reviews, he is putting up pretty good numbers, but with his increased usage this year, his True Shooting Percentage is the worst of his career (47.0%).  What that means he is taking too many shots to get his points.

Advantage:  Push

Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Shane Battier

From what I am hearing CDR will be back tonight.  This is going to be a tough return game for him as he will be facing one of the best defenders in the league.  Battier isn’t really a scoring threat on the other end (only 8.2 PPG), so CDR can focus his efforts on the offensive end, and he is going to need to.

Advantage:  Shane Battier

Yi vs. Luis Scola

Yi forced Kiki’s hand last game.  He was only supposed to play something like 10-15 minutes last game, but he played so well and looked so good, he ended up playing 30 minutes.  I think his performance on Wed. night will show Kiki that Yi is ready to start.  Luis Scola is a tough player who likes to bang inside, he may have some problems covering Yi on the outside, but when Scola is going to be on offense, he is going to try to post Yi up as much as he can.  Yi is going to have to step it up defensively.

Advantage:  Luis Scola

Brook Lopez vs. Chuck Hayes

Chuck Hayes is an undersized center, but his work ethic on the court makes up for his lack of size.  That being said Brook needs to get a fair amount of touches inside.  With Yi and Dooling now back, he probably won’t be seeing as many doubles as he was before, and that could free him up to use his size advantage inside.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

This is your open thread tonight guys, use it if you want.

One of the newer entries into the TrueHoop network, Red 94 provides “essays and musings” on the Houston Rockets. Since the Nets are playing the Rockets in Jersey tonight, we asked Rahat Huq from Red to provide some musings about the team he follows for NAS’s readers.

NAS: I’m sure you’ve exhausted this topic on Red94, but how do you see the Tracy McGrady situation in Houston playing out? Does he finish the season in Houston and leave elsewhere via free agency, or can the team find some value in return for T-Mac?

I go into depth on McGrady in these three articles. He won’t leave via free agency because, contrary to popular opinion, the team won’t gain any room under the cap by simply relinquishing his rights.  So he’ll either be traded before the off-season or resigned at a more reasonable price.  I don’t know which of those two scenarios will eventually play out.

NAS: The idea that the Rockets are playing above expectations is probably gotten pretty old for Rockets’ fans, but for those of us who follow untalented, struggling rosters (like the Nets), tell us how a team without its three best players from the year before can get off to such a great start like Houston has?

Chemistry.  Belief in the system.  Belief in a certain philosophy.  These all sound cliche, but it’s why the Rockets win.  The individual parts are also probably better than what is perceived.  Each player has certain qualities that aren’t quantified by conventional metrics.  A guy like Chuck Hayes looks like a 6’5 NBDL reject at first glance, but probably uses his body better defensively than anyone in the league.  Daryl Morey and his scouting department pick up on these things and the end result is what you are seeing.

NAS: After a strong postseason, Aaron Brooks continues to be one of the early-season surprises. Are there signs of him slowing down as the season goes on, or do you think he can maintain?

I think he’s a bit overrated at this point.  Struggles with consistency.  Good player and can dominate certain matchups but probably isn’t yet at the level at which he is reputed.

NAS: In the same vain, what are your thoughts on Trevor Ariza’s slide over the past month?

He’s playing horrifically out of role.  I explain this in depth in “Assessing Ariza.” I think he will be fine once he returns to a supporting role, but it was to be expected that he would struggle as currently used.  He’s not a primary option.

Let’s start things off with a commercial announcement. Those who are excited about Bruce Ratner’s closing on the Atlantic Yards should check this site out for some excellent Brooklyn Nets t-shirts.

Courtney Lee on his shooting slump and his season: “A lot of people if they go in shooting slumps or they’re not playing the way they want to play they can get down on themselves,” Lee said. “I try to stay as positive as possible because I still have the opportunity to go out there and play basketball.

Speaking of Courtney Lee, NBA.com revisits the “layup” that wasn‘t for Courtney Lee in last year’s NBA Finals. Kiki Vandeweghe reacts: “I’ve seen it 10 or 15 times at least,” Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. “That was not just a layup. That was a very difficult shot. Anybody who’s tried a shot like that, it’s not just, ‘Oh, I’m just gonna lay the ball in.’ And to me, the great thing was when he got the shot, he made an athletic move to get the shot off and, second, he was willing to take it. That’s what impressed me. I think that’s the type of kid he is. He’s a great kid.”

Devin Harris is confident that the losing is going to come to an end:  “I don’t think it’s going to last much longer,” Harris said. “When we get out guys back, I think we can put a string of a couple wins together and then we’ll be OK. It’s tough. But everybody comes to work every day, so that makes it a little easier to deal with.”

Here’s a story about a former Net who may have been worse than Josh Boone at shooting free throws. Chris Dudley is running for Governor in Oregon.

Bleacher Report on Vince Carter: A lot of people thought that Devin Harris was the one responsible for the unexpected winnings of the New Jersey Nets. Now that VC’s not with the Nets anymore, the Nets couldn’t even get into 10wins without him.