Nets Are Scorching

Final Stats: 73 G, 18 GS, 24.6 MPG,  9.6 PPG, 5.0 APG, 2.3 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 39% FG, 36% 3PG, 82% FT, 14.11 PER

Though the field goal percentage left a lot to be desired for a guy who was on the court for nearly half the game, you really couldn’t ask for more from Jordan Farmar given what he was brought to New Jersey to do. After the organization seemingly struggled for years to find stability at the back-up PG, Farmar provided it, first giving Avery Johnson ample time to rest the oft-injured Devin Harris, and then once Deron Williams was brought aboard, serving as a change-of-pace back-up and SG component in two guard sets.

But there are some things about the numbers that lie. Despite averaging 5 assists per game (and nearly 10 assists per 48 minutes), I would have liked to see Farmar look to create more, especially in the pick and roll game where he almost exclusively ignored his roll-mate and instead looked to shoot threes from  the top of the key.  He hit some big ones, no question, but there was obviously a reason why he seemed to fall out of favor with Phil Jackson and Los Angeles, who’s triangle offense did not seem to mesh with Farmar’s necessity to shoot to be involved in the game (a 21.8 usage rate seems a bit high for a back-up PG who is also used in two PG sets).

The Pink Shirt: For a Nets team still trying to prove that they were going to be better than last year’s 12-win campaign, Farmar was unexpectedly shoved into a major role on November 15 in Los Angeles, when Devin Harris was ejected in the second quarter for a flagrant foul on Blake Griffin. Farmar calmly stepped in, scoring 15 points and collecting 12 assists for the short-handed Nets, securing their first west coast road victory in what seemed like an eternity (but was actually about a season-and-a-half).

The Paper Bag: In a flip-flop of his pink shirt moment, Farmar scuffled on March 9 against the Golden State Warriors when Deron Williams was out attending the birth of his child. Yes, the Nets won the game against a bad opponent, but this stat line from Farmar was becoming commonplace once he started getting some spot starts in the second half of the season: 4 points on 2-10 shooting, including 0-5 from 3PG. The assists (9) were nice, but Farmar would go on to shoot 50 percent or better only 3 more times in his next 11 games with Deron Williams fighting a wrist injury.

Final Thoughts: I haven’t been shy about my thoughts on Farmar. With Deron Williams hopefully a fixture at PG going forward, a back-up PG like Farmar becomes unnecessary. I personally hope another team looks at Farmar’s three-point shooting and assists numbers and ignores his 21.8 usage rate and his overall field goal percentage.  That way, the Nets could unload Farmar’s remaining salary, keep Sundiata Gaines and Ben Uzoh as cost effective back-ups for DWill, who will hopefully be able to play about 35 minutes a game next season.

Grade: B

Yesterday, ESPN reported that Zach Randolph and the Grizzlies agreed to a 4-year, $71 million extension. It was to be expected after Randolph had another All-Star season as he lead the Grizzles into the playoffs.

What does this mean for the Nets? Zach Randolph was certainly on New Jersey’s radar, but now that both Randolph and David West (injured ACL) are out of the free agent picture, Kris Humphries is arguably the best free agent power forward on the market. A lack of other power forward alternatives could cripple the Nets’ leverage in negotiating with Humphries & agent Dan Fegan. Hopefully, the Nets don’t get into a bidding war for Humphries’ services.

On a somber note, despite the Nets doubling their win total from last season, the team was still last in the league in TV ratings. The Nets had a 0.29 rating for YES network, which is about one-third of one percent of New York households. Ouch.

For those of you who want to remember the exciting moments of this past season, the NBA has a list of the Nets’ top nine games in 10-11.

After the completion of a wild New Jersey Nets season, Nets are Scorching will be looking back at the players that made it happen.

Final Stats: 59 GP, 28 GS, 16.3 MPG, 3.4 PPG, 0.7 APG, 2.1 (0.3-1.8) RPG, 0.2 SPG, 0.0BPG, 40.5 FG%, 23.8 3P%, 81.6 FT%, 4.41 PER

Stephen Graham managed to obtain a sizable role on the Nets despite negligible statistical contributions as a result of the team’s many injuries and his puzzling reputation as a defensive stopper. In fact, Graham started almost twice as many games for the Nets this past season (28) as he started in the rest of his career combined (15).

As you can see from that awful PER, Graham is completely absent on offense. He has one shot: the 18- to 20-foot jumper (pictured above), and he didn’t even make that with regularity. In fact, it was more troubling when he did make one, as it always gave him the confidence to take many, many more. As for the defense that he was supposed to be good at, it didn’t work out. Graham, time after time, found himself getting blown by when matched up with the league’s better players, and he had no appreciable effect on team defense either.

The Pink Shirt: Oddly enough, Graham played very well against the Bulls this year. In the three games against Chicago in which Graham appeared, he averaged 12.6 points on 16-of-28 shooting. One wouldn’t really expect Graham to do that against any team, let alone the defensive-minded Bulls, so let that be a feather in his cap for this season.

The Paper Bag: There’s no debate about this one. Anthony Morrow’s highlight and Graham’s lowlight came on the same day. After Morrow sent the December 1 game against the Thunder to OT by hitting a miraculous running three-pointer at the buzzer, Graham had to muck that up. At the end of the second OT period, with the Nets up 3, the Thunder inbounded to Jeff Green. Graham, trying to foul on the floor to avoid giving the Thunder the game-tying opportunity, fouled Green in the act of shooting, giving him three free throws, all of which he sunk. Westbrook then exploded in the third OT, and the Nets lost. Watch it here:

Final Thoughts: Graham is virtually guaranteed to be gone next season, and, if nothing else, he gave Nets fans some chuckles. He’ll really have to work to find a contract from here on out, as he won’t get by just on talent. He’s saved from an F because he didn’t have a contractual impact on the team.

Grade: D-

After the completion of a wild New Jersey Nets season, Nets are Scorching will be looking back at the players that made it happen.

Final Stats: 65 GP, 65 GS, 38.0 MPG, 20.1 PPG, 10.3 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 45.8 FG%, 34.5 3P%, 85.3 FT%, 21.19 PER

After being subjected to nearly a season worth of Carmelo Anthony trade rumors, Nets fans were rewarded on February 23, when the Nets acquired one of the NBA’s top point guards, Deron Williams. Almost immediately the story turned to: “Will Williams re-sign with the Nets longterm, before his contract is up in 2012?” And while those concerns are still out there, in the short term we got to see some brilliant point guard play.

His time with the Nets was not all gravy however, as a nagging wrist injury kept Williams out of a lot of games, and hindered his shooting. Since the season has finished, Williams has had successful surgery to repair that wrist. We’ve also heard reports of Williams giving the Nets franchise his seal of approval, which are signs for optimism. Getting him to commit long term will only help in our future financial planning, and could go a long way in the recruitment of future talent.

The Pink Shirt: All great point guards are expected to make the players around them better, and Deron Williams certainly did that. (See: Early Benefactors of Deron Williams). But when we got DWill, we knew we were also getting a player not afraid to take the big shot. In 12 games with the Nets, he didn’t have a ton of chances for big moments, however, I had to go with the back breaking three-pointer DWill hit against the Celtics capping off a five-game winning streak, which, gave us one of the great moments in Nets fans’ history. I’ll let the video speak for itself:

The Paper Bag: After beating the Celtics and riding our five-game winning streak, the Nets were set to face the Bulls and their MVP favorite point guard Derrick Rose. With a chance to make a huge statement, Deron Williams well…didn’t. He put up a clunker: 1 for 12 shooting, five points, four turnovers and an overall -12 in a Nets 84-73 loss. He also seemed to have a hard time dealing with Rose’s on ball defense.

Final Thoughts: The acquisition of Deron Williams has been a breath of fresh air to our franchise. Re-signing Deron Williams is THE absolute priority for this franchise moving forward, and all subsequent moves hinge on it.

Grade: A-

With the season ending on a low note, much of what Nets fans have to look forward to is the carnival known as free agency. Seven players that ended the season on the roster will be free agents once the playoffs are over. Yahoo Sports has the inside scoop on who could potentially return and who is a goner.

Kris Humphries is tagged as the main focus of the re-signing process. Avery Johnson is keen on Humphries’ return to the team. As for the other players, it is possible that none of them return. According to the report, Stephen Graham, Dan Gadzuric, and Ben Uzoh are definitely gone. Depending on how the Nets’ search for a free agent wing works out, Sasha Vujacic could be brought back. If the Nets can get Brandan Wright at a reasonable price, expect them to sign him. Mario West will probably be invited to training camp.

I have mixed feelings about this news. It’s great to hear that Graham and Gadzuric are gone. However, I feel that dropping Uzoh is a bad decision. This means (and confirms) that Jordan Farmar is truly part of the “core.” Farmar’s the Playstation 2: it can do its job, but became expendable once the Xbox 360 (re: Deron Williams) was bought.

While I definitely agree with re-signing Humphries on a reasonable deal, I don’t think that any of those other guys should be back. You can make a case for Wright’s return because of his youth, but Vujacic is a glorified chucker and West is Quinton Ross 2.0. Let’s hope that the Nets don’t have to resort to signing any of these guys ever again, save Humphries.

After the completion of a wild New Jersey Nets season, Nets are Scorching will be looking back at the players that made it happen.

Final Stats: 58 G, 47 GS, 32.0 MPG, 13.2 PPG, 1.2 APG, (0.6-2.3) 3.0 RPG, 0.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 45.0 FG%, 42.3 3P%, 89.7 FT%, 113 ORtg, 12.1 PER

Morrow is one of the greatest perimeter shooters in the game today. Is that a statement overrating a player, especially when you consider he only scores about 13 points a game instead of 20? All I’d have to retort is, “Have you seen him shoot?” Morrow’s jumper, particularly from three-point range, is a thing of beauty and just about automatic if he’s open. Sure there are limitations to his game, such as attacking the rim with the rock, that doesn’t allow Morrow to drop twenty a night, but that jumper!

I’ve seen him take 20 shots straight from the corner behind the arc during pre-game warm-ups… and he made all 20. But, while that clearly is a nice spot for his shot, dude makes it rain from all over the court!

The Pink Shirt: Despite it being a Nets loss, Morrow’s three-point shot versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on December 1, 2010 to tie the game in regulation was high drama. The Nets entered the fourth quarter trailing 71-62 with the Thunder having just outscored the Nets 27-13 in the third quarter. The Nets made a run in the fourth and clawed back to within three points of the Thunder. With 1.5 seconds left in the game, Morrow produced a beautiful step-through, one-footed stroke to hit the trey and tie the game. Re-live the moment.

The Paper Bag: I can’t come up with anything substantial for this category considering Morrow doesn’t hold the ball much and his defense isn’t noteworthy. Like to the rest of the NBA and its general fans, Morrow is kind of under-the-radar. When he does great, no one (outside of Nets fans of course) really retains it to memory. When he does bad, same thing, including for Nets fans. So, since I need to say something, I’ll say it’s whenever he’s not on the court to drop Js.

Final Thoughts: Morrow isn’t a complete offensive force. Clearly he’s one-dimensional here – set, receive, stroke from outside. Oh, and hear the splash of twine. Morrow is an excellent complementary player that will create space for post players and make slack lay-back defenders pay. He was recently named one of the five core players for the Nets and that distinction is well-deserved. A full, healthy season with Deron Williams dropping the dime will make Morrow shine, but still keep the skies cloudy with a chance of rain for opposing teams.

Grade: B+

AP Photo/Bill Koustron

Winning

In every movie, you have the Brad Pitt or the Nicholas Cage who is in all the fighting scenes, gets the attractive female, and saves the day. You also have the stage crew, the extras, and the minor characters that are kind of just “there.”

In a 24-win season, multiple players stand out as terrible and few stand out as exceptional. However, there are always those who don’t stand out at all. Last season, the whole team was either terrible or nondescript, save for Brook Lopez. This season was primed to have tons of nondescript contract year guys. Outside of Lopez & Travis Outlaw, every player was injured at some point, causing the Nets to suit up an NBA season-high 22 players. While tons of Nets were bad (Outlaw, Johan Petro, Stephen Graham), four stood out (or I guess didn’t stand out) as the background characters.

Mario West

Final Stats: 6 GP, 3 GS, 19.3 MPG, 3.7 PPG, 1.7 APG, 1.8 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 0.0 BPG, 42.9 FG%, 9.10 PER (yes, higher than Outlaw)

West was brought in mainly because Quinton Ross was injured. That should tell you enough. The guy was brought in on a 10-day contract just like Sundiata Gaines and made the most of it. The Nets got some tenacious defense, most notably against LeBron and his Heatles, and got a guy who never stopped trying. While West isn’t the most talented of players, he has heart and sometimes that’s enough for a player to get somewhere in the NBA. He demonstrated that he can be a decent “Trenton Hassell” off of the bench by playing 19.3 minutes per game this season before injuring his shoulder.

Dan Gadzuric

Final Stats: GP 14, GS 5 (WHAT!), 11.8 MPG, 2.8 PPG, 0.2 APG, 3.5 RPG, 0.2 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 41.5 FG%, 9.2 PER (once again, higher than Outlaw)

Gadzuric was brought in from Golden State with Brandan Wright in exchange for Troy Murphy. He was, in a word, bad. There was absolutely no reason why Gadzuric should have started 5 games over Wright or even Petro. However, he was an Avery Johnson type of player (some faulty reputation as a good defender, and you can start!). From a front office standpoint, Gadzuric was a pretty large expiring contract at 7.2 million for this season. On the court, Gadzuric didn’t really bring anything to the table. Despite the occasional dunk, he couldn’t really do much on offense. Despite the occasional hustle play, he was useless on defense. It is unlikely that he ever finds a job in the NBA ever again. Yet, he was starting on this team for a couple of weeks. Remind me why I still watched these games after Deron Williams and Hump went down?

Quinton Ross

Final Stats: GP 36, GS 4, 9.8 MPG, 1.6 PPG, 0.3 APG, 0.8 RPG, 0.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 44.1 FG %, 3.71 PER (I guess Outlaw had to beat someone)

The Nets should have just signed Trenton Hassell at this point. Ross is infamously known as one of the least efficient players in the league. Why is this? Because when he goes on the court, well, he doesn’t really do anything. His PER of 3.71 only slightly beats last year (3.04, league low). While he was a good defender, he would have to play at an All-Defense team level in order to justify scoring 7 points per 40 minutes. Ross had an unfortunate shoulder injury late in the season and that probably will doom his chances of making an NBA roster next season.

Brandan Wright

Final Stats: GP 16, GS 1, 11.5 MPG, 3.6 PPG, 0.4 APG, 3.0 RPG, 0.5 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 40.7 FG%, 15.5 PER

Ah, and we reach Brandan Wright. Wright is definitely the most interesting character on this list. He’s like a poor man’s Anthony Randolph, a rail-thin, abused Don Nelson victim who has finishing skills, can run the floor, and has all the talent in the world. For this reason (and the fact that he was once a lottery pick), Wright became as close to a fan favorite as he could have. However, I don’t think that this was justified. While Avery probably shouldn’t have started Gadzuric this season, Wright was basically a rookie. He’s played in 114 games over 3 seasons. He looks completely lost at times on both ends of the floor. Despite being athletic, he can’t create for himself at all. He’s practically the same player he was on the fateful day in which Jason Richardson was traded for him. At this point, I don’t think Wright can amount to much due to the fact that he’s too raw for his age. Coaches have short leashes for 23 year olds that still can’t rotate (the one game he started, he played 3 minutes after letting Erick Dampier go ballistic inside). Still, Wright is athletic and has some promise. He’ll probably find his way onto another team next season.

Here at Nets are Scorching, we’re always looking to give you the best take on the New Jersey Nets you’ll find anywhere. Because of that, we’ve added another great writer to our team.

Vivek Netrakanti has been a die-hard Nets fan for his entire life. Originally, he wrote on another Nets blog called Whoop-De-Damn-Do. He still dreams about the glory days in the early 2000s and is excited to break down the New Jersey Nets here at Nets are Scorching. He is also a fan of the New York Yankees (mwahaha) and the New York Giants. Feel free to contact him at vnetrakanti@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @vnetrakanti.

Vivek’s first article will be up later today, so be sure to check it out!