Nets Are Scorching

The consensus from around the NBA, Adria Wojnarowski, Chris Sheridan, heck, even my own TrueHoop mothership was that yesterday’s press conference by Mikhail Prokhorov which officially “killed” the Carmelo Anthony trade talks was that the Russian billionaire did this all to save face, because he knew deep down Anthony would never sign an extension with the Nets.

Let me be on the record in saying that’s nonsense. Sure, that storyline sounds great, and given the Nets history of futility, makes sense, but it conveniently ignores too many other facts: Anthony had reportedly agreed back in September to sign with the Nets before Denver backed out of talks, the latest iteration of this trade was orchestrated by ‘Melo’s agent Leon Rose (would he do this without Anthony’s permission?), why would the Nets and Nuggets have engaged in a very public trade discussion, blowing up both their seasons, if there wasn’t ANY indication through back channels that Anthony would sign with the Nets?

Then there’s a piece in today’s Denver Post:

When asked directly whether he or his agents had killed the trade by refusing to entertain a contract extension with the Nets, Anthony firmly and repeatedly said: “No.”

What smells closer to the truth is that Denver sports baron Stan Kroenke pushed so hard and so long for the Nets to sweeten the deal that Prokhorov finally shoved back. A pushing match between two filthy-rich franchise owners choked the life from the trade.

Obviously, I’m allowed to believe what I want to believe, but as the post-mortems of this deal come out, I really hope people think of all of the facts from the past few months, instead of callously concluding this is the Nets being irrelevant again. This idea that the Nets had to get Anthony no matter what (but within reason?!) so they could “matter’ again is ridiculous. They are sitting on a ton of assets with the richest owner in sports. There are other ways to improve and I think Prokhorov finally came to his senses on that.

And quite frankly, with a lockout looming, is ANYONE in the NBA going to be relevant in due time? So snicker all you want while you think about that.

In his highly anticipated press conference Wednesday, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov announced instructions for the front office to step away from the negotiating table with the Denver Nuggets to acquire Carmelo Anthony. This includes cancelling any supposed meeting between Nets management and Anthony. “It has been too long and too expensive,” he said. Citing distractions to the team, Prokhorov thought the negotiations were making the Nets lose games. While Prokhorov did announce that his decision was final, he said he was happy with the way King and the rest proceeded. Like reports in the last couple weeks that Denver was upset with the public nature of the trade talks, Prokhorov was also irked that things weren’t kept close to the chest.

At this point, it seems that Prokhorov is fairly resolute in his abandonment the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony. With that said, I wouldn’t rule anything out until the trade deadline, as this could simply be a move to turn the Nuggets into the pursuers.

After an 0-4 road trip where the Nets competed but were unable to win any games (as usual) they’re back at home for five straight starting tonight against the Utah Jazz. Hopefully some home cooking will help this team win a few games, and three of the games on this home-stand will be there for the taking (vs. Detroit, Cleveland and Memphis). Tonight may not be one of those games. The Jazz are 27-14 and have beaten the Nets four straight times. Slowing down Deron Williams (the best PG out West in my opinion) will be a key to tonight’s game. 

Here are some other things to keep an eye on:

Getting a W. This is a key before far too many Nets games. But once again the Nets are on an extended losing streak (six games this time) and need to break out of their latest slump. They are exactly halfway through the season and I never thought the team would be this bad. Sure it’s nothing like last year’s 12-win season, but 10-31 is still really poor. One of the biggest problems this year has been extended losing streaks, and once again the Nets are in the midst of one.

Strong Scoring from Brook. While rebounds continue to be an issue with the Nets center (I don’t know why I even bring it up anymore), Brook Lopez has really increased his scoring over the last three games. He has shot over 50 percent in all three and averaged 29 points per game. Before the season this is what I expected from Brook every night, not just once in a while. I’m hoping he can keep up this scoring streak tonight against Utah.

The Bench. Since Derrick Favors was inserted into the starting lineup, the Nets bench has actually produced on a consistent basis. Humphries is what he is and gives the team a solid effort every night. And Sasha Vujacic has really shot the ball well and given the Nets a boost in the scoring department off the bench. With this team’s propensity to struggle scoring, the bench will need to continue to give the team some production for 20-25 minutes a night.

For more on the Utah Jazz, check out TrueHoop affiliate Salt City Hoops.

You like Devin Kharpertian (you better? Why else are you reading Nets Are Scorching). You like endless Nets rumors that drive you crazy? You like ESPN? If you answer yes to any of these questions, check out some video of Devin Kharpertian talking Nets on the Daily Dime.

We should just rename this site Carmelo Anthony is Scorching, because quite frankly, until this trade silliness is resolved, is there really anything to talk about (maybe I can do another defensive breakdown on Stephen Graham for the 12 people who read that).

So the merry-go-round continues. In the past 24 hours, the Nets went from laughingstock to “back in this thing” again. The problem? The Nuggets, according to the AP. In an article that’s sure to appear in every newspaper without a proper sports writing team around the country (that’s a lot folks), the AP reports that Denver’s front office just can’t seem to agree on a package for dealing ‘Melo, and THAT’S holding up the deal, not Anthony’s willingness to extend with the Nets.

New Jersey has offered to ship six players and at least two first-round draft picks to Denver in the deal that would send Anthony to the Nets along with former Pistons teammates Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton.

But the teams haven’t been able to agree on the exact price that will persuade the Nuggets to finally part with their franchise player.

As for that meeting that ‘Melo apparently doesn’t want to have with Mikhail Prokhorov? Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News believes the Nets have permission, and if the meeting HASN’T ALREADY TAKEN PLACE (?!?), it will over the next few days when the Russian Billionaire is in town.

I know a lot of people are killing the Nets front office in all of this, and I get that. But this is just total amateur hour from Denver’s front office. They haven seemingly been on the fence about trading their star for months now. Remember, it was Denver who backed out of the talks early in the Fall that would have sent Anthony to the Nets before the season started. I still don’t like the idea that Prokhorov and Anthony have to meet – I don’t get why this guy, at this point, wants to be wooed or convinced of anything. With that said, the sooner Denver gets off the pot, the sooner we can get our answers here.

The GameFlow from January 17th's Nets-Warriors game.

Forget about this game for a second, and let me recap a generic Nets game for you.

Okay, so the Nets played against a decent (albeit beatable) team yesterday. The teams trade shots back and forth and the game remains close throughout the first 40 minutes. In the fourth quarter, the opposing team goes on a couple of big runs, and while the Nets do their best to keep it close the opposing talent proves to be just too much. The Nets end up losing by about a dozen points. Brook Lopez was surprisingly ignored in the low post, Johan Petro made about a surprising number of bonehead plays in his short time on the floor, Devin Harris had an inefficient game, and the Nets are unable to play aggressive defense against a team that would have trouble against it.

Does this sound familiar?

If it doesn’t, welcome to the New Jersey Nets.

This game was similarly excruciating to watch. Despite the close nature of the score – outside of a few quick runs, the Nets were within four and nine points for the entire game – the Nets only held one lead. That lead? 4-2, and it existed for a whole fifteen seconds in the first quarter. The Nets were consistently worse than the Warriors the entire game, good enough to get close, never good enough to take over.

Hence the title. The Nets only barely hung on to this game last night, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Their play wasn’t ugly enough for discrediting, but it wasn’t interesting enough to warrant a second look. Nothing they did made them unique. There was no “it” factor. They hung on by a thread for 48 minutes, and while the game wasn’t statistically in doubt until the final minute, the Nets never really had a chance.

It was a consistent, straightforward, losing effort, by a consistent, straightforward, losing team.

Always a bridesmaid.

The record will show that Brook had his third straight solid game – 20 points on 9-15 shooting, seven rebounds, and two blocks. However, it wasn’t on par with his two previous games – and it very easily could’ve been. We talked a little bit back in December about how Lopez wasn’t getting enough sets called for him in the post. It looked like a corner had finally turned in these past two games, as Lopez shredded the interior defense in Los Angeles & Portland to the tune of 35 and 32 points, respectively.

So against a team like Golden State – with weak post defense across the board – it makes sense that you go inside early and often, right? Wrong, if you’re the Nets. Brook Lopez took a mere five shots in the first half, and was passed up time and time again for contested shots and badly run pick & rolls. It boggles the mind just how rarely the Nets run the offense through Lopez, when it’s so patently obvious that they should be doing it.

Honestly, it’s hard to find positives in a game like this. There were a few from this game, though. Let’s see… The Nets had 28 assists on 41 field goals, well above their season average. Um.. Despite poor shooting from outside, the Nets shot an excellent 36-66 from inside the arc. Uh… that’s good enough, right? We don’t need anything else, right?

I hope not. Because in a game where you commit twice as many turnovers as your opponent, in a game where you shoot into ten blocked shots, in a game where you shoot 3-14 from beyond the arc and stay so consistently behind the entire game, the negatives shine more and more brightly every second.

One of the biggest negatives was likely trade bait Johan Petro. Look, the guy’s a backup center, so I don’t think Nets fans expect much of him. I certainly don’t. But the guy made so many bonehead plays yesterday in just a quarter’s worth of action that I started making jokes with his name as the punchline on Twitter. (For example: “two guys walk into a bar. Johan Petro.”) While eight points, three rebounds, and two steals in 12 minutes may not look like a bad statline, his beyond-the-box-score contributions were putrid. Between bobbling sure rebounds out of bounds, lazily forgetting to box out, missing defensive rotations, and not running out to spot-up shooters, Petro epitomized every major issue the Nets have had in this abhorrent twelve-game stretch in an mere twelve minutes.

I can even pin it down to one play. At the end of the third quarter, Petro fouled Acie Law about 60 feet from the basket with 3.5 seconds left – without a foul to give. Instead of what likely would have been a wild running three at the buzzer, Law was given two free trips to the line. He sunk both to put the Warriors up six going into the fourth. Even if you do have a foul to give, allowing a team 3.5 seconds to set up an inbounds play and get a real shot off is a fool’s play.

So for now, as this game identified, the Nets are on the outside looking in. Struggling to form any sort of wining identity. Hoping to become something – anything – that will transform them from a toiling bridesmaid to a real bride.

I just hope that when they do settle down, they don’t do it for the wrong reasons.

As if the on-again, off-again, trade talk with Carmelo Anthony hasn’t been excruciating enough for everyone involved with the Nets from the players down to the fans, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski has apparently stopped using his regular space on the Internet to mock LeBron James and has moved on to eviscerating Mikhail Prokhorov and the Nets. Yesterday’s piece was a scorcher, and for anyone with even holds the least bit of doubt in the Russian as a competent owner, you’ll probably eat this up:

If the Nets truly need to sell Carmelo Anthony(notes) on accepting the trade and signing a contract extension, they’re a bigger lost cause than they’ve ever been. The Nets can’t let Prokhorov and Jay-Z get on a jet and go sell that now because this process has already cost them too much credibility – and because billionaires aren’t supposed to beg. Make no mistake: The manufactured aura of this ownership dream team will be obliterated with a ’Melo rejection.

And

When everyone believed Prokhorov would hit the NBA like a of force nature, he’s hit it like Herb Kohl.

I’ve been saying for weeks now that this has to end, that this whole charade can’t continue until the trade deadline, but it sounds like I’m wrong. This will continue. It will continue because the Nets are determined, nay, desperate, and with every day that passes, the Knicks get closer to moving pieces that will complete a deal, and give Anthony want he’s wanted all along.

In a Monday afternoon game (4 PM EST, 1 PM PST), the Nets take on the Golden State Warriors in Oakland. The Warriors are 16-23 and boast a “big three” of Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, and ex-Knick David Lee. They also trot out the favorite for Most Improved Player of the Year in Dorrell Wright. The Warriors are fresh off a 122-112 victory against the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Nets are mired in a five-game losing funk (“streak” doesn’t seem strong enough here). Anthony Morrow will be in town but will not play against his former team.

Here are a few things to look out for in today’s game:

Shake off the Melo-stink. It’s patently obvious that the apparent need for one man to change locations has had a huge effect on the basketball product. The Nets have looked lost & disinterested for the past few games, and if not for a fluke Sasha Vujacic flip-in against Chicago they’d have an eleven-game losing streak. If the Nets can focus on basketball and not Carmelo Anthony against a decent-but-beatable team, they’ll stand a much better chance to leave the West Coast with one victory.

Keep feeding the big man. Brook Lopez has returned to offensive form in these last two games, lighting up the Lakers and Blazers for a combined 67 points on 22-38 shooting. The Lakers & Blazers trot out Andrew Bynum & Marcus Camby as their starting centers, the Warriors put out David Lee & Andris Biedrins. If he plays to the same level today, Brook’s career high of 37 points is in play.

The battle for pace. This happens often with the Nets, since they’re one of the slowest teams in the league. As most of us know, the Warriors are run-n-gun, and the numbers prove it – they’re fourth in the league in possessions per game. If the Nets can limit them to a half-court offense and prevent the open looks in transition that the Warriors get so often, they highly increase their chances of getting a W.

For more info on the Golden State Warriors, check out TrueHoop affiliate WarriorsWorld.