Nets Are Scorching

One week ago today, Jeremy Lin played his first game. Well, not really his first game, but his career started Saturday. That game came against the New Jersey Nets, who nearly locked up an upset against their cross-region rivals in Madison Square Garden for the first time since March of 2010, until Linsanity, Super Lintendo, and a million other puns that roughly translate to “how the f*** is Jeremy Lin doing this!?” took over in the fourth quarter.

I thought the Nets game was a fluke. I thought Lin took advantage of the Nets’ weak pick-and-roll coverage (which he did), exploited the holes the Nets allow at the rim (which he did), and after that brief bout of Nets destruction would immediately fall back down to earth (which he resoundingly didn’t). And, while watching the Nets-Pistons game last night, yet another uninspiring, uneventful, ultimately meaningless blowout loss, I found myself continually switching over to MSG at the hint of a commercial, to watch the Jeremy Lin show take off against the Lakers. And he didn’t disappoint, not even someone who has
no business liking Jeremy Lin.

Because, really, how can you not like Jeremy Lin? You may not like the uniform he’s donned, but there’s a certain magic in an undrafted rookie, previously cut by two teams, leading by far the most unsuccessful big-market franchise to four consecutive victories in spectacular, unflappable fashion, from their weakest position on the floor. Even if you hate that one of those came against the Nets, I can’t help but admire not just success, but league-wide shock in the face of fully tempered expectation.

I wish I hated him. I wish I couldn’t stand what he’s done. But I just can’t. I find the hysteria a little disturbing, if only because of things like this, but he’s done nothing but play fantastic basketball. Coinciding with the Nets’ recent slide, he’s relegated the New Jersey franchise to unquestionably second-class status in the region yet again. That I hate. But not him for doing it.

Here’s a list of players that at any point this season went on four-game streaks of 23+ points on 50% shooting or better each game: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Jeremy Lin. And Lin did it in his first four major-minutes games. He may never be a star, but he’ll never lose what he’s done this past week.

Tonight, the Nets take on the San Antonio Spurs, setting off a conscience war between my Nets fan side and basketball fan. I’ll be in the Prudential Center, cheering on with my dad in one of the upper sections. The tickets were a birthday present to him. And yet, deep in my stomach, there’s a pang of regret that I won’t be glued to my television, watching Jeremy freaking Lin take on Ricky Rubio in the battle of ridiculously fun young point guards and their now-ridiculously fun teams.

Nets players and personnel know that this isn’t the team they want, and it isn’t the one the fans want. It’s an awkward situation for an awkward franchise, waiting since the summer of 2010 for the other shoe to drop. Outside of Deron Williams and MarShon Brooks, the Nets haven’t had anything close to the excitement that Jeremy Lin brings the Knicks — and the national hysteria over Lin understandably far outstrips them both.

If the Nets display any type of cohesion, if Shawne Williams and Anthony Morrow start hitting his open looks, if Kris Humphries starts playing above the rim offensively, if Johan Petro sits, if MarShon Brooks looks like pre-broken toe MarShon Brooks, if the entire team suddenly stops leaving open looks at the rim to teams like the Pistons, then perhaps I won’t consider our patronage a sunk cost. But unless the wildly unexpected happens — perhaps more wild than Jeremy Lin breaking the NBA record for most points in a player’s first three starts since the NBA-ABA merger — I’ll probably be focusing more on the ticker than the court. And I hate that. But not Jeremy Lin, no matter how much I wish I could.

The Nets announced today that rookie shooting guard MarShon Brooks is out indefinitely with a broken pinky toe. This injury comes on the heels of Brooks’ sore left Achilles tendon, which caused him to sit out a week until playing limited time against the Raptors last night.

Brooks is now the third Nets player and projected starter to go down with a foot injury, after Brook Lopez and Damion James both required surgery to mend broken fifth metatarsals.

There is currently no timetable for Brooks’ return, and won’t be until he visits a specialist.

Sigh

January 30, 2012 12:23 pm via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite

@Marshon2

Marshon S. Brooks

Had a great experience in Springfield !! Learned a lot n got better thanks to my coaches n teammates…back to jersey!

January 28, 2012 10:14 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@Jwilliams20

Jordan Williams

Following the news that Nets center Mehmet Okur will miss the next couple of games with back issues, the Nets recalled Jordan Williams from their D-League affiliate Springfield Armor.

Williams averaged 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in his six-game stint, though many of his contributions came beyond the box score. He’ll be available tonight to play the Toronto Raptors.

It’s been a wild year.

Here’s to many more.

As the season draws nearer, as does our need to improve our blog’s ranks with great writers. The latest? Chris Hooker. Here’s a little about him:

Chris Hooker is currently a junior at Susquehanna University, located near Amish country Pennsylvania, with a major in creative writing. He grew up in Livonia, New York, a small suburb outside of Rochester. He’s been a diehard New Jersey Nets fan since he discovered them on the YES Network during the first year of the Jason Kidd era, and has continued following the team closely since then. More recently, the days of “The Decision,” the Melodrama and the Dwightmare have all taken a difficult toll on Chris’ social and academic life.

Before joining Nets Are Scorching, Chris published both fiction and nonfiction in the Eunoia Review and, wrote sports columns at the sports site BareKnucks. Despite his love of writing fiction and memoir, sportswriting has always been his goal. Nets are Scorching is Chris’s first chance to get his foot in the door with real basketball analysis and opinions that don’t result in brutal arguments with his friends. You can follow him on Twitter @chrishooker9.

Join me in welcoming Chris to the NAS crew. You’ll see his writing here in the days, weeks, months, et al to come.

An interesting nugget from 2009 found its way into my e-mail this morning, uncovered by Noah Galuten and forwarded to me from Henry Abbott:

PHOENIX — Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez will have surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Lopez broke his fifth metatarsal — the long bone on the outside of his foot that connects to the little toe — in the second half of the team’s intrasquad scrimmage Saturday in San Diego.

Team officials say the procedure to insert a screw in Lopez’s foot will be performed Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix.

Associated Press – Phoenix Suns’ Robin Lopez out 6-8 weeks with broken left foot

Lopez underwent surgery on the foot on October 6th, 2009, and was activated from the IL roughly seven weeks later on November 27th.

If that same timeframe applies to Brook’s recovery, that’d put his time back on the court sometime around mid-February. That’s a very good timetable for his recovery — he’d be back on the court less than halfway through the season, and 35-40 intensely compacted games are better than 66. And, of course, in this instance he’d ideally be back at full strength a full month before the trade deadline.

While very injury and recovery is different, as far as player comparisons for expected recovery go, it’s hard to get a closer match than an identical twin.

Well, that didn’t take long.

Shortly after the Nets learned that Brook Lopez’s consecutive games streak will be snapped at 246 due to a fractured fifth metatarsl in his foot, Billy King announced a deal to acquire Mehmet Okur from the Utah Jazz. The Nets send a second-round pick and a trade exception back to Utah.

Okur’s a perfect fit for New Jersey: an expiring contract in 2011-12 (worth $10.8 million), acquirable for next to nothing, experienced playing with Deron Williams (and you’re kidding yourself if you think Deron had no input here), and according to his former coach Tyrone Corbin, currently in good shape.

Prior to an injury-hobbled 2011, Memo had put up a PER above the league average in each season of his career after his rookie season.

Brook Lopez fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in the first half of yesterday’s preseason game against the New York Knicks, and will undergo surgery to repair it tomorrow. Lopez hasn’t missed a quarter of any game in his three seasons as a pro, but that streak will undoubtedly end come Monday.

To compare, Rodrigue Beaubois of the Dallas Mavericks underwent the same surgery in 2010, and he didn’t play in a professional game until February 2011.

On the court, this is a major blow to the Nets’ playoff hopes, as Brook is their second-best player and interior anchor, and to their hopes of acquiring Dwight Howard.