Nets Are Scorching

The Nets used a strong second half to help change this game from a Memphis laugher into a close game, but the Grizzlies ultimately pulled away in the fourth quarter, topping New Jersey 107-101.

• Courtney Lee had another off-the-charts game for the Nets, scoring 30 points on 13-20 shooting. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and 2 steals. The way he’s played lately, the hype surrounding this kid entering the season is finally starting to make sense.
• Devin Harris was right behind Lee, finishing with 28 points, 5 assists and a blocked shot.
• Tough night for Brook Lopez, who was out of sync early and never got it going, scoring 10 points on 3-10 shooting, though he did add 7 rebounds and surprisingly 6 assists, including a behind the back pass to Harris in the first that led to a three-pointer.
• Little bit of everything tonight for Terrence Williams, finishing with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
• Nice effort for emergency starter Josh Boone tonight, finishing with 6 points and 9 rebounds.
• The Memphis offense was led by Mike Conley, who was unconciously hot in the first half, and finished with 21 points on 9-18 shooting. Rudy Gay also scored 21 points, and grabbed 10 rebounds.
• Memphis scored 67 points in the first half, but only shot 29 percent in the third quarter which allowed the Nets to pull back into the game where they were down double-digits for a majority of the first half.
• Kris Humphries was brutal on offense, finishing 1-7 and 2 points, but he made a number of great defensive plays in the second half, and collected 3 blocks.

Tonight the Nets are looking to get their first win streak of the season, but the Nets technically do have a win streak.  The Nets have won 3 straight games on the road as they start a 4 game road trip.  If the Nets are going to want to continue this streak, they are going to have to go down to Memphis and beat the Grizzlies.

The last time these two teams played, the Nets were able to jump out to a big time early lead only to fall apart in the second half.  I think the Nets have gotten better/smarter when it comes to playing a full 48 minutes, so that means we should be getting a very interesting game.

Devin Harris vs. Mike Conley

Devin is coming off of another great game, and that is starting to happen more often than not, which is comforting to see.  Meanwhile on the other end, Mike Conley is considered by a good amount of people as one of the worst starting PGs in the league.  Here is what 3 Shades Of Blue has to say of him:

Mike Conley has picked up his game since the All-Star break and is starting to look more and more comfortable running the point but Memphis fans have seen similar stretches from Conley before only to watch him revert to the tentative PG who panicked at open shots.

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. O.J. Mayo

When Lee went down with the ankle injury a few games ago, I was really worried because it looked like his shot was finally coming around and to see him go down with an ankle (an injury that really hurts jump shooters), all his work to get back could have gone down the drain.  However, Lee came back Saturday night like nothing ever happened.  He was sticking his shots all night.

Advantage:  Push

Trenton Hassell vs. Rudy Gay

Yes, Trenton Hassell is still starting.  This could be 1 of 2 reasons.  The first is that Hayes is still being bothered by injury a bit.  The second is that the Nets’ coaching staff believes Hayes is more of an effective shooter when he comes off the bench.  Either way, Hassell has been doing a decent enough job, but the fact that he is starting really tells you about the lack of depth the Nets have.

Advantage:  Rudy Gay

Kris Humphries vs. Zach Randolph

Humphries came to New Jersey like a bat out of hell.  He came in and was hitting shots, grabbing rebounds, and doing just about everything you could ask of him (he even set his career high in points twice).  He fell off, and you can blame Yi and Kiki from taking minutes away from him, but when it comes down to it, he hasn’t been hitting his shots.  With all that being said, Humphries is the perfect match-up for a guy like Randolph. He isn’t going to let Zach Randolph push him around on the block or on the offensive board.

Advantage:  Zach Randolph

Brook Lopez vs. Marc Gasol

Brook Lopez had his way with Marc Gasol the last time these two played, scoring 22 points in the first half of the ball game.  However, he was held to only 4 in the second half because the Grizzlies decided to double on him.  It is going to be interesting to see how the Grizzlies defend Brook.  I think they will come out and double him from the start, and if this happens, hopefully the good shooting can carry over from last game.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

In Saturday night’s win against the Knicks, the Nets were able to go 14-24 from the three point line, obviously the team’s best performance from deep.  So how does a team who is 29th in the NBA in terms of 3 point shooting percentage (30.2%) shoot 58.3% against the Knicks?  They attacked the basket.

Now, you all know how important I think attacking the basket is.  When the Nets’ do so and are aggressive, they either get themselves to the free throw line or get good looks in close at the basket.  What doesn’t get talked about though is how attacking the basket opens up things on the outside.  The Nets are poor shooters from deep, we know that.  However, when they attack the basket, the Nets give their outside shooters better looks that are easier to make.  Let’s look at a few plays from Saturday night:

This first play is a transition possession.  We have seen Terrence Williams attack the basket the past few games, and the Knicks know that.  As Terrence Williams crosses the three point line, Devin Harris’ man drops down to the lane to meet him.  Williams uses his vision to spot the wide open Devin Harris who knocks down a big three pointer.

On this one, Keyon Dooling attacks the baseline.  Instead of giving up his dribble and trying to force up a  lay-up, he keeps his head up looking for a teammate.  To me, under the basket is the under-belly of the defense.  If you can get there, it forces defenders to focus on the ball rather than their man.  Look at the above clip.  All 5 Knicks’ defenders have their eyes on Dooling, who has his pick on who to get it to on the outside.  Dooling chooses Courtney Lee, who knocks down a three, extending the lead to 16.

Now this might all have happened against a terrible Knicks defense, but the theme is the same.  When you force the defense to make decisions or rotate, there is a better chance that they make mistakes.  And when they make mistakes, the Nets are going to be able to take advantage.

The Nets haven’t had a legitimate “Big Three” since the days of Kidd-Carter-Jefferson, and even then, I don’t know how “big” those three players ever were since they never took the Nets any further than the second round of the playoffs.

Coming into this season, while no one ever proclaimd Devin Harris, Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee as the new “Big Three,” they were, arguably, the team’s three best options on the offensive end. Unfortunately, Lee struggled mightily shooting-wise and Harris had been erratic. It’s not until recently that the three have started to produce actual results together offensively, and it’s no surprise that the Nets are playing better as a team as a result.

In their last seven games together (starting 2/16 and excluding the last three games before Saturday when Lee was out with an injured ankled), Lee-Harris-Lopez combined to average 61.2 points per game, which, for you math majors out there, breaks down to about 20 points per player – not too shabby for the worst offensive team in basketball. Meanwhile, the Nets as a team have put together a 3-4 record in that stretch, which includes a win on the road against a tough defensive team in Charlotte, a stunning upset of the Celtics in Boston, and a great come-from-behind victory against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. You could accuse me of cherry-picking these seven games, but considering the Nets are still on pace to have the worst record in NBA history, any stretch where the team is winning 43 percent of their games, is something to take note of.

It makes sense that the Nets are most successful offensively with those three players clicking, because each one brings a unique ability to the team. Lopez is clearly the post presence, Harris is best when he’s breaking down defenders and driving to the hoop, and Lee excels as a three-point shooter, or a mid-range jump shooter in transition. When Lopez and Harris are excelling at their games, it opens up more opportunities for Lee and vice versa. It just makes sense that these three should work so well together. And unlike the period earlier this season where Yi Jianlian was scoring in bunches in what some thought was at the expense of other players, Lee, Lopez and Harris are all getting their opportunities as of late, with each player carrying the offense during certain stretches.

In a report by Al Iannazzone, John Calipari, who coached Chris Douglas-Roberts at Memphis, still believes in the former All-American: “At the end of the day,” Calipari said, “I think he’s going to be a guy in the league that plays significant minutes, is a significant player, is a starter on a team that’s doing well. I truly believe that.”

Yi Jianlian will not travel with this team on their four game road trip because of his ankle injury.

Terrence Williams and Josh Boone talk with Fred Kerber about their Big East Championship memories.

NetsDaily begins their series on Mikhail Prokhorov, dubbed “the most interesting man in the world.”