Top 08-09 Moments: Devin Harris’ Half Court Heave Against Philly
May 13, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, Devin Harris, Top 08-09 Moments, Videos
With the offseason continuing and stuff slowing down, every once in a while I am going to posting some of the top moments from the past season.
This in my opinion is the play of the year. Snoop Dogg thinks so too. It is such a crazy play, no real explanation can do it justice. Just watch and remember, this was to win the game.
Devin Harris Not Named Most Improved Player
May 12, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, 2009 Offseason, Devin Harris, Sucks
Earlier, I mentioned that Devin Harris might not win Most Improved Player when I talked about how Brook got snubbed for the second time. Apparently there is a reverse-bias towards the New Jersey Nets. I guess whatever happens in Jersey should be ignored huh? I thought that it just might have been the pessimist in me, but apparently my instincts were right because it is being reported that the Pacers have scheduled a press confrence for Tuesday. I really doubt that they are going to hold a press conference to announce that Danny Granger came in second place.
I don’t know, Granger did improve and turn into a star (and believe me, this post isn’t designed to take any credit from him), but in my opinion Devin Harris improved much more this year. At the end of last year, Granger was a budding star, everyone knew what he was capable of, and it was pretty much assumed that he would be an All-Star this year. Nobody was really expecting an All-Star year from Devin Harris, and that is what he produced. In my opinion, the numbers also showed that Harris improved more (Even though it is tough to quantify).
Danny Granger:
- 07-08 PPG – 19.6
- 08-09 PPG – 25.8
- 07-08 RPG – 6.1
- 08-09 RPG – 5.1
- 07-08 APG – 2.1
- 08-09 APG – 2.7
Devin Harris:
- 07-08 PPG – 15.4
- 08-09 PPG – 21.3
- 07-08 RPG – 3.3
- 08-09 RPG – 3.3
- 07-08 APG – 6.5
- 08-09 APG – 6.9
Looking at the numbers, you notice that Danny Granger’s rebounding numbers went down! Also in my opinion when you look at the term “Most Improved” one has to look at what your team expects from you vs. what they get. Over at Indiana, everyone knew that Granger was going to be the man. He is basically their only scoring option, and his team went in expecting an increase in scoring. With Devin Harris, the Nets would have never told you that they were expecting Devin Harris to be the leading scorer.
I don’t know, I guess I am just venting, but still Devin Harris should have won the award in my opinion.
Top 08-09 Moments: Vince Carter’s Buzzer Beating Dunk vs. Raptors
May 11, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, Top 08-09 Moments, Updates, Videos, Vince Carter
With the offseason continuing and stuff slowing down, every once in a while I am going to posting some of the top moments from the past season.
This play is from the same game where Vince hit the buzzer beater to send the game into overtime, and despite Lawrence Frank’s usual boring play calling towards the end of games this one was actually quite good. A great play where Vince sets the pick and the rolls off of it for a wide open alley-oop. Awesome play.
This is the only post you are going to get from me today. Sorry for the slowdown in activity the past couple of days, but we will be back on a daily schedule tomorrow.
Top 08-09 Moments: Vince Carter’s Three Pointer Against The Raptors
May 8, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, Top 08-09 Moments, Videos, Vince Carter
With the offseason continuing and stuff slowing down, every once in a while I am going to posting some of the top moments from the past season.
This moment is brought to you by Vince Carter. Not only is it a huge buzzer beater to send the game into overtime (where we get another top moment), but it is against the Raptors, VC’s original team. That had to feel great, I mean just look at his reaction at the end:
2008-2009 Season Review: The Rookies – Chris Douglas-Roberts
Apr 24, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Rookies
Welcome to the season review series. Here we will be taking a look back at a few themes of the season and evaluate them. In our final edition of the rookie reviews, we are going to be taking a look at Chris Douglas Roberts.
The Nets drafted CDR with the 40th pick of the night (10 pick in the second round), while many had him as a first rounder, he dropped all the way into the second round and the Nets snatched him up.
Despite not playing too much (he only appeared in 44 games averaging 13.3 MPG), I think CDR showed great promise during his rookie season. We aren’t going to look at his stats, because he didn’t really play enough for them to show us anything.
The two things that I noticed is he is very unorthodox and he can play some serious D. When I say unothodox, I mean that when he is out there playing he is all herky-jerky and just doesn’t really look smooth (For example, how he prefers jumpers off the dribble leaning in rather than catch and shot opportunities). Many people will watch him play and think that he doesn’t know what he is doing out there, but everyone around the Nets praise CDR for this basketball IQ (You can also tell that it is high just by watching him play). All of this factors into why I compared him to Shawn Marion before the season started, and I still think that comparison fits him.
As for his defense, the last couple games showed that CDR can match up with other teams best players and stop them. The best example of this was the Nets’ game against the Pistons (Who were still trying to clinch a playoff birth, so they had their starters in the whole night) late in the year. CDR got the start and he was matched up against Rip Hamilton. Rip Hamilton is one of the toughest covers in the NBA because he runs off of so many screens it’s silly, but CDR stuck with him and forced Rip into an off night. Hamilton only scored 10 points (3 from the line and 1 three on a brilliantly executed play) on 3-9 shooting.
As for what CDR needs to work on, it is tough to say because he saw so little action no team really went out there to exploit his weaknesses. I would say he needs to bulk up a tad this offseason. People don’t really seem to notice that he is a big kid (6-6) and putting some muscle on that frame would make him a scary player. He could also work on his shooting, as he plays more and more in the league, he is going to need to find other ways to score rather than lay-ups and lean in jumpers.
Depending on how the offseason pans out, I can see CDR competing with Ryan Anderson for the starting 3-spot (This is if Vince Carter moves to the 2). At the start of the season, I see CDR being our 2nd man off the bench right behind Keyon Dooling.
Rod Thorn Season Wrap Up Interview & Roster Breakdown
Apr 23, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, 2009 Offseason, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Front Office, Josh Boone, Nets In The Media, Rod Thorn, Videos, Vince Carter, Yi
So I got an interesting e-mail in my inbox last night, it was a couple links to a video interview and Rod Thorn’s breakdown of the roster. Here is the video, you can also find it on the Nets’ official website:
I know that it is a long one, but I urge you guys to watch the whole thing. It was interesting to hear Thorn discuss all these topics. The most interesting thing I picked up from this video was around the 7 minute mark. Here, Thorn was asked about the potential free agency pool, and while he can’t mention anyone by name (NBA rule) it seemed like Thorn went out of his way to call the pool “average”. Now this is true, there aren’t any big names coming out, but after hearing this video, I don’t expect to see anyone new joining the roster besides the rookies (A complete change from last year). This is a real smart move on Thorn’s part though, because the Nets are in a position where they want to save money (whether they admit it or not) and now Thorn is making an excuse not to spend this offseason (even though it is somewhat valid) that isn’t the money. That way Thorn doesn’t come off as cheap to the fans.
Now this isn’t all we got from Thorn. He also wen’t down the roster one-by-one and made a little statement about each one of them. You can find the whole thing here, but I am just going to post and comment on a few of these.
Rod Thorn On Vince:
“I think Vince had a tremendous year, both on the court and in the locker room. I think he was a very positive influence on our younger players with his support. And there are very few guys in this league who can average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, so you have to give him credit. I think he had a great year.”
Every statement that Rod Thorn has made about Vince as of late has been very lovey-dovey. It is starting to become obvious that VC will be a Net next year unless some team makes us an offer we can’t refuse on draft day.
Rod Thorn On CDR:
“Give Chris a lot of credit; he hardly played at all at the beginning of the year, but continued to work hard, got better and when his time came, he took advantage of it. he’s as confident as anybody on our team, he’s got deceiving size: he doesn’t look as big as he is. When he goes to the bucket, he’s got great finish on his drive game. An improving shooter, and I think he’s got a good future.”
High praise for CDR here. I like how Thorn talks about his height, what I read from this statement is that Thorn would like to see CDR get time at the 3 next year. If this is true you can see the Nets drafting a 4 this year. Sorry DeMar DeRozan fans (I am not one of these by the way).
Rod Thorn On Yi:
“Yi had his ups and downs early. Right before he got hurt, he was playing his best ball of the year. He can shoot the ball, he’s athletic and can run the court. He needs to work, needs to just play more, and add strength.”
Rod keeps this one short and sweet. Now I know he can’t just flat out say that he made a mistake with this trade, but you have to believe that is what he is thinking now-a-days.
Rod Thorn On Josh Boone:
“Josh was kind of up and down, had some real good moments, some not-so-good. Athletic, good hands, nice feel for the game, understands how to play. Needs to work on his shot obviously, his free throws and really get himself in top condition.”
This is the most negative Thorn was in these comments. Again maybe I am looking too much into it (or maybe I want it to happen so bad I am taking everything to mean it), but I think what Thorn says here is just screaming “Boone isn’t getting the job done and we need to draft a 4 this year!” But hey, maybe that is the conspiracy theorist in me.
Tags: 2008-2009 Season Review, 2009 Offseason, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Front Office, Josh Boone, NBA, Nets In The Media, NJ Nets, Rod Thorn, Videos, Vince Carter, Yi
2008-2009 Season Review: The Rookies – Ryan Anderson
Apr 22, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, Rookies, Ryan Anderson
All this Lawrence Frank talk has got me off track, well now we are back on track…Welcome to the season review series. Here we will be taking a look back at a few themes of the season and evaluate them. In our second edition of the rookie reviews, we are going to be taking a look at Ryan Anderson.
If you would have told me that Ryan Anderson was going to start 30 games for the Nets this year, I would have been surprised. Not because I didn’t like him as a player, but when he was drafted last year with the 21st selection, I pictured Ryan Anderson as more of a Steve Novak/Jason Kapono type of player. Someone who would come in, shoot some threes, and come out.
However that wasn’t the case, Ryan showed a more complete game than anyone thought he had this year, and for the final 30 games he was starting as our 4 (some of it was due to the poor play of Yi, but Ryan played well enough to earn the starts).
In his 19.9 minutes per game, Anderson averaged 7.4 PPG and 4.7 RPG, but what impressed me most was his ability to improve his ball handling throughout the year. Now he is far from being a great ball handler, but if you look at his early games where he would catch, face, and either shoot or pass you can tell that he has come a long way in that department.
Ryan is a tweener and can play either the 3/4 but he has weaknesses in both spots. If he were to play the 3, he is a little too slow to cover the quicker wing type players and when he plays the 4, most nights his lack of size leads to mismatches. In my opinion, he needs to either work on his speed or his strength this offseason so he can break out of that tweener mold and have a set position. I personally would love to see him playing the three next year that way we could have Vince Carter move back to the 2 (But this all depends on who we draft, if we draft a 3, Ryan will see most of his time at the 4 again this year).
Tags: NBA, NJ Nets, Rookies, Ryan Anderson
2008-2009 Season Review: The Rookies – Brook Lopez
Apr 21, 2009 2008-2009 Season Review, Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Rookies, Ryan Anderson
Welcome to the season review series. Here we will be taking a look back at a few themes of the season and evaluate them. In this first edition we will be talking about the Nets rookies.
Yes I am going to be using this picture every time I mention these three rookies. The Nets’ rookies were a real bright spot this season. All three made significant contributions during the year (Brook Lopez throughout the season/Ryan Anderson towards the second half of the season/CDR towards the tail-end of the season), which is something that usually doesn’t happen (especially when you got a second rounder thrown in there). I am going to be looking at them one by one. In this post, I am going to be looking at Brook Lopez.
Brook Lopez
Brook Lopez is every one’s number two Rookie of the Year this year. I knew he was going to be a great player, but I thought it was going to take a year or two. False. Brook has been a dominant force on both ends of the court. In my mind he is a franchise type center.
Lets look at his numbers.
- Brook played in every Nets’ game and averaged 30.5 Minutes Per Game. Brook scored 13.0 PPG (11th among NBA centers/6th among rookies) and averaged 8.1 RPG (14th among NBA centers/2nd among rookies). Add in his 1.8 BPG (9th among all NBA players) and you have the complete package.
What he did well?
- He didn’t foul. Brook only averaged 3.1 fouls per game. With a guy who gets as many blocks as Brook did (especially as a rookie) this is a great thing. Compare this to Greg Oden, the guy who was supposed to be the defensive stopper among rookies. Greg had 3.9 fouls per game in about 10 minutes less time. In terms of blocks per foul, Brook averaged 1.02 blocks per foul. Greg Oden had 0.45 blocks per foul. This can be attributed to his knowledge of the game, solid footwork, and fantastic timing.
- He was fantastic from the line. Yes, I said fantastic. Brook shot 79.3% from the line (10th among NBA centers).
What he needs to improve on:
- Crashing the offensive boards. Of his 8.1 rebounds per game, only 2.7 are on the offensive side. If he gets that number up to around 3.5 or 4, it would be fantastic. Now I think this comes with experience. The more shots you see go up, the better you will be at reading the bounces off the rim. He can also spend some time this offseason watching some tape and seeing how defenders boxed him out this year, then he can work on some techniques that will help him grab more boards.
- He needs to expand his range. Let’s take a look at his shot chart.
- Brook was 333-549 from right under the basket. Which is real good, but look at the number of shot attempts he got away from the basket. He only took 303 (35% of his shots) attempts away from the basket, and only hit 106 of them (34.9%). If I can pick up on this, teams are going to be able to as well. Teams are not going to let him catch it as deep as he has been, and they will try to force him to make his catches farther away from the basket. This offseason I really want to see Brook expand his range. I am not even talking foul line extended, I am talking like 8-10 foot range (Think Yao), and if he does that, he will be pretty hard to cover.
The outlook for next year
Brook has the ability to become a 20-10 guy next year, and that is no exaggeration. I really think that this will happen. Over the year Brook has displayed a work ethic that shows me he will work hard this upcoming season to improve the flaws in his game.
Tags: Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts, NBA, NJ Nets, Rookies, Ryan Anderson