Nets Are Scorching

Box Score – CelticsHub – CelticsBlog

At the end of the first quarter today in Newark it was 27-25 Celtics. The Nets played pretty well in the first quarter and seemed to have their offense clicking. And then they decided not to show up for the final three quarters and got embarrassed on their home court. I’m going to try and stay realistic in this recap and realize that even on their best day the Nets probably would not have beaten Boston. But their lack of offense is really starting to get ridiculous. I’ll get into this more later but it is almost unfathomable that an NBA team can score just 50 points over 3 quarters, including just TWELVE in the second.

Just prior to the game we found out that Rajon Rondo was out and Nate Robinson would be the starting point guard. Considering that Devin Harris was back in the lineup, this made me feel pretty good. But what happens? Robinson plays one of the best all-around games in his career, scoring 21 points and 8 of 12 shooting while dishing out 6 assists and grabbing 6 boards. Devin was clearly a bit rusty in his return as he had more turnovers than assists and scored just 7 points in 24 minutes. Before this game I talked about him needing to be a spark against one of the best teams in the NBA and while it’s hard to place much of the blame at his feet, I’m sure he would admit that he didn’t have a very strong game.

There is no doubt that the turning point of this game was the Nets’ horrible second quarter. They scored 25 points in the 1st quarter and actually executed pretty well on offense against one of the league’s best defenses. But in the second they turned the ball over, took bad shots and showed that they are still susceptible to incredibly long scoring draughts. I don’t care what kind of defense the opponent is playing, you should not go 4 and a half minutes into a quarter without scoring, which is exactly what the Nets did. Against the league’s best teams like Boston, you need to keep the game close and hope you get on a run late in the game. While the Nets did an effective job of this in the first quarter, they completely lost their way in the second quarter and were down by 20 at halftime.

I realize that because of the nature of the game as a blowout, most of the starters did not play that many minutes. But Brook Lopez’s game really puzzles me. Before this season everyone (including me) was singing his praises as one of the best up and coming centers in the NBA. But he has frankly had too many sub-par efforts like yesterday’s game this season. If you are going to be one of the go-to-guys on this team, you cannot only take 6 shots in 21 minutes. His rebounds also continue to be too low as he grabbed just 6 in the game.

When your offense struggles usually the two primary things that go with it are missed/bad shots and turnovers. The Nets turned the ball over 18 times, which isn’t a crazy amount, but they shot the ball horribly today. They shot just 37.5% from the field and were 16-24 from the charity stripe. It is really hard to definitively determine what the issue is with their shooting percentage. Sure they have a tendency to take some bad shots at times but I don’t even think that is the biggest problem. To put it bluntly they really do not have many great shooters. Anthony Morrow is the only pure “shooter” on the roster and while guys like Jordan Farmar and Harris can consistently hit jump shots, they are still very streaky. This all brings me back to Brook Lopez and the inside players. If you aren’t a good jump shooting team, get the ball inside and don’t take as many jumpers. It isn’t rocket science.

It’s really hard to take any positives from this game but I suppose I can give some credit to the rook. Favors was one of only three Nets in double figures (Morrow had 10 and Farmar put in 16) and he had a few nice plays on the offensive end. I think it’s time for Avery to start giving him more minutes considering how this team has been playing. Derrick Favors has now been through a full quarter of an NBA season and with the way the Nets have been playing, they might as well try something different and give him more playing time. I wouldn’t be opposed either to putting him in the starting lineup to change things up a bit.

As I write this and think about where this team is right now, I find it a little hard to believe that they are 6-15 and 9 games under .500. I really liked what I saw in the first few games of the season but I think some of these close losses may be catching up with them. In my game preview I talked about how their two losses earlier this week were about as bad as it gets, and I think they unfortunately carried that into today’s game. They played a very solid first quarter but then it almost seemed like they hit a wall. I find it hard to criticize Avery Johnson because I really think he’s done a good job and the team has responded to him. But at some point you need to get some W’s. I wasn’t expecting the Nets to contend for an NBA title this season but I did not expect them to be this bad through 21 games.

So after a very rough week and in the midst of a 4-game losing streak, the Nets have to go to Atlanta, Dallas and then come home to face the Lakers this week. It certainly doesn’t get any easier for them and they will have to try and find some offense quick to get this thing turned around and win a few games.

Yahoo’s Marc Spears has a profile on Avery Johnson about the challenges of taking on coaching the worst team in basketball a year ago:

“This is a totally different situation,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to develop them into starters. Starters – not stars. That’s the next round. We got role players. We got journeymen. You have starters, you have stars and then you have superstars. We’re trying to develop NBA starters first.”

It’s been an interesting first month and change for Avery and the Nets. They’re clearly a better team than last year, and yesterday’s debacle against Boston aside, they’ve been mostly competitive in every game. However, some of Avery’s rotations are questionable, especially since he’s been on the record in saying he’s trying to develop the team’s younger talent. And the team still hasn’t been able to develop any kind of consistent identity on offense besides Devin Harris trying to penetrate and Brook Lopez trying to get in the post and instead settling for jumpers. There are nights where the Nets look like five guys looking for their own shots, and Avery needs to do a better job of managing that.

There is no need to sugarcoat the past two games Nets fans. They have easily been two of the worst losses the team has had in the still young season. Wednesday night against the Thunder they certainly played well enough to win but couldn’t get it done in three overtimes. And then there was last night. What a disaster. This team has been in nearly every game they’ve played this season but sooner or later you need to pick up some W’s. So who do they see tomorrow in the midst of a three-game losing streak? Only the team with the best record in the East, the Boston Celtics.

• The Return of Devin Harris: All reports have said that the Nets starting point guard will be back in the lineup tomorrow against Boston. While they were able to play pretty well offensive without D. Harris against OKC, they struggled big-time without him Friday night against Charlotte. Say what you want about him but he is the catalyst of this team. Considering that Rajon Rondo is one of the best point guards in the NBA, the Nets could use a big effort out of Harris tomorrow in his return to the lineup.
• Brook Lopez and Rebounding: We at NAS have examined the low rebounding numbers that the Nets’ starting center has put up through the first 20 games but it is really time for Brook Lopez to start rebounding the basketball with more ferocity. In 53 minutes Wednesday night he had 11 boards and last night he had only two. TWO?!?!?!? Forget about your skill as a rebounder, I can’t figure out the physics of how a 7-footer can only have two rebounds in 39 minutes. Time to pick it up on the glass Brook.
• Power Forward: Friday night in Charlotte the Nets’ power forwards didn’t exactly have their best game. 60 combined minutes for Humphries, Murph and Favors and they could only muster 9 points. The team’s offense was absurdly bad the other night and against a team like Boston, the Nets will need more production out of the 4 position, especially going against The Big Ticket, KG.

For more coverage of the Boston Celtics, check out TrueHoop affiliate CelticsHub.

AP Photo/Chuck Burton

Clear your mind. If someone told you that your favorite basketball team scored 48 points in its first three quarters of play, would you be surprised that your team lost at the end of the night? Probably not. Still, the Nets suffered this horrible circumstance and still managed to take the Charlotte Bobcats to OT Friday night. That said, they did still ultimately fall 91-84 in the game.

For the first three quarters, this was close to the most sloppy offensive basketball I have ever watched. Neither team could buy a shot, and the scores looked more like those of high school varsity teams than NBA squads this night. It is truly amazing how badly these two offenses played. The Bobcats shot only 36 percent for the game, but the Nets still managed to one-up them in that department quite handily: they scraped together 31 percent shooting for the night. And if you take out the last quarter and overtime, those percentages would be markedly lower.

In what were essentially Pyhrric performances, Travis Outlaw led the Nets with 21 points, and Stephen Jackson paced the Bobcats with 25. But the Nets’ offensive struggles were so baffling that it is hard to really diagnose them. One thing I know for sure: there was too much backcourt shooting for the Nets (Jordan Farmar and Anthony Morrow combined to shoot 13-of-36) and not enough Brook Lopez. He ended up with 10 field-goal attempts in the game, but precisely zero of those came in the first quarter. I’m not sure if anyone else notices this, but Farmar seems inexplicably afraid to throw the entry pass to Lopez. When he does get an entry pass, it seems like it almost always comes from Morrow or Outlaw. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but there doesn’t seem to be much cohesiveness on the court between those two.

At any rate, the offensive struggles were palpable. It was so bad that, in an apparent attempt to get something going, Avery Johnson played a lineup with Troy Murphy, Derrick Favors, and Johan Petro on the floor all at the same time. What was so bad about it was that, even amid all their nonscoring, those three solid rebounders still managed to look like children compared to Charlotte’s effort on the glass.

The Bobcats managed to haul in an incredible sum of 62 boards for the game, and three starters logged double digits in rebounds: Nazr Mohammed had 11, Gerald Wallace had 13, and Boris Diaw had 16. Speaking of Wallace, he was, to put it conservatively, Superman on defense. The man racked up five blocks, and he was such an unstoppable presence as a help-side defender that layups became basically a nonoption for the Nets. Time and time again, he would come in off his man and swat away an easy attempt that a Net lobbed up at the rim.

However, the Nets defense was just as potent. While some might attribute Charlotte’s struggles to simply missing easy shots, the Nets didn’t let any one player get too hot, and disrupted the shots that were taken: all five Bobcats starters took anywhere from 12 to 14 shots, and none of them made more than six. That’s forcing volume shooters if I’ve ever seen it before.

And had the Nets not played this aggressive defense, this game might have turned out as the most pathetic of the season so far. Still, the Nets found themselves down 64-48 at one point before somehow managing a 12-0 run to cut the gap to four points. While the lead varied from then on, it was the Nets’ clutch-time execution that led them to tie up the game and take it to overtime.

Outlaw and Farmar shot a combined 2-of-13 from beyond the arc from the game, but both of their makes came toward the end of the fourth quarter to keep the Nets in the game. And toward the very end of regulation with the Nets down two points, Outlaw disrupted an inbound pass and got fouled, which sent him to the line, where he hit the game-tying free throws to send it in to overtime.

My friend shot a video of me reacting to this play that is far too embarrassing to put on the internet, but suffice it to say that I was thrilled.

Unfortunately, the Nets came out cold in the overtime period, and after finishing regulation shooting 11-of-11 on field goals and free throws combined, the Nets were helpless to make anything in the extra period. So once more, the Nets lost a close one.

If there is any one thing that stands out about this year’s Nets team compared to last year, it is the drive to stay in the game. Avery Johnson has reinforced that no game is out of reach, and the Nets seem to have taken notice. While it might make for frustrating, nail-biting, down-to-the-wire contests, it is great to see such a ruthless competitive nature.

I recall watching a game between the Nets and Phoenix Suns in December 2006 that went into double overtime. Jason Kidd and Steve Nash went back and forth hitting impossible shot after impossible shot in extra sessions that had more lead changes than some teams have over the course of an entire season. Yes, the Nets ultimately lost that game 161-157. But it was still, by far, the best basketball game I have ever watched. Losses hurt, but good basketball is still good basketball.

By the end of the game, it was clear that the fatigue of all the recent playing was getting to the Nets, and rightfully so. The schedule over the past week or so was brutal, so I can excuse the Nets for this game. Hopefully, though, they will learn from their back-to-back overtime contests and apply what they learned to future games. It’s all about learning right now.

Some more thoughts:

• It appears the power-forward rotation is not so solidified as once imagined. Kris Humphries played only 22 minutes in the game, and Derrick Favors only 16, while Troy Murphy also managed 22. Granted, Johnson might have been experimenting to find some way for the Nets to get any sort of offense going, but it seems that Murphy has more of a shot to get back in the game-by-game rotation than he did a week ago. His +15 for the game certainly didn’t hurt his chances, even though he only scored 1 point.
• Stephen Graham might be getting the rotation ax. He played five minutes toward the beginning of the game, during which he missed two layups and two open jump shots. Compounded with his idiotic foul on Jeff Green on Wednesday night, he might have lost his chance to play regularly, which is fine with me.

Two days after an indescribably disappointing loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Nets head to Charlotte to take on the Bobcats for the second time this season. Charlotte won the first game in a close matchup, 85-83. Here’s a few things to look out for in tonight’s contest.

• Energy from Nets players: The Nets play their fifth game in seven days tonight, a very unusual frequency of games in an NBA schedule. Not to mention they had to suit up for 63 minutes in the overtime thriller on Wednesday night. One would have to imagine that all this playing could have an impact on the freshness of the players, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the toll manifest itself tonight against the Bobcats. Look for Avery Johnson to use a deeper rotation, getting Troy Murphy some more minutes, for example, to help cope with the problem.
• Jordan Farmar’s Contributions: Jordan Farmar filled up the stat sheet in his first start with the Nets against the Thunder, and as Devin Harris misses his second game, an repeat performance would really help out the Nets. That said, his decision at the end of the third overtime on Wednesday cost the Nets a shot at forcing a fourth, however they wouldn’t have even been in that situation if he hadn’t hit the three-pointer on the previous possession. His decision making will only improve with more time at the helm.
• Brook Lopez’s Opportunity: Brook Lopez logged his first double-double of the season thus far on Wednesday; granted, it took him three overtimes to get his 10th rebound and he only shot 7-of-23 from the floor. Matching up against Nazr Mohammed, Lopez has a chance to duplicate what he did on Wednesday. Whether he can will depend on his aggressiveness and shot selection — he has not shot the ball well from the perimeter, and his jump hook has been essentially automatic of late, so look to see if he takes advantage of that.

Billy King makes his first trip to Springfield. Coincidentally, so do I. (That’s not me in the picture, though.)

Billy King’s trip up to Springfield was originally intended as a formal announcement of the partnership between the Nets and the Springfield Armor, but with the recent “evaluation” of Terrence Williams, much of his pregame press conference was devoted to that discussion. King mentioned in the conference that the Nets specifically want to redesign how teams use the D-League – that not only is the Nets franchise “trying to win NBA Championships, but we’re trying to win NBA D-League championships, too.”

In his talk with me (which was caught on video, but the audio quality is so poor that it wouldn’t be worth showing unless you wanted to just see our faces mumbling incoherently), he was very clear that the Nets just want to give Terrence the opportunity to play ball. This was not a demotion, it was not a slap in his face, the Nets just didn’t see him fitting in with the NBA roster yet and wanted him to regain his love for the game. It was not an opportunity to “showcase” him (and King also said he was “not going to fuel any trade rumors”), but that Williams wasn’t going to get enough time in the NBA at this juncture to really justify having him there. Every person I talked to – King, Williams, coach Dee Brown – said there was no timetable on Williams’ return to the NBA, and that his progress would be continuously evaluated.

Another quick note: in my brief talk with Brown, he noted that Terrence had been a consummate professional in Springfield, had not shown up late to a single practice (actually showing up early multiple times), and had been everything an ideal teammate should be.

For what it’s worth, King brought up his name when discussing 2011 free agency, noting that the Nets would have $17 million in cap space, but no-commented when questioned about trading for Carmelo Anthony.

G/F Terrence Williams skies for the layup and-1 over Red Claws C Tiny Gallon.

Of course, the night wasn’t all about general managers, even though King, Former Nets GM and current 76ers GM Rod Thorn, and Celtics GM Danny Ainge were all in attendance. There was, in fact, a basketball game played, and despite his poor shooting night, there was a lot to like about Terrence’s game. He finished the night with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists, and he earned every one. One Armor player, while leaving the game, marveled at having a guy like Terrence on the team, noting “having him there… it spreads the floor so much. Makes all the difference.” His vision was on full display, and although he took 19 shots he seemed most interested in being a facilitator than a shooter. He was constantly communicating with his teammates, out-leaping everyone for rebounds, finding open guys under the rim with ease, and his most impressive assist didn’t even count as an assist – inbounding the ball from the opposing baseline with a three-point lead and 14 seconds left, Terrence found L.D. Williams streaking towards the basket ahead of his defender, fired a perfectly placed baseball pass, and L.D. finished with a slam to all but ice the game.

Rod Thorn is disgusted. Maybe with leaving the Nets, maybe with Billy King’s breath. Only he knows.

That being said, Williams is still falling prey to some of the issues that befell him in the NBA. While his vision for finding open teammates is still as good as ever, he did fall prey to tunnel vision at other times – clearly wanting to be “the guy who takes the shot” on a few possessions in the game. That resulted in him usually pulling up for midrange jumpers in stride, which is a skill Williams has really yet to master. Most of his misses came in this variety. While it’s clear that he was the most athletically dominant player on the floor – routinely grabbing rebounds with three taller players surrounding him – he didn’t seem to utilize that athleticism many times driving to the basket. There were no dunks by Williams in the game, and most slashes ended in a pass to an open man outside (good) or a pullup jumper (bad). He did seem to pick it up late. Three of his five made field goals came late in the fourth quarter; one a 3 to tie the game at 91, one a layup to put the Armor up 101-99, and the third a pretty layup and-1 to put the Armor up 105-99 a minute later. However, one could make the argument that had he done that earlier – I.E. made six or seven shots in the first three quarters instead of just two – there would have been no need for the late-game heroics.

Williams was rightfully named the player of the game when the final buzzer sounded, as it was clear he was the most impressive guy on the floor. I got a chance to talk to him after the game, and as you’ll see the locker room was still buzzing. I’ve provided a transcript with the videos since it’s hard to hear him sometimes. I’ve got to bring a microphone next time out there.

Terrence: I felt great. Honestly, I felt… Not statwise, I felt great as far as conditioning-wise, injury-wise, I feel like I’m 100%, that I can do anything. Nothing limits me. At the end of the day, I’m glad we got the win, so I’ll take that.

Note: I have no idea which player yelled out “They got sesame seed buns!” midway through this answer. Presumably someone hungry.

Terrence: I’m not trying to be the captain. I don’t want to be the captain of this team. I want to be a person that has a voice that’s been there. Whether I’m going to be here for a month, or I’m here until tomorrow. Whatever it is, I’ll be able to help these guys for when they do leave, what they play and put in their game.

Terrence: I think that helps. Especially a guy who played in the NBA myself, for these guys trying to make it there, I can tell them what I’ve been through. I can tell them what type of positions they’re supposed to be in, things they should do and should not do, and we just go from there.

Terrence: Yeah, I talked to him before the game, during the game, talked to him after the game… We’ll see what happens. *laughs*

To close this report, I’d be remiss not to mention how great the staff at the Springfield Armor was. PR Director Eli Pearlstein went out of his way to make sure everything was taken care of. They really went above & beyond the call of duty. As long as Terrence Williams is down there, expect at least one more Armor Report in the next couple of weeks.

The real news from last night is Terrence Williams’ triple double in his Springfield Armor debut. Devin will have plenty of info and multimedia from that later today. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that the Nets efforts to go global took another major step yesterday when they launched their Russian web site:

“I’m glad we’re reaching out to our global fan base in a personalized way,” Prokhorov said in a statement written in English. “We want Russian speakers from New Jersey to New York to Moscow to see the Nets as their home team, and a Russian-language website is an excellent way to further that goal.”

Netrussia.com. Check it out. In the meantime, anything that makes the Nets more of a global brand is a great thing. This is where the power of Prokhorov is huge.

UPDATE: Our main man Devin Kharpertian has learned that Nets GM Billy King will be in Springfield tonight, so Devin will hopefully get a few questions with the GM about the Armor and TWill.

Nets Are Scorching will be reporting from tonight’s Springfield Armor game to gauge the D-League debut of Terrence Williams. Stay posted to our site for these updates!