Nets Are Scorching

The Nets, who were without Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, put together their best performance of the season, netting their fourth win of the season, and first of 2010 by smacking down the Clippers 103-87 at the Izod Center tonight.

• The Nets were actually laughing at the end of the game. Not laughing out of relief like after their season’s first victory against the Bobcats in December. Laughing in a way that looked like they actually enjoyed playing basketball for the first time this season.
• Sebastian looks like a genius after his lineup post yesterday, as foul trouble for Yi Jianlian forced Kris Humphries into major action tonight who didn’t disappoint. Hump had 25 points on 10-14 shooting and 8 rebounds. Yi, who was limited to 15 minutes, finished with 6 points and 5 fouls. Your move Kiki.
• Terrence Williams showed you don’t need to score to help your team win. He had 7 points, but more importantly he had 9 rebounds and 8 assists and played a terrific defensive game.
• After a slow start shooting-wise, Keyon Dooling turned it on late with 18 points and 8 assists, including a number of big jumpers in the fourth quarter.
• Another nice game for Brook Lopez, who finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks.
• Nets held the Clippers to 42 percent shooting, and outrebounded them 42-38. The Nets also had 10 steals during an all-around solid defensive effort.

Before we get to the lineups, it was announced today that Brook Lopez was named to the Rookie/Sophmore game.  No real surprise there, but he was the only one.  Remember when we were talking about the Nets maybe having 4 guys compete in that game?

Some health stuff before we get to the lineups.  Devin is out with the wrist we all know that, but Courtney Lee is out with some wisdom tooth trouble and CDR is questionable with a stomach virus.  So the Nets are hurting again…now, onto the lineups.

Keyon Dooling vs. Baron Davis

This is another bigger guy that Keyon Dooling seems better than fit than Devin Harris to play against, just like Deron Williams on Saturday.  Deron only had 4 points and 8 assists.  I think Baron will be able to do a little bit better than that, but it is good to see our “defensive PG” starting today.

Advantage:  Baron Davis

Terrence Williams vs. Eric Gordon

Courtney Lee is out, so I expect to see Terrence Williams locking down the starting spot today (though we could see CDR at the 2 and Jarvis at the 3).  Terrence has been playing meaningful minutes as of late, and he has been taking advantage of them.  I just hope a starting spot doesn’t bring back the Terrence of old.

Advantage:  Eric Gordon

Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Rasual Butler

CDR and Rasul Butler are similar body types but not they do not have the same playing style.  Butler is a defensive stopper who is a very effective shooter from the outside.  Chris Douglas-Roberts isn’t the best defender in the world, and he doesn’t usually settle for jumpers.  He likes to attack the dribble and draw fouls.  It is going to be fun to watch these two guys go at it.

Advantage:  Push

Yi vs. Marcus Camby

Yi vs. Camby is another interesting clash of styles.  Camby is a force on the inside, while Yi likes to float around on the outside and attack the basket.  You could be seeing a lot of jumpers from Yi today because Camby probably isn’t going to follow him on the outside unless he starts hitting some jumpers.

Advantage:  Push

Brook Lopez vs. Chris Kaman

We didn’t speak about Chris Kaman before the last game because we thought he wasn’t going to play.  But Chris Kaman is really good, and he deserves to be an all-star this year.  He leads all centers in scoring and what really makes him tough is that he can pull out his defender 15-20 feet and knock down the jumper consistently.  You know how Brook hits that jumper every once in a while?  Well, when Kaman does it, he knocks it down just about every time.  Brook had a good game against the Clippers though, so this is going to be real fun to watch.

Advantage:  Push

Do you read ClipperBlog? What, because you’re not a fan of the Clippers you think you don’t need to? Wrong. How about this, every morning, after checking what new riveting content we put up on Nets Are Scorching, head over to ClipperBlog to read some great analysis/writing by Kevin Arnovitz and D.J. Foster. Today, Foster joins us for BloggersTalk, to discuss the improved LA Clippers.

NAS: After already surpassing their win-total from last season, many Clippers players quoted saying they’re setting their sights on .500 and beyond. How realistic of a goal is this? Is there a reason for Clippers fans to finally be optimistic about the direction this club is going in?

The Clippers are 9-1 when they start a lineup of Baron-Gordon-Butler-Camby-Kaman. If they can have that lineup healthy for an extended period of time, I think it’s reasonable to predict they’ll finish right around .500. Will that be good enough for the playoffs? Well, probably not. Outside of the Clippers, there are 11 other Western Conference teams who could very well finish above .500. So while playing even ball may be realistic, the playoffs really aren’t.

As for the big picture outlook, I think there’s plenty of reasons for Clippers fans to get excited about the future. Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are all 21 years old or younger. Chris Kaman is playing like a top 5 NBA center, and is just entering the prime of his career. Baron Davis is re-motivated and has proved that he at least has a few more years left in him. Their best players are all locked up, they have plenty of available cap room to add a big piece, and that future Minnesota draft pick looks tastier by the day.

An awful lot hinges on whether a marquee free agent would want to join the Clippers, but even if everyone turns down the Clippers this Summer, the situation still looks bright. Remember how the Clippers landed two of their key players in Marcus Camby and Rasual Butler? They stole them from luxury-cap weary teams by having plenty of available cap room. With the salary cap headed south, and the Clippers looking to be one of the few teams well below the luxury tax threshold, we could see a repeat situation.

Given the young talent and the positive financial situation, I’d say it’s safe to be optimistic about the Clippers future.

NAS: I’m sure you’ve talked about this to death, but for the sake of Nets fans who are crossing their fingers for the #1 draft pick this June, how disappointed are you that Blake Griffin won’t play his first NBA game until next season (knock on wood)?

It’s obviously pretty disappointing, but by no means is it the end of the world. Were the Clippers going to win a championship once Griffin returned to the floor? Of course not. So as far as this season goes, it doesn’t really hurt. All reports are that Blake will regain 100% of his strength and athleticism despite the injury, and Griffin himself has referred to the injury as “debut delaying” instead of “season ending”. The Clippers may lose a few extra games this season, and will definitely lose some ticket sales, but the future is still intact. This injury could very well end up being insubstantial in the grand scheme of things, as weird as that sounds right now.

NAS: Is Chris Kaman an all-star?

No. This may surprise some people, but I think Marc Gasol has been the better player this year. He’s been shooting 60.4% to Kaman’s 50.5% from the field, has been a slightly better rebounder and shot blocker, has a higher PER rating, EFF rating and more Win-Shares. In virtually every meaningful stat outside of PPG, Marc Gasol has Chris Kaman bested. Add in that Gasol’s Grizzlies have a better a record than the Clippers, and I have a hard time justifying Kaman getting selected over him.

There are the two “open” reserve spots that aren’t bound by position that Kaman could fill, but he’d have to make it over the likes of Deron Williams (not happening), Carlos Boozer, Monta Ellis, Tyreke Evans and Zach Randolph. Just like the rest of his team, Kaman will likely be victimized by playing in the stacked Western Conference. He surely has been playing at an All-Star level, and if he gets selected he’ll be very deserving, but I just don’t see it happening.

NAS: Just for fun here… the Clippers have long been an NBA punchline for organizational ineptitude, but the Nets have been equally laughable for most of their existence outside of a few years in the 2000s. So with the Nets well on their way to having the worst record in NBA history, and the Clippers on the upswing, which organization is more deserving of the bad wrap?

Oh, it’s the Clippers, and it’s not even close. I’ll try to avoid getting in a lengthy self-loathing pissing match, but the Clippers have had two winning seasons in twenty-six years. Think about that. Two winning seasons! Clippers fans talk about their lone playoff-series win in ’05-’06 like an old washed up small-town quarterback talks about his game winning touchdown drive: That’s our moment. That’s the best thing the Clippers have ever done in 26 years; a lone playoff series win.

The Nets had Dr. J for goodness sakes! You got to watch one of the greatest point guards of all time in Jason Kidd play in his prime! I know it’s bad right now, but come on! Am I supposed to feel bad for you Nets fans? You have a young star in Brook Lopez at a position where young stars don’t come along very often. You have cap room. You have the chance at landing John Wall. You have a billionaire owner who can’t wait to open up the checkbook. You’ll have to do a lot worse than that to take over the ineptitude crown from the Clippers. Sorry.

How much is some Hump schwag worth to you? How about $29.99 for this fabulous 2004 rare Fleer basketball card.

A lot of people are blaming Yi for CDR’s lack of production the past couple games.  The rest seem to be blaming Kiki Vandeweghe (oh excuse me, Yi-Ki.  Right?  Right???  sigh…) for his philosophy of running the offense through the big men.  Now these two factors probably have had an effect on the number of shots CDR takes, but the dip should have been a small one, not what has been happening (he hasn’t taken over 10 shot attempts since the Spurs’ game early in the month).  So what is it?  Well, what I have been seeing is a lack of aggression on CDR’s part.  The same opportunities he has had in the beginning of the year are there, but he just isn’t taking advantage of them.  What do I mean?  Well, take a look at this picture:

Read more…

Filip Bondy, of the Daily News, on the Nets and losing: Nobody but Casey Stengel ever derived much amusement from losing. So no matter how easy it is to poke fun at the Nets this season, or to remind them they are well on the way to becoming the most certifiably horrible team in NBA history, it’s tough to laugh directly into those long faces.

Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star tries to give Nets fans a boost: So, yes, the bar has been set high in this regard. Can the Nets really threaten it? Well, they lost their first 18 games – after 16 of which Lawrence Frank was gassed as coach – and set a record there. Still, it seems 7-31 the rest of the way is a long shot. Plus, record attempts usually fall apart. The 1993 Dallas Mavericks were 9-71 and threatening, but won their last two games. The 1998 Denver Nuggets also ended 11-71.

The Bright Side of the Sun blog runs through potential Amare Stoudamire to the Nets scenarios.

LeBron James has single-handedly produced more wins than the Nets (and the Timberwolves and the Pacers).

Chris Douglas-Roberts has been glued to the gym, trying to turn his fading season around: “Just the whole situation, the record, my game fell off and I just let that weigh on me in a negative way instead of doing what I usually do and turn it into a positive. So that’s the whole reason I’m getting back with Jerry and the whole reason I’m clocking in hours like I was in the summer.”

Keyon Dooling reacts to the lost weekend out west: “This was the worst road trip of my life,” the nine-year veteran said. “We got blown out every game. We weren’t competitive. We’re just not a very good team right now.”

Devin Harris is still suffering from his wrist injury and will probably not play against the Clippers tonight: “It’s on me at this point,” Harris said Tuesday  at practice about determining when he will be back. “When it’s healthy enough to play you’ll definitely see me in a game.”

Al Iannazzone thinks the Nets have some “winnable games” this week.

Kiki Vandeweghe tells the Star-Ledger that a team can still recruit free agents with a bad won-loss record:  “Having been through this before, having been down the recruiting process, having had a lot of cap space, having had a really bad rebuilding season, I was never asked once by an agent or a free agent about our record the year before,” Vandeweghe said. “You’re judged by not necessarily on your record, if you fast forward to July, you’re judged on the assets you have in place and what the free agents are going to come join. Having been through this, we had a 17-win season, we recruited all the best free agents available in that year and never asked once about the record.”