Nets on the Net: 3/8/10 Edition
Mar 8, 2010 Chris Douglas-Roberts, Josh Boone, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net, Terrence Williams, Yi
In a report by Al Iannazzone, John Calipari, who coached Chris Douglas-Roberts at Memphis, still believes in the former All-American: “At the end of the day,” Calipari said, “I think he’s going to be a guy in the league that plays significant minutes, is a significant player, is a starter on a team that’s doing well. I truly believe that.”
Yi Jianlian will not travel with this team on their four game road trip because of his ankle injury.
Terrence Williams and Josh Boone talk with Fred Kerber about their Big East Championship memories.
NetsDaily begins their series on Mikhail Prokhorov, dubbed “the most interesting man in the world.”
The Nets Power Forward Outage
Mar 2, 2010 Analysis, Josh Boone, Kris Humphries, Yi
With far and away the worst record in the NBA and the league’s worst offense, it’s no surprise that statistically speaking, outside of the center position, that the Nets have been outplayed by their opponents at every spot on the floor this season. However, when looking at season stats for the Nets production by position courtesy of 82games, I was interested by just how poorly the team has performed at the PF position.
Overall, Nets power forwards, which include Yi Jianlian, Kris Humphries, Josh Boone and at the very beginning of the season, Bobby Simmons, have put up a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 11.4 this season, while opposing PFs have a PER of 19.5 against the Nets, good for a differential of -8.1. Not only is this the worst PER differential at the position in the entire league, but only one team, Sacramento comes relatively close in terms of this dubious honor, with a PER differential of -6.4 at the PF position.
For the season, Nets PFs are averaging (per 48 minutes), 15.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and an effective field goal percentage of .423, while allowing their opponents 22.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, .9 blocks and an eFG of 52 percent. When looking at opponents scoring output for all five positions, the PF average of 22.3 is the highest.
On the plus side, despite conspiracy theorists nicknaming coach Kiki Vandeweghe “Yiki,” Nets PFs are tied with the SF position for fewest field goal attempts on the team with 14.4 per game. So, at least the organization acknowledges the deficiencies at the position by not designing an offense geared towards getting Yi and company more shots.
But what’s most alarming is just how well opposing PFs are playing against the Nets, indicating the team’s defensive issues at the position. While Yi looked impressive on the offensive end when he initially came back from his injury in December, he was still unable to demonstrate any improvement on the defensive end. The same could be said for Kris Humphries, who, with increased playing time in New Jersey, has shown many of the same traits that Nets fans slam Yi for – a propensity to take jump shots at poor times, and poor defense. Opposing PFs are putting up a PER of 22.4, with 26.7 points and an eFG of 59 percent when Humphries are on the floor.
The conclusions that can be drawn from these numbers should be obvious: upgrading at the four has to be a priority for the team this off-season. With free agents-to-be Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer already indicating that they have no desire to play for the Nets, it will be interesting to see how the Nets will go about upgrading the position. But unless the Nets want to continue dealing with a huge deficit at the position next season, the status quo can not be the same. Yi, Boone and Humphries can not get the bulk of the playing time at the four next season, unless the Nets get significantly better at the other four positions to compensate.
The Final Days of Josh Boone
Jan 22, 2010 Josh Boone
Josh Boone never had the look of a budding superstar, but there was a period where he looked like an above average big man, that could spot start when needed and be productive enough to help the Nets off the bench.
But now, Boone looks to be spending his finals days in a Nets uniform at the back of the bench. He’s been connected to trade rumors for weeks now, and has been predicted by beat writers and others in the know as “the next Net to go,” but additionally, a chronic knee injury and the arrival of Kris Humphries from Dallas has rendered Boone pretty useless.
Can the Nets Tank Something That’s Already Been Tanked?
Jan 12, 2010 Bobby Simmons, Chris Quinn, Devin Harris, Eduardo Najera, Josh Boone, Kris Humphries, Rafer Alston, Roster
So the common theme surrounding the New Jersey Nets is that after shipping out Rafer Alston, Sean Williams and Eduardo Najera, they’re not even close to being done with their roster makeover. According to numerous league sources, Josh Boone, Tony Battie, Trenton Hassell and Bobby Simmons could all be shipped out at any time, provided the Nets get what they’re looking for in return (younger players who won’t put in a dent in the cap flexibility for the summer). Heck, ESPN’s Chad Ford suggested that even Devin Harris could be on the block if he nets the team a superstar.
But looking at more realistic roster scenarios, ESPN’s Marc Stein recently suggested the Nets are trying to dump their veterans and free up roster space for “fresh blood from the D-League.”
Whenever I see firesales of this magnitude it seems to indicate one thing – a team is tanking the season in an effort to secure a top flight pick in the draft. The fact that the Nets appear more interested in importing D-League players, who they can likely sign on super short-term 10-day contracts, in favor of winning a few more games with some of their veterans, is a clear indicator that they’ve officially given up on trying to salvage any respectability this season.
Or is it? There’s one huge whole in this logic that must be considered for fans and spectators who criticize the “tank” strategy. The Nets have been incredibly awful with their current mix of young up-and-coming players and veteran, playoff –tested guys. At 3-34, is there really any reason to believe the Nets are a better team with Rafer Alston and Eduardo Najera rather than Chris Quinn and Kris Humphries?
The Nets are in a unique situation that a “tanking” strategy could actually make them better. What’s better for a team that’s currently built around five 20-something guys in Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian and Chris Douglas-Roberts (provided they’re not on the block too)? Picking up players for their bench who have been overlooked for playing time in playoff towns like Miami and Dallas, and filling out the roster using D-League guys who are trying to prove that their NBA-caliber? Or having a veteran guy like Alston who only seemed to succeed in New Jersey at alienating the immature young-uns like Terrence Williams and CDR. Eduardo Najera was supposed to bring toughness and grit off the bench, but he couldn’t keep his body from breaking down long enough to be an example for anyone.
Missed Lay-Ups Are Really Hurting The Nets
Dec 30, 2009 Advanced Statistics, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Devin Harris, Josh Boone, Rafer Alston, Videos
According to HoopData.com, the Nets attempt 30.3 lay-ups per game, a number that ranks as 4th most in the NBA. You look at just that number and you think, wow, that is pretty good, and it is. However, when you couple that with the fact that the Nets are one of the worst teams in the league at converting these lay-ups, you are just left shaking your head at all of the missed opportunities.
The Nets are second worst (tied) team in the NBA when it comes to making lay-ups. Their field goal percentage on lay-ups, as tracked by Hoopdata, is 55.4%. The league average is 60.4 percent. Looking at the Nets’ number attempts again, if they would be at just the league average, they would be instantly 3 points better (I took their attempts and determined how many they would make at the league average – it was about 17.3 – 1.5 more – or 3 points more). We have talked about how the Nets aren’t really playing good defense anymore and how they just try to outscore teams. If they are going to do that successfully, they can’t leave points on the table, especially when they are coming from lay-ups.
When looking at the individual numbers, you start to see why the team has such a low FG% at the rim. The Nets only have 4 players on their roster shooting lay-ups at a percentage over the league average. Two of them are Eduardo Najera and Sean Williams, so really the Nets only have two regulars shooting lay-ups better than league average (Yi and Trenton Hassell).
I was shocked to see Brook Lopez (58%) and Terrence Williams (48%) with such low percentages, but I am willing to dismiss both of these because one, Brook Lopez has been doing this while facing double/triple teams early in the year, and I can see this number going up. As for Terrence, most of his missed lay-ups came early in the season when he was out of control taking a large number of attempts at the rim (a lot of floaters and fade-aways). His shot selection is much better now, so you can (or at least I can) expect to see his percentage to go up. So you take those guys out, there are 4 guys you can blame for this low FG% at the rim, and they are guys you can expect to keep this number low:
How Can Yi Help the Nets
Dec 23, 2009 Josh Boone, Yi
Let me start by saying you can’t have high expectations about a guy who shot 38 percent from the field last year dramatically turning around the fortune of the Nets. With that said, there’s reason to believe that Yi Jianlian, who’s expected to suit up for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, could play some role in improving the team’s offense.
A lot of it has to do with who’s been playing the bulk of power forward for the Nets this season since Yi went down with a knee sprain in early November. Josh Boone, who’s started 21 games at PF this season, may be a decent rebounder, and at times, an okay post defender, but looking at his shooting tendencies, he’s hardly an offensive option that opposing defenses need to keep an eye on. Of his 4.7 field goal attempts per game this season, 3.2 of them come at the rim. He averages another 1 attempt per game from between 10-feet and 23-feet and hasn’t attempted a single three-pointer this season (nor should he). So basically, opposing teams know if Boone gets the ball from outside 10-feet, he’s not going to do much, if anything with it because he can’t shoot, and he lacks the ability to put it on the floor and drive to the rim. So why bother getting a man on him? And that doesn’t even consider his horrid free throw shooting, which makes Boone a liability any time he gets hacked while shooting.
Yi, meanwhile, helps spread the floor for the Nets, and adds another desperately-needed outside shooter. Because Brook Lopez is attracting so many double teams in the post, the Nets need someone who can sneak into the corner and knock down a jumper. Devin Harris and Chris Douglas-Roberts are more slashers than jump shooters, and Courtney Lee’s jump shot is still lost somewhere at the airport in Orlando. While Yi struggled mightily on his long two’s last year, as you can see from his hotspots graph below, he was a decent corner three shooter. His 34 percent from threes overall last season aren’t half bad either. In addition, because Yi is known as a jump shooter, he’s going to command more attention on the perimeter than Josh Boone. If Yi maintains his aggressive streak that saw him take some more shots near the rim earlier this season, he really changes things up for how the Nets currently run their offense with Boone and Bobby Simmons off the bench.
Small sample size alert, but while Yi was on the floor earlier this season, the Nets had an offensive efficiency of 101.5 points per 100 possessions. That would currently rank the Nets 23rd in the league, compared with the 93.5 efficiency rating they are currently averaging, which is dead last in the league. So while Yi may not be a savior, he might bring just enough to the table to make a difference, and maybe give opposing defenses some different things to consider while playing the Nets.
Nets on the Net: 12/17/09 Edition
Dec 17, 2009 Brooklyn, Devin Harris, Josh Boone, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net, Newark
Despite the team’s struggles, Devin Harris told reporters that he’s standing by the Nets, unlike what happened with the organization’s last point guard: “Right now I’m the leader on this team,” Harris said. “My job is getting guys to come out and compete every night. That’s my job at the moment. Everything else will take care of itself.”
Jazz forward, and Russian native, Andrei Kirilenko continues his praise of prospective Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who was formally approved yesterday by Bruce Ratner and now awaits NBA league approval before he can take control of the team: “He’s really going to turn around the team,’’ Kirilenko said. “It’s not like he’s going to get the team and they’ll play a little better. They’re not playing that well right now.
John Brennan of The Record writes, if the Nets still want to move to Newark, they are going to have to pony up the $7.5 million fine for breaking their lease at the Izod Center.
Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger sees an improvement in Josh Boone’s numbers: He’s averaging only 5.0 points (.509 shooting from the field), 6.0 rebounds, and 0.84 blocks in 20.7 minutes this year as a token starter who rarely gets to finish. But over the last 11 games, with just a short increase in minutes (23.4), Boone has hiked his numbers in every area: 6.3 ppg (.529), 6.8 rpg. He has also had 11 blocks in the last seven games.
Another lawsuit by opponents of the Nets’ Brooklyn move was dismissed by the courts.
Video Breakdown: Game 13, Nets VS. Knicks
Nov 24, 2009 Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Josh Boone, Nets vs. Knicks, Trenton Hassell, Video Breakdown, Xs and Os
So the Knicks game was a big disappointment. This was the Nets final chance to get a win before a brutal west coast swing and most likely a new record in futility. The Nets scored 91 points, and while some of that had to do with the return of Devin Harris, it also was because the Nets’ played right into the Knicks’ hands. They were flying up and down the court, taking quick shots, and playing little defense. That final point is what disappointed me the most. The Nets have been playing great defense as of late, and they really took a step back on Saturday, especially when defending the 3. They allowed the Knicks to shoot above their season total from the 3 point line (31% on the year/35% in the game). A lot of it had to do with poor rotation, resulting in wide open 3s. Here we are going to take a look at 2 wide open threes the Knicks got, netting them 6 points (Big points when you realize the Nets lost by 7).
Defending Danilo Gallinari
Look at the above picture for a moment. I mean really examine it. There isn’t a better picture that sums up a game between an 0-12 team and a 3-9 team. I mean you got David Lee falling and tripping Chris Duhon, Brook watching the whole thing, Rafer Alston covering nobody, and nobody within 10 feet of maybe the best 3 point shooter in the NBA. Let’s look how this play developed:
Video Breakdown: Games 8, 9, & 10
Nov 16, 2009 Chris Douglas-Roberts, Josh Boone, Nets vs. Heat, Nets vs. Magic, Nets vs. Sixers, Terrence Williams, Trenton Hassell, Video Breakdown, Xs and Os
So I have been a little behind in terms of breakdowns but we are catching up right here and now. We are going to be looking at some stuff from the game against Philly, @ Orlando, and @Miami. As of right now, a lot of the stuff you are going to see here is going to look like nit-picking (especially with how well the team has been playing despite being limited), but if some of the bad stuff seen here continues as people start coming back, it could be a problem. This is going to be a big one, get those reading glasses on:
Some Stuff From Practice Today
Nov 16, 2009 Brook Lopez, Courtney Lee, Devin Harris, Josh Boone, Lawrence Frank, Practice Reports, Sean Williams, Trenton Hassell
I had the pleasure of going to Nets practice today, and I came away with some real good stuff. First and foremost the thing that I noticed was that this team is still playing hard, the media only gets to sit in on the final few moments of the actual practice, but they were still going hard, and just by the look on all of the guys faces, you can tell they were really going at it the whole practice. Courtney Lee was working too, but I couldn’t tell if he went the whole practice or if he was just participating in the drills at the end. Either way it looks like he is still struggling with the injury a bit (at least to me), so I wouldn’t expect to see him playing either of the next two games. Anyway, here is some stuff I took away from Nets’ practice today.