Nets Are Scorching

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.”

The Knicks Blog – Knickerblogger.net – Posting and Toasting – View from the Couch

I have a confession to make about last nights Nets/Knicks game. I almost didn’t stick around long enough to watch what was initially shaping up to be a major-league blowout for the Knicks, but ended up being a laugher and win No. 7 for the Nets.

Do you blame me? It’s a Saturday night match-up between two teams who are really only competing for the long-shot chance of signing a major superstar this coming summer. In the games first 6 minutes, the Nets were shooting 1-13 from the field and were down double-digits, as the Knicks were just running them off the floor, scoring 10 fast break points during that timeframe. The Nets looked inept on offense and outright lazy on defense. Seriously, how does Danilo Galinari get ahead of four Nets defenders and score on a 65-foot inbounds pass the way he did in the first quarter? So, pardon me for being tempted to shut the television off, go out for a few hours and come back in time to watch the last few minutes of what I was assuming was going to be another Nets loss so I could fudge a recap and some bitter, angry “thoughts.”

Fortunately for you, dear readers, my desire to maintain the high standards of Nets Are Scorching kept me watching long enough to see some kind of light switch on for the Nets. Similar to their game last weekend against the Boston Celtics, where the Nets fell down by 10 early, they used the long-ball to get back in and eventually distance themselves from the Knicks. And unlike the Celtics, who gave the Nets a run for their money in the fourth quarter, the Knicks looked very disinterested down the stretch, as the Nets continued to make ridiculous shots, drawing hearty boos from the MSG faithful, who act like their team is on the verge of making nefarious history, and not just in the midst of another lousy season. Then again, the Knicks did set an NBA record last night by attempting the most amount of threes (18) without a single make. So now the Knicks and the Nets both have 0-18 scarlet letters on their respective resumes.

Going back to the positive, I think the Nets are finally starting to consistently get the Courtney Lee they expected to acquire from Orlando back in June. In his return from an ankle injury, Lee picked up exactly where he left off before injuring himself in Boston last week. The long-range shooting from Lee (5-7 from three) adds an element to the Nets offense that’s otherwise missing unless Jarvis Hayes gets into a groove. But where Lee has been really impressive lately is with his mid-range pull-up jumpers. Lee finished 4-8 from the 15-18-foot range, and when he’s doing it off the dribble, it opens up so many more possibilities on offense for both he and his teammates.

It was also great to see the Devin Harris of February make his return to the ranks of the NBA last night. For three straight games, I’ve been wondering if Harris was dealing with a relapse with his wrist injury based on the vast number of misfired jumpers he was taking (most of which were coming up short off the front of the rim, sure sign of a wrist injury). Harris attacked the basket early – even scoring on a dunk at the 6:20 mark of the third quarter, something I haven’t seen Harris do for almost the entire season. He led all scorers with 31 points, including 9 in the fourth quarter, taking over the game in a way he’s only really done a handful of times this season.

I’d also be remiss in mentioning that Yi Jianlian left the game towards the end of the first quarter with an ankle injury. While, I would never wish an injury on anyone, the timing was pretty good in this case, as Yi was making a number of his trademark low IQ plays early-on which were contributing to the Knicks early onslaught, which put New York up by as many as 16. Yi was looking to have one of those games where even when he did something positive, it was tinged with something negative, like when he grabbed a loose ball at around midcourt with about 6:25 left in the first and proceeded to barrel over the Knick defender for a layup. I was shocked he wasn’t called for a charge, and even Mike Fratello was admonishing Yi for not hanging the ball over to Keyon Dooling, who was right there.

A few more thoughts after the jump:

• Read more…

Over at the 2010 MIT  Sloan Sports Conference, where I’m beginning to think I’m the only TrueHooper not in attendance (see some of Sebastian’s coverage at NBA Playbook Here), Mikhail Prokhorov was mentioned as the “next generation” of sports owner.

Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy on yesterday’s superstar, Courtney Lee, as told to Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger: “He’s a very good player,’’ Lee’s old coach with Orlando, Stan Van Gundy, said of the 6-5 second-year guard. “His rookie year, he basically took open shots, moved the ball, played very good defense, didn’t make mistakes. And I think early in the year (with the Nets, after coming to New Jersey in the Vince Carter trade), trying to get back to the way he was in college and trying to be more aggressive was a little bit more of a challenge.

In Al Iannazzone’s recap, Courtney Lee says he sees yesterday’s game as a turning point for the team: “It feels good,” said Courtney Lee, one of the Nets stars with 25 points in his first game back after missing the prior three with a sprained ankle. “We’re starting to play together. We’re starting to understand and make the right reads out there. I feel finishing the season we’ll be a pretty good team.”

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni is none too happy about last night: “It is as bad as it gets,” Mike D’Antoni said. “We just have to come back Monday and try to do better. I don’t have a lot to say; we just have to pull it together and find a little bit of a combination that works a little bit.”

Adam Jacobi at SB Nation, says last night’s game means two things:

1. The world has gone completely crazycakes
2. The Knicks are falling apart faster than 4-year-old’s alibi in the case of the missing cake frosting

Just thought I’d mention that this New York Post report refers to the Nets as “impotent.” Does this mean the players should have just been taking viagra all season?

Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer mocks Chris Douglas-Roberts for his recent cryptic comments about whether or not he would help recruit LeBron James to the Nets: That’s what the Nets get, apparently, for upsetting a player making the minimum salary who is averaging 10 points per game.

Old friend Rafer Alston, who hasn’t played any better since going to Miami, was indefinitely suspended by the team and is mulling retirement.

In an absolutely stunning reversal of fortune, the Nets withstood an early Knicks barrage trailing by as many as 16, and came back to throttle New York at the Garden, 113-93 to get their 7th win of the season.

• The Nets and Knicks were polar opposites from beyond the arc tonight, with the Nets finishing a season-best 14-24, while the Knicks missed all 18 of their long-range attempts. The Knicks set an NBA record for most three attempts without a make.
• In his return from injury, Courtney Lee was spectacular, finishing with 25 points, including 5-7 from three and 9-16 overall.
• Devin Harris led all scorers with 31 points on 13-21 shooting.
• Good all around game for Brook Lopez, who finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
• Terrence Williams proved he could be an asset without scoring, finishing with 11 rebounds, 7 assists and only 3 points.
• David Lee led the Knicks with 23 points, adding in 6 rebounds.
• The Nets actually lost Yi Jianlian to an ankle injury with about two minutes to go in the first quarter. No timetable given for his injury, but it looked like a nasty turn for Yi on the replays.

Both the Knicks and Nets are coming off of losing efforts last night. The Knicks are a much different team from the one that faced the Nets last in December (and was victim #3 for the Net at the time).  The Tracy McGrady trade gives the Knicks a new weapon on offense, in addition to a ton of cap space this summer. And we no longer have Nate Robinson around in NYC to joke around with his buddy Terrence Williams.

Devin Harris vs. Bill Walker

Walker is not an ideal point guard, but he’s been having some decent games offensively as of late, going for 21 against Cleveland and 22 against Detroit in the past week. Harris’ shooting woes continue after last night’s 7-21 against Orlando. Still, I envision Devin getting the better of Walker in this match-up.

Advantage:  Harris

Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Tracy McGrady

McGrady is desperately trying to prove his career isn’t finished but he’s been very up and down (more down) since coming to New York. If CDR looked anything like he did the first month of the season, I’d give him the edge here, but Douglas-Roberts hasn’t done much to distinguish himself since Courtney Lee went down with an ankle injury.

Advantage:  Tracy McGrady

Trenton Hassell vs. Danilo Galinari

Hassell continues to get the nod from Kiki Vandeweghe and it’s not like Jarvis Hayes is doing anything that suggests he should be the starting SF. Terrence Williams on the other hand, has been, but I suspect Hassell will be matched-up early against the sharp shooting Galinari, who’s not necessarily the greatest shooter ever as the Knicks will have you believe, but is a nice player.

Advantage:  Danilo Galinari

Yi vs. Al Harrington

Harrington has to be licking his chops with the Nets coming to town. He’s averaging 22.7 points in his three games against the Nets and I can’t see Yi having a breakout defensive performance to stop him.

Advantage:  Al Harrington

Brook Lopez vs. David Lee

Brook has put together some solid games against the Knicks this year, but David Lee is no slouch either. I think both will probably get a double-double tonight, canceling each other out.

Advantage:  Push

While the Nets never had the lead last night against the Orlando, they really shot themselves in the foot in 3rd quarter, where they couldn’t take advantage of some lackadaisical play by Orlando to get back into the game. As a result, the Nets scored 14 points in the quarter, including a 7+ minute stretch without a field goal. In typical 09-10 Nets fashion, a lot of it was their own doing.

Forcing Shots

We see this a lot from Devin Harris. In this instance, it was Chris Douglas-Roberts trying to hard to force a shot he didn’t have in the lane. CDR was clearly looking for contact on the play, as you can see from his reaction after the miss, but when you’re as bad as the Nets, you tend not to get these calls, ever.

Bad Decision Making

I always like to see the Nets try and feed Brook Lopez in the post, but Dwight Howard sealed him pretty good here, so why is Devin Harris forcing the pass anyway?

Missing Open Jumpers

I wish there was a site out there that tracked FG% based on open and covered shots, because I bet we will find the Nets miss more open jumpers than other team in this league.

Lack of Awareness

Hayes is coming off a screen here in a play designed for him to get a shot, but look at Kris Humphries down low who has Vince Carter guarding him. Jarvis elects to shoot the jumper anyway, and misses. He looked like he thought about hitting Hump for a second, but decided to stick with the original play call and shoot himself. You are allowed to call an audible in sports, last time I checked, especially when you get a mismatch in your favor.

Orlando Magic Daily – Orlando Pinstriped Post – Howard the Dunk

Coming into last night’s game against the Magic, I know I was particularly looking to see how the Brook Lopez/Dwight Howard match-up was going to shake out. Howard had out-and-out dominated Brook in the team’s previous two match-ups, despite the fact that I maintain that the two should be considered selections #1 and #2 in the conversation for best centers in the Eastern Conference. However, by the game’s end, Howard/Lopez almost seemed like an afterthought for me since neither on them had a particularly fantastic game offensively (Lopez score more points with 18, Howard (11 points) was more efficient shooting-wise and was his usual monster self on the boards (16 total).  The difference was Dwight Howard has a great supporting cast, while Lopez is truly an island to himself most games, and last night was no different.

Two things spring to mind as difference makers last night. Matt Barnes early, and the Nets offense in the third quarter. That’s not to say the Magic, who never trailed in this game, still wouldn’t have found a way to win without these factors, but it certainly looked really easy for Orlando because of them.

Similar to JJ Hickson on Wednesday night, in Barnes, the Nets let a guy who’s not typically the focal point for a team’s offense take them to the woodshed early. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the first quarter, and so many of them were transition buckets, I was, and still am, legitimately puzzled as to who was supposed to be guarding him. Here’s what I came up with: it looked like in a lot of man situations Trenton Hassell was on Rashard Lewis, which makes sense since Lewis is a threat offensively who’s big, but plays small from the outside, which is a good defensive match-up for a guy like Hassell. Lopez was on Howard in post situations, with the occasional switchover by Yi whenever there was penetration from Orlando’s backcourt. Devin and CDR had Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter respectively. So when figuring the odd man out on Barnes, we come back to Yi. It’s a logical conclusion, since it would make sense that Kiki Vangeweghe would put Yi on Barnes while Hassell was on the floor because Barnes is supposedly Orlando’s least dynamic player offensively. The only reason I can’t formally confirm Yi was the defender in question because I can’t recall ever seeing Yi actually near Barnes at any point in the first quarter. But that’s not unusual when it comes to Yi and defense.

Read more…

Colin Stephenson on last night: The Nets held Dwight Howard to 11 points and Vince Carter to 13. And still, they were never really in the game.

Julian Garcia notes that the Nets have all but ensured their worst home record in the franchise’s history: A 97-87 loss to Vince Carter and the Magic Friday night dropped the Nets’ home record to 3-28, meaning they will have to win their remaining 10 home games to avoid setting a record for fewest wins there in one season. The Nets went 13-28 at the Meadowlands in 1989-90 to set the current mark. They also still have shot at the all-time franchise record for fewest home wins at any venue – 10, set in 1976-77 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Devin Harris tells Al Iannazzone that the Nets are still trying out there: “We want to finish strong,” Devin Harris said after the Nets’ 11th consecutive home loss. “We have our minds set on trying to compete each and every game and trying to win every game. All of the other stuff is out of our control anyway so there’s no need for us to really worry about it.”

Fred Kerber uses last night’s performance to poke a hole in the Nets new ad campaign: Meanwhile, back in the present on the Meadowlands court, there was nothing new. Basically, the Nets offered, “It’s The Same Old Stuff — Losing.”

Stan Van Gundy thinks Brook Lopez is an all-star.

Mikhail Prokhorov should be approved next month, according to reports.

Specially-priced season tickets will be offered to Newark residents next season.

The Village Voice has a feature on Freddy’s Bar in Brooklyn, who are being forced to vacate as part of the Barclays Center deal.

Brett Yormark on CNBC yesterday:

Howard Beck of the New York Times on the Knicks and Nets combined futility: The question now is whether the suffering will prove worthwhile. If James lands in Midtown or Amar’e Stoudemire settles in New Jersey, all will be forgiven. Even if the superstars all decline the invitations, the Nets and Knicks will be flush with cash and flexibility to rebuild their rosters.