Before looking, guess who’s #1.
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…Okay, you can look now. But not to worry – if you don’t, here’s a hint courtesy of James Herbert:
Thanks, James.
/continues to drown self
The Nets have granted John Loyer, highly regarded as one of the best assistants in the game, an interview with the Detroit Pistons. Recently, the Pistons hired former Nets coach Lawrence Frank as their head coach, and Frank originally hired Loyer three years ago. He clearly feels that Loyer could help a failing Pistons roster.
The Nets have already lost Larry Krystkowiak and could lose Sam Mitchell if the Timberwolves hire him as their head coach. Statistically, losing assistants is not a major thorn in a team’s side, but I hope this isn’t a trend for such an inexperienced & fluctuating New Jersey roster.
Bojan Bogdanovic did not score until the 9:37 mark of the final quarter, and finished with just 4 points on 2-7 shooting as Greece eliminated Croatia from Group C play with a 74-69 victory. Croatia fought back from a 20-point deficit, cutting the lead to just 2 late in the fourth, but were unable to take the lead away.
For the first three quarters, Bogdanovic looked nothing like the player who tore apart Finland to kick off this tournament: he missed open shots, showed little effort on defense, did not box out, and looked unfocused and uninterested in creating opportunities. While he showed a little more in the fourth, making some good cuts to the basket and getting a key steal in a Croatian run, he continued to miss open looks from deep and couldn’t make enough of an impact to change the game’s outcome.
This is hugely disappointing for Croatia, a team expected to advance beyond the preliminaries, and the Nets, who expected Avery Johnson, Gregg Polinsky, & co. to catch Bogdanovic in person in the second round.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 16 points but shot just 3-11 from the field, and Bosnia-Hergezovina rode the hot hands of Mirza Teletovic and Henry Domercant to upset Croatia, 92-80.
Bogdanovic looked excellent attacking the basket, forcing the defense to react, drawing six fouls, and hitting all ten of his free throws. Despite a number of open looks from beyond the arc, Bogdanovic missed all five of his attempts from deep. For the second straight game, he looked off defensively – he was easily beat to spots by the more athletic Domercant and was not a particularly willing help defender.
Croatia dropped to 2-2 in Group C play, and are now tied with Bosnia-Hergezovina going into the final games of the preliminary round. Oddly, Croatia’s loss vastly improves the chances that 1-3 Finland advances – they’ve got a better point differential than Croatia & Bosnia-Herzegovina, and play the 1-3 Montenegro team tomorrow.
While their game against the 3-1 Greece tomorrow isn’t technically a “must-win,” it might as well be: if they lose and either Finland or Bosnia-Herzegovina (playing 3-1 Macedonia) wins, they would automatically be eliminated.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored just six points – all in the first half – and sat nearly the entire fourth quarter as Croatia defeated Montenegro in game 3 of the FIBA Eurobasket preliminary round, 87-81. Bogdanovic sat for the final eight minutes as Croatia maintained their lead with a barrage of three-pointers and shots inside from center Ante Tomic. Tomic led Croatia with 26 points and 8 rebounds.
It’s unclear why head coach Josip Vranković left Bogdanovic on the bench during crunch time – there were no signs of injury or contempt, and his scoring touch could’ve proved useful. But Croatia got big help in the way of seven three-pointers from bench player Marco Popovic, and improved to 2-1 in Group C play.
Croatia plays next tomorrow at 2 P.M. against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Bojan Bogdanovic missed a potential game-winning three-pointer as time expired, and Macedonia rode a balanced attack to an upset over Croatia in FIBA Eurobasket, 78-76.
For much of the second half, Bogdanovic seemed left out of the offense – while he worked as the primary option against Finland, he often hung around the corners without much to show for it today. The final shot, Bogdanovic’s only attempt in the fourth quarter, came after a whirlwind of teammates passed up good looks and clanked off the back of the rim as the horn sounded. Bogdanovic finished with just 11 points on 4-8 shooting, making 3 of 4 attempts from beyond the arc. Additionally, his defense today was spotty at best – head coach Josip Vrankovic often put Bogdanovic on smaller, quicker players, and he was unable to keep up with their drives to the basket.
Croatia takes on Montenegro next on Saturday at 2 P.M.
Nets draftee Bojan Bogdanovic will try to build on yesterday’s 27-point performance as Croatia takes on Macedonia in a FIBA Eurobasket preliminary round today at 2 P.M. The game is freely available for online stream on WatchESPN (formerly ESPN3).
Macedonia lost its first Eurobasket game 70-65 against Montenegro yesterday.
That look sums it up.
In our final run at the greatest Nets by position, Mark & I rank the worst historical position for New Jersey: the good ol’ man in the middle. There are some good players here, and that’s about as nice as I can be.
Without further ado:
5. Sam Bowie
(told you.)
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