Nets Are Scorching

Devin Harris has proven a lot over the past two months. After an inconsistent first-half that had me questioning whether or not his breakout 2008-09 campaign was a fluke, he’s seemingly gotten the wheels back on track, averaging 20.3 points and 9.1 assists in February, and 20.9 points and 6 assists (and 45 percent shooting) in March. However, I still have major, major doubts that Devo is the kind of player this organization needs to be building around for the future. Because regardless of his talent level, he just cannot be counted on to play enough to be a building block.

I’m in no way suggesting that Harris is milking his latest injury, but there becomes a point where a player transcends bad luck with injuries and just becomes injury prone. This past week, I believe Harris passed that mark. With his team challenging the 72-73 Philadelphia 76ers for the worst record ever, Harris missed the past two games with an upper respiratory infection.  There’s no question that the Nets would have had a better chance of pulling out one of those games if Harris suited up. I think the idea that some fans were perpetuating earlier this season that the Nets are a better team without Harris should be put to rest after Tuesday and Wednesday night’s losses to the Hawks and Sixers. In those two games, the Nets looked lost on defense and listless on offense. Outside of the occasional drive from Terrence Williams, no one was attacking the basket, and the team’s outside shooters, Courtney Lee and Jarvis Hayes, looked like they were struggling because there was nobody on the court who could pull defenders into the basket area.

What is frustrating as a fan is that Wednesday’s game, especially, against the Sixers looked like a great chance to secure win number eight, and the Nets came up lame in large part because their star player missed his 18^th game of the season.  If this was an isolated incident for Harris, it would be easier to overlook, but it’s not. He missed 13 games last year, including a number of games down the stretch when the team still had an outside shot to make the playoffs, and he missed 18 games the year before when he was traded from Dallas to New Jersey.  What’s most concerning is the kinds of injuries have ranged from wrists to hamstrings to elbows to bacterial infections. If there’s a body part, inside or out, Harris will probably find a way to injure it.

Yes, there are other point guards who have a penchant for getting injured. Chris Paul has only played in 38 of his team’s games this season, and Dwyane Wade was only able to suit for about 50 games each in the 05-06 and 06-07 seasons, but both have also demonstrated some durability in recent seasons (Wade played in 79 games last season and has only missed 4 this season. Paul played in 78 and 80 games the past two seasons before this year). Also, both are such transcendent players that their respective teams are willing to wait out their injuries to build around them. Harris is still too inconsistent to earn that benefit of the doubt.

It’s worth bringing all of this up now because as the nation fixes its eyes to March Madness over the next few weeks, there are going to be more and more basketball fans who will become enthralled with University of Kentucky PG John Wall, who despite the recent surge of Evan Turner love, is the prospective no. 1 pick in the draft. And a guy who knows point guards, Magic Johnson, recently said if the Nets got the pick and took Wall, he’s the guy you hand the keys to the car to, not Devin Harris. Given the events of this past week, I’m finding it harder to argue with that logic. Harris is a talented player, and you certainly don’t want to lose him for a song – if he becomes trade bait this summer he has to bring back another building block for a move to be considered, not more expiring contracts. But Harris is also unreliable, and you cannot build around the unreliable.

For those of you that aren’t already checking ESPN’s NBA page every day (who are you? Why aren’t you checking?), I’ve made a cameo over there to discuss whether or not I think the Nets are going to reach 10 wins. After staring at the remaining schedule for about 3 hours and thinking long and hard about how Wednesday night played out in Philly, many of you are probably not going to like my answers. Still, you should check it out and yell at me over here.

With March Madness upon us, Rod Thorn is scouting prospects and remembering his draft mantra: So Thorn saw a principle he has adopted throughout his career as an NBA exec. Talent trumps need. Always take the best player available. Thorn had another reason to remember that draft. The No. 2 pick was from West Virginia, Rod Thorn.

Ken Berger at CBS Sports speculates if former YES color man and NBA point guard Mark Jackson is an option for the Nets at head coach next season.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a profile on broadcaster Jim Sparnarkel. No word yet on whether NAS’ own “Sparklespice” was asked to comment.

The Philly sportswriters continue to the pile-on as the Nets approach the 72-73 record as worst of all time.

Brook Lopez is appearing at a Pathmark in Old Bridge. It’s come to this, hasn’t it?

When the Nets traded for Kris Humphries in exchange for Eduardo Najera, I was pretty excited.  Not only were the Nets able to get rid of Najera (who looked like he was running with a torn hamstring), but they brought in a young guy who showed flashes.  Early on, it looked like the Nets got away with highway robbery as Humphries brought his defensive energy and that was a new attitude for this team.  He was also scoring, in his first 9 games as a Net, Humphries reached double-digits 4 times (including two 20 point games), and got 9 two other times.  Sure he was taking some tough jumpers, but he made them so it was ok.  He’d settle down when he wasn’t as hot (shot 45.1% in January).

I was really high on Humphries, I was starting to think that the only reason he didn’t produce in his previous spots was just because he played behind really good players (Bosh in Toronto, Boozer in Utah, and Dirk in Dallas).  However, Humphries has hit a rough patch over the past two months.  He is still bringing the defensive intensity, there is no question about that.  The offensive end has been a completely different story though.  Remember those tough shots Humphries was making early on?  Well, he’s still taking them, but not making them at the rate he was (45.1% in January – 39.4% since – keep in mind his minutes has bascially been the same during his stay here), and when he makes the catch on the high post, you can pretty much assume he is going up with it.  No matter how well defended he is.

The question Nets fans and the Nets front office has to ask now is whether or not this is the real Kris Humphries or not, or was the real Kris Humphries the one we saw in January.  Personally, I think the Humphries we have seen the past two months is the “true Kris Humphries.”  The reason is Idon’t think he can maintain the shooting percentage to be an effective scorer in this league.  He takes too many bad shots, and takes the offense out of his flow too much.  He hasn’t only done this in New Jersey, this has been his knock every stop he has been at.

That’s not saying he isn’t a serviceable player, because I think he is one, but what I am concerned about is whether there is a spot for him on this team.  Better yet, what is his role?  One of the Nets’ biggest needs is power forward.  I think Yi has proven he can’t handle the starting responsibilities, so the Nets will be bringing a starting power forward (that is pretty much assumed), but who is going to be the backup?  In my opinion, Kris Humphries is the more valuable backup if you bring in an offensive minded PF to start, but are the Nets really going to stick Yi on the bench for good (Orlando showed that having 3 PFs on your roster doesn’t work – Brandon Bass hasn’t played much all year)?  I guess what I am getting to is don’t expect to see much of Kris Humphries next year unless Yi goes down with an injury.  Now, some of you guys may have already assumed that, but I have to admit, I got a little excited seeing a guy play with that type of intensity on the defensive end and being productive on the offensive end.

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Philadunkia – Liberty Ballers

A week ago, I made a plea on this site that despite whatever their record ends up being, the Nets are in no way the worst team in NBA history. After last night’s game, I might want to rescind those comments.

So is the life of a beaten down, albeit, devoted follower on the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets. A four game west coast road trip last week where the Nets lost all of those games, but were highly competitive in every single one, provided a glimmer of hope that the 9-73 mark set by the 72-73 Sixers would be safe. I was comfortable that the Nets were going to find a way to win at least three of their last 16 games, maybe even a few more, to distance themselves from any all-time records.

Then there was Tuesday night’s game against Atlanta. Sure, it was a lackluster effort for the Nets, who can’t afford to sleepwalk against anyone, but a case could be made that the Hawks are a very good team and the Nets were without Devin Harris. I don’t necessarily agree with that case – I think the Nets should be playing every game with absolute urgency – but I was willing to look past Tuesday if the Nets took care of business against a struggling Sixers team the next night. They didn’t. They looked just as flat early-on, and even after a second-half surge that was captained by Kiki Vandeweghe’s forgotten sixth man, Chris Douglas-Roberts, the Nets were never even remotely close to overtaking a team that had lost five in a row headed into Wednesday and was missing a slew of key players themselves.

At the risk of being accused of copping out of my recapping responsibilities, I must admit it’s getting harder and harder to think of new and creative ways to break down the obvious – the Nets stink. With their game against Dallas last week being an outlier, the Nets continue to fall behind early because they don’t do simple things like get back on defense and guard the perimeter. Meanwhile, on offense, the Nets settle for way too many low percentage shots and don’t take advantage of the fact that they have one of the best post-up centers in basketball on their roster. The Sixers shot more than 66 percent in the first quarter, and went on to shoot 56 percent from the game. At one point in the second quarter, the Nets had only two fast break points while the Sixers were in double-digits. Overall, the Nets were outscored 22-10 on the fast break and 52-34 on points in the paint.

Just look at the shooting percentages of some key players to get a sense for all of the settling that’s going on. Courtney Lee, 1-8; Terrence Williams 4-16; Brook Lopez 2-9. The Nets needed big games from all three of these games, and got one from none. Major props for CDR’s 23 points on 9-15, probably his best game in more than two months, but like Josh Boone’s 13 point, 20 rebound effort from Tuesday, it was all nullified by the lack of offensive and defensive support from the rest of the roster. Lopez didn’t attempt one single FG from the blocks and took jumpers on five of them. I understand that the rigors of the long season are starting to wear on Lopez, but if he can’t be even somewhat functional when he’s on the floor, then maybe Kiki needs to rest him for a game. I would have loved to see Terrence Williams to seize his opportunity after getting the starting nod, but it felt like a TWill game from November – complete with long jumpers, sloppy passes, and missed defensive assignments. Was Williams even aware that in Andre Iguodala, he was responsible for guarding the one guy on this Philly roster that can consistently kill you? Yet AI had a phenomenal game scoring 20 points and collecting 8 assists.

Within the first two minutes of the third quarter, Josh Boone received a great pass from Keyon Dooling that left him wide alone under the basket. In typical Boone fashion, he chose to attempt to bank a layup home rather than play above the rim and dunk the ball. He missed the shot. Is there a better analogy for this game? A struggling team, right for the picking. The Nets had a wide-open dunk here and blew it. Now, I’m not so certain if they’re going to get many more opportunities.

Dave D’Alessandro gets a few minutes with Magic Johnson last night and talks John Wall among other things, but I was particularly struck by this statement by Magic regarding the Nets record: No. No. It’s not good for our league,and it’s not good for the Nets. And the worst part of it is they may not even get the first pick. So I’m hoping those lottery balls fall right for them, and they can improve their team and be a player in free agency. Because nobody wants to be on a team where people will say, ‘Hey, you won seven or eight games?’ every day. That’s not good for anyone to live with, especially all these young guys.”

Trenton Hassell, regardless of his play on the court, is the consummate professional. Here’s what he told Dave D. when asked about Terrence Williams getting the nod to start last night: “Terrence is the future, I’m not,” Hassell said before the Nets’ 108-97 loss to the Sixers at Wachovia Center. “In two years, he’s an All-Star, as long as he continues to work. Just bring the people in here to teach him the right things, and he’ll be an All-Star.”

Kiki Vandeweghe on the Nets approaching infamy: “All of us together brought ourselves here,” he said. “Everyone asks about it, especially now as it’s getting down toward the end. Nobody wants to lose any games; we’re all competitors. But what possibly can you do except play well?”

Al Iannazzone talks with current Sixers GM and former Nets GM Ed Stefanski, who’s on his own hot seat in Philly right now.

Sixers Center Samuel Dalembert on the prospects of a 9-73 team: “I couldn’t comprehend it,” he said of the Sixers’ NBA record of futility, set in 1972-73. “In an 82-game season, how can you let that happen? But when I got to the NBA, I realized it’s like a snowball. If you don’t get it together, before you know it the ball is rolling and rolling.”

Over at the 700 Level Philadelphia sports blog, a fan who witnessed the 72-73 season discusses his experience watching that team. Keep this article in mind NAS readers when we come bothering you 25-30 years from now.

In a look at former Nets, Jason Kidd discusses his work with former Nets coach Bob Thate and credits him for his vastly improved outside shooting.

Hey, remember Derrick Coleman? He filed for bankruptcy. Well whoop-de-damned doo.

Bleacher Report honors the “not-quite-legendary” players in New York sports and discusses Buck Williams.

In a battle of two of the worst teams in basketball, the Nets showed they are the biggest losers, falling to the Philadelphia Sixers on the road 108-97.

• The Sixers had lost five in a row before tonight, and had never swept a season series from the Nets. But the Nets were more than willing to make winners out of Philly, playing lackluster defense most of the game and allowing one of the worst teams in basketball to score 108 points and shoot 56 percent from the floor. Seven Philly players scored in double digits, led by Andre Iguodala, who netted 20 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds.
• Great comeback game for Chris Douglas-Roberts, who scored 23 points on 9-15 shooting.
• Terrence Williams, in a surprise start had a shaky game, scoring 13, but going 4-16 from the field.
• Brook Lopez’s tough March continued as he scored 12 points on 2-9 shooting. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and seems to be losing his temper more than usual out there.
• The Nets were shockingly accurate from the charity stripe, going 23-24 on free throws.
• The Sixers outscored the Nets 52-34 in the pain and 22-10 on the fast break.

In case you missed it, Devin Harris is expected not to play tonight, according to the beat guys.

Meanwhile, over in Twitter-land, Chris Douglas-Roberts is making a case for Terrence Williams to become a starter.