Thoughts On The Game: Nets Play Hard, But Are Out Talented By Lakers
Dec 20, 2009 Nets vs. Lakers, Thoughts On the Game
The final score of this game won’t show you how close this game actually was. The Nets had a 48-46 lead on the Lakers at the half, and they effectively silenced the pro-Laker crowd. Now all of the reporters covering the game are going to talk about how the Lakers took the first half off, and that was the only way that the Nets were in it. I hate that excuse. The Nets went out and worked their butt off in the first half, they can’t control how hard the Lakers play. But, maybe the Lakers were taking it easy on the defensive end, but that doesn’t take away from the Nets’ effort defensively, they only have up 46 points in the first half, including a 17 point quarter for the Lakers.
For at least one quarter last night, we saw glimpses of the old Devin. In the second quarter he was 7-7 from the field including a 3, totaling 17 points. Other guys for the Nets were scoring, Brook was doing his thing and CDR was effective as well, all of a sudden, Devin went off. After his spurt though, he was effectively shut down for the rest of the game. This just shows that Devin can’t be the number 1 guy on a basketball team. That isn’t a bad thing though, and it doesn’t mean that Devin is a bad player, it is hard though to get open looks as a PG when you are the guy bringing up the basketball. Hopefully, when there is more talent on this team, this is how Devin is going to operate, distribute the ball and as the defense starts to focus on everyone else, he will be able to get to the lane and do his thing.
After the game, I thought I was going to have to talk about how Brook struggled, but then I looked at the boxscore to see he was 6-16 with 18 points and 11 rebounds. I love how off-nights for Brook end up being double-doubles. This was a game where it was hard for Brook to be dominant. At first the Lakers were playing him straight up with Bynum, but after he got in foul trouble, they were matching Pau on Brook and sending Lamar Odom on a double. That is two 7-footers, and that didn’t allow Brook much room to operate. He was patient when he got the ball, made his move, and was somewhat effective. Oh and his passes out of the high post are awesome. After the jump, check out a few bullets:
Quick Recap: Lakers 103 – Nets 84
Dec 19, 2009 Nets vs. Lakers, Quick Recap
Well, the Nets ended the first half with a 48-46 lead, but the Lakers really started to defend like they are capable of, and the Nets were only able to put up 36 in the second half. A lot of people are going to say the Lakers took the Nets too lightly in the first half, and maybe they did on the defensive end, but you can’t knock the Nets’ defensive effort in the first half, especially in the 2nd quarter where they gave up only 17 points. Courtney Lee played very good defense on Kobe (only 11 in the first half), and CDR did a great job stifling Ron Artest, who seemed to struggle all game. It’s funny, the score looks a lot like last night’s Raptors’ game, but the effort (and the way that I feel was much different).
- Devin was the Devin of old in the 2nd quarter, going 7-7 from the field, and scoring 17 points. He finished the game with 21 points on 7-11 shooting.
- Kobe Bryant is really good, he went for 29 on 12-23 shooting. A lot of his shots were well defended too, but he is just so freakin’ good. Oh, and he is playing with a broken finger on his shooting hand.
- CDR had a very nice game on the offensive end (20 points), but maybe more impressively on the defensive end. Late in the game though, CDR sprained his ankle and it looked real bad. Its good that the Nets only have 7 games in the next 18 days.
- The Nets’ offense dropped off in the second half because of the Lakers’ D. They turned up the intensity, and they didn’t allow the Nets to get in the lane, where they did their damage in the first half.
- Terrence Williams got 3 garbage minutes, but that was it. I think Kiki is trying to protect him though. He is a young guy, and the Lakers’ defense is very good on the ball. You don’t want T-Will do resort back to jump-shooting mode, which is something that could happen if he played a bunch of minutes tonight.
- Keyon Dooling returned for a few minutes. He hit a three though, showing he is still a threat from the outside.
- I think I found something in Courtney Lee’s mechanics, check back Monday for that.
Game 28 Preview: Nets vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Dec 19, 2009 2009-2010 Open Thread, Game Previews, Nets vs. Lakers
Well nobody said life is fair – and that’s especially true in the NBA. Fresh off their embarrassing, no energy loss to the Raptors in Toronto last night, the Nets hop on a plane back to New Jersey to face the “Black Mamba” and the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers (20-4). The last time these two teams faced on November 29, Lawrence Frank was freshly fired, Tom Barrise was the interim, interim coach, and the Lakers ambushed the Nets early en route to a 108-87 victory, sending New Jersey to a record-tying 0-17 start. Earlier this week, the Lakers survived a controversial game against the Milwaukee Bucks, when Kobe Bryant hit a game-winning, buzzer-beating 16-footer, putting the Lakers ahead 107-106. While the Lakers have plenty of firepower in Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest, where they really shine is on the defensive end, where they’re second in the league in defensive efficiency, giving up 96.7 points per 100 possessions. Not to be Captain Obvious here, but that’s a bad omen for a team that’s been struggling to score the way the Nets have this season. The one silver lining for this matchup? Kobe Bryant’s career 21.4 points per game against the Nets is his lowest against any other NBA team.The Nets last beat the Lakers November 25, 2007 in a thrilling 102-100 win in LA, back in happier times in Nets-land.
Derek Fisher vs. Devin Harris
If there’s a soft underbelly to the Lakers, you could make a case that it’s Derek Fisher, who’s averaging 6.8 points and 3.2 assists in about 27 minutes of play this season. While he’s still proven he can hit a clutch shot from time to time, Father Time is really starting to catch up with Fisher, who’s point per 40 minutes and shooting percentages continue their steady decline. Devin Harris has really struggled the past two games, and he couldn’t even get to the free throw line last night – the one thing he has been doing well all year – so now would be a good time for Devo to rise above the level of his opponent.
Advantage: Devin Harris
Kobe Bryant vs. Courtney Lee
Regular TrueHoop readers might remember this article from back in June, when Lee was matched up against Bryant during the NBA Finals. The two appeared to really irk each other, and I would expect Lee to bring his defensive “A” game tonight. Still, Kobe is Kobe, even with a broken finger, and Lee is still searching for the jump shot he had in Orlando last year. My guess? If the Lakers jump out early again, Kobe is going to get some rest, so his final stat line may not be mind blowing, but we know who’s king in this match-up nevertheless.
Advantage: Kobe Bryant
Ron Artest vs. Chris Douglas-Roberts
These are the kinds of match-ups at SF that are going to continue to give the slender Chris Douglas-Roberts problems. The 6′9″ Artest is not much of a scorer anymore, but the Triangle Offense seems to suit his abilities as a passer, as he’s currently averaging a career high in assist ratio with 21.5 percent of possessions ending in an assist. CDR looked to be the only player awake against the Raptors last night, and then called his teammates out (again) in the locker room afterwards. My guess is Artest is going to frustrate him, and frustrate him good, defensively.
Advantage: Artest
Pau Gasol vs. Josh Boone
Speaking of nightmare match-ups, Boone, who did little to nothing against Chris Bosh last night, now gets perhaps an even better player coming in with the 7-foot Gasol. Gasol is coming off a season-high 26 points, and a career-high 22 rebounds in the Lakers’ victory against the Bucks Wednesday. Like you even had to ask?
Advantage: Gasol
Andrew Bynum vs. Brook Lopez
We got a battle of the game’s two best young centers not named Dwight Howard. Bynum is a great low post player and his points per 40 are up this season to a career high 20.2, though some of his other stats (rebound rate, assist ratio) are down. Because of early foul trouble, Brook only played 28 minutes last night, so he should be relatively fresh for this match-up. Still, he should probably expect to see a double-team everytime he gets the ball in the post.
Advantage: Push
Bloggers Talk: Los Angeles Lakers
Dec 19, 2009 Bloggers Talk, Nets vs. Lakers
Just because the Nets are playing a “pitiful” brand of basketball right now, doesn’t mean we can’t get some insights about the incoming team, right? So, it’s only fitting with the world champion Los Angeles Lakers facing the Nets tonight, that we’d get a world champion blogger, Kurt Helin from Forum Blue and Gold, to answer a few questions on the NAS hot seat.
Thanks, as always, to Kurt, and the past and future bloggers who help make this column happen:
NAS: While the Lakers are off to a great start this season, do you envision them having any problems as the season goes along, maintaining intensity as they gear up to defend their NBA title in the postseason?
So far this season, the Lakers intensity has been good, there has been very little if any championship hangover. That said, every team hits bumps, the Lakers will hit one this season. I think as a fan (especially of a team in title contention) all you can hope for are two things: 1) That it’s not something serious, like Kobe fracturing his finger or something (well, maybe it has to be worse than that); 2) That the team handles the adversity, bounces back and grows stronger. Remember last year the Celtics had only lost a few games by Christmas, then the Lakers beat them pretty good on national television that day and the Celtics seemed to go into a little funk after that dropping six of their next eight. That would bother me. I think as a fan what you hope to see is a team that is resilient, one that fights and scraps. We’ll see what this Lakers team has when tested.
NAS: How panicked were you when you heard Kobe Bryant’s finger had been fractured? Could the Lakers withstand an absence of Kobe similar to what the Celtics went through with Kevin Garnnett last year?
I’m not sure panicked would be the right word, but pretty damn concerned. I was at that game and I think the severity hit me when Kobe spoke to the media after the game and was more subdued than I have ever seen him. This bothered him, even if he tends to view these kinds of setbacks as a challenge to overcome there still has to be some frustration. Simply put, the Lakers cannot win a title without Kobe. However, what I have said since before the season is that the Lakers have a larger margin for error than any of the other contenders, they can withstand Kobe’s injury better than other teams. Pau Gasol is capable of carrying the team for weeks, Andrew Bynum can score plenty and even Artest has those hot nights. The Lakers don’t need Kobe at 100% to win it all, and based on what he has done the last couple games he seems able to adjust to the splint. But if he is absent the way Garnett was last year the Lakers fall to just another good team.
NAS: How intrigued are you by the Brook Lopez/Andrew Bynum matchup? While Bynum’s development has been stunted the past two years with late-season injuries, both are really establishing themselves as some of the league’s best post players. Who will you give the edge to?
Just for the record, I would still call Dwight Howard the league’s best young post player. But this will be a fun matchup, I saw Brook play at Summer League this year and liked the growth he had shown in his game. As for the matchup tonight, I’m not sure either guy can stop the other if they get the ball where they want it. Denying position will matter. Bynum’s length will disrupt shots, but Lopez has a lot of tools in the toolbox to work with.
Bynum has been in a bit of a funk lately and a variety of factors (illness, being pulled away from the basket by defensive assignments) has sapped his energy and rebounding. He still scores when he gets the ball on the block, but the bounce in his step seems gone. Bynum still plays immature at times — not terribly, but not what he is capable of — and this is one of them. If he comes out still in a fog against the Nets, Brook could have a very good game.
NAS: What has Ron Artest brought to the Lakers so far this season? After watching him for the first quarter of the year, do you envision him falling back to some of his old tricks that end up distracting the team he’s playing for?
Ron Artest has brought a couple things. One is a physical presence on perimeter defense that just makes the Lakers tougher. He hustles every play, if you are his defensive assignment you have a hard time getting the ball, let alone a good shot from a spot you like on the floor. The second thing Artest has brought is a willingness to fit in on the court, to work to find his role (and he’s doing that more and more). He’s doing that, he runs the plays and does not break out of the mold. He’s also become a reliable three point shooter.
Everyone in Sacramento and Houston and Indiana are waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the crazy Artest to return and disrupt the Lakers locker room and on the court. But I don’t see hat happening. First, because he is not the Alpha Dog in this locker room — this is Kobe’s team, make no mistake. And he would not tolerate antics that could damage the team. Second, believe it or not, Artest is maturing as a person. The final thing is, the entire culture in Los Angeles is different, and he fits in. Look at it this way, if he went on a national talk show wearing short shorts while in Sacramento, it would have been the biggest topic on sports talk radio and newspaper columns there for a week. His sanity would have been questioned. But here, a guy who drinks Hennessey who walks around Hollywood in his underwear is called Tuesday. You’ve got to do better to shock and offend us.
The thing is, the only proof of how will Artest fits in or doesn’t will not come until June. Supporters and detractors of Artest can make all the points they want, it will be his play in the playoffs that will decide who is right.
Thoughts On The Game: Despite A New Coach, Same Result For Nets
Nov 30, 2009 Nets vs. Lakers, Thoughts On the Game
GameFlow, Forum Blue and Gold, Tom Barrise Interview, Devin Harris Interview
I am a crazy optimistic person. I am so optimistic in fact, that I thought there was a chance that the Nets would come out last night, guns-a-blazing, a win one for their fallen coach. Brook Lopez and Sean Williams would then lift assistant-turned head coach Tom Barrise on their shoulders as the crowd chants Rudy! Rudy! Rudy…oh wait…sorry, I got my sports movie moments confused for a moment. Anyway, the Nets didn’t win, but they did in fact keep it closer than was expected. Sure, some of it had to do with the fact that Kobe didn’t play a minute in the fourth quarter, but Kobe only scored 30 points though (sarcastic) and the Nets did some good things (not sarcastic).
From the start, the game had a weird feel about it, and you couldn’t tell if the Nets were mailing this one in, or if the talent gap between the Nets and the Lakers was so great it just looked like the Nets weren’t trying. Again, it could be the optimist in me, but I tend to believe it was the latter. Why? Well, the Nets were all over the court from opening tip to final whistle. You know Brook always goes hard, but Devin was diving on the floor late in the game (under 2 minutes left), Sean Williams was running up and down challenging dunk attempts. Hell, even Rafer Alston gave up a hard foul on Shannon Brown when he spotted up for a 3 with 10 seconds left.
Speaking of Rafer, we can start talking about the negative with him. He had another poor game today going 2-8, including getting blocked as he jogged to the rim going for a lay-up as time expired in the first (Jordan Farmer, who was hustling all the way blocked him of course). Also, he had another one of those “dribble it off my foot and out of bounds” moments that always seems to make it on Sportscenter. CDR too had a poor game, part of it probably had to do with Kobe defending him, but he did seem to be pressing as if to break the win streak every time he touched the ball. He only got 1 shot in the second quarter. How can your second best option at this point only get 1 shot in 12 minutes? Oh well, this is his first poor game in a while, so he gets a pass here. Bobby Simmons still can’t make wide open 3s anymore and it is getting so bad, teams start to close out on him, realize it is Bobby Simmons and go in for the rebound. No joke. It happened twice last night. After the jump, I get into the other positives (yes, there were multiple positives) in bullet format:
Quick Recap: LA Lakers 106 New Jersey Nets 87
Nov 30, 2009 Nets vs. Lakers, Quick Recaps
So that wasn’t as bad as expected, I guess that is a good thing. After a first half where the Nets only scored 34 points, I was thinking the Nets could threaten the record for fewest points in a game (Like the Nets are going to need to break anymore records of awfulness). Since there has been so much negative today (the Lawrence Frank firing, the tying of the record) I am going to focus on the positives as much as I can in the bullets:
- Courtney Lee looked good. I mean real good. Maybe it is because he played so poorly this season, but he looked to be at 100%. He had a bounce in his step, and he was attacking the hoop. Plus, he was hitting his shot. He went for 15 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 6-9, including a three.
- Brook Lopez was a monster out there tonight. 26 and 12. He was getting to the line and he made those shots.
- Rafer Alston (despite playing awful) showed some heart at the end, giving up a hard foul at the end of the game when Shannon Brown spotted up for a 3 with little time left.
- Guys were still hustling out there late into the game, and that was good to see. Sean Williams was still all over the court, and even Devin was diving for loose balls with under 2 minutes left in the game.
- Devin Harris was hitting the 3 tonight, going 3-6 from deep and finishing with 16 points and 6 assists.
- Terrence Williams had a great play late in the third where he attacked the basket with a mean crossover and finished with a dunk. He needs to do that more.
Game 17 Preview vs. LA Lakers
Nov 29, 2009 2009-2010 Open Thread, Game Previews, Nets vs. Lakers
So the move finally got made. I am a little shocked by the timing, but like I said in my last post, since it was already leaked, no sense in letting Lawrence Frank hang. Again, quoting Wojnarowski’s article:
Sources said Nets management had come to believe that Frank had lost much of the team, a fact that has played out in losses to Denver and Sacramento in the past week. Once the Nets played so poorly against the Kings – believed to be the most winnable game on the trip – management decided it could no longer go on with Frank as coach.
Despite the return of point guard Devin Harris(notes) and shooting guard Courtney Lee(notes), the Nets have played long stretches of uninspired basketball. “Most of the guys have tuned him out,” one source with direct knowledge of the locker room environment said. “This isn’t all Lawrence’s fault, but everyone knows that this can’t go on anymore.”
It makes sense when you think about it, but why the sudden change in effort? The Nets have been giving plenty of effort until the Denver game. Now, I have no inside information, but here a few guesses from me.
- The puzzling roster moves – As a player, when you see a coach putting your team in strange situations, and in positions to fail (like going small in Denver for example), you may not go hard for him.
- The losing – Losing doesn’t effect some people, but you can tell it does bother this team. CDR and others wear their emotion on their sleeves and the combination of losing and hearing the same voice over and over can prove to be too much.
Anyway, I know I have been very critical (maybe too critical) of Lawrence Frank in the past, but I do want to wish him luck, and I think we all know he will get another coaching job soon. As for tonight, let’s see if the Nets completely crumble without Frank, or if they go all out, trying to get a win for their fallen coach. Here are the lineups:
Devin Harris vs. Derrick Fisher:
In the second half of the Sacramento game, you saw the Devin Harris of old. He was getting to the rim and drawing contact. He wasn’t making his layups, but that will come in time. It does look like he has his quickness back though, and against Derrick Fisher that will be a huge advantage.
Advantage: Devin Harris
CDR vs. Kobe
Along with Brook Lopez, CDR has been the only one showing any fight the last couple of games. His work is going to be cut out for him, on both ends. Kobe is a lot better defender than he gets credit for, and he will be hassling CDR all night. Plus with Courtney probably still not at 100% (only 3 minutes last game), he will be defending Kobe most of the night.
Advantage: Kobe
Trenton Hassell vs. Ron Artest
This is actually a somewhat favorable matchup for Trenton since Ron is a guy who likes to use his strength rather than his quickness. Trenton Hassell can and will bang with Artest. It won’t be enough to stop him completely, but it should slow him down a bit.
Advantage: Ron Artest
Josh Boone vs. Pau Gasol
Boone had a very good game against Sacramento, though it probably won’t continue tonight. The reason that Boone was successful is because the Kings’ frontcourt while big, wasn’t very athletic and Josh Boone was able to hang with them. Pau is a big guy who can move around and can hit from outside of the lane. Josh Boone is going to be in trouble tonight:
Advantage: Pau Gasol
Brook Lopez vs. Andrew Bynum
I scored 12 points on Andrew Bynum once. Well, not on him, but my high school played his (St. Joe’s Metuchen) on my senior night, and I hit four threes. We played him again in our conference playoffs, and he responded by blocking one of my runners into the crowd. Brook Lopez is going to give Bynum some payback tonight!
Advantage: Brook Lopez
Prediction
Current Record: 9-7
So the Lakers will win, that isn’t a question, but I think the Nets’ players aren’t going to like reading that they gave up on their coach. They are going to come out hard and will keep it closer than most expect it to be.
It’s Official: Lawrence Frank Is Out
Nov 29, 2009 Breaking News, Lawrence Frank, Nets vs. Lakers
Welp, that was quick huh? Well, according to a number of sources, Lawrence Frank is done and Assistant coach Tom Barrise will coach the team in L.A. on Sunday. Adrian Wojnarowski has the report:
Frank will not coach against the Lakers on Sunday night, when the Nets will have a chance to tie an NBA record with a 17th straight loss to start the season. New Jersey assistant Tom Barrise will coach Sunday instead.
Yahoo! Sports first reported early Sunday that Nets president Rod Thorn had made the decision to fire Frank. Thorn was expected to meet with owner Bruce Ratner on Sunday to inform him that he would replace Frank on Monday, but sped up the process after news of Frank’s imminent dismissal became public.
To be honest, I am a little surprised about the timing, I thought it would not only be after tonight’s game, but after Tuesday’s game against the Mavs as to give coach Frank one final game at home. Here is Wojnarowski one more time:
“Rod didn’t want Lawrence to have that record attached to his name,” one source close to situation said.
Nets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe has been on the team’s Western trip, studying the team’s personnel. Vandeweghe has wanted to dismiss Frank as far back as last season, sources say, but team president Rod Thorn has resisted until now.
As I have already made clear, firing Lawrence Frank right now doesn’t make any sense, but it was going to happen, especially since the effort (something that has been there for the first 12 or so games) was starting to fade. No word on who will replace Frank full time, Tom Barrise has officially been named as his replacement just for tonight’s game.