Thoughts on the Game: Dallas Spots the Nets in the First, Take Control From There
Mar 11, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Mavericks, Thoughts On the Game
Glenn James/NBAE Getty Images
Two Man Game – Mavs Moneyball - Hoopdata Box Scores
After last night, I refuse to believe the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets are the worst team in NBA history. Their final record may very well suggest otherwise and the schedule-makers certainly haven’t done them any favors as 12 of their final 17 games are against teams in the thick of their respective playoff races. But the Nets should be better than a 7-win team right now. Forget should. The Nets are better than a 7-win team right now.
If you want physical proof of why I believe this, look no further than the first quarter between the Nets and Dallas Mavericks last night. Yeah, you could say that the Mavs were caught napping and were taking the Nets lightly, and went on to eventually take care of business in their 96-87 victory, but the worst team in basketball history doesn’t come out on the road against a team that has just won 12 straight games, and knock them silly en route to a 33-19 first quarter. The Mavs missed some open shots in the period, but the Nets also took it to them, by being aggressive in the pain. During a two minute stretch where the Nets grew their lead from 9-1 to 17-3, Jersey made five consecutive field goals off layups and dunks.
Granted, NBA games are 48 minutes long, and no championship has ever been crowned after just one quarter of play. In the second and third quarters, the Mavericks demonstrated why their currently the second-best team in the Western Conference (pushing the draft pick of theirs we own, further back in the first round). Dallas tightened their interior D, took Brook Lopez completely out of the game (all 10 of his points were in the first quarter), and they methodically picked the Nets apart over the game’s next 24 minutes, culminating with an atrocious third quarter where the Nets shot 19 percent and were outscored 31-15. Brook Lopez epitomized the Nets frustration, when on the final play of the quarter, who caught a pass on a pick-and-roll and proceeded to get stuffed by the rim and turning the ball over. He then, stupidly, grabbed Erick Dampier to pick up his fifth foul, taking Lopez out of the game until there was about two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Lopez was so bad after the first quarter, it was the first time I believe this season where I wasn’t screaming at the television for the Nets to feed him the ball more down the stretch.
But even with the second and third quarter performance, the Nets showed me something tonight. Earlier in this season, when I honestly though the Nets were the worst team in NBA history (think back to those back-to-back road thrashings by Golden State and Utah and tell me you’d disagree), the Nets would have turned off the switch for good after that third quarter, maybe make a small run with about 5-6 minutes left to cut the Dallas lead to single-digits, before totally disappearing into the night and losing by 15 or 20 points. But the Nets hung in there, starting with Jarvis Hayes, who drilled a long two and two threes to open up the scoring for the Nets. Terrence Williams (18 points, 13 rebounds) came up huge, early and late in the fourth, as the Nets closed with two points. t the 6:20 mark in the fourth, TWill outleaped Shawn Marion to grab an offensive rebound. A few minutes later, a layup where Williams dribbled behind his back to get into the paint, cut the Dallas lead to 90-87.
The Nets were even playing better defense. Kris Humphries and Josh Boone both played a solid game defensive on Dirk Nowitzki, who had so many of his shots challenged early, that even when he started getting open looks down the stretch, he missed, en route to a 3-16 night. But two plays stand out to me for the Nets defensively. At the 5:16 mark and Caron Butler looking to take over for Dallas, Butler was trying to back down TWill in the post. After making a spin move to get around him, he was met by Kris Humprhies who disrupted the shot, causing Butler to miss the layup. About two minutes later, Jarvis Hayes was actually playing suffocating man defense on Dirk, who was trying to get space for his historically automatic elbow jumper. As Jarvis kept his body on Dirk, not allowing him his customary push off for the jumper, Courtney Lee blindsided Nowitzki and stole the ball, leading to a fast break. But a three pointer by old friend Jason Kidd, his fifth of the game, put Dallas up by 5, where they never looked back.
So you tell me: can the worst team in basketball honestly be expected to accomplish all this in a given night? After being legitimately angry with this team and organization for the better part of the last four months, I can honestly say I now sympathize with these guys. Between the young talent of guys like Lopez, Harris, Williams and Lee, and some veteran good-guys like Keyon Dooling, Hayes and Hassell, these Nets need to find a way to get out of this discussion as being among the worst ever, because they just don’t belong there.
A few more thoughts after the jump:
Quick Recap: Dallas Mavericks 96, New Jersey Nets 87
Mar 10, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Mavericks, Quick Recap
The Nets were literally scorching to start the game, leading 33-19 after the first quarter, but the Mavericks methodically picked them apart over the second and third quarters, and were able to withstand a late Nets surge, to beat New Jersey 96-87 in Dallas tonight.
- The Nets were shooting close to 53 percent at halftime and held on to an 8-point lead against a Dallas team that had won 12 in a row entering tonight. But 19 percent shooting in the third, where they were outscored by the Mavericks 31-15, put New Jersey in a deep hole entering the fourth that they could never climb out of, despite getting as close as two points down the home stretch.
- Terrence Williams keeps topping himself in the month of March, putting together another career game with 18 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
- Devin Harris had a solid night offensively against his old team with 21 points and 7 assists on 7-14 shooting, but turned the ball over 6 times.
- Kris Humphries had 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench, while playing some solid defense against former teammate Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk had a particularly awful night, finishing with 12 points on 3-16 shooting.
- Jason Kidd finished with 20 points and 9 assists, and was 5-8 from three-point land.
- Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee each had a quiet night, finishing with 10 points each. Lopez picked up his 5th foul at the end of the third, and wasn’t seen again until about 2 minutes left in the game.
Thoughts on the Game: Nets Give Memphis a Scare, but Falter
Mar 9, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Grizzlies, Thoughts On the Game
3 Shades of Blue – Straight Outta Vancouver
At the risk of overstating things, last night’s 107-101 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies could be one of those games that will really stand out at season’s ends if the Nets fail to get to 10 wins and avoid infamy. Not so much because this looked like much of a win on paper for the Nets, especially the way they played in the first half when they were down 67-51 at halftime. But because Memphis all but giftwrapped an opportunity for the Nets to steal win #8 by playing about as bad as an NBA team could play in the second half.
After looking unstoppable in the first half, the Grizzlies laid an egg in the third, shooting 29 percent and earning hearty boos from the Memphis faithful. But that’s where the “what ifs” come to play. The Nets pulled as close as two points when Devin Harris hit a step back 17-footer with about 11 seconds left in the third. But the Nets had the first of their many breakdowns when they fouled Marcus Williams with just a bit too much time left on the clock, allowing Sam Young enough time to get a clean look at the rim to swing the momentum back towards Memphis.
In the fourth, the Grizzlies weren’t nearly as bad, and the Nets weren’t nearly as good, but New Jersey still had their chances. With Yi Jianlian out with a knee injury and Josh Boone seemingly dinged up in a play in the third, the Nets went with a small lineup for a few minutes and settled for too many perimeter shots. And when they still managed to grab a few breaks, like when Kris Humphries intercepted a bad pass from Williams under the rim with about 7 minutes left and the Nets trailing by four, Hump rushed the putback and missed – another opportunity gone.
But the biggest “what if” was regarding the offensive play of the Nets frontcourt – namely Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries. Lopez looked out of it early, and was getting played tough by Marc Gasol (and had the bloody scratches to prove it – in job refs). But he mostly a non-factor from the field finishing 3-10, though he was fairly effective in the give-and-go fame with Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, tallying up 6 assists.
And with a lot of Nets fans scratching their heads as to why Boone got the call over Hump at the starting four, Humphries did very little, if anything to distinguish himself offensively. In addition to shooting 1-7, he just looked tentative out there, getting the ball 16-18 feet away from the basket and knowing he shouldn’t be shooting those shots, but not making a strong enough move to the hoop to either to a higher percentage shot or draw a foul. The saving grace for Hump came on the defensive end, where he blocked three shots and drew an offensive foul when Sam Young pushed Hump away while taking what looked to be, an easy lay-up with 6:37 left in the fourth and the Grizzlies hanging on to a four point lead. But again, the Nets were never able to take the next step. Terrence Williams had a layup attempt blocked by Young and a DeMarre Carroll layup later put the Grizzlies back up by 6.
Final thoughts after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »
Quick Recap: Memphis Grizzlies 107, New Jersey Nets 101
Mar 8, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Grizzlies, Quick Recap
The Nets used a strong second half to help change this game from a Memphis laugher into a close game, but the Grizzlies ultimately pulled away in the fourth quarter, topping New Jersey 107-101.
- Courtney Lee had another off-the-charts game for the Nets, scoring 30 points on 13-20 shooting. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and 2 steals. The way he’s played lately, the hype surrounding this kid entering the season is finally starting to make sense.
- Devin Harris was right behind Lee, finishing with 28 points, 5 assists and a blocked shot.
- Tough night for Brook Lopez, who was out of sync early and never got it going, scoring 10 points on 3-10 shooting, though he did add 7 rebounds and surprisingly 6 assists, including a behind the back pass to Harris in the first that led to a three-pointer.
- Little bit of everything tonight for Terrence Williams, finishing with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
- Nice effort for emergency starter Josh Boone tonight, finishing with 6 points and 9 rebounds.
- The Memphis offense was led by Mike Conley, who was unconciously hot in the first half, and finished with 21 points on 9-18 shooting. Rudy Gay also scored 21 points, and grabbed 10 rebounds.
- Memphis scored 67 points in the first half, but only shot 29 percent in the third quarter which allowed the Nets to pull back into the game where they were down double-digits for a majority of the first half.
- Kris Humphries was brutal on offense, finishing 1-7 and 2 points, but he made a number of great defensive plays in the second half, and collected 3 blocks.
Thoughts on the Game: Nets Turn Aside Rough First and Whip the Knicks
Mar 7, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Knicks, Thoughts On the Game
The Knicks Blog – Knickerblogger.net – Posting and Toasting – View from the Couch
I have a confession to make about last nights Nets/Knicks game. I almost didn’t stick around long enough to watch what was initially shaping up to be a major-league blowout for the Knicks, but ended up being a laugher and win No. 7 for the Nets.
Do you blame me? It’s a Saturday night match-up between two teams who are really only competing for the long-shot chance of signing a major superstar this coming summer. In the games first 6 minutes, the Nets were shooting 1-13 from the field and were down double-digits, as the Knicks were just running them off the floor, scoring 10 fast break points during that timeframe. The Nets looked inept on offense and outright lazy on defense. Seriously, how does Danilo Galinari get ahead of four Nets defenders and score on a 65-foot inbounds pass the way he did in the first quarter? So, pardon me for being tempted to shut the television off, go out for a few hours and come back in time to watch the last few minutes of what I was assuming was going to be another Nets loss so I could fudge a recap and some bitter, angry “thoughts.”
Fortunately for you, dear readers, my desire to maintain the high standards of Nets Are Scorching kept me watching long enough to see some kind of light switch on for the Nets. Similar to their game last weekend against the Boston Celtics, where the Nets fell down by 10 early, they used the long-ball to get back in and eventually distance themselves from the Knicks. And unlike the Celtics, who gave the Nets a run for their money in the fourth quarter, the Knicks looked very disinterested down the stretch, as the Nets continued to make ridiculous shots, drawing hearty boos from the MSG faithful, who act like their team is on the verge of making nefarious history, and not just in the midst of another lousy season. Then again, the Knicks did set an NBA record last night by attempting the most amount of threes (18) without a single make. So now the Knicks and the Nets both have 0-18 scarlet letters on their respective resumes.
Going back to the positive, I think the Nets are finally starting to consistently get the Courtney Lee they expected to acquire from Orlando back in June. In his return from an ankle injury, Lee picked up exactly where he left off before injuring himself in Boston last week. The long-range shooting from Lee (5-7 from three) adds an element to the Nets offense that’s otherwise missing unless Jarvis Hayes gets into a groove. But where Lee has been really impressive lately is with his mid-range pull-up jumpers. Lee finished 4-8 from the 15-18-foot range, and when he’s doing it off the dribble, it opens up so many more possibilities on offense for both he and his teammates.
It was also great to see the Devin Harris of February make his return to the ranks of the NBA last night. For three straight games, I’ve been wondering if Harris was dealing with a relapse with his wrist injury based on the vast number of misfired jumpers he was taking (most of which were coming up short off the front of the rim, sure sign of a wrist injury). Harris attacked the basket early – even scoring on a dunk at the 6:20 mark of the third quarter, something I haven’t seen Harris do for almost the entire season. He led all scorers with 31 points, including 9 in the fourth quarter, taking over the game in a way he’s only really done a handful of times this season.
I’d also be remiss in mentioning that Yi Jianlian left the game towards the end of the first quarter with an ankle injury. While, I would never wish an injury on anyone, the timing was pretty good in this case, as Yi was making a number of his trademark low IQ plays early-on which were contributing to the Knicks early onslaught, which put New York up by as many as 16. Yi was looking to have one of those games where even when he did something positive, it was tinged with something negative, like when he grabbed a loose ball at around midcourt with about 6:25 left in the first and proceeded to barrel over the Knick defender for a layup. I was shocked he wasn’t called for a charge, and even Mike Fratello was admonishing Yi for not hanging the ball over to Keyon Dooling, who was right there.
A few more thoughts after the jump:
Quick Recap: New Jersey Nets 113, New York Knicks 93
Mar 6, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Knicks, Quick Recap
In an absolutely stunning reversal of fortune, the Nets withstood an early Knicks barrage trailing by as many as 16, and came back to throttle New York at the Garden, 113-93 to get their 7th win of the season.
- The Nets and Knicks were polar opposites from beyond the arc tonight, with the Nets finishing a season-best 14-24, while the Knicks missed all 18 of their long-range attempts. The Knicks set an NBA record for most three attempts without a make.
- In his return from injury, Courtney Lee was spectacular, finishing with 25 points, including 5-7 from three and 9-16 overall.
- Devin Harris led all scorers with 31 points on 13-21 shooting.
- Good all around game for Brook Lopez, who finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
- Terrence Williams proved he could be an asset without scoring, finishing with 11 rebounds, 7 assists and only 3 points.
- David Lee led the Knicks with 23 points, adding in 6 rebounds.
- The Nets actually lost Yi Jianlian to an ankle injury with about two minutes to go in the first quarter. No timetable given for his injury, but it looked like a nasty turn for Yi on the replays.
Thoughts on the Game: Nets Left Chasing Orlando For All 48 Minutes
Mar 6, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Magic, Thoughts On the Game
Orlando Magic Daily – Orlando Pinstriped Post – Howard the Dunk
Coming into last night’s game against the Magic, I know I was particularly looking to see how the Brook Lopez/Dwight Howard match-up was going to shake out. Howard had out-and-out dominated Brook in the team’s previous two match-ups, despite the fact that I maintain that the two should be considered selections #1 and #2 in the conversation for best centers in the Eastern Conference. However, by the game’s end, Howard/Lopez almost seemed like an afterthought for me since neither on them had a particularly fantastic game offensively (Lopez score more points with 18, Howard (11 points) was more efficient shooting-wise and was his usual monster self on the boards (16 total). The difference was Dwight Howard has a great supporting cast, while Lopez is truly an island to himself most games, and last night was no different.
Two things spring to mind as difference makers last night. Matt Barnes early, and the Nets offense in the third quarter. That’s not to say the Magic, who never trailed in this game, still wouldn’t have found a way to win without these factors, but it certainly looked really easy for Orlando because of them.
Similar to JJ Hickson on Wednesday night, in Barnes, the Nets let a guy who’s not typically the focal point for a team’s offense take them to the woodshed early. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the first quarter, and so many of them were transition buckets, I was, and still am, legitimately puzzled as to who was supposed to be guarding him. Here’s what I came up with: it looked like in a lot of man situations Trenton Hassell was on Rashard Lewis, which makes sense since Lewis is a threat offensively who’s big, but plays small from the outside, which is a good defensive match-up for a guy like Hassell. Lopez was on Howard in post situations, with the occasional switchover by Yi whenever there was penetration from Orlando’s backcourt. Devin and CDR had Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter respectively. So when figuring the odd man out on Barnes, we come back to Yi. It’s a logical conclusion, since it would make sense that Kiki Vangeweghe would put Yi on Barnes while Hassell was on the floor because Barnes is supposedly Orlando’s least dynamic player offensively. The only reason I can’t formally confirm Yi was the defender in question because I can’t recall ever seeing Yi actually near Barnes at any point in the first quarter. But that’s not unusual when it comes to Yi and defense.
Quick Recap: Orlando Magic 97, New Jersey Nets 87
Mar 5, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Magic, Quick Recap
The Orlando Magic jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, as they never trailed the New Jersey Nets, winning 97-87 at the Izod Center tonight.
- Statistically, Brook Lopez held his own against Dwight Howard tonight in the match-up of elite Eastern Conference centers. Brook finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block and Dwight finished with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks.
- The Nets got killed from long-range tonight, allowing 13 threes to Orlando, who shot 42 percent from beyond the arc.
- Yi Jianlian finished with 2 points and 5 fouls in 33 minutes of play.
- Another strong night for Terrence Williams off the bench, who finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Trenton Hassell, meanwhile, finished with 4 points in 18 minutes as a starter. He’s starting because…?
- It what will be his last game at the Izod Center, Vince Carter finished with 13 points on 4-11 shooting.
Thoughts on the Game: Nets Do a Poor Job of Wooing
Mar 4, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Cavs, Thoughts On the Game
View from the Couch – Cavs the Blog – Fear the Sword
When you’re watching your team play the Cleveland Cavaliers, you absolutely expect LeBron James to completely dominate, and with Antawn Jamison now in the fold, I was prepared to see him have a big game last night against the Nets as well.
But when you get big games from those two guys, and then have to rummage through the carnage left by a player like JJ Hickson, that’s when you know your team is in trouble. Then again, it’s by no accident that the Nets have 53 losses on March 3 – no matter what Boston Celtics fans are currently telling you.
Despite playing the Cavs relatively well earlier in the season the Nets seemed destined to get smacked around in match No. 4, so the final 111-92 score was not a huge shock to me. But I’m still having a hard time getting over this Hickson thing. Filling in for the injured Shaquille O’Neal, and the absent Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Hickson, who’s averaging 7.6 points and 4.4 rebounds for the season, is exactly the kind of player that can’t beat you. With 20 points and 13 rebounds, that’s exactly what he did.
What’s worse was how he did. In the first quarter, within the first 90 seconds of the game, Hickson was able to grab two offensive rebounds because of poor boxing out by the Nets. Unlike Yi Jianlian, who grabbed a ton of offensive rebounds on Sunday night but had zero points on cutbacks, Hickson got four points off those two boards.
Maybe you could have chalked the early Hickson buckets for the Nets being a tad unprepared to deal with him, but with about three minutes left in the third, Hickson jumped in for an offensive rebound again, untouched.
It was so frustrating, it almost made me overlook the performances by LeBron (26 points, 14 assists, 7 rebounds) and Antawn Jamison (19 points, 9 rebounds). LeBron was really pushing it early. I remember checking the box score at one point in the second quarter and saw he had 16 points already and I thought he could have gone for 50 if he wanted to, but the Cavs checked into cruise control, only revving the engine again when the Nets cut their lead down to 12 or 11 points.
When the Nets did go on their runs, Terrence Williams (21 points, 8-16 shooting, 7 assists, 5 rebounds), was the primary catalyst. In the second quarter, Williams made three separate plays in the span of four minutes, where he demonstrated what an absolutely dominant player he can be offensively, when he just focuses on scoring near the hoop. He capped off the scoring spurt with a one-handed dunk with about 2:30 left in the quarter. TWill was setting the offense at the top of the key, when he exploded with his first step, carving his way around the entire Cleveland defense before getting the dunk.
A player I was disappointed in was Brook Lopez. Lopez has been pretty successful against the Cavs when Shaq has been in the lineup, averaging 21.7 points in his three previous games. While he finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds last night, it was about as quiet of a double-double from Lopez as you could get. He struggled in the early going, while Hickson was doing his damage, and Lopez didn’t seem to get into a groove until the second half, when he scored 12 of his points.
Final thoughts after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »
Quick Recap: Cleveland Cavaliers 111, New Jersey Nets 92
Mar 3, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Cavs, Quick Recap
The Cavs went for the jugular early, leading by 20 after one, before cruising to a 111-92 victory at the Izod Center tonight, the Nets 10th consecutive loss at home, a franchise record.
- LeBron James was his usual awesome self, finishing with 26 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds, but it was JJ Hickson, filling in for Shaq, who helped put the Nets away early, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards.
- Brook Lopez overcame a slow start and finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, including 8 offensive boards.
- Really rough night for Devin Harris, who was 4-13 from the field to finish with 11 points and only 1 assist.
- Career night for Terrence Williams, who had 21 points 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
- Nets grabbed 16 offensive boards, but were still outrebounded for the game 46-39.