Nets Are Scorching

Despite the Nets best efforts to give this game back to the Pistons late, the Nets came away with their 9th win of the season and their first winning streak of the entire year beating the Pistons 118 to 110.

• Brook Lopez was spectacular tonight.  Besides two mistakes in the backcourt late, he was nearly perfect going for 37 (on 14-17 shooting) points and 10 rebounds.  His 37 points is a career high.
• Not to be outdone, Yi also set a career high going for 31 points on 12-16 shooting.
• Devin Harris didn’t have the shot working, but with Lopez and Yi going off, he was more than happy to take a back-seat (only 4 shots) and dish out 12 dimes.
• Terrence Williams went for 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists.  Ho-hum, just another night for T-Will.
• The Nets shot a season high 57.1% and a large part of it was due to the assists.  The Nets assisted on 30 of their 40 made baskets, also a season high.
• Terrence Williams, Brook Lopez, and Yi combined for 81 points.  The rest of the team combined for 37 points.

The Nets are coming off of a big win against the Kings, and they look to get their first winning streak of the year going against the Pistons tonight.  This is probably the best chance that they have to get their 9th win, and if they get it I am pretty positive the Nets are going to get to 10 wins.  The Nets when faced with late game situations have played tight the whole year, but I think once they get to win #9, they will loosen up and play better.

As for tonight, Terrence Williams should be back in the lineup.  Here is what Ben Couch has to say about it (via @netsbasketball):

Officially, @therealtwill is a gametime decision. But #fortherecord he was laying in 20-pound medicine balls with the big men. #nets

So with the Nets at full strength tonight, I like their chances.  Onto the lineups (a quick one because I don’t want to jinx it).

Devin Harris vs. Will Bynum

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. Richard Hamilton

Advantage:  Push

Terrence Williams vs. Tayshaun Prince

Advantage:  Tayshaun Prince

Yi vs. Jonas Jerebko

Advantage:  Jonas Jerebko

Brook Lopez vs. Jason Maxiell

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

It’s the Pistons last visit to the Izod Center tonight and here tonight. Could it end with win #9 for the Nets? Here to tell us about the future of the Pistons is Dan Feldman, from Piston Powered.

NAS: It’s hard to be a Pistons fan these days it appears, but Detroit is coming to town to face a team that’s endured even more misery this season. As a fan, it is easier to stomach the mess that the Pistons are currently, or challenging the worst record of all time like the Nets?

No question, I’d rather win more games like the Pistons have. But the Nets’ season has probably been less dissapointing because their expectations were lower. Nobody thought they would challenge Philadelphia’s record, but I didn’t see them in the playoffs. I thought Detroit would make it.

NAS: You posted on your site that Pistons GM Joe Dumars has openly said he will use the team’s mid-level exception this summer. On first blush, is there anyone out there worth the MLE that can turn things around quickly for Detroit?

With all the Pistons’ injuries this year, I’m not convinced they’re that far from the playoffs. Their roster is too guard-heavy, so they need a big man who can defend and score inside a little bit. Someone like Drew Gooden could fit the bill. He’s obviously not a game-changer, but the Pistons might not need one (or be able to get one, for that matter).

NAS: Other than the MLE, what are the top priorities for the Pistons this summer?

The top priority has to be the draft. The Pistons will pick in the lottery for the first time since Darko and only the second time in the Joe Dumars era (he also picked Rodney White, another bust). That means the Pistons have been fortunate enough to make the playoffs most years, but it’s also pretty remarkable they had such a great run without their own lottery talent. Look around the league, and nearly every team is built around a player or players it drafted in the lottery. It’s the simplest road to success, one Detroit will try to travel down this summer.

March has been a funny month for Brook Lopez. As the Nets most consistent starter all season, and the only key player to have suited up for every game, a late-season slump had to be expected for Lopez, especially since he’s averaging nearly 7 minutes more per game this season (37.0), compared to his rookie campaign (30.5).

Fresh on the heels of what might have been his best offensive month as a pro in February, where Lopez averaged 19.8 points on nearly 59 percent shooting, Lopez had been slipping, until very recently, in March,  averaging 18 points on 46 percent shooting. He’s had some statistical aberrations, including a game against Miami on Monday where he scored 26 points, but only shockingly grabbed one rebound. He’s also had a string of rough shooting games for perhaps the first time this season from March 8-12, where he combined for 14-40 (35 percent) on the road against Memphis, Dallas and Oklahoma City. He’s been notably relying on his 15-18 foot jumper again. In what might have been his worst performance of the month, a 2-9 game on March 17 against Philadelphia on the road, Lopez only converted one shot in the paint. Even his strong overall performance in Wednesday’s win against Sacramento, he took seven of his 21 shots from the outside, a percentage that’s just way too high for a center whose bread and butter is in the post.

So what’s the problem with Brook Lopez? He’s obviously been the focal point for opposing teams to defend all season, so it goes beyond the fact that Lopez is drawing more double-teams now than ever before.  As I alluded to before, this may simply be a case of the long season finally catching up to Brook. In 71 games played this season, Lopez has already surpassed his total minutes of last season (2501) by more than 100 minutes (2626).  Before the season began, in his scouting report, John Hollinger criticized Brook’s lack of minutes last season under Lawrence Frank:

The other surprise was how easily he stayed on the floor, as his foul rate of 4.11 per 40 minutes was among the lowest at his position. Even so, he played only 30.5 minutes per game for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me. Since so many folks still worship at the altar of per-game averages, those missing minutes probably helped cost him the Rookie of the Year trophy.

But, just maybe, Lawrence Frank was on to something last season in being judicious with Brook’s minutes. If you look at other quality young centers in their sophomore years, you’ll notice that Brook’s jump in minutes this season is a bit of an abnormality. Dwight Howard increased from 32.6 to 36.8 (4.2) in his second year, Yao Ming went from 29.0 to 32.8 (3.8) and Marc Gasol, a contemporary of Brook’s, jumped from 30.7 to 35.9 (5.2). Most of Brook’s minutes are attributed to the lack of frontcourt depth on the Nets roster, and considering the team is playing to avoid having the worst record in NBA history, these minutes should be considered meaningful for Brook. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if between now and the end of the season he puts up a few more clunkers do to fatigue. Let’s just hope they don’t come during winnable games like last week’s blowout loss to the terrible Sixers.

ESPN has a video montage of Nets fans reflecting on what they’ve endured this season.

As has been the case all season, members of the 72-73 Sixers are pulling for the Nets to win 10.

Mikhail Prokhorov on 60 Minutes this Sunday: “I am real excited to take the worst team of the league and turn it to be the best,” says Prokhorov. Asked by Kroft if he really thinks he can pull it off, the 6-foot-8-inch billionaire responds, “I am confident. Do you remember in the Frank Sinatra song, ‘New York, New York?’ If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere,” he tells Kroft with a laugh.

Kiki Vandeweghe yesterday on Terrence Williams’ ankle: “It still hurts him a little bit, but hopefully he won’t be out much longer,” said coach Kiki Vandeweghe, who listed his starting 3 as a game-time decision. “He did just a little bit, but I thought Terrence looked pretty good.”

The Pistons are not sleeping on the Nets.

In a round-up of who this year’s rookie class should be emulating over at ESPN Insider, David Thorpe has an interesting morsel about Courtney Lee that I thought was worth breaking out here.

In the article, Thorpe said Terrence Williams should look to Courtney Lee as a player to model himself after, because “He started the season poorly, but has recovered to play excellent basketball, displaying great intensity on defense even after a game has been decided. And through it all, he has never said a negative word to anyone.”

As a kicker, Thorpe quotes a Nets insider as saying, “how nice it was to see a young player ooze that much class and professionalism.”

Why is this important? Well, in the constant back-and-forth among fans this season, there’s been a considerable amount of teeth gnashing regarding why Courtney Lee has been given such a long leash compared to other players on the roster – like Williams, and another player who is sometimes referred to by his three initials. And I think Thorpe and the Nets insider explain why – because through it all, Lee has maintained professionalism and intensity on the court.  Though his production has slipped a bit lately, Lee has been considerably better in the second half this season, and in my opinion, has proven that the trust was warranted. But even if his performance wasn’t improving, Lee is one of a small handful of players on the roster that hasn’t made a name for himself for all the wrong reasons off-the-court this season. I’ll be interested to see what Lee’s role on the team will be next season after the draft and free agency – he’s probably best suited for the role he played in Orlando last year. But I will never gripe about the number of chances he’s received this season, for the reasons Thorpe outlined.

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Cowbell Kingdom – Sactown Royalty – View from the Couch

In their desperate scramble to avoid the worst record of all time, the Nets finally found a team that may be in worst shape than they are.

Yes, the Sacramento Kings came into the Izod Center last night with the better record, but with rookie sensation Tyreke Evans on the shelf with a concussion and jaw injury, this was as much of a “must-win” game as it gets for the Nets. If the Nets found a way to lose against this depleted Kings lineup, I would have been able to say with near certitude that the Nets were going to go down as the W.O.A.T.

Fortunately, for the sake of those watching the Nets these days just to see if they’ll surpass 9 wins and avoid infamy, last night’s game helped provide a touch more drama for the season’s final weeks. The Nets won rather easily, 93-79, and played consistently for all four quarters, moving their win total to 8 with 11 games to go.

But this is in no way an endorsement for the way the Nets played last night. Sure, beggars can’t be choosers, and given the mounting concern I’ve had about the lack of urgency of this team, it was absolutely refreshing to see them come out and for the first time in a few weeks, actually take care of business and beat a team they were supposed to beat. But outside a few stretches in the second and third quarters, there was nothing pretty about this win.The Nets only shot 39 percent for the game, got absolutely zero production from their frontcourt (starters and reserves),  and hit a bit of a shooting slump in the fourth quarter which could have come back to haunt them if the Kings had any sort of a clue on offense last night. For stretches, the Nets looked like the second worst team on the court last night, not the better team.

They did end up doing somethings right. They grabbed 10 steals, only turned the ball over 7 times, and got strong performances from their two keystone players, Brook Lopez (26 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Devin Harris (24 points, 9 assists). That’s definitely a recipe for winning.

The Nets were also able to put some distance between themselves and the Kings in the second and third quarters with a smooth-looking transition game, that led to fast-break points in bunches. Coming into the season, we heard all about run and gun, and the Lawrence Frank’s “wildcat” wing-heavy small ball, but the plan was derailed by injuries. Then when Kiki Vandeweghe took over, it looked like the emphasis on a more fast paced game was to be renewed, but we never saw it. Instead, the Nets looked content settling into a halfcourt game – which only seems to emphasize the weakest part of the Nets game – jump shooting. After having an aberration of a game against the Knicks a few weeks ago with the three-ball, the Nets really became trey-happy. In their last 5 games, the Nets had averaged 11 three-point attempts a game, despite being among the bottom feeders in the league in outside shooting. It wasn’t until Monday night, during the Nets’ loss to Miami where assistant coach John Loyer, in place of Kiki, was imploring his troops to run. It was like a lightbulb switched on: “oh yeah, we ain’t scoring squat in the halfcourt, let’s try something else.”

So, it’s only fitting that for the game’s first 18 minutes, I was screaming at the television as the Nets heaved brick after brick while Sacramento ran a high school-caliber zone defense. Then, the running game was kicked off with an interception and dunk by Chris Douglas-Roberts at the 4:43 and the Nets went on to score 21 points in transition – not exactly ticker-tape worthy, but a vast improvement compared with the past three weeks with games. With the reputation of the franchise hanging in the balance, it’s the least I can ask for.

A few more thoughts after the jump.

• Read more…

Well, you can say one thing about Brett Yormark. He knows how to save face: The Nets had a “Bag Exchange” Wednesday night, when all fans were invited to turn in their bags for a nylon bag with the Nets logo on it, and a note from Yormark himself. The note read, “Thanks for letting us see your face, we hope we see it more often at Nets games – Regards, Brett Yormark.”

Kiki Vandeweghe thanked his mother, who passed away Wednesday, after last night’s victory, according to Al Iannazzone’s recap.

Devin Harris on Kiki and the game: “We wanted it for him.”