Nets Are Scorching

Ouch. The Nets lose a heartbreaker in New Orleans tonight, 103-99.

• The Nets were actually up 99-98 with about 13 seconds left in this game, after being down 9 with less than 3 minutes to play. Courtney Lee stole an inbounds pass with 13.5 seconds left and the Nets down one, and was fouled going to the rim, sinking both FTs. Chris Paul responded with a layup and the foul, off the pick and roll to put the Hornets up 101-99. On the Nets last offensive set of the game, Yi Jianlian got called for an offensive foul when he set a moving screen.
• Lee had a fantastic game. In addition to the steal and some late FTs, he scored 28 points and collected 6 assists. He was 5-7 from three-point land
• Keyon Dooling also had a great shooting night, collecting 21 points in 23 minutes, including 4-7 from three. Overall the Nets were 9-17 from three.
• For the first time in 23 games, the Nets won the rebounding battle, 44-41.
• Chris Paul didn’t have his best night scoring-wise with 11 points, but he contributed 18 assists, and made the plays when his team needed them most. Devin Harris on the other hand was a non-factor, scoring 4 points on 2-9 shooting. Harris was actually benched with about 3 minutes left, but was reinserted when Chris Douglas-Roberts was taken out of the game with an eye injury.
• David West had a monster night with 32 points and 11 rebounds, leading all scorers.
• For those keeping count, Brook Lopez had 14 field goal attempts, and Yi had 10. Neither one had a great game, with Brook collecting 14 points and 9 rebounds, and Yi with 8 points and 10 rebounds.

In his mailbag over at the Star-Ledger web site, Dave D’Alessandro speculates that talks between the Nets and the Dallas Mavs regarding a Eduardo Najera for Kris Humphries swap are heating up and a deal is “imminent.”

There was a little confusion about this when we posted about it earlier in the week so let me source Dave D. here. He believes adding Humphries for Najera would add about $700K to the payroll, not a significant amount.

Humphries, a PF, is averaging 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in about 13 minutes of play this season.

In another nugget from the mailbag, Terrence Williams’ playing time has been reduced recently because he slept through the team’s shootaround before the Bucks game on Tuesday. Maybe if more Nets players overslept, they wouldn’t look like they were sleepwalking out there, right?

The last two games sucked.  We know that.  The game against Atlanta was especially depressing.  The Nets are going to have some bad games, they are young and there have been nights that the effort wasn’t there.  The good thing though was they always came back strong and put out a good effort, and that is why I have expected the Nets to keep Wednesday night’s game close.  It wasn’t close.

Seeing the Nets play against a real run and gun team makes me wonder about why Kiki still insists of having a run and gun team.  The Nets are good at pushing the ball when they have the advantage (when they get a turnover or have a guard/wing get the rebound and just push it up) but if they don’t have the numbers, they need to pull it out and run their half court set.  That is where Kiki loses me, he seems to encourage the Nets to run it no matter what, no matter the situation.  As I showed you the other day, the Nets’ offensive sets are pretty good, and against a team like the Hawks, they should have been slowing the ball down and running those sets, not trying to out run them…onto the matchups!

Devin Harris vs. Chris Paul

Last year, this would have been a fun matchup to watch.  This year, meh.  I have fears that Chris Paul will just run circles around Devin.  He did that last year, but Harris was able to respond.  This year, Devin Harris is struggling on both sides of the basketball.  I have been watching past Nets’ games trying to see what the problem is with his defense, and I think he uses his hands too much (there will probably be a post on this soon).  He reaches too much instead of relying on his feet and staying in front of his man.

Advantage:  Chris Paul

Courtney Lee vs. Devin Brown

You wouldn’t believe me when I told you this, but Devin Brown is actually the key to the Hornets success.  Don’t laugh, I am serious.  They are 11-1 when he scores over 11 or more points.  This makes sense when you think about it though.  You are going to get your points from Peja, Paul, and West, so if the Hornets get a 4th guy to go into double figures, it means they are flowing on offense.

Advantage:  Courtney Lee

Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Peja Stojakovic

CDR has been one of the few bright spots for the Nets.  His offense was always expected to be there, but on the defensive end, CDR has been able to hang with guys like Peja.  Peja, doesn’t have the speed to get by you and he isn’t really that good in the post, so you just gotta watch the shot, and I think CDR’s long arms will be able to effect him.

Advantage:  Push

Yi vs. David West

These are the games you worry about Yi…even “new Yi.”  West has a nice touch from the foul line extended, and he with his nice size he has a good back to the basket game.  I can’t wait to see how Yi handles West, I am looking forward to this, this can be the matchup of the night.

Advantage:  David West

Brook Lopez vs. Emeka Okafor

If you want to see how Brook will do against Emeka, just look at his performance against the man he was traded for, Tyson Chandler.  Both Emeka and Tyson are tall/athletic shot blockers.  Brook played well against Chandler because he was able to get into his body and negate his athleticism, I think he can do the same to Emeka.

Advantage:  Emeka Okafor

A year ago, a January match-up of Chris Paul and Devin Harris would have been touted as a game highlighting two of the best young point guards in the league. Unfortunately, for Harris and the Nets, tonight’s game against Paul and the Hornets no longer seems to have that feel to it.

Devo’s decline from last season has been well documented at Nets Are Scorching. But tonight’s game got me thinking about how Harris now stacks up against the rest of the league’s point guards. After having the fourth best Player Efficiency Rating (PER) among point guards last season, I think an argument can be made that the 2009-10 version of Devin Harris is not even a top 20 point guard in the league.

Trust me; this is not a statement I make lightly – especially because so much of the Nets rebuilding efforts are centered around the idea that they currently have young talent at PG and Center – two of the hardest positions to fill in the NBA.  But stats are stats – and currently, Devo’s stats are very mediocre.

Read more…

Allright, this is going to be a quick one, short and sweet.  We are going to be looking at defense exclusively here.  In each one of these games, the Nets couldn’t stop one thing.  Against the Bucks, the Nets couldn’t stop the pick and roll.  Against the Hawks, the Nets couldn’t stop the three point shot.  After the jump, we are going to look at some clips.

Read more…

Tonight matches up two coaches in Kiki Vandeweghe and New Orleans’ Jeff Bower, who were just GMs before the season began. Plus here’s a money quote from a scout, as reported by Al Iannazzone: As the Nets were blown out by 22 and 30 points in consecutive games against Milwaukee and Atlanta, the little life they showed came in the form of frustration and bad body language. One NBA scout said the Nets are “playing like 15 guys in the last year of their contracts.”

The Nets have banned gambling on the team plane which is an indicator that Gilbert Arenas’ indefinite suspension, was not only about guns.

Dave D’Alessandro talks to Rod Thorn about what might happen with the head coach position once the summer comes: “We’re still going to have a large number of young guys next year no matter what happens in free agency,” Thorn said the other day. “So undoubtedly the next coach has to be good at working with young people, because he’s going to have to bring out the best in those people. Somebody who’s a good X-and-O guy also.”

Bruce Ratner may have some legal trouble.

Apparently Fred Kerber and Terrence Williams have kissed and made-up as Kerber talks to TWill about his recent lack of playing time: “I’m learning from Trenton and KD and these guys [say], ‘Worry about what you can control. Don’t give anybody a reason to take your money or humiliate you,’ ” said Williams, the rookie selected No. 11 from Louisville.

Brook Lopez is featured in a NBA.com video about Centers: