Nets Are Scorching

In a game that ended horribly, the Nets lost 99 to 92.  The Pistons went crazy from three, but even with that, the Nets were able to take a lead late.  The shot selection got poor again though, and the Nets were unable to stay with the Pistons.

• The Nets actually got the ball on the play where the Devin and Jarvis ran into each other.  Kris Humphries got caught in the air and tried to pass it to one of the fallen Net.  Both guys were on the floor, and it turned into a 3 on 1 break.
• Until the injuries, Kiki sat out Yi (who was struggling) the entire third quarter.  Good to see he was coaching to win.
• After tying the game, the Nets had 2 well drawn up sets going.  But a bad pass and a dropped ball lead to turnovers.
• The best shot the Nets got in the final few minutes was a Courtney Lee 3.  There was a Brook 22 footer and a Humphries 18 footer when the Nets were down 2.
• Jonas Jerebko really made me look stupid for my pregame comments.  20 points while not missing a shot.
• Last night, we saw a player get hot late.  Tonight, Charlie Villanueva got hot early.  He hit 1 three, and then couldn’t miss.  I don’t think he was looking one time.
• The Pistons are the worst 3 point shooting team in the NBA (shooting under 30%).  Tonight they shot 67%.

Last week’s game against the Pistons was very similar to last night’s game against Boston.  Three very good quarters and a sub-par one.  The key for tonight is staying aggressive.  For some reason, in the fourth quarter when teams make runs on them, the Nets get away from what works.  They need to attack the basket for a full 48 minutes.  If they do this, they have a very good chance to get a win.  Onto the lineups…

Devin Harris vs. Rodney Stuckey

Devin Harris had a great 47 minutes when the Nets played the Pistons earlier in the week.  Unfortunately, that last minute was pretty bad.  The Pistons don’t have anyone that can keep up with Harris’ speed, so if he stays in attack mode, he can get himself into the paint, and he can be effective.

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. Richard Hamilton

With the new Pistons’ staff, Hamilton hasn’t been playing as well as he has in the past.  Part of it is the new offense, back in their glory years, the Pistons would just run Hamilton off all of these screens, and he would get himself open for the shot.  They just don’t do that anymore, and it makes Rip an easier cover.

Advantage:  Push

Jarvis Hayes vs. Tayshaun Prince

It’s a shame that CDR’s move didn’t happen one game later.  It would have been fun to see Tayshaun go up against Chris.  That is a whole lot of lankiness and awkward moves attacking the basket.  But that isn’t happening, and Jarvis will be going against Prince.  Now if Jarvis struggles tonight, we shouldn’t look too much into it because Prince has the length to bother Hayes’ shots.

Advantage:  Push

Yi vs. Jonas Jerebko

It is funny, I gave Yi the advantage before the last game because I didn’t really know Jonas or his game.  After watching the Pistons game, I still don’t really know his game.

Advantage:  Yi

Brook Lopez vs. Ben Wallace

Brook actually had a real solid game the last time these two teams met.  What the Nets seem to be doing now is getting him in the post and sending cutters off of him.  What the sending of cutters does, is it prevents double teams from coming.  So at best, the cutter gets and open lay-up and at worst, Brook gets to go at his defender one-on-one.  I like that the Nets are using this.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

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For three quarters, the Nets looked like a real NBA team.  In fact, they looked like a good NBA team.  They were clicking on the offensive end (they were getting it to Brook and cutting off of him so well) and they were playing very good defense.  In the fourth quarter though, the Nets were outscored 24-14.  In my opinion the defense held up (24 points for the Celtics isn’t a lot), it was the offense that let the Nets down.

So why do the Nets struggle so much in the fourth quarter?  Well, what I have noticed the last three games is that the Nets completely go away from what works in the first three quarters.  Last night, for the first three quarters the Nets were running the pick and roll very well, getting into the lane, and getting easy baskets.  In the fourth, I don’t think they even ran a pick and roll once.  Lets look at the shot charts by quarter for this game, I think it is pretty telling:

1st Quarter:

2nd Quarter:

3rd Quarter:

4th Quarter:

The Nets went from taking a bulk of their shots in the paint in the first three quarters, to only taking three shots in the paint.  It seems when teams turn up the pressure late (as teams turn up the defense in the 4th), they get away from what works.  Another effect of the Nets not getting to the lane?  They don’t get to the foul line.  The Nets shot 25 foul shots in the first three quarters.  That is phenomenal.  They only shot 2 in the fourth to finish with a FTR of 39.7.  That is still a very good FTR, but it is interesting that in a quarter where they only took 2 foul shots they only score 14 points.  Some more thoughts after the jump:

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