Nets Are Scorching

I might be a little late on this, but I still want to give my opinion on it.  Al Iannazzone reported it at the tail end of is May 5th article:

When Prokhorov takes over, the Nets’ coaching search will heat up, Thorn is expected to get a new contract and there will be other appointments and announcements, including the purchase of an NBA D-League team to serve as a training ground for players and Russian management types.

When thinking about the benefits of having an owner willing to spend, taking full control of a NBA D-League team slipped my mind.  Don’t let it fool you though, this is something that if the Nets’ do, can pay off big time for the team.  I mean let’s look at the teams that have sole control of a D-League team; the Lakers, the Rockets, the Thunder, and the Spurs (the Mavs will have their own when the new Frisco team starts play).  The Spurs, Rockets, and Thunder have been able to do great things with the D-League, and a lot of it is because they are able to not only stock the team with their own players, but they are able to put their people in charge of the team.

Hearing that is what Prokhorov plans to do (bring his own front office/coaching) people couldn’t excite me more.  Here is what Ridiculous Upside has to say on the subject:

What about executives? As with pretty much everything in this post, this is pretty speculative, but it’s possible that Prokhorov and the Nets could use the Springfield Armor as a training ground for Russian basketball executives.  And you know what?  That’s fine.  In fact, D-League affiliates ideally shouldn’t be just about the players, but about every level of basketball operations.  If a team wants someone to get more scouting experience by having him or her spend time scouting D-League players, so much the better.  The same goes for those on a general manager-track.  Gersson Rosas in Rio Grande Valley, Brandon Barnett in Tulsa and Dell Demps in Austin all seem to be benefiting from their teams’ NBA affiliation.

What I really want to see though is the Nets bring this team closer to New Jersey.  For one, it could be fun to be able to watch some D-League games, but if you can get a D-League team close to you, it is easier to call-up/send-down players without worrying about the logistics.  Maybe when the team gets into Brooklyn have the D-League team set up shop in Newark at the Prudential Center?

Either way, this is exciting news and another benefit of having an owner who is concerned about winning rather than making money.

Ben Couch did a terrific job earlier this week looking back at Kris Humphries’ season, though the question still remains headed into this summer whether or not Hump will be back with the team, and if so, what is his role, besides roster filler?

From a financial standpoint, Hump has a player option for about $3.2 million that if he exercises, cuts into the cap space for the Nets this summer. I still liked the trade when the trigger was pulled earlier this year, as Hump, even with his salary, was a major roster and energy upgrade over the corpse of Eduardo Najera. The trade gave Hump an opportunity to get playing time, but he ended up producing in uneven fashion. He looked like a steal, when he scored more than 20 points twice against the Clippers in January, but was also prone to games like his 1-8, 8 point debacle against the Wizards on January 29.

Couch picks up on some key stats for Hump in his review, including his 18.0 rebounding rate while with the Nets,  but also his penchant for shooting jumpers 58 percent of the time (with an eFG% of 37 percent). And that’s where Hump’s game confounds me, because for someone who is clearly so physically strong around the rim, he’s far too content to shoot jump shots. If he lived around the rim on offense, he could become a great instant offense, high energy guy around the rim, but he hasn’t shown the ability or the IQ to be that player.  There also are the questions of Hump’s defense. While he showed more promise than Yi Jianlian, Hump still wasn’t great, allowing opposing PFs to score 23.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per 48 minutes, good for a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 19.8, according to 82games. Hump did a better job of holding opposing Cs in-check, as they averaged 16.5 points, 11.6 rebounds for a PER of 16.6.

But again, the question goes back to whether or not these numbers are good enough for Hump to be counted on next year. Not to be harsh, but I think Hump proved what he was last season, a competent backup on a lottery team. He’s never played significant minutes for a winner, and while they may be chalked up to who he was backing up (Chris Bosh in Toronto, Dirk in Dallas), it’s not like Hump was able to truly distinguish himself in New Jersey. The Nets may not have a choice whether or not he’ll be back next season, but if the team hopefully goes out and gets a legit PF and keeps Yi, Hump will be back to the third string again, while the Nets should hopefully be able to get back into the playoff picture without him.

An old friend of the Nets, Mark Jackson, has reportedly declined to interview for the head coaching vacancy with the Philadelphia 76ers and is instead waiting for the “right” opportunity, which may include a chance to coach the New Jersey Nets, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

The Sixers had been trying to schedule a meeting with Jackson, but he sent word Tuesday that he was trying to determine whether he wanted to proceed. He informed Kauffman yesterday of his decision. He is expected to interview for the New Orleans Hornets job, and is hopeful of being contacted by the Los Angeles Clippers and, possibly, the New Jersey Nets.

Jackson is an intriguing name, and he was one of the most insightful television guys I’ve ever seen/heard when he was working for YES a few years ago, but does anyone else find it weird that the guy is being so picky about his coaching options, especially since he has never been a head coach before? He was reportedly flabbergasted when the Knicks passed on him a few years back in favor of Mike D’Antoni.

This offseason is going to be an exciting one for the New Jersey Nets, but before we can move forward we must look back.  Over the next couple of days, I am going to be looking at the Nets who will (most likely) be back, and review their year, from what they did well to what they didn’t.  Today we are going to look at the  Nets’ Most Frustrating  Player, Yi Jianlian.

Yi Jianlian had  a rough start to the year.  After 4 games, Yi was injured and didn’t return until December 23rd (suffering setback after setback during his recovery).  When he came back, there was a new Yi, but as we have seen in the past, he was unable to remain consistant.

The Positives

Quick Decisions

When Yi came back from injury, he just seemed ready to play basketball, and the biggest example of this was his quick decision making.  When Yi struggles, he seems to take forever to make up his mind when deciding what to do with the basketball.  When he goes quick though, he gives the defense no chance to play effective defense on him:

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As speculation continues to mount about who will coach the Nets next season, one possible candidate was on the record with Dave D’Alessandro endorsing another candidate for a head coaching spot in the NBA. Jeff Van Gundy, who is reportedly leaning towards staying with his NBA analyst gig rather than returning to coaching, had high praise for Boston assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, who was an assistant for JVG in New York:

“The guy has been so good for so long that he’s been taken for granted,” Van Gundy said of the Boston associate head coach. “And Tom now has this thing where he’s known as a defensive guy, which he’s great at — not good, great. But he also is very good offensively. And it’s the reason why I hired him initially in New York — his work with individual players. He had incredibly good offensively ideas. His work with Yao Ming still gets overlooked because Yao is hurt a lot. But in Yao’s last full year, he was an MVP candidate, 25 and 11. …”

I still think Prokhorov is more inclined to make a “splash” rather than hiring a competent assistant coach, but I could obviously be wrong here. There’s a lot of buzz about Thibodeau, and if it’s not the Nets, it sounds like someone is going to give him a head coaching job this summer. As a Jets fan, I obviously see the value in grabbing a defensive minded lifelong assistant coach. And it would be a better move than making a splash for the sake of one and bringing in failed NBA coaches like Rick Pitino or John Calipari.

LeBron and the Cavs’ path to the Eastern Conference semi-finals and a meeting with the Orlando Magic took a bit of a detour last night when the Celtics beat the Cavs in blowout fashion winning 104-86 (and it wasn’t even that close).  Nobody really though about what would happen if the Cavs lose in the second round to the Celtics because nobody (including myself) thought that was a possibility.  So what happen if the Cavs lose?  Jay Mariotti thinks that LeBron is out of there:

“Relax,” he could have said at the pre-game ceremony. “I’m staying five more years.”

But James refuses to soothe fears that he still might leave the Cavaliers in free agency this summer. He prefers to keep playing his public poker game and let it veer into a frantic climax come July 1, when he finally can negotiate with the Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Heat and even the Clippers and Wizards if his masochistic side prefers. Maybe he’s remaining mum right now for a very good reason.

If the Cavs flop again in the playoffs, he might be looking for the nearest escape hatch out of town.

If you want my opinion, LeBron is staying, but for those holding out hope that LeBron will become a Net, the Cavs losing to the Celtics is probably the most likely way that it would happen.  What else could Cleveland do to put a winner on the court?  Not much.  If LeBron does leave, I still think the best landing spot for him is New Jersey…er…Brooklyn.

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One of the reasons I think the Nets is the best landing spot for LeBron is Brook Lopez.  In just his second year, Brook Lopez is starting to make a claim that he might be the second best center in the east.  He has a solid back to the basket game, a nice shot, and he runs the floor very well.  Jordan Schultz from NBA Fanhouse tends to agree:

Perhaps the most well-rounded big man in this tier, Lopez is a true center in every sense of the word. Despite playing for the awful Nets, he was a bright spot in east New Jersey all season long, flourishing in his second professional season. Defensively, he’s a shutdown block artist (1.70 per game) who utilizes his tremendous length to clog driving lanes and force errant shot attempts.

He runs the floor well, either filling the lane on fast breaks or creating excellent low-post position. He has terrific hands, the type of huge oven mitts you want from a big guy. He can score from either block and has a surprisingly useful left hand for such a young player. Plus, he’s an 82 percent free-throw shooter, ensuring he’ll be on the floor late in games. Unlike many of his peers, Lopez’s game is predicated off of footwork and a diverse skill set. His combination of hooks, up-and-unders and overall cleverness around the basket make him the best young center in the game today not named Dwight Howard. If the Nets acquire a gifted passer like John Wall or Evan Turner in the draft, there’s no telling how good Lopez can be.

It makes me happy whenever Brook Lopez gets some love.  He made such a jump from his first year to his second year, but it doesn’t really get talked about much because he was playing for the worst team in the NBA last year.  On most nights Brook was the only one really doing work on the offensive end, and that’s even when he faces a barrage of double and triple teams.

When the team you follow can run out a guy who’s 7-feet tall, can stretch a defense by hitting a bunch of threes, and is long enough body-wise that he’s able to block some shots and grab rebounds, you want to believe this guy is capable of becoming a major player in the NBA. Unfortunately, that same player is maddeningly inconsistent offensively, is one of the worst defenders in the league, and seems to lack every other physical tool outside of length. What you get is the Nets’ “Most Frustrating” player in Yi Jianlian.

Perhaps problem number one for me was having any expectations at all for Yi headed into this season. But after seeing him bulk up and put together a strong showing in the Asia Cup games last summer, I allowed myself to believe that at the bare minimum, Yi could develop into a league average player at his position. After missing a majority of the first six weeks of the season with a knee injury – Yi proved me wrong – he looked like an even better than average player, scoring 22.5 points on 54 percent shooting in his first four games back from injury. What was even better was how Yi was doing it – an assortment of inside and outside moves. Kiki Vandeweghe immediately tried to instill a “twin towers” strategy on offense, with most plays running through Brook Lopez and Yi. The results were a disaster. Brook’s offensive production took a short-term hit, and Yi faded back to the player he was in his first two NBA seasons: 13.4 points per game with woeful 39 percent shooting in January. It’s also no coincidence that January was probably the most embarrassing month for the Nets last season, including back-to-back losses against the Warriors and the Jazz where the Nets were blown out by more than 30.

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A potential free agent who many people have ignored when playing fantasy basketball is Dirk Nowitzki, but the fact is, he does have a player option that he may not choose to exercise come June 30 if he’s tired of the big-spending Dallas Mavericks having first round exits in the playoffs. Ira Winderman, of NBCSports.com, believes the Nets could be an interesting landing spot for Dirk:

What Nowitzki needs is a youthful, A-List teammate. As a free agent, he could find that in Chicago with Derrick Rose, possibly in New Jersey with a lottery pick, possibly in New York with another A-list free agent, or possibly even in Miami with Dwyane Wade.

I mean, what’s not to love about Dirk in Newark? But, I can’t see any way Mark Cuban lets Dirk leave under any circumstances.