AP Photo/Alan Diaz

Hot Hot Hoops – Peninsula is Mightier

The Nets haven’t done a whole lot right this season, so it’s only fitting that they even found a way to screw up their final game of their worst-ever season. With the Miami Heat playing for nothing but seeding, sitting Dwyane Wade, the Nets fell into a huge hole in the third quarter and looked to be playing another game on cruise control on course for their 70th defeat. But rather than just punching the clock and finishing off this putrid season, they came all the way back in the fourth to tie it, had a chance to win it on a fluke offensive foul call by the refs, played poorly in the first overtime but still forced a second, only to ultimately lose anyway.

And what did those 10 extra minutes actually do for the Nets as the organization looks to greener pastures this summer? MIA for all of the fourth quarter and OT periods was their present, Devin Harris, and their future, Terrence Williams, while Brook Lopez was inserted back in for the first OT, only to turn the ball over three times on boneheaded plays (a travel, a shot clock violation and an offensive foul). Yi Jianlian, who’s still trying to prove he belongs on this team in some capacity next season, finished with a more than solid stat line of 23 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks, but was virtually ignored towards the end of regulation when Courtney Lee opted to take the ball to the hoop and draw a foul rather than pass it to the wide open Yi in the corner for a chance to win the game. Also, it was nice to see Chris Douglas-Roberts get into the game and make some plays on offense, though 9 points and 4 turnovers for a guy that’s supposedly going to make hay in this league as an instant offense guy is a bit of a letdown.

It was a happier time for Chris Quinn, who looked like a JV player playing out of his league on the varsity squad during Monday’s loss to Charlotte. Last night, Quinn ran the point effectively, only netting 5 points and 2 assists, but grabbing 7 rebounds – which is amazing in itself when you consider he’s the most physically unimpressive player on the floor by far – and not turning the ball over, which is a major accomplished for a team that gave the ball away 20 times last night, leading to 23 points.

But a Yi scoring outburst, some good/some bad from CDR and some efficient play from Chris Quinn are not really the things we as Nets fans should be having dreams about headed into the summer. While this season was far from promising back in October, at the very least, I thought it would be entertaining, watching Devin Harris shoulder the burden by himself, while watching players like Lopez, CDR, Yi, TWill and Courtney Lee evolve into legit NBA ballers. It really didn’t work out that way. Harris seemed overmatched when he wasn’t injured, Lopez grew up, but CDR regressed as the season went along. There’s promise in Terrence Williams, but we haven’t seen enough consistency, and more importantly, accurate shooting, to say anything more, and Yi remains an enigma, the Oliver Perez of the NBA for all of you Mets fans out there. Last night, Harris didn’t play when it mattered, TWill was off, Lopez looked gassed, CDR was okay, and Yi was alternating between sweet looking jump shoots and being rejected by the rim and turning the ball over.

Whereas a team like Miami can essentially play for nothing but a rank – I’d personally rather take on Atlanta in the first round as the #6 seed than Boston as the #5 seed – with their superstar/all-world player on the sidelines in a suit, and still find a way to win. The Nets are still finding ways to lose, perfecting it like a Julliard student does the violin. It was an absolutely ugly game, with the Nets shooting 36 percent, while the Heat shot 40 percent. The only offensive weapon the Heat had, Michael Beasley (25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks) fouled out  in the first overtime. Yet it was Yakhouba Diawara, playing his first minutes of the game, drilling a critical three in the second OT to stretch the lead for Miami.

What I’m getting at is that it’s frustrating to look at Miami’s players on paper, especially when Wade is out, and watch them still outslug the Nets like this, even if it took them two overtimes to do it. 82 games and a few additional minutes later, and I still don’t know what to take from this Nets season. There was the 0-18 start, the Frank firing, the January to forget – where I saw this team play about as uninspired and awful as I’ve ever seen an NBA team play – and the last 6 weeks or so where this team demonstrated a pulse, and more importantly, some ability. But then the last two games for the Nets left a sour taste in my mouth. There was a lot of the “old” Nets on Monday and last night – letting a depleted opponent getting ahead, failing to make a shot when it mattered, the spontaneous disappearance of Devin Harris – and that’s disappointing after an other promising end to the season. When pondering the foundation of this Nets team, are they the players who came out and took advantage of a San Antonio Spurs team without Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker, or are they the team that lets Mario Chalmers and Yakhouba Diaware beat you in double OT? I guess we have all summer to find out.

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Queen City Hoops – Rufus on Fire – View from the Couch

The Nets closed out their run of basketball at the Meadowlands last night in similar fashion to how the organization has spent most of their days in the New Jersey swamp: with an uninspired, ho hum loss in front of a paltry crowd. Outside of some excellent work by the YES Network, who were showing clips of “Meadowlands Moments” throughout, there was little pomp and circumstance to this evening. No images of Derrick Coleman and Chris Dudley cutting down the nets and wishing the New Jersey faithful a pleasant good evening. No signs of Jason Kidd or Kenyon Martin electrifying the crowd one more time before the lights were turned off. Instead, the only real connection to this franchise’s past came in the form of the opposing head coach, Larry Brown, who coached the first ever Nets game at the Meadowlands in 1981.

To be honest, I don’t know if there was anyone out there who felt like lingering past closing time at the Meadowlands last night. The Nets are one game away from finishing up their worst season ever, which says a lot for a franchise whose futility may only be rivaled by the Clippers. And while there have been some good times at the Meadowlands, it’s hard to call it a real home for an organization that’s jumped around the New York/New Jersey area for decades. Even their next move to Newark is just a temporary one with Brooklyn appearing to be their final home – for the time being.

As for the game itself – the Nets played poor defense early, squandered a run in the second half by going ice cold shooting-wise in the 4th quarter, and demonstrated their utter lack of depth whenever their bench took the court: ladies and gentleman, your 2009-2010 New Jersey Nets.

While the Nets are far removed now from being considered the “worst of all time,” they’re still a pretty bad team, especially when they’re giving up 59 first half points and allowing an offensively challenged team like the Bobcats to have an incredibly balanced scoring attack with 7 players in double figures. Meanwhile, only 7 players on the Nets even scored a point in this game. While the Nets looked pretty balanced with their starting 5 all scoring 14 or more points, the bench – sans Jarvis Hayes and Keyon Dooling from the start, and Kris Humphries after a first half injury – only scored 4 points total, compared with 50 for the Bobcats bench. Yes, these are NBA players, but it’s especially embarrassing when a guy like Gerald Henderson, who’s gone scoreless in four previous games, drops 14 on the Nets, including a posterizing dunk on Devin Harris in the second quarter.

Still, with all that, the Nets actually clawed back from a double digit first half deficit and briefly grabbed a one point lead in the third quarter. Harris hit two threes early in the third quarter, Terrence Williams was able to score at will near the basket, and the Bobcats were just cold enough to make it appear like a competitive basketball team was on the verge of happening. But it was three layups towards the end of the third that brought Charlotte’s lead back to six, and a 12-1 lead from the Bobcats in the fourth, pushed the game back out of reach for the Nets.

Fortunately, Terrence Williams continues to be a bright spot, and as Ian Eagle speculated after the game, you have to wonder if TWill wants the season to end right now. There was one point in the first half where Williams had 13 of his team’s 27 points.  On a night where Devin Harris wasn’t much of a factor outside of the third quarter, and Brook Lopez had a quiet 16 points and 8 rebounds, Williams was the best player wearing a Nets uniform last night – and with a plethora of impact swingman expected to be available in free agency and the draft this summer, the Nets are going to have to consider long and hard how they can improve their team, while still finding quality minutes for TWill, who is growing into a game changer before our very eyes.

A few more thoughts after the jump.

With that said about TWill, while I appreciate his play the past 6 weeks, he does worry me when he appears a bit too preoccupied with the stat sheet. After his triple double game against the Bulls on Friday, TWill was quoted as saying he was asking his teammates to shoot from halfcourt if it meant getting him his 10th assist. Last night, Devin Harris looked a little too trigger happy in the third every time he caught a pass from Williams, including one play where he missed an easy shot under the rim in the third quarter because Devo added some flash and tried to catch and score in one motion. Harris looked a bit sheepish about it, while Williams looked annoyed that he didn’t get his assist. At that point, the Nets were challenging the Bobcats for the lead in the third. Let’s get our priorities in order.

With about 4 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Brook Lopez was running the floor on a fast break, caught the ball, lost control and missed the layup. The YES booth praised Lopez for being athletic enough to run the floor, and while I agree with their sentiments, Lopez has a knack for looking out of control with the ball in situations like that (see also when he does his frightening dribble drive move from the top of the key). While Lopez may have the athletic ability to run the floor, he still doesn’t really look all that comfortable.

While Keyon Dooling certainly has had a season to call home about, he’s that much more of a capable backup PG than Chris Quinn. When the Net first brought Quinn over, I thought he had potential to be a decent bench option, but as his playing time has become more infrequent, he’s failed to impress me in any of his recent appearances. For lack of a better word, he just looks some unsteady and physically overmatched out there – something you definitely don’t want to see from your primary ball handler. While TWill is not a true point, I would have much rather seen the Nets use him as the primary PG when Harris was on the bench, with Chris Douglas-Roberts flanking him in the backcourt. Quinn just doesn’t look like a functional NBA player at this point.

AP Photo/Tom Strattman

Eight Points Nine Seconds – Indy Cornrows

In most basketball games, there’s the big picture reason for the outcome – the overall theme of a game – and then the microcosm moment(s) where the momentum of the match-up officially swing in one team’s direction carrying them to the finish line. What I found interesting about last night’s 115-102 victory for the Indiana Pacers over the Nets was the fact that the big picture reason for the Nets loss and the microcosm moment where the game was officially lost were on totally opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of how a team can lose a game.

Let me explain. A quick look at the box score and a big picture statistic sticks out like a sore thumb for the Nets. They allowed the Pacers to score 60 points in the pain on only 12 fast-break points. This just reflects extraordinarily bad interior defense for the Nets. There were just way too many baskets for Indiana throughout the game where it was a one-on-one matchup for their offensive player right under the rim. Like at the 7:00 mark in the first when off of two free throws from Brook Lopez, Danny Granger beat the entire Nets team back down the court and was wide open under the rim for a dunk. The Nets appeared to have Courtney Lee guarding Grander early, and Lee lost track of him in these situations several times. With Lee, probably the Nets’ best defender, having an off game like this, you just knew it was going to be one of those kinds of games defensively for the Nets.

Yet, even with these lapses, the Nets led by as many as 12 early, and even when Indiana started to make their move in the third quarter, the Nets hung around and stayed close to even until about the 4 minute mark where the microcosm moment was introduced. While it would have seemingly made more sense if the Pacers were able to go on their run by making a few uncontested baskets at the rim, they were actually able to sink the Nets for good from the outside.  The Nets completely forget that Troy Murphy is one of those big-men who can shoot, and Murphy made them pay by hitting back-to-back treys, extending a Pacers lead from 2 to 8. While an 8-point lead wasn’t insurmountable for the Nets a night earlier against the Bulls, playing the road-half of a back-to-back probably sucked the last bit of fight out of the Nets, and they were never truly “in” the game from that point forward.

So, while it may be easy on the surface to say the Nets lost this game because of their interior defense, I felt the nail in the coffin came on poor perimeter defense. In other words, it’s the kind of game you expect the worst team in the league to lose, especially against a hot team like Indiana who are 9-2 in their last 11 and look a lot better down the stretch than how they’ve looked most of the season.

A few more thoughts after the jump.

• There was a play early in the first quarter which gave me pause but resulted in two points, so I was originally wasn’t going to complain until the Nets made the same mistake again and that time turned the ball over. The first time around, Devin Harris and Courtney had a two-on-break and instead of passing it off to Lee earlier in the possession for the easy lay-in, Devin waited a tick or two to long and had to alley-oop the ball to Lee, who made a great catch and laid it in. Fast forward to around the 5 minute mark in the second quarter, and this time, Lee had a three-on-one with Terrence Williams and Chris Douglas-Roberts as flankers, and Lee got a little too deep under the hoop and just tossed an awful alley-oop pass to TWill, leading to the turnover. The Nets, even while they were racking up assists the past few weeks, just didn’t really look crisp with their passing, a point Mike Fratello mentioned from the booth. Here’s exhibit A and B in my opinion.
• You have to wonder if Yi Jianlian is catching wind of some of the negative press he’s been getting lately as the team closes in on the free agent period. While he still wasn’t particularly effective defensively – partly responsible for Troy Murphy’s game high 25 points – Yi did have a bit of an edge for himself offensively, something we really haven’t seen since the 2-3 week period after his return from injury in December. On the game’s very first possession, Yi did a great job moving without the ball and caught a pass in the paint and did a quick release fadeaway for two points. In the third quarter, Yi caught the ball about 15 feet out and had a great first step to the rim drawing the foul. There is definitely talent here with Yi, and maybe there’s a future in this league as a 6th man.
• What’s with Earl Watson blocking a Yi free-throw practice attempt in the first quarter?
• Though the Nets interior defense was pretty much horrific last night, I do think overall the Nets are becoming a bit tougher around the hoop. Case in point in the second quarter when Solomon Jones had an open path to the rim for a dunk and Kris Humphries entered the frame and challenged him, preventing the easy two and taking Jones down in the process. It wasn’t a dirty play, but a hard foul. I think the Nets are long ways removed from CDR’s “lacking toughness” comments of yesteryear, at least when it comes to plays at the rim.
• I, for one, am thankful that I don’t have to watch Brook Lopez try to defend Roy Hibbert anymore this season. I really hope the Lopez and the Nets do something simply in the off-season, like watch some tape of the guy, because there’s no other reason why Hibbert should be consistently getting the ball that deep in the post against Lopez every time these two face off against each other.

Bulls By The Horn | Blog-a-Bull | Chris Sheridan’s Game Recap

I said it in the last Thoughts, and I will say it again; at this point in the season, it really isn’t about the wins and losses.  These last few games are really about making sure the guys who are going to be on the team next year (we know who they are by now) finish up on a positive note.  Brook Lopez, Terrence Williams, Devin Harris, and Courtney Lee all had really good games last night, so even if the Nets’ would have lost against the Bulls, I would have been happy.  With that being said, it sure did feel good watch the Nets play the role of the spoilers last night against the Bulls.  A couple times in the second half (and in the overtimes), the Bulls looked like they flipped the switch, and each time I thought to myself “Welp, they were due for a run.  I mean they are playing for something.”  Each time, I was expecting the Bulls to pull away for good.  However, the Nets fought back each and every time, and that was pretty cool to see.  It couldn’t have been more evident in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.  The Nets had just let the lead slip out of their hands, but Derrick Rose missed a foul shot that kept the game within two.  Instead of settling for a three, Courtney Lee attacked:

This aggressive move is what forced Brad Miller to help, and this help is what freed up Brook Lopez for the tip in dunk (which was definitely not goaltending). I couldn’t be happier for Brook on this play.  He has been the Nets’ most consistent player (and the only player who has played in every single game this year) the entire year, so for him to finally have a moment like this made me feel good for him.  You could tell that he was really excited, just by watching his reaction after the play.

The Nets again showed some resiliency in the first overtime.  After quickly falling behind 7, the Nets fought all the way back to tie the game with 12 seconds left.  The Bulls had the ball, and they put it in Derrick Rose’s hands.  Rose had killed the Nets all night up until this point:

Courtney Lee, without help, cutoff Rose’s lane and forced him into a tough step-back jumper. The Nets then went into the second overtime and really took advantage of the Bulls’ fatigue.

Moving on, we need to look at Terrence Williams’ triple double.  It is a great feat for a rookie (though it is the 4th time this year a rookie came away with a triple double), especially considering how far Terrence Williams has gone.  Williams was tremendous throughout the game as he finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists.  You saw what kind of mismatches Williams can create in this game.  The Bulls didn’t really know how to match up with him, they tried Luol Deng to match with Williams’ size.  However, T-Will’s ballhandling ability and athleticism allowed him to get by Deng whenever he wanted.

Some more thoughts after the jump

• A lot is going to be made of the calls in the Nets’ favor.  However in my opinion, there was only one really bad call.  The one where Rose drove and got his hand grabbed by Lee.  The ball went out off of Rose’s leg, and the Nets were awarded the ball.  I would feel bad about this call if the Bulls didn’t miss all those foul shots to put themselves in that situation where that call effected so much.
• Yi had one of those plays where you think “damn he can really be a player!”  He caught the ball on the baseline, took one dribble, and tried to dunk it on the entire Bulls’ roster.  He drew the foul, getting himself to the line.
• Brad Miller almost won the game for the Bulls himself.  He hit back-to-back threes, forced Terrence Williams into a bad turnover, and finished with the lay-up.  If there was a MVP for the Bulls, it was Miller in my opinion (though Rose was great as well).
• You saw Kiki tighten up the bench (only gave 8 players 20-plus minutes) last night, and I think that was his way of saying, “we’re going for it.”  He rode the hot hand, playing Terrence Williams the entire second half and overtime (except the final seconds).
• Thought it was pretty cool that Kiki took out T-Will with a few seconds left and the game in hand so he can be showed some love from the crowd (the crowd that was there, that is).  A nice gesture from Kiki.

Bucksketball | BrewHoop

Remember when the Nets had 8 guys score in double digits.  There was no question that was the main reason for the Nets big win against New Orleans.  Well, last night, the lack of depth is what really killed the Nets.  Outside of Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, nobody really did anything of note.  In fact, other than those two guys, the Nets only had 1 more player in double figures.  It was Yi, who finished with 11 points, but it was 2-8 shooting, and he really didn’t have a major impact.  Jarvis Hayes had a rough game, since he wasn’t knocking down his shot.  It is usually feast or famine with Jarvis, and last night was famine.  Jarvis is a fantastic shooter, but he seems to go in those slumps where he just can’t knock anything down, and that was the case last night.  Brook Lopez also really struggled.  Totally wasn’t expecting that since Andrew Bogut was out, but Brook just didn’t get into a rhythm offensively.  As Jon noted in the comments, part of it had to do with Devin’s hot start.  The other part of it just has to do with the Nets’ offensive strategy.  It just never seems like getting Brook Lopez involved is a priority, and against a team that just lost their best defender in center Andrew Bogut, it’s frustrating.

Trying to focus on the positive a little bit, it was good to see Devin Harris and Courtney Lee get it going.  Now that the Nets have gotten their 1oth (and 11th) win to avoid infamy, the wins don’t really matter.  You want to see the guys who are going to be with the team next year finish on a good note, and seeing Courtney and Devin play well is the start of that.  Both of those guys have been through so much in terms of slumps and injuries that if they can finish the year playing well, they can have something to work off of.  Something to keep them motivated.  On the flip side, I am not really worried about Brook Lopez finishing the year off slow (or slower than the beginning of the year), just because he has played so strong all year and never really had to face any injuries or adversity.

Some more thoughts after the jump:

• Terrence Williams had a pretty rough game, but it is a game I can live with.  It wasn’t like those poor games he had earlier in the year, just because he isn’t shooting crazy long jumpers.  He just had a tough time getting his floater to go down.  I have said this in the past, when T-Will goes shot happen, part of it has to do with his shot selection, but the rest of it has to do with the lack of movement on the offensive end.  When Terrence Williams penetrates and nobody cuts, he is left to put a floater up.
• In continuing our “Random Guys Beat You” theme of the year, Jerry Stackhouse and Ersan Ilyasova combined to score 31 points on 15-21 shooting.
• I know Mark (and probably other Nets fans) aren’t happy about not being able to see these games, but you have to admit, it is coming at a pretty good stretch.  This is coming from someone who has seen the games, you aren’t missing much besides headaches.
• Call me crazy optimistic, but I think the Nets can finish .500 during this final four-game stretch.  They play the Bulls, the Pacers, the Bobcats, and the Heat.  I think the Nets will lose to the Bulls (who are playing for something – that final playoff spot) and the Pacers (who for whatever unknown reason continue to win and hurt their draft chances).  I think the Nets wins will come against the Bobcats (I am convince the Nets have their number.  It just happens between teams) and the Heat (who I am hoping will be sitting their starters).  While 13 wins is an awful season, thinking about where we were a little bit ago (staring at the schedule, scratching for wins), that is a pretty big achievement.
• Good news!  John Wall and Evan Turner officially put their name into the draft.  I am counting down the days until the draft lottery…

Truth About It | BulletsForever

For some reason I was expecting the Nets to come out energized last night.  The Nets were coming off of a blowout against the New Orleans Hornets where no starter played more than 27 minutes (Brook), and the bench minutes were split evenly as well.  Obviously, that didn’t happen.  As lackluster as the Hornets looked two nights ago, the Nets were just as bad, maybe even worse.  They just looked slow the entire game as the offensive wasn’t crisp and the defensive rotations were slow (if they even happened at all).

There are teams that other teams just seem to struggle against.  We have witnessed it in our favor as the Nets just seem to have to Bobcats’ number.  On the flip side, the Washington Wizards just seem to have the Nets’ number.  Most of it is simply match-ups.  Overall, the Wizards’ talent level is equal with the Nets, but where the Wizards excel, the Nets struggle.  Andray Blatche is a great offensive talent, while Yi is one of the worst defensive PFs in the NBA.  Blatche has killed the Nets in the past three games, and tonight was no different.  Blatche was 1 rebound away from a triple-double, putting up 20 points, 13 assists, and 9 rebounds.  The Nets seemed determine to force someone else to beat them, and they doubled Blatche every chance they got in the first quarter.  However, unlike when they doubled Tim Duncan, the strategy wasn’t successful last night.  Part of it was the poor rotations due to the back to back, but another aspect is that Blatche can handle the ball farther out (than a guy like Duncan), and that forces the double to come from longer distances.  Because of that, Blatche is able to survey the court and make the correct pass.  He had 8 assists in the first quarter, but this was maybe the most frustrating:

Here, Blatche makes the catch so far out, that Brook Lopez is hesitant on whether to double or not.  That slight hesitation is what allows Blatche to find Shaun Livingston who was allowed to cut backdoor due to a defensive breakdown by Devin Harris.  Poor defensive rotations is what basically put the Nets out of their misery late in the fourth quarter:

Down 6, the Nets offense started to click, and they badly needed a stop.  Instead, the above happened.  It is funny how the Wizards broadcast cut to that angle right when the play started, as if they were expecting it.  Either way, you can just see the gap that Javale McGee has to drive through to finish with the dunk.

On the offensive end, Brook Lopez seemed to be the only Net who was really into any type of groove.  However, the Nets seemed to fall into that old pattern where they forget to get him the basketball.  The Wizards didn’t have anyone who was big enough to stop him, and when Brook was making the catch down low, he was either finishing or drawing the foul (22 points on 6-12 shooting with 10-11 from the line).  The Nets looked to be out of it early in the 2nd quarter, but after using Brook exclusively they were able to go on a 9-2 run and cut the Wizards lead to 7.  After those possessions late in the second, I thought the Nets finally “got it” and realized that they need to get the ball to Brook in close.  However, this was the first possession for the Nets:

Your eyes aren’t fooling you, Brook Lopez makes his post up at the three point line and ends up making a catch 35 feet away from the basket.  Part of it is on Brook for floating out that far out, but some of it is on the coaching staff for not running a play that puts Brook right on the block.

Some more thoughts after the jump:

• Terrence Williams had another terrific game 15 points (7-10 shooting), 4 assists, and 3 rebounds, but he had a key turnover late that really hurt the Nets.  Down 5, Williams pulled down a rebound and tried to throw a full court bounce pass.  It was easily stolen and the Wizards came back down and scored, extending the lead to 7.  It is a rookie mistake (thinking he can fit it in like that), but you just wish he wouldn’t make it late.  Especially because it really takes away from the great game that he did have.
• Maybe I am turning into an old fogie, but seeing Blatche run around like a chicken with his head cut off after that rebound to get a triple double really bothered me.  It wasn’t just because it was against the Nets (I would feel the same way if T-Will was doing this).  Yes, a triple double is a huge deal, but do you really want to get that 10th rebound by fighting with your teammate over an airball?  Or rushing the ball up the court to throw up an underhand shot to try and rebound it?
• Even though he scored 22 points, Devin Harris didn’t have the best game.  He is at his best when he is creating, and he only had three assists.  He really wasn’t attacking or getting the ball in the middle, and that was part of the reason the Nets’ offense looked so sluggish.

Hornets 24/7 | At The Hive

In most instances I don’t like to use +/- for a one game sample size, but Terrence Williams +/- of +26 during yesterday’s  win against the New Orleans Hornets is a very telling stat.  T-Will was the one player on the Nets who made things go.  Sure he only had 14 points (7-13 shooting), but his shot selection was real impressive.  I think my favorite play was on a fast break in the first half where Williams pushed the ball all the way into the lane where he hit an eight foot jumper.  Earlier in the year, the 8-footer would have been a three pointer (as noted by Marv Albert and Jim Spanarkel), and that really shows the growth Terrence Williams had made throughout the year.  Where Williams really shined last night though was when he was passing the ball.  T-Will racked up 14 assists to go along with his 14 points, with a lot of them coming off the dribble.  The pass off the dribble might be the hardest one for NBA players to make, and Williams makes it look easy.  The ability to pass it off the dribble instead of gathering oneself and then making the pass allows for the pass to get their quicker, giving the player who makes the catch more time to get the shot up.

As Williams told Ben Couch, he wasn’t the only one who played well:

“It wasn’t only me,” Williams said. “I did some things, but you’ve got to credit my teammates – they hit the shots. I would say that I had a little energy tonight, but that’s my job. When you come off the bench and you’re the energy guy, you’ve got to come in with energy.”

The Nets’ depth has been their biggest problem this year, but for one night, it was really sparked the team.  All 11 players who got in the game for the Nets (Trenton Hassell was the only active player who didn’t play) scored, with 8 of them getting into double figures.  The second unit played very well against the Hornets, especially in the third quarter.  The Nets were in one of their patented 3rd quarter funks, but then the bench came in and closed the third with a little 6-0 run that expanded the Nets lead from 7 to 13, effectively putting the game away.

Some more thoughts after the jump:

• The Nets haven’t had many blowouts, but this was perfect timing for one.  The Nets have another winnable game tomorrow, and with Brook Lopez being the starter who played the most minutes (27), the Nets shouldn’t be too fatigued.
• That block by Devin Harris in the third quarter really shows you the type of player he his.  While he isn’t the most vocal guy, he is somebody who always leads by example.
• Speaking of blocks, the Nets had 10 of them, as Kris Humphries lead the way with 5.
• In the game preview, I talked about wanted to see the Nets push the pace, and they did, with much success.  The Nets had 40 transition points compared to the Hornets 11.
• With Terrence Williams leading the way, the Nets set a team-record for most assists in a game this year.  The Nets had 34 of their 46 baskets assisted.  The Nets were moving the ball effectively the entire game, and that number really shows you how well they did.

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Valley of the Suns – Bright Side of the Suns

To quote the immortal Axel Rose, “nothing lasts forever.” The good vibes from Monday’s infamy-avoiding victory against the San Antonio Spurs were not meant to spillover against another tough Western Conference foe, as the Phoenix Suns, the team with the league’s best record since the all-star break, seemed asleep at the wheel for the first half, before putting the screws to the Nets in the third quarter and beating New Jersey 116-105 at the Izod Center.

On the bright side, with win number 10 now in the books, the angst and anxiety that seemed to accompany all of the prior games where the Nets were in control at some point early in the game only to collapse thoroughly in the second half, is now gone. The Nets lost this game because they are one of the league’s worst teams playing one of the league’s best teams. As long as the Nets are no longer the worst of all-time, I can swallow these kinds of performances. These were the kinds of games, against teams like the Suns, I expected the Nets to lose before the season even started. Why should I change my tune now because the Nets had won three of their previous four games?

Actually, the Nets didn’t play all that badly last night, but the Suns are such a terrible match-up for them. All season, the Nets have struggled mightily against the league’s top offensive teams. Their win against the Spurs was actually New Jersey’s first versus a team that’s in the top 10 for offensive efficiency and San Antonio was missing two of their best offensive weapons in Tony Park and Manu Ginobli on Monday, so it hardly counts.  So here comes the Suns, leading the league in offensive efficiency, and it’s easy to see why the Nets just do not have enough firepower to match-up with Phoenix. The Nets led by three at halftime, but were hammered 38-23 in the third quarter, giving Phoenix some distance.The fact that the Nets effectively hung around for most of the game, is a credit to their improved performance for the season.

It’s no surprise that the Nets have been a better team in March as Terrence Williams has become a better player. In many ways, TWill’s up and down season really encapsulates the Nets’ journey all year. Both started off in November showing flashes of potential, but were too error-prone to be effective, before totally bottoming out in December and January. By February, the team and TWill began to redeem themselves with improved play, but still, little results, before starting to click in March. TWill and the Nets are now flawed, but respectable players/teams, demonstrating promise for next season once they’re surrounded with improved parts.  Last night, Williams led a charge in the second quarter that briefly put the Nets up by 7 with about 3:39 left when he sunk back-to-back three-pointers.  He went on to score 21 points, needing 20 shots to do it, but also dishing out 9 assists in the process. In the off-season, I would love to see TWill work on figuring out ways to draw contact and get himself to the free throw line more. He would easily score in double digits every game if he could get to the free throw line five or six times per game.

The other big performance last night came from an unexpected source. I’ve been down on Kris Humphries for the better part of March now, and deservedly so. I felt he had become too selfish offensively, and looked out-of-sync without the ball. Josh Boone, despite his numerous flaws as a player, looked more deserving of Humps backup PF/C spot on the roster, but Kiki Vandeweghe has stuck with Humphries, for better or worse. Hump looked to redeem Kiki somewhat on Monday, when he actually hit a couple of jumpers for the first time in what felt like weeks. But Hump took it one step further against Phoenix, by hitting some more jumpers but also taking advantage of the Suns’ sketchy interior D and adding some baskets at the rim en route to 17 points on 7-11 shooting.

But even with the strong performance from Hump and TWill, the Suns have so many weapons, the Nets just couldn’t compete for 48 minutes. The Suns had six players in double figures, and Steve Nash looked like the younger, less broken-down point guard when matched-up against Devin Harris, scoring 24 points and dishing 14 assists, compared with Devo, who went for 9 points and 9 assists, on 2-10 shooting. Harris also had one big wrap around his back, an ominous sigh for the oft-injured point guard.

A few more thoughts after the jump:

• Not a great game for Yi Jianlian to add to his highlight reel, especially in the third quarter where Yi made two plays that would have been funny if they didn’t negatively affect the Nets. At around the 3:20 mark, he grabbed the offensive rebound and missed a wide open dunk under the rim, and with less than a minute to go, a pass, that was a bit low from Courtney Lee granted, bounced off Yi’s knees, causing a turnover. Yi’s bad play is accentuated by the fact that a potential replacement of his next season, Amare Stoudemire, scored 15 points on 7-12 shooting in only 27 minutes. I still have questions about Stoudemire’s commitment on the defensive end, but that’s a debate we’ll likely all be having in a few months.
• It’s getting to the point where Courtney Lee is now quietly putting decent games together. He finished with 17 points on 7-13 shooting, along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He’s doing this all within the flow of the game now, not in bunches like in the beginning of the season. Besides the 10th win, Lee and TWill’s maturity as players this season, have been some of the few bright spots.
• Was I the only one thinking of Rocky IV every time I heard Goran Dragic’s name?
• Loved that during the “Meadowlands Moments” segment, props was given to that epic double overtime game between the Nets and Phoenix in December, 2006. That was one of those games where I had put the Nets on just to check the score and intended to either go out or put something else on, and I ended up being glued to the set from the third quarter on. I forgot that Jason Kidd had a chance to win the game in OT and the ball rimmed out. I’m also shocked that the 42 points Nash scored, remain his career-high.

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

48 Minutes of Hell – Pounding the Rock – View from the Couch

The 2009-2010 New Jersey Nets have been a lot of things: snake-bitten, lackadaisical, uncompetitive, underachievers, disappointing and unpredictable for starters. One thing they’re not, is the “Worst of All Time.” And on a totally personal level, that’s good enough for me.

Fans of teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers or Los Angeles Lakers will probably think it’s stupid and ridiculous that I’m so  relieved that after last night’s 90-84 victory over the San Antonio Spurs – a team the Nets haven’t beaten since 2002 when they were perennial playoff contenders – the Nets now have 10 wins, meaning they’re guaranteed to always be better than W.O.A.T. 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. Yes, they still have 64 losses with April remaining. That’s a lot. I don’t care. I didn’t sign on to be a Nets fan more than 20 years ago because I thought it was going to be a cake walk. But I also never expected the franchise I’ve followed through thick and thin, Beard and Benoit Benjamin, would have come so gut-wrechinngly close to being declared the worst team in NBA history. There have been a number of downright terrible teams in NBA history that are but a mere footnote now. But there’s only one W.O.A.T. The Nets are not it. Thank God.

And the way the Nets staved off infamy last night was equally refreshing. The Spurs were without Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli last night, but so what. That’s why they played the games. Nobody gave the Nets any in wins in November when they started out 0-18 with Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian, Jarvis Hayes and Courtney Lee missing a chunk of games. What about when the Nets were only able to dress 8 guys, three of which were Bobby Simmons, Eduardo Najera and Sean Williams? The Spurs are still a well-coached enough team, and have one of the greatest NBA players of all-time in Tim Duncan to not use their depleted roster as an excuse. Regardless, while Spurs coach Greg Popovich was clearly giving Duncan an extended rest in the third quarter, the all-star was on the floor during crunch time, when the Nets used a combination of solid defense, timely shooting, and terrific ball control, to outscore San Antonio 28-18 in the game’s final 12 minutes. There was nothing about that game that wasn’t earned for the Nets. The moment was there, and instead of settling for it bouncing off the front of the rim, they seized it and dunked it home.

The Nets had their working boots on early in this game. There was some chippiness from the bench as assistant coach Roy Rogers was apparently barking at the officials in defense of his prized pupil Brook Lopez. The Nets were shooting in the 30-35 percent range for most of the first half, and the Spurs were able to push their lead to double digits, but the Nets capitalized on 16-13 second quarter advantage, to keep the game within three at halftime. Then when the third quarter started, instead of going to sleep for 12 minutes as they’ve done so many other times before this season, they kept themselves with striking distance. It was the little things – like Yi Jianlian, who struggled offensively going 3-12 from the field with 8 points, drawing a charge with about 9 minutes left in the third when he drew a charge while SAS had a 5-on-4 advantage on offense. Or when the Nets successfully converted a two-for-one at the end of the third quarter, leaving just enough on the clock for Keyon Dooling to get a jumper off as time expired. In the first quarter, the Nets mistimed their final possession, not getting a good shot off, and leaving SAS with more than enough to stretch their lead to six.

But the shots were falling in the fourth. Terrence Williams, who has struggled with outside jumpers all season, drilled a three with 8:11 to tie the score at 72. Then, as the Spurs tried to pull away again, going up 5 with 6:09 left, Devin Harris hit a 9-footer and Yi Jianlian hit probably his biggest jumper of the season, when he sunk a 19-footer from the top of the key, putting the Nets up by 1. The Nets never looked back as TWill and Brook – who was tremendous down the stretch – hit two more jumpers to distance themselves from the Spurs.

The game was iced when Courtney Lee – the “nice guy” who’s inexplicably one of the most polarizing players on this team – made a fantastic defensive play on George Hill, fronting him as Tim Duncan struggled to get rid of the ball with the final seconds of the game ticking away. Duncan threw the ball away, but it was Lee’s seal of Hill, that made that play happen. Lee was also consistent on offense, going for 19 points on 7-13 shooting, but it’s those little plays that have earned him the trust of the coaching staff, and I hope the adoration of the fan base. Lee may not be a budding superstar, but he’s a very good, intelligent player who should have a role with this organization for the foreseeable future.

A few more thoughts after the jump:

• When Yi drilled that jumper in the fourth, the Izod Center crowd was about as amped as I’ve heard the Jersey faithful all season. It’s refreshing that despite how awful this season has been, the fanbase didn’t lose perspective last night about what was potentially on the line. While they are games that appear to be more winnable left not he schedule, after the Nets started the season 0-18, I don’t think anyone should be taking any teams or situations for granted. As I mentioned earlier, by the time the third quarter was wrapping up, it was clear this game was within grasp for the Nets if they could only put some things together. As a lifelong New York-based fan who’s only a 10 minute subway ride for their prospective new home in Brooklyn, I sometimes lose site of what New Jerseyians have had to put up with with this organization. But you all stood by the Nets tonight, and I’m proud of that.
• Something that was lost in my lengthy rant up above was the fact that the Nets only had 4 turnovers for the entire game, including zero in the second half. That’s just astounding considering the Nets are currently ranked 23rd in the league in turnover ratio.
• A positive sign for Terrence Williams tonight was how he was able to turn it on in the second half. He was basically held statistic-less after two quarters, but was able to amass 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in the second half. TWill also has a Jason Kidd-sian way of being able to hit jumpers down the stretch when they mattered most. Kidd always amazed me in that he’d consistently go 4-12 or 5-15 in a game, but would be hiding in that corner with 2 minutes left to hit a three-pointer to put the Nets ahead by 6. TWill had one of those games tonight.
• If Josh Boone could ever find a way to be a useful offensive player who didn’t miss 70 percent of his free throws, I think he’d be making a serious case for himself to be invited back on this roster next season in a backup role. Since being reinserted back into the rotation by Kiki Vandeweghe, Boone has brought the defense and rebounding. He grabbed 5 rebounds in only 10 minutes of action last night, and had a great defensive play on Tim Duncan during the Nets run in the fourth, where he was able to front him and steal the ball.
• With that said, how great is Tim Duncan that he can basically sit for 12 minutes in the second half, get reinserted and barely miss a beat. It was actually a shaky game for Duncan, finishing with 13 points on 6-15 shooting, but he hit a couple of shots down the stretch to keep SAS in the game, and disrupted what looked to be a clear path to the rim by Devin Harris with about 30 seconds left, to keep the Nets from putting the game away for good.
• There is just something that looks so out of place with Richard Jefferson in San Antonio. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that he’s getting older and losing that spring in his step, but he looks so out of sync on offense, despite finishing with 16 points. He seemed to be scoring in bunches, and was a total non-factor in the second half last night.
• Kris Humphries opened up the night for himself by drilling his first two jumpers. It was a welcomed sight for someone who has struggled tremendously for the past 6 weeks.
• The Nets attempted 14 three-pointers in the first half, which is just way too many. Fortunately, they cooled it off in the second, only attempting five more.

Bulls By The Horn | Blog-a-bull

I should have known better.  I looked at the past two games for the Nets against two poor teams (Kings without Evans and the Pistons) and started getting excited.  “The Bulls have been ravaged by injuries, the Nets are playing well.  This has to be a 3 game win-streak!”  That’s what ran through my head all day today as I waited for the Nets game to come on, but obviously, that wasn’t the case last night.  If I would have taken a closer look at this game, I should have known that this wasn’t going to be pretty for the Nets.  This game was the back end of a home/away back-to-back, and because of it, the Nets didn’t get into Chicago until late.  The Bulls on the other hand were absolutely housed in their last performance against the Heat, and you knew they were going to come out aggressive.  The result was the Bulls getting out to a quick lead, extending it to 16 by half-time and not really looking back.  Even though the Nets went on a 9-0 (3 Jarvis Hayes threes) run to start the second half, it just seemed like the Bulls were always in control and they won this one pulling away, 106-83.

After combining for a total of 68 points against the Pistons, Brook Lopez and Yi Jianlian only scored 14 points on 5-20 shooting.  Yi started off pretty nicely, but was quickly saddled with two fouls and lost whatever rhythm he had.  Lopez on the other hand, just didn’t have it tonight.  He never really fought for position, allowed himself to get pushed outside, and settled for jumpers.  When he did attack, he either rushed up a tough jumper or lost possession of the basketball.  Usually when Brook has a rough game, it is because his teammates don’t really look for him, however tonight, this one is all on Brook.  It was probably the fatigue of playing 41 minutes two nights ago and 30 minutes last night, but even when his teammates were looking for him he wasn’t really getting to his sweet spots and working for the ball.  Usually you can count on Brook running the floor and working for offensive rebounds to get himself some easy baskets, but that didn’t happen against Chicago.

Terrence Williams lead the Nets in scoring against the Bulls (16), but he also had the most shot attempts (15), and he wasn’t very efficient.  This tends to happen with T-Will in games like these where nobody is really taking charge.  T-Will’s game is to attack the basket and find cutters for easy looks.  However when the offense is stagnant, like it was last night, Terrence tends to over-dribble and over-shoot.  Yes it is poor shot selection, but it isn’t the type of poor shot selection he showed in the beginning of the year where he was jacking up shots as soon as he touched the basketball.  No, T-Will’s ends up forcing up lay-ups and shots at the rim and while you don’t want him forcing up shots, you have to give him credit for being one of the only aggressive guys on offense.

Some more thoughts after the jump:

• That was a vicious dunk from CDR on Joakim Noah, although Noah got his revenge.  He threw one down on Brook, then a little later put one down on Kris Humphries.
• The Nets were surprisingly solid from the three point line last night, going 10-22 (45.5%).  However, inside the arc was another story.  They shot 19-59 from 2, which is a grand total of 32.2%.
• Things got a little chippy late, with Kris Humphries picking up a flagrant foul (bad call) after Jannero Pargo overreacted after a hard foul.  CDR got T’d up after “mushing” Joe Alexander’s face.  His take on it:  “Apology 2 Nets fans,my fans & the Franchise for that tech but a man should NEVER say/do certain things to another MAN.Thats Y I mushed him.”  I don’t know what Alexander did to him, but it must have been bad.

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