Thoughts on the Game: Nets Go From Heroes To Zeroes
Mar 21, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Raptors, Thoughts On the Game
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun
Raptors Republic – View From the Couch
When I was young kid, I remember a recurring column in Highlights magazine called Goofus and Gallant. Goofus was your typical jerky kid, who always managed to make the rude, selfish, or oblivious decision. Gallant was the prized pupil, who was courteous, selfless and cognizant of how his behavior could affect others. But part of G&G’s gimmick was that both children looked exactly the same – perhaps to demonstrate to youngsters reading HIghlights that in a given situation, you have two choices, and based on those choices, you could be either Goofus or Gallant. It was pretty heavy stuff for a 6-year-old.
Little did I know that nearly 25 years later I’d be reliving the adventures and decisions of Goofus and Gallant through the 2009-2010 New Jersey Nets. Last night’s 100-90 loss against the Toronto Raptors, truly embodied the duality of the Nets this season. One half was filled with high percentage shots, good defense, solid ball control and ball movement, while the other half was a mess, filled with poor shot selection, lazy defense, sloppy passes and no ball movement.
Despite giving up 29 first quarter points, the Nets made it to halftime leading 51-48 against the Raptors – a team that has given them fits all season. And while a three-point halftime lead is hardly anything to get excited about, the Nets were at least playing hard enough and intelligently enough to warrant raised expectations. Devin Harris was attacking the rim with reckless abandon, but finding ways to snake his way around defenders in the paint, scoring 16 in the first half, while Terrence Williams was doing a good job controlling the ball as point forward, scoring at the hoop on 4 of his first 5 attempts as well. It’s an obvious observation, but the Nets are at their best when Harris and Williams are attacking the rim, opening up opportunities for Brook Lopez and their shooters – Courtney Lee and Jarvis Hayes.
Additionally, I thought the Nets played relatively well on defense early, especially on the interior. On their first two possessions, Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh attacked the rim and were met by the returning Yi Jianlian who forced Bargnani into a bad shot and blocked Bosh outright. With about 5 minutes to go in the half, Yi got another block, this time on Antoine Wright, who seemed hellbent on attacking the basket area against his former team regardless of who was down there.
Was this the best half of basketball the Nets have played this season? No. They were only leading by there against a team that’s been playing almost as bad as the Nets have in recent weeks, falling from within striking distance of the Boston Celtics in the Atlantic, to barely holding on to the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. Outside of Yi’s early block, and some decent one-on-one play from Josh Boone in the second quarter, the Nets had no defensive answer for Chris Bosh, which would come back to haunt them in the third and fourth quarters when the Raptors figured out if they rode Bosh exclusively, they’d be able to put the Nets away. The always insightful “Czar” Mike Fratello noted early on that Brook Lopez was giving Bosh way too much space, which led to a couple of easy jumpers. It’s a catch-22, since if Brook got up close on Bosh, the PF would have either driven around him, or drawn a foul from Lopez, but the Nets as a team never made any adjustments, which shouldn’t surprise me because they’ve been unable to make adjustments since they were essentially left to coach themselves in December.
But that still doesn’t take away an overall solid first half. For the first time in a very long time, Kiki Vandeweghe went with a full compliment of bench players – Kris Humphries, Boone, Hayes, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Keyon Dooling, and I thought the group played relatively well together. Towards the end of the second quarter, three of their last four field goals made were assisted on, including two from Terrence Williams
Then the third quarter started, and out came Goofus. During three possessions at the start, Bosh scored on an offensive rebound and a putback, Devin Harris made a bad pass and a TO, Hedo Turkoglu scored on an open jumper, Harris missed a layup at the rim, and Bargnani hit another open jumper. The Czar, yet again, ahead of the game, said the Nets looked like they needed a timeout after the Bargnani shoo because they looked disjointed and unorganized on both ends of the floret, but the Nets continued to run their offense. A shot at the rim for Courtney Lee seemed to have stemmed the tide, but the Nets followed that up by more bad play from TWill and Devin with the ball, and a slew of missed jumpers that culminated with a 6 minute drought over the third and fourth quarters. Meanwhile, Bosh was able to score from all over the court en route to a 32-19 third quarter for Toronto. With the Nets ultimately losing the game by 10, there’s the difference right there.
Though I’m convinced that even if the Nets were so badly outplayed in the third, they still would have found a way to lose that game last night, because they were so far into Goofus mode that they seemed incapable of pulling themselves out of the death spiral. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Terrence Williams missed two consecutive shots at the rim, when he took on two and three defenders without even looking to pass out of traffic. I was a huge proponent of getting TWill into the starting lineup down the stretch, especially over Trenton Hassell who’s biggest credit in seems is that he’s a nice guy. But if Williams can’t learn to play within the flow of the offense for an entire game, he needs to be designated back to the second unit, and someone like Jarvis Hayes, who is still hitting his jumpers at a decent clip, may be better suited for the starting lineup. That is, of course, if the Nets want to avoid infamy and get to 10 wins.
More thoughts after the jump.
Quick Recap: New Jersey Nets 90, Toronto Raptors 100
Mar 20, 2010 Nets vs. Raptors, Quick Recap
It was a tale of two halves once again (surpise, surprise) and the Nets went from having a three point lead in after 2 quarters to trailing by ten after three. That ended up being the difference in the game as they lost 100-90:
- So this Chris Bosh fellow is pretty good. His mobility and outside shot making ability makes him a tough match-up for Brook Lopez, and he showed why as he finished with 36 points (on 27 shots) and 8 rebounds.
- Brook Lopez himself had a pretty solid game, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
- Yi struggled in his return, going 3-10 and only finishing with 9 points.
- Courtney Lee was covering Hedo most of the game, and you could see that his focus was on the defensive end tonight. Only three shots (hitting 1), but he held Turkoglu to 13 points on 13 shots and stopped a 3-1 fast break all by himself.
- Jarvis Hayes put together a terrific effort today, and it seems that he is pretty comfortable coming off the bench.
- The Nets went from attacking the basket in the first half to standing outside and shooting jumpers in the second half. Story of the season.
Game 68 Preview Vs. Toronto Raptors
Mar 20, 2010 2009-2010 Open Thread, Game Previews, Nets vs. Raptors
Well, that game against the Sixers was a bit of a disappointment huh? That shouldn’t mean the Nets aren’t going to get to 10 wins. I am still pretty confident this team is going to get there, especially with Devin coming back. Oh yeah, Yi is coming back to. Yes, he struggles on the defensive end, but every couple games he will have a game where he hits his shots, and the Nets could use that scoring to put themselves over the top. We shall see what happens…onto the lineups…
Devin Harris vs. Jose Calderon
Mark and I have been saying that the old Devin Harris has been back for a couple of weeks now, but the beat writers are starting to say the same thing. These guys are around the team more than we are (obviously), so if they are saying it,it tends to be true.
Advantage: Devin Harris
Courtney Lee vs. DeMar DeRozan
One of our commenters (can’t remember off the top of my head who) showed us some stats that say Lee plays better with Devin Harris in the lineup. Well, Devin is back tonight and this means more open shots for Courtney. More open shots means he can jump straight up on his shot, and that is where he has success.
Advantage: Courtney Lee
Terrence Williams vs. Hedo Turkoglu
Terrence Williams struggled in his first start in a while last game, but he had a really tough matchup in Andre Iguodala. Iguodala is one of the few guys who can match up Williams in terms of size, speed, and athleticism. Hedo is the better player at this time, and with his size he might get the better of Terrence on the offensive end, but when Terrence has the ball he should be able to use his speed to get some things done.
Advantage: Hedo Turkoglu
Yi vs. Chris Bosh
Yi is back, and he gets a very tough matchup in Chris Bosh. Bosh is one of the few Raptors playing really well as of late, and you can expect that to continue.
Advantage: Chris Bosh
Brook Lopez vs. Andrea Bargnani
Brook has been frustrated with his (and the teams) play as of late, and here is Devin’s take on it:
“Teams have been a little bit more aware,” Harris said. “He’s been more of the focal point of the offense. His catches aren’t as deep as they were earlier in the year. It’s probably both on myself and him – it’s kind of a partnership that way.
“We need to make more of a conscious effort that when he has deep position we need to give him the ball regardless of if he has an open shot or not. He’s our focal point in the paint. We need to first and foremost try to get him going and try and get the rest of the guys going.”
I have been saying this all year basically, so it is good that the team recognizes this. Hopefully they can make some adjustments to get him the ball down low.
Advantage: Push
Bloggers Talk: Toronto Raptors
Mar 20, 2010 Bloggers Talk, Nets vs. Raptors
Another struggling, spiraling team makes its way to the Izod Center tonight as the Nets desperately try and get to 10 wins. Sam Holako, from the fantastic TrueHoop Raptors blog, Raptors Republic, has answered a few questions for us, explaining why things have gone south up north.
NAS: The last time the Raptors came to Jersey, they were on an upswing, but they’re sliding back down again and are in danger of missing out on the playoffs? Can you provide any explanation for their schizophrenic season?
The knock on this team was that it was built to outscore their opponent, and not outplay them. When games came down to a defensive battle, most Raptor fans had doubts about the teams ability to make stops, and those doubts had lots of legs. That upswing was the result of the players having a closed door meeting and working things out; but when Bosh got injured after the All-Star game, the team lost 4 in a row, and continued the losing when he came back. Toronto was able to hang on and capitalize on the Hawks mistakes down the stretch, but have otherwise regressed back to early season form against the Thunder. Fortunately we get the Nets tonight.
NAS: Chris Bosh seems to be lashing out regarding his role on this team and how much he’s able to take on. Is his attitude making Raptor fans uncomfortable about his status with this club beyond the season?
In all fairness, he has been getting more than the lion’s share of the blame even though he has producing, very consistently (and at an elite level) for the whole season. When Turkoglu and Bargnani aren’t producing, ducking the media and not having even a finger pointed at them, you can sort of understand his frustration. His comments have definitely concerned me (us), but I still think he resigns with the Raptors after getting courted by a few teams in the summer. There is nothing really new going on, just that it’s in the public now.
Thoughts on the Game: The Nets Can’t Defend, so I Won’t Defend Them
Feb 20, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Nets vs. Raptors, Thoughts On the Game
Hoopdata Box Score – Raptors Republic – View from the Couch
At 5 wins and 50 losses, it’s easy to say the New Jersey Nets don’t match up well with most teams in the NBA. But there’s something about the way the Toronto Raptors play basketball that really exposes the most damning flaws for the Nets, as was seen in last night’s 106-89 loss at the Izod Center.
Even without Chris Bosh, who missed last night’s game with an injury, the Raptors were totally content to make the Nets stop them from the perimeter, mixing in some back door cuts to get some points at the rim. The Nets are notorious for poor perimeter defense because they just don’t seem capable of ever rotating to the ball effectively. Meanwhile, because of the collective low basketball IQ of the Nets’ frontcourt, they are often befuddled by teams that run a lot of backdoor screens. Guys like Yi Jianlian, Kris Humphries, and yes, even Brook Lopez lose track of either the players their guarding, or where the ball is going, leading to all too easy buckets at the rim.
Two plays that stand out for me that truly bring home the Nets interior and perimeter defensive deficiencies both came in the third quarter – interestingly enough the only period where the Nets outscored the Raptors, making this game look somewhat closer at points than it actually was.
At the 3:05 mark DeMar DeRozan made a back door cut and was able to blow by Devin Harris on the right to get a wide open path to the basket along the strong side baseline. Josh Boone, Yi Jianlian, Terrence Williams and Keyon Dooling, the other four Nets players on the court at the time, all had their backs to DeRozan and seemed completely unaware that the play was either developing. It was such a shocking development for me that I rewatched the play a few more times and saw the same thing – outside of Devin Harris, who was able to foul DeRozan to prevent the dunk, I don’t think a single Net knew where the ball was – and if they did know where it was, they seemed completely disinterested in trying to be a help defender and either attempt to block the shot, draw a charge, or take DeRozan down to prevent the easy bucket. Four NBA players should not look so clueless on a play.
As for perimeter defense, at the end of the third quarter the Nets got punished for going with a small lineup of Boone-TWill-Dooling-Hayes and Devin Harris while the Raptors still had Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson – two big men, on the floor. On two occasions earlier in the quarter, Bargnani found his way into the post matched up with Terrence Williams and was able to score at ease. In the final seconds of the third, Bargnani found his way into the post against Williams again, and this time Hayes, who was guarding Calderon at the top of the key, left his man to double. Calderon naturally got the ball and Jarvis was in too deep to get back to him, leaving Josh Boone to desperately jump at him. Calderon calmly pump faked to get Boone out of the picture, and drilled the three.
Here’s some overall evidence of poor perimeter defense from the Nets. For the entire game, the Raptors shot 13-21 on their long twos (16-23 feet) good for 62 percent. Rasho Nesterovic was 6-6 on long twos just by himself. I guess there’s an element of luck to hit such a high percentage of lower percentage shots, but again, you don’t have to be a professional scout to know the Raptors like to shoot and shoot often. How the Nets were so ill prepared for this facet of Toronto’s game is shocking.
More thoughts after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Quick Recap: New Jersey Nets 89 – Toronto Rapters 106
Feb 19, 2010 Nets vs. Raptors, Quick Recap
In a game that was closer than the score indicated, the Nets ended up losing to the Raptors 106 to 89. The Nets were able to get the lead down to 7 at one point in the second half, but Jarvis Hayes missed a three and the Raptors responded with a bucket of their own, and that shut down any hopes the Nets had at winning.
- Jarvis Hayes had a night that he wants to forget. He was 2-10 from the field and only finished with 5 points. Hayes was only 1-8 from the three point line too. He had like 4 shots go in and out, and just struggled all around.
- Other than Hayes, the Nets shot good from three. T-Will went 2-2, Dooling went 2-3, Lee went 2-5, and Harris went 1-1.
- Yi was another one who struggled as he shot 2-13 from the field. Hopefully the Nets end up giving him a rest.
- Devin Harris has had his like 6th or 7th straight good game, and I think this is because he is finally healthy.
- No one guy killed the Nets, but it was an all around team effort as 7 Raptors were in double-figures.
Game 55 Preview Vs. Toronto Raptors
Feb 19, 2010 2009-2010 Open Thread, Game Previews, Nets vs. Raptors
Before we get to the game tonight, I wanted to talk about a contest that the Nets are holding real quick. There is a Jay-Z concert on March 6th at the Izod Center. The Nets are giving away free tickets, and it is pretty easy to qualify for a chance to win. According to the site:
All one has to do is follow the Nets on Twitter (@netsbasketball) or Become a Fan on Facebook by March 1st, and retweet a message (Twitter) or fill out a brief form (FB).
Just thought some Nets fans would be interested in this info.
As for the game, no Chris Bosh tonight for the Raptors. Nets’ fans shouldn’t really be celebrating yet, because Bosh’s great play isn’t the reason why the Nets have been losing to the Raptors. Don’t get me wrong, he has been a factor, but the Raptors running and gunning is what has been giving the Nets problems. We shall see if the Nets can keep this from happening tonight. Onto the lineups…
Devin Harris vs. Jarrett Jack
Mark summed it up perfectly earlier today. Devin Harris is back, and it isn’t just because of the numbers either (I believe sometimes the numbers can lie to you), but if you watch him, he just looks better now. He looks like the same player as last year, and that is important.
Advantage: Devin Harris
Courtney Lee vs. DeMar DeRozan
Courtney Lee had a really good game in the Nets’ win against Charlotte. He then had a truly awful game against the Heat. That seems to be Courtney’s problem this year, consistency. It is understandable though. Last year, as the 5th or 6th option on that Magic team, Lee could afford to have a bad game here or there because the Magic weren’t relying on him. The Nets rely on him. He is this team’s third option, and he is going to have to be more consistent for the Nets.
Advantage: Push
Jarvis Hayes vs. Hedo Turkoglu
Hedo Turkoglu is one of the biggest flops (in terms of Free Agent signings) this year so far, and part of it is the way that he plays on the Raptors. Hedo is a guy who is at his best with the ball in his hands, he just seems more comfortable with that. The Raptors have a true-point guard, and they like to run their sets (not saying it is a bad thing), but this kind of keeps Hedo out of the loop.
Advantage: Hedo Turkoglu
Yi vs. Amir Johnson
I think Amir is going to be the guy who is going to replace Chris Bosh tonight, thought I am not really positive. Johnson might end up being a nightmare match-up for Yi, because he is a very athletic guy, and those are the guys who seem to give him the most problems.
Advantage: Push
Brook Lopez vs. Andrea Bargnani
Andrea Bargnani is going to present a unique problem for Brook Lopez. Bargnani isn’t going to bother him on the defensive end, but when on offense, Brook is going to have a tough time covering Bargnani. He said it himself (via @netsbasketball):
Brook, on Bargs: “It’s tough b/c he can shoot the ball, he’s big and can play in the post. You’ve got to try to make him rely on counters.”
To offset this, Brook really needs to get working in the post on the offensive end. Hopefully the contact and all that will tire Bargnani out and that will end up leaving his shots short. If not, this can happen.
Advantage: Brook Lopez
Bloggers Talk: Toronto Raptors
Feb 19, 2010 2009-2010 Regular Season, Bloggers Talk, Nets vs. Raptors
Sam Holako of Raptors Republic returns to answer a couple of quick questions about the Toronto Raptors before tonight’s game at the Izod Center.
NAS: Because exhibitions like the Slam Dunk Competition are what’s really important (at least when you follow a team with 5 wins), how would you rate DeMar DeRozan’s performance over All-Star weekend and do you have any ideas on how to improve on the dunk competition, which was universally panned this year?
I really thought DeMar had a great dunk off. The kid is a natural athlete, and has been putting down big dunks all year. It was good to see him get out there and get some attention on a national level. I’d do two things to improve the dunk competition: 1) Ban Nate Robinson from competing ever again 2) Transform it into a team competition where you have a dunkers and shot blockers, with regular NBA rules (fouls, travelling, etc), and see who wins. The dunk off has been lame since Vince Carter took things to the next level years ago, and will never be as good again.
NAS: How realistic of a goal is it for the Raptors and their fans to shoot for the #4 seed and overtake Boston in the East by season’s end? And how would the Raptors fare in a first round match-up against Boston? We know what happened the last time the Raptors won a division and faced an aging, but battle tested former Division winner in the first round of the playoffs (please allow me to relive some semblance of Nets glory here).
For the Raptors to sneak into 4th in the East, they will have to win 6 more games than the Celtics do, since the Celtics have already won all the tiebreakers. Considering the Raptors have 28 games left, and the Celtics have 31…it’s just impossible unless the stars align, and since we have Turkoglu running amok on the wing, I wont hold my breath. If you ask me, it doesn’t even matter if we take 4th since we have no chance of beating the Celtics in a 7 game series. Boston OWNS the Raptors; we’ve beat them only once over the last two seasons, I don’t see the playoffs being any different. I hate you for drudging up the past like that; sign of a guy who’s supporting the worst team of all time in professional sports.
Inside The Run – The Nets 20-3 Run Against The Raptors
Feb 5, 2010 Nets vs. Raptors, Xs and Os
The Nets haven’t gone on too many runs this year, but in their last game against the Raptors the Nets went on a 20-3 run that extended over 6 minutes. How did they do this? Is this something that they can use as a template in the future? Let’s take a look.
Thoughts On The Game: The Nets Are Back To Losing Close Games Again
Feb 4, 2010 Nets vs. Raptors, Thoughts On the Game
Advanced Box Score | RaptorsRepublic
The Nets are back to competing, and in my opinion that is a good thing. I know, the wins aren’t coming, but when you lose 44 of 48 games, you take what positives you can. The biggest reason why the Nets are competing is because there seems to be some stability in New Jersey. What do I mean by stability? Well, they have finally found a nice pace to play at (somewhere in the 92-95 possessions per game range), and they are selectively running now which is what this team can be very good at (27 fast break points tonight). What I mean by selectively running is when the opportunity is there, take it, but if it isn’t there slow it down. In the first 20 or so games of the Kiki era, he was forcing the Nets to run at any chance they get. The Nets aren’t good enough offensively to do that, and Kiki finally made the correct change.
The Nets are also becoming more stable when it comes to the rotation. Remember when guys like Hayes and T-Will had their minutes fluctuating like crazy? They would play 20 minutes one game then 5 the next. Now everyone is getting consistent minutes, and that makes things easier for the players. As an example, when Terrence Williams was getting limited minutes, he was going out there and forcing things. This is because he didn’t know when he was getting pulled, so he would try to make the most of his minutes, and that caused him to press. Now that he is getting 20 minutes on a regular basis (along with guys like CDR and Humphries), they can let the game come to them, knowing they will have numerous games to effect the game positively. This was proven tonight as the bench looked comfortable out there, and everyone who entered the game off the bench for the Nets had a positive +/-.
As for what the Raptors did to win last night, they hit the three ball. They were 10-19 from deep. The three point shot was a real problem for the Nets in the beginning of the year, but over the past couple of weeks, they have done a very good job defending the three point line. Maybe it was the teams they were playing (The Clippers, Sixers, Wizards, and Pistons don’t light it up from deep), but it was disappointing to see, and I think it cost the team the game. Some more thoughts after the jump.