Nets Are Scorching

Tom Barrise, who was Nets head coach for a hot minute after Lawrence Frank was fired, is now a special assistant to Rod Thorn.

Nate Robinson is lobbying for Terrence Williams to be in the dunk contest this All-Star Weekend.

The Baseline explores if teams can “reverse tank” – play veterans to try and pad win totals in order to attract free agents this summer.

The Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA, profiles the former UCLA star, and Nets coach, Kiki Vandeweghe.

You Fantasy Basketball folks out there should pay attention to Kirs Humphries.

More hearings on the Atlantic Yards Development.

Welp, the Nets continued their 0-2010 run with a 106 to 95 loss to the Clippers.  The Nets used a garbage time run to make things closer than it really was.  At one point in the third, the Nets were able to cut the lead to 7 points, but they then hit the wall they normally do, and they just stopped scoring.  Part of it was Brook had to come out of the game, but the Nets once again settled for shots.

• Yi had his first really bad game since returning from injury.  13 points on 3-13 shooting, but a lot of those points came in the fourth during garbage time.  Yi looked like the Yi of old, refusing to attack the basket and settling for jumpers.  I can’t wait to read about how Yi is struggling and he now sucks.  It is just one game people.
• Kris Humphries on the other hand had a great game.  He took a few bad shots, but other than that, he played great.  Humphries had 21 points on 9-14 shooting with 7 rebounds, and he just had an energy about his game.
• Brook Lopez had a great game in the post today.  He had his back to the basket game really clicking, and he was able to finish with a nice touch around the basket.  Brook finished with 23 points on 10-13 shooting.
• Besides that 39 point first quarter, the Nets played ok on defense, which is an upgrade from where they have been the past couple of games.  The lack of offense really hurt the Nets today.
• The Nets did something real interesting today, the put Courtney Lee on Baron Davis, sliding Devin Harris on Eric Gordon.  It worked (kind of).  Davis was held to 9 points and 9 assists.

As the month ends, the Nets have a run of pretty winnable games.  Over the next 8 games they play the Clippers twice, the Warriors, the Wizards, the Sixers, and the Pistons.  That is 6 games the Nets have a decent shot of winning going in.  However, we have seen how the Nets play when they come in thinking they have a shot (The last Bucks game comes to mind).  The Nets need to come out and play like they did against the Hornets, they need to challenge teams early, and they need to keep the score close as the games go on.  If they keep the game close into the 4th, the Nets have a chance to come away with the win (remember the Chicago game?).  Anyway, onto the lineups!

Devin Harris vs. Baron Davis

Guys like Baron Davis are the ones who give Devin Harris trouble.  He is a big guy who knows how to use his body well.  He isn’t afraid to take a defender into the post and play with his back to the basket.  He also has the quickness to stay with Devin on the defensive end.  Though Devin Harris is coming off a very good game (22 and 9), so maybe Harris will be able to keep it going.

Advantage:  Baron Davis

Courtney Lee vs. Eric Gordon

Eric Gordon is a smallish-quick guard who is a great scorer.  He has a very quick release that prevents him from getting his shot blocked.  Courtney Lee should be able to use his size to contain him.  I also think Gordon’s size will allow for Lee to have a good game offensively.  Courtney Lee should be able to get to his spot on the court and comfortably get shots off.

Advantage:  Push

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. DeAndre Jordan

Chris Kaman is questionable for today, and that is a shame, because it would have been fun to watch him and Brook Lopez go at it.  Instead Brook will probably be going up against DeAndre Jordan.  Jordan is a big kid who is pretty athletic for his size.  He is very raw though, and I think Brook Lopez should be able to take advantage on both ends.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Last week, when asked about his the recent decline of his offensive production, Chris Douglas-Roberts cryptically talked about how he was playing within “the system.” What system is CDR talking about? One theory is the “system” in question is the one designed by coach Kiki Vandeweghe that seemingly favors Yi Jianlian anchoring the offense.

This is fact. Of the six primary rotational players used by the Nets – Yi, Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, CDR and Keyon Dooling – Yi Jianlian is leading the team in field goal attempts with 14.09 per game since he returned from injury in December. So clearly, these field goal attempts are coming at the expense of somebody else’s shots. Earlier this month, we looked at Yi’s affect on Brook Lopez, but with CDR’s recent talk of the “system,” we thought it was better to look at all six players to determine who’s shot total has been hindered the most by a Yi-centric offense.

For this analysis, we’ve broken the season into two parts, from 11/21/09 to 12/19/09 – the period where Devin Harris returned after missing three weeks with a groin injury, and then 12/23/09 to present, when Yi returned from his knee injury. Looking at shot selection before 11/21 would be futile, because the Nets were so decimated by injuries, so many players who otherwise would be buried on the end of the bench were getting playing time, skewing the overall numbers.

Also consider during these periods, CDR missed a few games with assorted injuries, and Courtney Lee was buried on Lawrence Frank’s bench until he was fired and replaced with Kiki.

Here’s the tally:

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The Nets were outscored by 19 points (24-5 in total) during the final six minutes on Friday night?  Why?  Well it is because they failed to execute on both ends of the court:

Howard Beck of the New York Times compares the Nets fortunes with the 72-73 Philadelphia 76ers.

Chris Douglas-Roberts is getting a radio show.

Any trades coming this week?:  “Nobody’s safe,” Devin Harris said. “But that’s the way the business goes.”

Brian Lewis, of the NY Post, writes about Devin Harris, who’s still trying to recapture his all-star magic from a year ago: “My wrist was bothering me, my shot wasn’t going,” said Harris, whom the Nets might be willing to deal according to a recent ESPN report. “But I’m still going to attack the rim, get to the free throw line the way I did. I’m going to try and see if it works better for the team and if we play better.

Julian Garcia is the latest report to talk about the Nets and John Wall.

Al Iannazzone on the Nets: It’s all the Nets’ approach, how they compete and the point in which they start to hang their heads and feel sorry for themselves. They’re a mentally fragile team. Lately, it’s been the first half, but we’ve seen it happen in every quarter all year.

AK-47, the NBA’s only Russian player, talks more about Mikhail Prokhorov’s potential impact on Russian players.

The Boston Globe calls Chris Douglas-Roberts the Michael Jordan of NBA Tweets for his usage of the Twitter platform.

Dave D’Alessandro reports that the Nets are happy with some of the early activity of Kris Humphries: “I’ve known him since college, and I always followed him in Toronto and Utah and Dallas,” fellow Big-10’er Devin Harris said. “He’s really a great guy. And he’s going to surprise people — he’s strong, solid, and aggressive, which any team needs. You play him a lot, he gets you double-digits.”

It’s amazing how at 3-36, the Nets are still trying to determine why they can’t find any consistency: “I think we get frustrated on offense and it affects our defense sometimes,” Hassell said. “When shots aren’t falling we need to play tougher defense. We get down on ourselves offensively when they’re not falling, and then the lapse happens on defense.”

A profile of Marco Glorious, who has the unfortunate job title of being the hype man for the Nets.

More Atlantic Yards protests at Freddy’s Bar.

Does Yi Jianlian = Andreas Bargnani?

Advanced Box Score | Eight Points Nine Seconds | Indy Cornrows

During the final six minutes of the first half, the Nets were outscored 24 to 5.  That equals minus 19 for those six minutes.  For the other 42 minutes, the Nets were +3.  Six minutes is all it takes to make a close game a blowout, a game where the Nets had a chance to win to another 15+ point loss.  During this stretch, the Pacers were able to shoot 8 for 10 from the field (80%) and 6 for 7 from the line.  That is just way too easy, even for the Nets who seemingly let all of their opponents shoot over 50%.  The Nets offense as it currently stands isn’t going to outscore anyone, and there are going to be stretches (like this six minute one) where the Nets are going to just go cold and not score.  The Nets need to recognize when this is coming and dig their heels in the defensive end.  Also, the Nets need to attack the basket on the offensive end.  During this run the Nets settled for way too many jumpers and they lost the aggressiveness that kept them in the game up until that point.  The Nets got zero foul shots during that six minute stretch.  Getting to the foul line during opponent runs is so important not only because you get easy baskets with the clock stopped (the Nets are one of the better foul shooting teams in the league), but because it slows everything down as well.  When a team gets to the foul line, everything stops and the rhythm of the opponents run is broken.  Unfortunately the Nets didn’t do any of this as they went cold, they just watched as the Pacers scored 24 points in 6 minutes.

I mentioned this briefly in the quick recap, but I wanted to talk about it some more.  Despite everyone getting on Devin Harris calling him soft, injury prone, and talking about how he isn’t a leader just because he isn’t bashing him teammates to the media day-in/day-out.  Devin Harris is leading this team, and he is doing it by example.  Devin Harris estimates his health at about 80%, and he is still out there.  Why?  Well he told the media on Tuesday:

“I owe it to them [the Nets].  I mean, we have a better chance to win when I play even if it’s [the wrist] is only 80 or whatever.  We’ve been hurt all year long and this is the first opportunity that we have had everyone healthy and everybody in full uniform.”

Devin Harris goes out every game and takes a lot of hits (yesterday he had Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert wrestling on one of his legs) and he just gets up and keeps playing.  That is a great example for our young players.

Kris Humphries got 27 minutes yesterday, and he rewarded Kiki’s trust by playing very very well.  He was a threat on the offensive end when he caught it, and he was setting a lot of good picks then making himself available on the rolls.  He was 5-7 from the field (including 5-6 from the line) and he finishes with 15 points.  Humphries also played well on the defensive end, he had a big block on Roy Hibbert, and he even “pulled the chair” on him at one point in the second half.  He just looks comfortable out there, and I can see Humphries finding a home (and some playing time) in New Jersey.  Some final bullets after the jump.

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