Nets Are Scorching

First off, Happy Easter everyone!  Today’s game isn’t going to be televised, which sucks, but it also makes you realize how lucky you are as a Nets fan that we have a station dedicated to playing Nets games.  There are teams (good ones), who have a large chunk of go untelevised.

Anyway, onto the preview.  Coming off their best performance of the year, the Nets now have another winnable game against the Washington Wizards.  The Wizards have been struggling as of late (they just snapped a 16 game losing streak), and they might have provided the Nets with some poster-board material:

The above video is from the great Washington Wizards blog (and TrueHoop Network member) TruthAboutIt, and in it, Nick Young says “We ain’t trying to be like a New Jersey Net” (right around the 30 second mark).  The Wizards have eked out a few wins against the Nets, but with the Nets playing some of their best basketball (and the Wizards playing some of their worst), I think the Nets can come away with this one.  Onto the lineups…

Devin Harris vs. Shaun Livingston

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. Nick Young

Advantage:  Courtney Lee

Jarvis Hayes vs. Mike Miller

Advantage:  Mike Miller

Yi vs. Andray Blatche

Advantage:  Andray Blatche

Brook Lopez vs. Fabricio Oberto

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Hornets 24/7 | At The Hive

In most instances I don’t like to use +/- for a one game sample size, but Terrence Williams +/- of +26 during yesterday’s  win against the New Orleans Hornets is a very telling stat.  T-Will was the one player on the Nets who made things go.  Sure he only had 14 points (7-13 shooting), but his shot selection was real impressive.  I think my favorite play was on a fast break in the first half where Williams pushed the ball all the way into the lane where he hit an eight foot jumper.  Earlier in the year, the 8-footer would have been a three pointer (as noted by Marv Albert and Jim Spanarkel), and that really shows the growth Terrence Williams had made throughout the year.  Where Williams really shined last night though was when he was passing the ball.  T-Will racked up 14 assists to go along with his 14 points, with a lot of them coming off the dribble.  The pass off the dribble might be the hardest one for NBA players to make, and Williams makes it look easy.  The ability to pass it off the dribble instead of gathering oneself and then making the pass allows for the pass to get their quicker, giving the player who makes the catch more time to get the shot up.

As Williams told Ben Couch, he wasn’t the only one who played well:

“It wasn’t only me,” Williams said. “I did some things, but you’ve got to credit my teammates – they hit the shots. I would say that I had a little energy tonight, but that’s my job. When you come off the bench and you’re the energy guy, you’ve got to come in with energy.”

The Nets’ depth has been their biggest problem this year, but for one night, it was really sparked the team.  All 11 players who got in the game for the Nets (Trenton Hassell was the only active player who didn’t play) scored, with 8 of them getting into double figures.  The second unit played very well against the Hornets, especially in the third quarter.  The Nets were in one of their patented 3rd quarter funks, but then the bench came in and closed the third with a little 6-0 run that expanded the Nets lead from 7 to 13, effectively putting the game away.

Some more thoughts after the jump:

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In what was easily the best game of the year, the Nets win this one 115 to 87.  As expected, the Hornets were sluggish right from the start, as the Nets jumped to a 12 point lead at the break.  The Nets had a pretty rough 3rd quarter, as the Hornets cut the lead to 7, however a quick 6-0 extended the Nets lead to 13 and effectively broke the Hornets back.

• Like I was hoping they would, the Nets ran the ball tonight, getting 40 points in transition compared to the Hornets 11.
• Terrence Williams was obviously the player of the game tonight with 14 points and 14 assists in 30 minutes.
• Depth has been an issue for the Nets all year, but tonight all 11 of the Nets on the active roster got in the scoring column.  8 got into double figures with CDR leading the way with 17 points.
• After setting their season high in assists against the Spurs, the Nets broke it again, dishing out 34 assists on 46 baskets.
• With the Hornets making a run in the third quarter, Devin Harris had a huge chasedown block, swinging the momentum back in their favor.
• The Nets as a team had 10 blocks, with Kris Humphries getting 5 of those.

After beating the Spurs and playing the Suns real tough for most of the game (except, surprise, the third quarter), the Nets are up against the Hornets who have Chris Paul back.  However, the Hornets could be a little fatigued tonight.  This is their second game in a row, and third in 4 days.  We saw the effect of playing two games in a row (remember that game against Chicago?).  I would like to see the Nets try and push the tempo today, especially since the Nets haven’t played since Wednesday (the Nets are pretty good with some days off).  Onto the lineups…

Devin Harris vs. Chris Paul

Advantage:  Chris Paul

Courtney Lee vs. Marcus Thornton

Advantage:  Push

Terrence Williams vs. Morris Peterson

Advantage:  Push

Yi vs. David West

Advantage:  David West

Brook Lopez vs. Emeka Okafor

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Nets fans may have gone through agony this season, but so have a few other fanbases around the league. Take the New Orleans Hornets for example, a perpetual playoff team in the Chris Paul era that will not be playing in the postseason this year. Here to talk about the disappointment of the fanbase, and where the organization goes from here, is Ryan Schwan, from the New Orleans Hornets TrueHoop site, Hornets247.

NAS: The Hornets are headed to the lottery for the first time in a few seasons. What’s the overall sense from fans about the direction of the franchise? Does the organization have the resources in place to get back into the playoffs next season?

The sense from fans is general disappointment.  The team was supposed to recover this year – and for a variety of reasons – did not.  In general, most of the woes have been attributed to the front office – but even that isn’t clear cut, as the remarkable play of Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton somewhat mitigates earlier personnel mistakes.

As for the resources to get the team back into the playoffs – they are available.  The Team has more than $30 million worth of expiring contracts next year.  The only problem, of course, is those contracts reach their highest value halfway through next season, so it may be difficult to turn them into assets that get the team into the playoffs for next season.

NAS:  With Chris Paul missing nearly half the season this year for the first time in his career, are their concerns going forward about his durability and how much he can be relied on to carry the team?

Paul had knee surgery, and that is never good. However, I’m not a doctor, and the surgery Paul went through has so many degrees of severity it’s really impossible to tell what impact it will have.  Amare Stoudemire had the same surgery(twice) – and his athleticism has been barely impacted at all.  Penny Hardaway also had the surgery (twice) and it essentially ended his career.  It’s impossible to tell.

What I do know is that since Paul has returned, he has shown every one of the skills he displayed before the injury.  The only thing that has been missing since his return is the full over-the-top aggression he’s known for.  Of course, the team is out of playoff contention and for the first time in his pro career he’s figuring out how to play next to two backcourt players capable of scoring.  That’s got to be a big adjustment.

The storyline emanating from the beat writers is the future prospects, or lackthereof of GM/head coach Kiki Vandeweghe. With incoming owner Mikhail Prokhorov more or less confirming that Rod Thorn and Brett Yormark are going to stick around as President and CEO, and rumors circulating that Andrei Vatuin, who worked with Prokhorov with CSKA Moscow, may be joining the Nets’ front office, the status of Kiki has been ominously quiet.

“I was brought in initially to help rebuild the team,” Vandeweghe told Fred Kerber in the Post. “We had some success doing that in Denver and Dallas. I’m proud of the things we’ve got going.

The fact that the Nets are finally starting to play better basketball in the season’s last 6 weeks makes Kiki look like less of a pollyanna for saying this. However, for the most part, his tenure as both GM and coach he been a disaster filled with drama and underachieving. But is it Kiki’s fault? Dave D’Alessandro plays devil’s advocate:

There are no good ways to play this for a guy who never considered himself anything but a team-builder, one who was resistant to taking over as head coach for the first time in his career back on Dec. 2.

But Vandeweghe can’t say he didn’t sign up for this. He can’t say that the franchise was too cheap to go out and find an experienced guy, which everyone knows was the case. He can’t even say that he hated what he has endured these last four months, because the opposite is true — he got a kick out of coaching.

From my own perspective, I always found it odd that if Prokhorov is judging strictly on performance here, that Kiki is a goner while Thorn stays. Thorn is as much responsible for this mess as Kiki is. While I do have a soft spot for Thorn primarily for what he did with the organization in the early 2000s, and I think some of his draft picks (Marcus Williams, Antoine Wright) are unfairly assailed due to 20-20 hindsight, perhaps if Thorn did a better job building the depth of this team below Kidd, Jefferson and Carter, this team wouldn’t have been challenging for the worst of all time for a majority of this season.

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Statistics can be a funny thing sometimes. Just when you expect them to say one thing, they paint a completely different picture and ruin everything.

I was all about doing a post today looking at the Nets pace factor and offensive efficiency since John Loyer interim coached against the Philadelphia 76ers a few weeks back, because I was convinced that the recent turnaround by the Nets was connected to them picking up the pace with Loyer’s influence. I found it interesting that Loyer was (unsuccessfully) imploring his team to run against the Sixers that night. With so many poor/underachieving shooters on the roster, a run and gun style was the only way to hide the offensive flaws of this team – or so I thought.

In reality, in the past seven games, where the Nets have gone 3-4, and played relatively well in every contest except their blowout loss to Chicago last weekend, the team has an offensive efficiency of 106.6; well above their season average of 97.6 (last in the league), and a mark that would actually rank the team 11^th in the entire NBA in the category if they maintained that mark for an entire season.  Seven games isn’t a huge sample size, but the differentiation is so significant, I can’t ignore it.

But here’s where things get a little crazy for me. While I was suspecting to see that the team’s pace had increased, it’s actually decreased in the past seven games. The Nets are averaging 89.4 possessions during that time period, down from their season average of 93.6. So if the Nets are becoming more offensively efficient with a slower pace, it must mean their halfcourt game is improving, right? Well, no. Not at all. For the season, the Nets are shooting 42.6 percent from the field, last in the NBA. In the past seven games, they are shooting 41 percent.

So what gives? Here’s where the stats start telling a story. In the past seven games, the Nets have done a phenomenal job protecting the ball and distributing it. During that stretch, they are averaging 22.4 assists per game, which would rank 5^th in the league based on current season totals, and they are averaging 10.1 turnovers, which would be the best mark in the league.

And that explains a lot for me. The Nets are becoming a more efficient team offensively because they’re turning the ball over less and making more passes that lead to baskets.  As I mentioned in my “Thoughts on the Game” yesterday, a lot of that has to do with the huge improvement of Terrence Williams, who may be better at distributing the ball than Devin Harris. With Williams running the point forward effectively, it takes the pressure off Devo as a ball handler and opens up the offense more.

So despite the fact that my original thesis was completely debunked, these are very positive developments for this organization as it heads into the final two weeks. It’s hard for me to say if the better play is reflective of an organizational shift in philosophy from Kiki or Loyer, or rather just an embodiment of some individual performances having a huge impact on the entire team. Either way, it bodes well for next season when the Nets are certain to have more talent on their roster that their current crop of “keepers” are learning how to play efficiently on the offensive end.

Tim Legler on the Nets and Brooklyn: Here’s the thing, though: Very grudgingly, Brooklyn is starting to peek at what Brook Lopez is doing and to wonder whether John Wall can become the Nets’ Patrick Ewing. The team’s new owner, Mikhail Prokhorov — maybe he’ll turn out to be the one clean Russian oligarch! (Ha.) Yes, the politics and finances of the stadium remain an outrageous scam, but if the turmoil is now inevitable, Brooklyn didn’t want the pain compounded by watching the Nets compile the NBA’s all-time-worst record. The mythology surrounding the “lovable loser” Brooklyn Dodgers was probably always just that, a myth — finishing 42 games out of first place was surely no fun to sit through.

Meanwhile, the new arena is slated to have a “meditation room.” I’m assuming it’s for the players, but what about for the fans after this season?

Dave D. treats us all with another mailbag, loaded with goodies about Prokhorov, free agents, coaching and more.

Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News is reporting something we’ve sorta, kindof known for some time: Brett Yormark and Rod Thorn will be back next season under Prokhorov.

Lawrence talks to Steve Nash about the Nets’ future: “They should be excited about the new owner,” said Phoenix’s Steve Nash, after the Suns’ win in the Meadowlands on Wednesday night. “He’s got incredibly deep pockets, and, in many ways, a positive attitude as far as spending. I think he will build a winner. If you have money and you’re a good businessman and you’re willing to spend, you can be successful. It seems that teams will struggle when they’re not willing to spend.”

Fred Kerber, who earlier this season had “words” with Terrence Williams, only has flattery for TWill now: And that is just part of Williams’ game that is blossoming, causing many to take notice. He is more than just a bundle of athleticism. He’ll jump through the rafters for a rebound, outrace the pack for a scintillating dunk on the break. But he’ll also put the ball right where it’s supposed to be.

Rick Bozich of the Lousville Courier-Journal opines that coach Rick Pitino will pass on coming to the Nets and stay in Lousiville.

The Charleston Post-Courier calls the Nets “winners” in an editorial: Winners never quit, and quitters never win. That’s one of the many worthy maxims from the sports realm. And the New Jersey Nets, despite their dismal record this season, aren’t quitters. Nor, thanks to winning three of four games after losing 63 of their first 72, are they still at risk of recording the worst won-lost record in NBA history.