Nets Are Scorching

Alright, we are now starting the second half of the season, and hopefully the Nets will be able to outperform the first half (shouldn’t be hard, but we are talking about the Nets).  In my opinion the Warriors are like a watered down version of the Suns, they run up and down the court a lot, don’t play that much defense, and they like to shoot threes.  That’s all I really got, so onto the matchups!

Devin Harris vs. Stephen Curry

Steph Curry is doing an admirable job playing the point guard even though that isn’t his natural position.  He sets up his teammates, and if you don’t watch out, he can get to the hole on you.  You need to be careful though with Curry, because sometimes he doesn’t bring the ball up, and when that happens, it is usually a set-play to get Curry an open three.  If he does get open, he’s knocking it down, so the Nets need to watch out for that.  Despite the perceived lack of speed, he is still getting a good number of steals defensively, but I do think that Devin Harris will be able to get in the lane and hopefully be successful tonight.

Advantage:  Push

Courtney Lee vs. Monta Ellis

Monta Ellis has been putting up a lot of points, but something that really hasn’t been talked about is the number of shots he’s taken.  Over his last three games he has taken 98 shots.  That is over 30+ shots a game…you know how we talk about Yi shooting too much?  Monta shots about 10-15 more shots than Yi…that’s a lot.  Sure, he has put up 30+ each of the last three games, but 98 shots in three games…damn…

Advantage:  Monta Ellis

Chris Douglas Roberts vs. Devin George

Devin George has been forced to play because of the injuries the Warriors have suffered this year.  A lot of these guys have been logging 40+ minutes, so maybe their will be a fatigue factor?  Anyway, if CDR chooses to be aggressive, he could  have a big game.  George isn’t as quick as he was like 5 years ago, so CDR should be able to get to the basket consistently.

Advantage:  CDR

Yi vs. Corey Maggette

This is going to be a real tough match-up for Yi.  The Warriors love playing small, and Maggette at the 4 is crazy to think about, but it works.  Especially on the offensive end.  Maggette is a good enough scorer that he forces teams to go small to match-up with him.  If teams don’t Maggette can drop 30+ on you.  Expect to see some Hassell/Hayes at the 4, and don’t be surprised to see limited playing time for Humphries at the PF, this is a tough game for him in terms of match-ups.

Advantage:  Push

Brook Lopez vs. Andris Biedrins

Biedrins is a nice help defender (he gets a ton of blocks that way), but I think Brook Lopez will be able to eat him up on the post one-on-one.  On the offensive end Biendrins could give Brook some trouble with his speed, but I don’t see that effecting Brook too much.

Advantage:  Brook

In Dave D’s latest article, he briefly glosses over something that I find really interesting:

For starters, we’d consider sending Terrence Williams to Springfield for a few weeks. He’s not getting much out of being here, and everyone can see that. He doesn’t play much anymore — 8.4 mpg this month, with no discernible contribution across the board — and maybe a short vacation convinces him to start playing a team game again, which he hasn’t shown much interest in doing lately.

The D-League is there for a reason. And as long as there’s roster space for a call-up who will bust his tail for a chance to play a few weeks in the NBA, you might as well use it.

At the beginning of the year, I would have scoffed at this.  Not only because I was (still am) one of his biggest supporters, but also because I saw him playing a very big role on the team at this point in the year.  Instead Terrence Williams has logged just 78 minutes in 9 games this month.  Let’s look at the pros and cons of sending Terrence down:

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Josh Boone never had the look of a budding superstar, but there was a period where he looked like an above average big man, that could spot start when needed and be productive enough to help the Nets off the bench.

But now, Boone looks to be spending his finals days in a Nets uniform at the back of the bench. He’s been connected to trade rumors for weeks now, and has been predicted by beat writers and others in the know as “the next Net to go,” but additionally, a chronic knee injury and the arrival of Kris Humphries from Dallas has rendered Boone pretty useless.

Read more…

A fantastic and thorough look by Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm at the potential conundrum the Nets have on their hands if they trade Devin Harris, but fail to get PG prospect John Wall in the draft.

Speaking of trading Devin, Rod Thorn tries to put an end to these rumors: “It’s very, very unlikely that we’d trade Devin. I never say never, but it’s very unlikely that he’s going to be traded,” Nets president Rod Thorn said as he watched the start of practice at a health club in the city’s financial district.

Julian Garcia talks to Indianapolis native Courtney Lee about the Colts resting their starters down the stretch. I would like to add Go Jets (sorry Sebastian).

The San Francisco Chronicle profiles Brook Lopez, calling him one of the few bright spots on the Nets.

On the heels of his somewhat favorable comments about coming to the Nets this summer, the Bright Side of the Sun Phoenix Suns blog talks exclusively to Amare Stoudamire regarding his thoughts on getting trading and free agency.

Rory of Slippery When Nets fame, talks the halfway point of the season and Bon Jovi.

For those who want to keep reading up on John Wall, the Charlotte Observer looks at how the Raleigh, NC, native chose the University of Kentuckey over local powerhouse schools Duke and North Carolina.