Nets Are Scorching

The Cavs went for the jugular early, leading by 20 after one, before cruising to a 111-92 victory at the Izod Center tonight, the Nets 10th consecutive loss at home, a franchise record.

• LeBron James was his usual awesome self, finishing with 26 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds, but it was JJ Hickson, filling in for Shaq, who helped put the Nets away early, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards.
• Brook Lopez overcame a slow start and finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, including 8 offensive boards.
• Really rough night for Devin Harris, who was 4-13 from the field to finish with 11 points and only 1 assist.
• Career night for Terrence Williams, who had 21 points 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
• Nets grabbed 16 offensive boards, but were still outrebounded for the game 46-39.

The Nets have had a couple days off (remember what happened the last time they had time off), and they return to action against LeBron James and the Cavs.  I don’t have a ton of time to talk about the Wizards game or anything before we get to the lineups, but Courtney Lee is still out with his ankle injury.  Anyone who has played basketball can tell you how much they suck, and I think the training staff will be conservative with Courtney.  I think they will hold him out of the two games this upcoming weekend, bringing him back after that.  Onto the lineups…

Devin Harris vs. Mo Williams

This is a match-up Devin Harris should be able to win.  Mo Williams is a terrific spot up shooter, but he doesn’t really attack the basket or provide anything else besides his shooting (he can do other stuff, but he doesn’t excel at it).  If Devin attacks, gets himself into the lane, and to the line he could have a big game.

Advantage:  Push

CDR vs. Anthony Parker

When looking at the boxscore from Sunday’s game (I wasn’t able to catch it live), I saw that he logged 31 minutes and smiled.  “He’s back.”  I thought to myself, because there is no way Kiki would play him that many minutes if he was playing well.  He didn’t play well though (2-7 for 4 points).  What this means is as long as Courtney Lee is out, CDR is going to get minutes and a shot to prove what he can do.  Will he be able to take advantage?

Advantage:  Anthony Parker

Trenton Hassell vs. LeBron James

A couple of weeks ago, Trenton Hassell was sitting on the bench, not really getting many minutes.  The next thing he knows, he is defending LeBron James.  Trenton one of the first guys I got to interview one-on-one, so maybe I am a little biased, but I think he is a true professional.  When he got shuffled back to the bench, you didn’t hear a word out of him.  All he does is come out and work when his name gets called.

Advantage:  LeBron James

Yi vs. Antwan Jamison

Remember when Andray Blatche lit up Yi?  Yeah, Antwan Jamison is better than Blatche, and with LeBron James drawing a ton of attention, Yi is going to be D’ing up Jamison up 1-on-1 most of the night.

Advantage:  Antwan Jamison

Brook Lopez vs. J.J. Hickson

The Nets are missing their best shooter from the outside, so you can expect (hope) that the ball will go into Brook a ton.  Also, Shaq is out, and Z is still waiting for those 30 days to expire, so Hickson is the only real center on the roster.  Brook dominated Kendrick Perkins with consistent touches, so if the Nets give Brook a lot of touches tonight, I could see him having a very big game.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Update From Mark: No Bloggers Talk today everyone. Should hopefully resume Friday.

Brook Lopez’s offensive tendencies have been frequently dissected  on this site and for good reason. He’s by far the most dynamic offensive talent on this roster, and may be one of the best offensive centers in the league. Lopez has been praised around the league for having the ability to keep defenders honest by occasionally journeying out of the post to hit a 16-20 foot jumper. But when looking closer at Lopez’s statistics, especially when compared to other centers around the league, there is good reason to question whether the long two is really a praiseworthy component of Brook’s offensive game.

Thanks to the always spectacular Hoopdata.com, I took at look at how Lopez’s shooting percentage from 16-23 feet compares with other centers who shoot from that spot on the floor with similar frequency. So for the sake of analysis, I’m comparing Lopez to all centers who have played 30 or more games and are averaging at least one 16-23 foot attempt per game.

Lopez currently attempts 2.7 16-23 footers per game, good for 9th out of the 25 qualifying centers. Lopez sinks about .9 of these shots per game, good for 33 percent. According to Hoopdata, only one other Center, Josh Powell on the Lakers, has a lower percentage on long twos than Lopez. Al Jefferson and Roy Hibbert are tied with Lopez at 33 percent.

Of the 25 players charted, the average shooting percentage on long twos was 41 percent. Additionally, of the eight centers ranked ahead of Lopez in terms of attempts per game, only Zydrunas Ilgauskas (35 percent) and Jason Thompson (37 percent) have shooting percentage of under 40 percent from that distance. The center attempting the most shots from 16-23 feet, David Lee (4.9 attempts), is averaging 45 percent from that distance – something the Nets should keep in the back of their minds when Lee hits the open market this summer.

So while Brook likes to shoot long twos frequently, these number suggest that the 16-23 footer really isn’t an effective part of Lopez’s offense. When you look at Lopez’s percentages at the rim (64 percent) and within 10-feet (49 percent), he’s just so more efficient in and around the post, it’s easy to question why he journeys out from that distance in the first place.

This has become a bit of a national story – and for obvious reasons, because it’s absurd – so I thought I’d break it out of the daily link dump for you folks out there to read and comment about.

The latest move in the Nets never-ending marketing ploys to get somebody, anybody, to show up at the Izod Center (per the New York Times):

Their latest promotion will be unveiled Friday, when the Nets play the Orlando Magic. New Jersey residents 18 or older who attend the game will get a coupon that they can redeem at a Roni Deutch Tax Center to get their state income tax done free.

So unlike reversible jerseys with other players names on them, or promising a player’s services for an hour, or $10 tickets during a 10-game losing streak, this promotion has absolutely nothing to do with the Nets, or basketball for that matter, which makes it even more ridiculous. But still, Brett Yormark and company have to be pleased with the results, since just about every media outlet in the country is picking up and running with this story because it’s the kind of cute and quirky thing news outlets die for.

Just to prove that she’s perfectly serious, Roni Deutch gives the Times her rationale for the promotion:

“It’s easy to jump on the Lakers’ bandwagon,” said Deutch, who claims to have been the first girl to play Little League baseball on an all-boys team in her home state, California. “The hallmark of a strong company is one that aligns with young companies. I’m a betting woman, and I think the Nets are going to win a championship this decade.”

Yeah, sorry Nets, I’m still going to keep my March 27 appointment with my accountant.

Oh, Chris Douglas-Roberts, you can never just not be cryptic when a reporter asks you a question can you? Al Iannazzone asks CDR whether he would “recruit” LeBron James, apparently a friend Douglas-Roberts has given “advice” to (tiger raising tips?). Here’s CDR’s response to Al: “Leon, LeBron, everybody’s together. Every relationship we have, that’s what it is. For example if they’re not happy somewhere or they’re not happy with something it’s all in the family, no one’s happy.”

Speaking of LeBron, as expected, the storyline from some beat writers is how this is the Nets last chance to “impress” James this season when he visits the Izod Center tonight. Julian Garcia of the Daily News brings up one advantage the Nets have over the Knicks: If putting up a fight is appealing to James, then the Nets have done a better job than the Knicks. The Nets’ worst loss to the Cavaliers this season was by 10 points, while the Knicks took a 31-point beating in Cleveland Monday night.

With Shaq out of the lineup tonight, Brook Lopez begins his preparation for what the Cavs are likely going to throw at him: “I look at it as a challenge, how it’s going to affect me defensively,” Lopez said. “Guys like Varejao and Hickson in, who are a lot more mobile – I think we can help a little bit more (on LeBron James and others), but at the same time, they’re going to be cutting a lot, they’re all great cutters; they play off the ball really well. So while we can help, we’ve sort of got to keep an eye on them.”

Al Harrington of the Knicks tells the New York Post that LeBron’s loyalty to Ohio may trump all this summer: “But if he’s as loyal as he says, I would think it’s very hard for him to leave, especially because he’s home.

Mikhail Prokhorov, prospective Nets owner, reportedly lost a $53 million deposit for a home he was looking to buy on the French Riviera.

Tom Ziller at NBA Fanhouse looks at the ping pong ball “derby” for this summer’s NBA draft.