Nets Are Scorching

By The Horns, Blog-A-Bull, Kiki Vandeweghe Interview, Brook Lopez Interview

The Nets finally succeeded in rewriting a painfully familiar script in their 103-101 road victory against the Chicago Bulls last night.

Headed into the fourth quarter, the Nets had a comfortable 10-point lead and looked to be in total control. Brook Lopez (25 points, 10 rebounds) was dominating in the post, Chris Douglas-Roberts (20 points, 3 blocks), was a functional second scoring option and the Nets were taking advantage of some sloppiness by the Bulls en route to 14 team steals.

But those who have followed the Nets this year know this team has rarely strung four solid quarters of play together. The Bulls went on a run in the fourth quarter, and all of a sudden, the Nets play-by-play guys were talking about how the Nets had missed 10 shots on a row, and were making suspect rotations on the defensive end, leading to back-to-back treys by Chicago’s John Salmons and Luol Deng. Suddenly, I was having flashbacks to the third quarter against the Knicks on Sunday, or the third quarter against Milwaukee last month, or that awful fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves opening night. You probably all thought it too – the Nets go cold – the opposition gets hot. The Nets then breakdown completely and another game is lost.

Yet, the Nets didn’t lose last night. Really, for the first time this season, this team struggled for a quarter, took the opposing team’s best shot, and still came out on top. Devin Harris (17 points, 6 assists, 4 steals) got roped into a game of one-upmanship with Bulls PG Derrick Rose (27 points, 10 assists), with Devo coming out on top. Rose hit a jumper with 4:48 remaining to tie the game at 88, and Harris came back with a three pointer to put the Nets back on top. Then,  Rose put the Bulls ahead 94-93 with 3:21 remaining, so Harris came back again with one of his vintage, reckless abandon drives to the hoop to put the Nets up one. And just as all hope seemed lost for the Nets and Rose put the Bulls up 100-99 with a running floater with 19.5 seconds remaining, Harris drove to the hoop once more for two, to give the Nets the lead for good.

Point-wise, it might have looked like a lackluster night for Harris, especially when you consider the 5-12 shooting. But make no mistake – this was the Devin Harris the team was looking to build its core around when they traded Vince Carter in June. This Harris who is able to take over games when they matter most, using his speed and daring to get into the lane and score. We saw glimpses of that Harris in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Knicks, but seeing this Harris show up in crunch time is a first for 2009-10.

Let’s not forget another big offensive contributor early-on last night. Rafer Alston was on fire in the first half, making 5 of 6 shots, including a three-pointer, and a few long twos. It’s been a long time since we saw this Rafer Alston. In fact, I thought he was lost somewhere in Orlando. But if the Nets could get a performance like that out of one of their bench guys each night, they’re probably going to start playing a lot better overall.

Finally, let’s hear it for some coaching. Loved some of the decisions made by Kiki Vandeweghe and Del Harris. In the game’s closing seconds, they went small, substituting wisely by getting Rafer Alston on the floor for Devin’s deciding layup, keeping the Bulls defense honest around the perimeter. Then, as the Bulls got their last chance, Tony Battie was subbed in to get more rebounders on the floor. With the way Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were tipping and grabbing offensive boards all night (9 combined, 16 offensive boards overall for the Bulls), it was critical to get Battie or Boone back out there. And of course, Kiki/Del didn’t forget to foul Rose after Alston’s free throws, not allowing the Bulls an attempt to tie the game on a three. This all sounds simple enough, but some of these substitutions and calls weren’t being made a couple of weeks ago.

Final, final thoughts after the jump:
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Al Iannazzone over at Nets Insider looks at the misfortune of Yi Jianlian.

Recapping the past 24 hours of Twittergate, Dave D’Alessandro adds in his story this morning that TWill’s benching last night was strictly a coincidence, according to Rod Thorn.

On Twitter last night, Terrence Williams compliments his teammates and nothing else.

Bleacher Report says that last night’s win in Chicago proves why the Nets are a better fit for LeBron James than the Knicks.

Some Bulls fans are very upset that Bulls lost to the Nets (hey, they can’t lose every game can they?).

Now that the Nets are winning some games, one fan writes how they still may be able to entertain us.

Forest City Ratner is predicting a groundbreaking in Brooklyn in the “fourth quarter.”

A off-balance floater by Devin Harris with 14.9 seconds left, followed by two free throw by Rafer Alston helped the Nets (2-19) knock off the Bulls 103-101 (7-12) in Chicago tonight, as New Jersey earned its first road win of the season.

• Welcome back Devin Harris, who scored 17 points, dished 6 assists and collected 4 steals, but most importantly looked like “the man” in the fourth quarter hitting a big three and a layup down the stretch as the Bulls were looking like they were on the verge of putting the Nets down.
• Another game, another big night for Brook Lopez who finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Stuff that stat sheet Brook.
• Rafer Alston was huge off the bench, scoring 15 points on 5-8 shooting, while hitting the difference-making free throws at the end of the game.
• Solid scoring night for Chris Douglas-Roberts, who finished with 20 points. He even channeled his inner-Mutombo and collected 3 blocks.
• Overall, the Nets finished with 14 steals.
• Derrick Rose and Luol Deng led the Bulls with 27 points each. Rose also netted 10 dimes. Rookie Taj Gibson had a career night with 20 points and 3 blocks.
• Active night on the boards for Josh Boone who had 10 boards (5 offensive) to go with his 6 points and two blocks. Overall, the Nets finished with 11 offensive boards, while giving up 16 to the Bulls.
• “DNP – Coache’s Decision” for Terrence Williams, who may face disciplinary action from the team for his Twitter antics, according to Dave D’Alessandro.
• The Nets looked fantastic in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulls 26-16, but the Bulls gave them everything they had in the fourth, outscoring the Nets 31-23. Still

The Bulls have been pretty bad as of late.  Real bad, not only are they 7-11, but they have lost 7 of their last 8.  Besides their win, they have had only two games end in single digits.  Their man problem, their defense.  They can’t seem to stop anyone, allowing over 100 points in 6 of their last 8.

This could be the cure that the Nets need offensively, but if they start playing well against Chicago’s man-to-man defense, expect to see some zone.  Match-up time!

Devin Harris vs. Derrick Rose:

I am calling this one a push.  If Devin was clicking on all cylinders, he’d be getting the slight edge here.  Still this is going to be a real fun one to watch.  Harris is in the top 30 of Free-Throw Rate, and that is the only reason fans aren’t calling for his head.  Harris has had some poor shooting games, but in those games, he gets to the line a ton and still gets his points.

Advantage: Push

Courtney Lee vs. John Salmons

John Salmons is a tough guy to stop offensively when he gets it going.  He can hit the deep shot, and he can get into the lane.  As for Courtney Lee, he needs to be much more aggressive.  After his career high night, he only took 5 shots, that can’t happen.

Advantage: John Salmons

Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Luol Deng

Like CDR, Luol Deng is a long player.  He doesn’t shoot the three-ball well, but when he is right, he can knock down almost anything a step in from the foul line.  CDR seemed to get it going again against the Knicks, but he is going to have to recognize the zone better.  As I pointed out earlier, he thought they were still in man that first time out.  Other than that little point, he has been great.

Advantage:  Chris Douglas-Roberts

Josh Boone vs. Taj Gibson

Remember when James Johnson was high on the Nets’ list?  Well, we can be glad that the Nets didn’t take him.  With Tyrus Thomas out, Taj Gibson is the rookie replacing him, not James Johnson, that tells you something about him.

Advantage: Taj Gibson

Brook Lopez vs. Joakim Noah

Brook didn’t get a ton of touches inside last game, and that was depressing.  You know that Kiki and Del are going to try to get him going early tonight.  Noah is a great player having a great season, I just think that Lopez’s size will give Noah problems.

Advantage: Brook Lopez

The Nets four reliable beat reporters were at the United Center this morning and were immediately struck by the site of Terrence Williams running the stairs in the arena with assistant coach Doug Overton.

Was this punishment for TWill’s controversial tweets the past 24 hours, where he essentially questioned if he would have been better off being drafted by another organization? Apparently not. Still, there were some interesting things said at practice today about Terrence Williams, by the rookie himself, and others.

First, TWill himself about whether he regrets being drafted by the Nets, from Julian Garcia and the Daily News:

“How would it be a regret?” he asked back. “I don’t make the decision where I go. It’s not a regret at all. You guys talk about that but my next tweet says I love my situation, I love my teammates and you guys (have) got to know that we’re all human and we hate losing. So it’s not a regret at all. It’s the best decision for me to come to New Jersey. I love it. I wouldn’t want to play at Charlotte or the other pick. I’m happy I’m here.”

Here’s coach Kiki, courtesy of The Record’s Al Iannazzone:

“For all our players, young players especially – and Terrence is our rookie obviously – this is a learning and teaching time,” Vandeweghe said. “So you take every opportunity you can to reinforce good habits and what we want from Terrence is to make sure he plays good defense first. We build a foundation that way.”

Dave D’Alessandro actually laid the smackdown on Williams from behind the computer:

But that’s the central point here: No matter what his frustration, he has no business tweeting that rubbish about how he’d rather be playing somewhere else – because that twit left zero room for interpretation.

Dave D. also got these interesting morsels from Rafer Alston:

“He’s not seeking advice from veterans. You know, he’s getting advice from guys in their first and second year, who don’t know,” said Rafer Alston. “And the problem now is, when you’re twittering and talking, when you’re young you don’t know what to say or the right things to say. Those are the things he has to learn.”

Sebastian pretty much summed it all up in his post earlier this morning, though I’d like to add that I hope the Nets here come down hard on Williams. You want to see the good in a young player, and I still believe TWill has a lot of talent that could help the Nets, but I think he needs to step back a bit, and watch his team play, and hopefully win, without him. Because he’s such good buddies with Nate Robinson, maybe he can ask Nate what being an immature prima donna has done for his standing with the Knicks.

Get used to the zone defense Nets’ fans, because we may be seeing a lot of it in the next few games.  Even before looking at any video, you can tell that the Nets really struggled against the zone on Sunday.  They went from scoring 61 points in the first half, to scoring just 36 in the second.

The Nets struggle against the zone because they don’t have the personnel to shoot their way out of it.  Usually when a team runs a zone, they do it just to switch things up, and when the opposing team hits a shot or two, they get out of it switching back to man.  The Nets never hit “a shot or two” against the Knicks.  So if the Nets struggled so much against the zone, why haven’t we seen it more?  Well, to be honest teams were beating the Nets so handily, that there was no reason to employ it.  The Nets might see it a lot more now because the Nets are going to be going up against teams that have been struggling and teams the Nets might be able to get a lead on late in the second half.  If that happens expect to see zone. I am going to share some clips with you guys and explain what the Nets are doing wrong against the zone, and what they can do to beat the zone, and force teams to go to man.

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When I asked Terrence Williams about his involvement with social media just after the Nets drafted him with the 11th pick overall, he told me:

Some of the fans actually believe that basketball players are too cocky or arrogant, and some believe that we’re not real, that we’re not human as funny as it may sound.  So I believe that if a kid can get on Twitter and ask me a question and I answer it, I don’t know if I put a smile on the kid’s face, but if somebody was my hero when I was little and I could get on Twitter and write them a question and they answer, it would make my day.  If you could get on XBox live and play against somebody you look up to in video games, it would make that person’s day.

Compare that with what he has said over Twitter about his team, his fans, and his playing time recently you get a different feel (In case the links don’t work, view the tweets in question here):

@MMEIZINGER send me the story where I said I play like lebron,btw you look like nothing – 20 hours ago

Up early to the gym before practice to practice before practice, because NOW practice is my games. Welp that’s life – 10 hours ago

How would it be if Mr. Stern called my name 10 min earlier #9 or 5 min later #12 hmmmmmmmmm to bad I can’t live off what ifs – 10 hours ago

Don’t get me WRONG I thank GOD everyday for where I’am and I love it, hardest working when others aint watching an imma get MY game back – 10 hours ago

@jphoyt you’re beyond terrible so what’s the difference – 7 hours ago

Its funny u fake fans an fake coaches take what I say the wrong way, I love my team an team mates we are human an hate losing point blank – 7 hours ago

This isn’t Larry Johnson territory, but to call his fans “beyond terrible” and telling them they “look like nothing”  (what does that even mean?) is a troubling sign.  CDR’s dealing with the losing streak was much talked about, but I am willing to claim that Terrence Williams has been taking the losing as hard if not harder.  Combine that with “his benching” on Sunday, and now you have Williams tweeting angrily.

I have a personally experienced this change as well.  When I interviewed just after the draft, he was very open with me and willing to talk, answering all of the questions I had asked of them (A few were about his versatility and ability to play multiple positions).  Fast forward to Nets’ practice on November 16th (the Nets were 0-10 then), there I was once again given the chance to interview him.  I was hoping to ask him some questions for the position piece I wrote on him.  When it was my turn to talk to him I asked him if he enjoyed playing multiple positions or if he would rather focus on just one.  He paused for a second, looked at me, and said “Is that a real question?”  I said yes, he gave me the one quote I used, and that was it, interview over.  I assumed it was just because he didn’t want to be bothered by a blogger (and frankly I don’t blame him – I am not telling this story because I am mad about it), but looking back on it now after the tweets, it just seems to be him not handling the losing and the negative press about him too well.  I don’t know how Terrence Williams handles himself to the beat-writers, so I can’t speak on that, but it does seem to me that he is shutting down.  Another example of Terrence shutting down is he hasn’t had a post over at his site RookieChronicles.com since after opening night.  Combine all of that with him openly talking about wanting to be on other teams, and you have yourself a potential problem.

To me being upset is understandable, I mean he has lost just about as many games in one year as he has in his entire college career.  Being upset isn’t the problem though, the problem is him openly imagining what it would be like on other teams (Gerald Henderson, the player who was selected 12th overall has only played 10.0 MPG because his coach refuses to play rookies.  I don’t think he would like it there very much either).  That really isn’t going to make Nets’ fans very happy.  You know, the ones he called “fake.”

And also, about his “benching” (I am going to keep putting it quotes right now, because one game isn’t enough to determine a benching), Kiki being the GM next year has a lot to do with the success of Terrence Williams.  Kiki is going to give Williams plenty of opportunities to succeed, because it he does in fact succeed, Kiki will look like a very smart man.  So if Terrence Williams isn’t playing, it is because of one of two reasons.  Either he is injured, or he is playing so poorly that Kiki can’t justify putting him out on the court.  The latter is true right now because Terrence Williams has very poor shot selection (73% of his shots are jump shots according to 82games.com).  Trying to justify the poor shooting earlier in the year, I said that he is taking shots because he is forced to with all the injuries.  Well, almost everyone is back and Terrence is still chucking.  It is no coincidence that Terrence only played 5 minutes against the Knicks after going 2-12 (including 7 jump shots) in the Nets win on Friday.  Terrence Williams is much more effective driving the lane than settling for jumpers (remember that drive and dunk against the Lakers?), and I think Kiki is going to keep Williams out until he shows that he is willing to drive to the basket.  Maybe only playing 5 minutes on Sunday will open his eyes up to that, and he will start attacking the basket more often.  I think that is what Kiki is trying to do here.

All of this being said, I hope Terrence Williams keeps his twitter account going.  Aside from the tweets I showed here, his tweets are funny and fun to read, and hopefully the Nets win some games so this can become a non-issue.

Kiki Vandeweghe wants Terrence Williams to take it to the basket more.

Dime is the next publication to say the Nets have a better future than the Knicks. The Orlando Sentinel also looks at the Nets’ long-term prospects.

Dime also calls Chris Douglas-Roberts the Atlantic Division’s most improved player in this young season.

AY Report with some news about a homeless shelter being forced to shut down to make room for the Nets new Brooklyn arena.

Is Devin Harris getting his groove back?

Don’t expect as many free tickets to Nets games once they move to Brooklyn.

The Bulls are not sleeping on the Nets tonight.