Nets Are Scorching

The Nets (17-39) travel to Beantown tonight to take on the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics (39-14).  No Damion James … yet. He’s going to the D-League to get some playing time during the All-Star break.

Here are a few keys to the game:

Catch the Celtics Napping: Because there’s no other way the Nets are walking out with a victory tonight, but stranger things have happened. Like the Nets beating the Celtics in Boston last year around this time.  It’s the last game before the All-Star break – maybe the Nets catch Boston’s veteran core looking ahead and steal a win.

Watch the Rookie on Garnett: Kevin Garnett – great player. Hall of Famer. Defensive stalwart. Bit of a jerk. Sure, fans of KG’s talk of his intensity, but the guy can just be a flat-out bully sometimes and with mild mannered Derrick Favors starting the game and coming off a flat performance against the Spurs, the rookie needs to hold his ground and find a way to get some quality minutes tonight, because he could be a heckuva learning experience if he manages to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the floor.

Take Advantage of the Middle: Shaquille O’Neal is most likely sitting tonight and though he’s not the defensive player he once was, this is still an opportunity for the Nets to try and get some points in the paint by feeding the ball to their man in the middle Brook Lopez. The Celtics are one of the best defensive teams on the planet, so you have to take every opening you get against them, no matter how small.

In the middle of his latest report on the Carmelo Anthony saga, Adrian Wojnarowski calls the hounds off of Mikhail Prokhorov but sharpens his knives instead for Avery Johnson, blaming the coach for two of the team’s troubled players they seemingly can’t get rid of:

The Hornets will likely be in pursuit of New Jersey Nets forward Troy Murphy(notes) once the Nets reach a buyout agreement with him after the trade deadline. Nets coach Avery Johnson made clear he didn’t want Murphy after the three-team trade that brought him from the Indiana Pacers. Trade talks have gone nowhere for Murphy, who has an expiring contract. Nets GM Billy King will ultimately work a buyout to free Murphy to sign elsewhere.

New Jersey’s Travis Outlaw(notes) – another overpriced summer signee at five years and $35 million – has been offered in deals, but there are no takers. Nets fans can thank Johnson for pushing that deal onto the franchise’s payroll.

Look, nobody’s a bigger Avery critic than I am, but even I think Woj is being unfair here. There was nothing obvious about Avery’s initial feelings about the Murphy deal. I think everyone inside the organization and out thought it would help the team in some way, but once Murphy got injured, there was a sense from the coach that Troy just wasn’t working hard enough to get back into game shape. True or not, if the player isn’t buying into the coach’s system, there’s going to be a conflict. As for Outlaw, very few people though the years and dollars made sense for the guy, but if he was being used properly – as an offensive sparkplug off the bench – instead of playing 35+ minutes a game with the starters, I think Outlaw’s flaws would be a lot less severe. Plus, it seems convenient of Woj to blame Avery both for having the clout to sign a player that no one else wanted, and then not having enough pull to stop a trade for a player he didn’t want in the first place. You can’t have it both ways.

Warning: Lyrics NSFW

Box Score – 48 Minutes of Hell – Pounding The Rock

So, you saw this coming too, right?

The Spurs are a better team, have played together much longer, employ a better coach (no disrespect to the Little General, but Pop is his mentor for a reason), and employ better basketball players. When this happens, the Nets usually lose. The Spurs are a storied franchise, one that is on the downside of the Tim Duncan era and yet is playing better than ever. The Nets saw a B+ game from the Spurs tonight and were completely overmatched by it. Though this game had its moments – Favors opened the Nets scoring with a nice-looking dunk, the Nets only turned the ball over six times – it was never really in doubt from the opening tip.

You know those people who say that Tim Duncan has lost a step? That his numbers have been trending steadily downwards, and have hit career-lows this year? Well, they’re right. But they weren’t last night. In the first half, we saw some vintage Tim Duncan. Numerous bank shots, post moves, and smart defensive plays that reminded me of the Tim Duncan I saw dismantle the Nets in the finals way back in those competitive Nets days. Duncan had a 15-8 in the first half – both above his season per-game averages – and coasted through the second half.

I know it’s said often, but it bears repeating: Manu Ginobili is crafty. It’s not just his left-handedness, but the way he attacks the basket. He finds incredible angles that no other player utilizes and uses the backboard as well as… well, Tim Duncan. He rode his slashing to 22 points, including two particularly nice and-1′s. Tony Parker also looked like the point guard we’d like Devin Harris to be: an extremely quick, efficient point that can fill up a stat sheet without having to bring his A game.

As for the Nets, Brook Lopez had his third double-double of the season, but it didn’t exactly come in an effective effort: he only scored 11 points on 16 shots and was the anchor of a team that was out-rebounded 50-39. Brook Lopez tied Travis Outlaw for the highest-scoring Nets, he too had 11 inefficient points on 4-13 shooting. Yes, you read that right: only two players on the Nets had more than ten points (Harris & Farmar each had ten).

Not one single Nets player had what you’d call a “good” night. Against the Spurs, I guess this should be expected. But watching Derrick Favors pile up four fouls in the first half, watching the starters shoot 31% from the floor, watching Quinton Ross play 20 minutes & Stephen Graham get playing time, this one felt particularly disheartening.

The Nets have played perhaps a dozen games like this in this season: a team that knows it’s not as good and plays up to its own standard. When faced with a contender – a legitimate contender – the Nets look more like an annoying pest than a real competitor. To these teams, the Nets are just another day at the office. I remember sitting courtside in December as the Celtics completely dismantled the Nets, watching Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce laze through 48 minutes and still win by 25. While I didn’t have the same vantage point with tonight’s game, the feel was the same – the Nets were just another group of players that a team came in to dismantle.

The NBA season for the Nets is now 56 games deep. They’re on pace to finish 25-57, which would be double the win total from last year. They’ll probably finish a little better, since the schedule the Nets are facing is much less strenuous in the second half. But it’s games like this that serve as a sobering reminder: The Nets just ain’t that good right now. They won’t be for a while.

What more can I say?

More thoughts after the jump.

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The Nets play the San Antonio Spurs tonight, who I hear are a pretty good basketball team. They have a 45-9 record, which seems pretty decent. The Spurs are also 20-7 on the road, while the Nets only have 17 wins on the entire season. Needless to say, tonight’s going to be a pretty tough matchup.

Forget what you thought about your older sibling’s Spurs. This team is a lot different than the defensive, grind-it-out championship teams of the early 2000s. Sure, they employ a lot of the same players, but their offense has undergone a transformation – the team is actually above the league average in pace, and they have the 3rd most efficient offense in the NBA. While Tim Duncan is still their best player and defensive anchor, the entire team is running on all cylinders around him – the Spurs have ten rotation players who would be solid contributors anywhere. The Nets can’t really say the same.

Here are some keys to tonight’s game:

Do more than just watch spot-up shooters…Put a hand up! The Nets were absolutely dismantled by the New York Knicks from outside, letting the Knicks shoot 34 three-pointers (making sixteen), and most of them were just wide open looks after the Nets either collapsed on the inside or just forgot they were playing basketball. The Spurs are no easier – between Ginobili, Parker, Matt Bonner, Richard Jefferson, George Hill, and rookie Gary Neal, the Spurs are the third-best team in the NBA spotting up. The Nets are normally a decent team at defending the spot-up – they’re 11th in the NBA – so let’s hope Saturday was just an aberration.

Go inside. Despite having Tim Duncan anchoring the inside, the Spurs are actually one of the worse teams in the NBA defending the post – just 24th in post defense. While Duncan is still great, he’s a little slower then he used to be and the rest of the bigs on San Antonio (Bonner, McDyess, Blair) are far from top-level post defenders. If the Nets can set up Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries inside, they should be able to work inside out and get some offense going.

Hey, anything is possible. For those of you who believe a victory against San Antonio would be impossible, I refer you to March 29, 2010. (For those of you who will point out that San Antonio was missing both Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker that game, allow me to just say… shhh.)

For more news & analysis on the San Antonio Spurs, check out TrueHoop affiliate 48 Minutes of Hell.

Nets Post-Up is a stream of consciousness post without editing. Luckily, the author can filter profanity, possesses excellent grammar, and isn’t lazy about spelling. Basically, he’s amazing.

On January 19, 2011, New Jersey Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov cut ties to any deal involving the Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony. It came as somewhat of a surprise considering how seemingly desperate the Nets were in order to acquire the prolific scorer in that the Nets would be giving up a lot for a player that, at that point, said he wanted to play for the New York Knicks along with Amar’e Stoudemire (and eventually, Chris Paul). Plus, it seemed that Prokhorov wanted a marketable player for the eventual move to Brooklyn.

So, with the ‘Melo mess behind the Nets, how has the team fared since? Before the proclamation of trade termination from Prokhorov, the Nets were sitting ugly at 10-31, an unimpressive .244 winning percentage.  Since January 19th, the Nets have gone 7-7 (.500) to up their record to 17-38 (.309). And, coincidentally, the Nuggets since this same period of time? A comparable 8-7. Who needs ‘Melo when you have some peace of mind knowing you’ll still be around?

Speaking of which, let’s take a look at the main player that would have gone away from the Nets and how he’s performed since.

Derrick Favors

Of course when we talk about any Nets player that could have been gone for ‘Melo, we have to start with Favors, the young talent the Nuggets were looking for. In the past 14 games, Favors averaged 21.6 minutes, 6.2 points on 44.4% shooting from the floor (36-81) and 60.0% from the free-throw line (15-25). He’s also pulled down 6.2 rebounds, blocked 1.2 shots and averaged 2.9 fouls. However, when you work that foul average per 48 minutes, Favors averages 6.4 personals, well above the number of fouls before having to leave the game.

In this 14 game span, Favors has only scored in double-digits once (12 on 1/19 vs. Utah Jazz) and grabbed double-digits boards only twice (11 on 2/2 vs. Philadelphia 76ers; 2/12 vs. New York Knicks). He’s scored only two points twice (1/26 vs. Memphis Grizzlies; 2/6 vs. Indiana Pacers) and scored only four points on three other occasions. He’s had a particular hard time shooting from the field in February (six games), going 11-for-37, a less than spectacular 29.7% success rate of putting the ball in the basket. It’s easily his worst shooting percentage month and subsequently, it’s also the worst scoring average month (4.7). But on the bright side, Favors is producing a season-high for a month in blocks (1.3) and bringing down a respectable 7.4 rebounds per.

I’d like to suggest that Favors hit a rookie wall, but he hasn’t played enough minutes to say that due to foul trouble! In all seriousness, it doesn’t look like Favors has gotten tired at all during the season as he always remains active, especially in the post. He just doesn’t get the ball enough and maybe he should. In the Nets’ last game versus the Knicks, Favors took 10 shots, which accounted for about 12.5% of his shots in the last 14 games. Sure he only made three of those 10 shots, but he kept moving and also grabbed 14 boards and almost ended up with a double-double, scoring nine points.

At this point, Favors is undoubtedly still a project and his team’s faith in him, by not shipping him off to Denver, hasn’t done anything to improve his production. In fact, Favors has fell off a bit. Perhaps, it’s goes from one worry (when will he be traded) to another (now there are expectations that need to be met) for Favors. It’s hard to tell with him as he’s basically stone-faced showing no emotion, which has been a complaint about Favors. So, what needs to be done in order for said expectations to be met?

How about some patience? Favors has shown enough flashes that he warrants some time. In fact, it’s not like the Nets have anything to play for other than pride. The team will let him make his mistakes (and he’s made them) as  part of his growth in the NBA and it will pay off… eventually. However, I do think it will be sooner rather than later. I know a lot of Nets fans are sick of hearing about the upside, but this is a young team, Favors is the youngest player in the NBA, and he’s one of those Southern people that need to catch up a little bit with the NY area lifestyle.

I’m still glad that we kept Favors and said no to ‘Melo.

While beat writers are trying to get Avery Johnson and Co. to talk some more about Carmelo Anthony, the Nets coach is focused on playing his former team and mentor tonight in Greg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs:

“I mean, my jersey’s retired in the AT&T Center. Pop means so much to me. Tim [Duncan] means so much to me. Peter Holt the owner. R.C. Buford the GM,” Johnson added. “We just go so far back and we’re still friends until this day. So it means a lot. Obviously, when the ball goes up, we’ll try to do our best to win the game, but Pop is my mentor and it’s going to be a pretty good night.”

There’s a lot of talk that the Nets have been emulating the Spurs in terms of organization-building. I’ll be curious to see how these two teams match-up tonight.

Landry Fields buries the Nets.

Box Score – KnickerBlogger – Posting & Toasting

I went into last night’s game with the hope that the Nets would finally get over the three-game winning streak hump. With Amare Stoudemire out with a sprained right big toe, I thought the game plan would be simple: work inside out, don’t turn the ball over, don’t settle for shots, and get out to the only weapon the Knicks still had – long-range shooters.

So much for that.

For what it’s worth, the Nets did (for the most part) look to work inside out last night – it just didn’t work too well. Devin Harris followed up an impressive game at Charlotte with an even more impressive one, attacking the rim with reckless abandon to the tune of 22 points. He also had his first game shooting over 50% with more than ten shots in the new year. Unfortunately, not much else worked: The Nets had eighteen turnovers, shot too many unnecessary midrange jumpers, and were absolutely torched by the Knicks from beyond the arc.

So who is to blame?

In short: everyone.

Blame the Nets’ interior offense for missing easy shots and dunks (Derrick Favors, I’m looking right at you). Blame the Nets’ wings for not closing out on perimeter shooters – ever – turning the game into 3-point target practice for the Knicks. Frankly, they missed more open threes than they should’ve. Blame Travis Outlaw for being an awful defender and decision-maker. With 5:11 in the final quarter and the Nets down one, Outlaw caught the ball on the right wing, drove into a double-team at the free throw line, stopped, pump-faked, spun around with nowhere to go, and fired a contested fourteen-foot airball that sent me into a Twitter seizure.

(Did I mention that Kris Humphries was wide open at the rim while the double-team came and Outlaw’s head was turned? Better question: did I really have to?)

Blame Brook Lopez for not going directly at Shawne Williams when the Knicks went small every single play. Blame Avery Johnson for not running sets to get Lopez the ball down low. Blame Anthony Morrow for missing jumpers off the dribble (although, with a 2-2 night, he re-takes the career 3-point percentage lead from Steve Kerr). Blame Johan Petro for… well, the usual.

Similarly, everyone is to blame for how well the Knicks shot last night. It wasn’t that they were making tough shots – they weren’t. It was that the Nets absolutely got shredded by the most prolific long-bomb attack they’ve seen all season, and showed the defensive awareness of a high school team. Out of 86 shots on 96 possessions, the Knicks took 34 three-pointers, tied for the second-most they’ve taken all season. I didn’t keep a count, but it’s a fair bet that almost every three-pointer the Knicks got last night was wide open, right up to the very last dagger: the Landry Fields corner three that was so uncovered he might as well have been shooting alone in his high school gym.

I don’t want to subject you to watching it again, so I won’t provide a video. But as someone who’s watched the play a half-dozen times since it happened, let me just say: it was never 100% clear who was supposed to be guarding Fields in the corner. At first it was Sasha, then it was Morrow, then Morrow slid up and commanded Humphries to take the assignment. Humphries, of course, came over to help on the layup attempt. Morrow, of course, did not slide down to help. Fields, of course, was wide open. And, of course, he drained it.

It also didn’t help that no one – not one Nets player – even made an attempt to help out on the perimeter on that play. Morrow’s head was turned around, Sasha and Brook were out of position, Devin and Hump just stared as Landry sealed their fate.

It was the perfect end to the perfect failure.

More thoughts after the jump.

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On the strength of two wins over the New Orleans Hornets and Charlotte Bobcats, the New Jersey Nets (17-37) host the New York Knicks (26-26) tonight at the Prudential Center. Here are a few keys to the game:

Three in a row: The three-game win streak has been a largely elusive accomplishment for the Nets this year, and the Knicks will pose a tough challenge to getting there tonight. The Knicks are not as good as they appear to be, thanks to the New York hype machine, but Amare Stoudemire & Co. still have the talent to put up big points. The Nets defense will need to stiffen up and contain the Knicks’ scoring, as they can’t afford to get involved in a barn burner with the Knicks

Devin Harris and Brook Lopez: Harris and Lopez were finally the leaders their team needs them to be last night against the Bobcats, shouldering the load offensively. Harris had 16 points and 8 assists, and Brook Lopez had 31 points and 11 rebounds. If they can continue to play cohesive basketball, the Nets’ performance will improve as a result.

Derrick Favors on Amare Stoudemire: Favors will have one of his toughest tests on defense so far this season, as he will likely match up against Stoudemire. So far this year, Favors’ second foul in the first quarter has been a virtual guarantee, so let’s see if he can play straight-up defense and contain Amare without fouling to show the team and fans what he’s capable of as a defender.

Note: After this pregame thread was added, we learned that Amar’e will be out tonight with a sprained right big toe. – DK