Nets Are Scorching

Olympic Sprinter Luis Scola racing ahead of the defense again.

Box Score – Red94 – The Dream Shake

When I was growing up, like most kids, I played town sports. Little League baseball, town basketball, even soccer. I played all three for much of my youth, and when you play low-level sports, there’s one constant: at least once, you’re going to get your ass kicked. At some point, you’ll run into some team that’s bigger, faster, stronger, and generally better than you, and you’ll get beat like 41-2. It happens. However, where I grew up baseball & soccer had these little tweaks to make things slightly less embarrassing: the mercy rule.

Everyone knows the mercy rule. If you were up by 12 or more runs, or 6 or more goals, they’d call the game. No need to embarrass the opponent any more, right? They’ve gotten their loss, you’ve gotten your win. Move on, there are bigger things to worry about. Basketball lacked this rule, unfortunately – the clock dictated that every second of every quarter had to be played. There were rules for this sort of thing, and the rule states you play until the final buzzer sounds. This made the “fans” in the crowd, like my parents, tune out of the riots and start doing other things. This especially stunk if my team was losing – not only is my team down 56-3 but I can’t even attract the attention of my parents.

On a related note, the Nets played last night.

Not a lot of people were at the Rock to watch this game. But why would they be? The Nets are missing their star player and boast two starters who played as backups on a championship team a year ago. The Rockets aren’t flashy or interesting, although they’re well constructed and play tough defense. They don’t have any pull, though. There’s no big Nets-Rockets rivalry. The Rockets don’t have any flashy stars. No one cares that Courtney Lee is in town. It’s the definition of a meaningless NBA regular season game.

Meaningless or not, it still stung to watch. Before it got ugly, the Nets were actually ahead at one point. It was 19-17 in the middle of the first quarter, and the Nets looked like a real team. Anthony Morrow was hitting shots, Kris Humphries was snaring boards, Brook Lopez… well, Brook wasn’t playing well, he’d get there in the second quarter. But, naturally, any idea that the Nets would hang around with an even semi-interested team was a folly. After a 14-0 Rockets run and a couple more buckets, the Nets were in a 13-point hole at the end of the first. Kyle Lowry had 14 points, including three threes, and three assists in that quarter. Without a Lopez block on a fast break, it would have been 16.

Once the first quarter ended, I might as well have turned off the television set. I knew what was going to happen. The Nets were going to make a couple of shots here and there, maybe even get the lead under ten points (they never did). But this was an undermanned team, facing a 13-point deficit with 36 minutes remaining against a team that was at least at semi-full strength. I could not fathom a single outcome in which the star-struck Nets would win this game. Bad teams playing better teams don’t come back from deficits, even with deficits occurring so early in the game. It was the definition of hopeless. It was mercy-rule basketball.

Sure, the Nets gave it a good run. They started running through Brook Lopez every play on offense, finding good results. The guy had 18 efficient points in the first half, and even though Chuck Hayes was giving him some trouble Lopez found advantages down low and basically just shot over him. But Lopez made eight field goals in that first half, and the rest of the Nets combined to make just 11.

(The Nets also attempted just 5 free throws in the first half. All by Brook. He made just two.)

Sure, Jordan Farmar knocked down a few threes. Sure, Brandan Wright didn’t look awful again. But there’s nothing to take from this game other than “wow, without Deron Williams, the Nets don’t stand a chance.”The laundry list of things they did wrong could fill a webspace. Leaving guys like Jordan Hill under the basket for open dunks. Not running back in transition. Terrible, terrible, terrible perimeter defense. Making silly turnovers. Missing midrange jumpers that they shouldn’t be taking anyway. Seriously, I wonder if anyone ever taught Brook that a 7-footer can get an 18-footer at any point in the shot clock. Considering how rarely he passes them up, the likely answer is “no.” There are minute things to parse – Johan Petro took a bunch of bad shots again, Travis Outlaw had another mistake-full game, Kris Humphries & Anthony Morrow struggled to produce, and Ben Uzoh looked good – but it’s the same old story, just packaged with a different team on the label.

Truthfully, by the end of this game I was my parents – tuning out as I watched my favorite team crash & burn, reminding myself there are more important things in life to feel better. The Nets were down 21, and the Heat-Cavaliers were in the middle of a brawl that was easily the story of the night. As an analyst, I felt like a cheater, as a fan, I felt justified.

Man, I hope Deron’s available tonight.

In their final game before the nationally televised throwdown with the New York Knicks on Wednesday, the Nets take on the Houston Rockets at the Prudential Center on Tuesday evening.

Here are a few keys to the game:

Chuck Hayes, Diminutive Post Giant: Chuck Hayes has established himself as one of the league’s finest post defenders in the last couple seasons despite his short stature for the center position. In his last two games, Brook Lopez has looked like utter crap, averaging 8 points and 1 rebound in those two contests. This doesn’t bode well for the Nets center. Expect Lopez to drift on the perimeter more than usual to avoid the immovable object that is Hayes.

One More Game (Likely) Without Deron: Hold on, Nets fans. Deron Williams is almost back. The reports say he’ll possibly play in Wednesday’s game, and if he’s given the choice, he’ll surely step up to the challenge. In the meantime, the Nets will have to deal with Jordan Farmar starting at point guard again. He hasn’t been terrible since Deron went down, but he hasn’t been Deron either. Facing a team that’s smelling the blood in the playoff-race water, the Nets should expect increased intensity from the Rockets, and they will have to match in order to have a chance at winning.

Luis Scola, What Could Have Been: If you’ll recall, the Nets were a serious suitor for Luis Scola’s services in the offseason, and reports indicated they came close to nabbing him before the Rockets matched the Nets’ offer sheet for Scola’s restricted free agency — that was one of many great decisions on Daryl Morey’s long list. He’s having a career year with 18.5 points and 8.1 rebounds, and you wonder where the Nets would be if they’d ended up with him this past summer. Nevertheless, Humphries’ play beyond expectations has helped to ease the pain on missing out on Scola.

For more on the Houston Rockets, check out their TrueHoop blog, Red94.

It hasn’t been a good weekend for Brook Lopez, and this, in all likelihood is going to be an ongoing storyline headed into next season (along with the presumed lockout): can Brook Lopez consistently get his groove back, and if so, will he even be in a Nets uniform?

We’ll ignore the latter part for now, and stick with the former. Avery Johnson is confident in Brook, who apparently has been playing with an arm injury for most of the season (though he’s not making excuses).

Johnson tried to be diplomatic when asked about Lopez. He mentioned that the 7-foot center had a problem with an arm injury (which Lopez said happened late in the game and had nothing to do with how he played). When asked later specifically about Lopez’s effort, Johnson admitted it was lacking something.

“We’re used to seeing him at a certain level in a game, and he’ll get back to it next week,” Johnson said.

When Lopez plays like he did Friday and Saturday, he doesn’t even look like an NBA-level starter, no less a top 10 player at his position. I know we, as fans, are quick to jump on a player when they are underperforming, but there’s no question that since Deron William’s injury, Lopez has looked listless and uninterested. Combine that with a high quantity of games over the course of the past few weeks and this injury we’re just learning about, and I would think that Lopez may be mentally shutting it down right about now.

Could Dwight Howard & Deron Williams wear the same uniform in the NBA?

While last night’s ten-point loss was both closer than it looked and depressing to watch, the biggest long-term story isn’t whether or not the Nets were going to lose by six points or ten points. As many people have alluded to, Dwight Howard may be looking to change teams, and in a chat on ESPN yesterday Ric Bucher said that Dwight Howard to Brooklyn is more than just a possibility:

KE (DFW)

This week Wilbon said that the Bulls shouldn’t do a Joakim Noah for Dwight Howard trade, if that were available. I love Noah and understand his importance, but that’s a no-brainer for the Bulls, right?

Ric Bucher (1:13 PM)

I’m with you. That said, I don’t see any way Dwight would consider going to Chicago. He wants his own stage and a big one. The latest I’ve heard on that is that he’s wavering on the Lakers as his preferred destination — not sure Kobe will have enough left in the tank to grow with him. Scratch Miami and New York from his list as well. The idea of joining forces with Deron in NJ/Brooklyn, I’m told, is gaining appeal.

Bucher later made an unprovoked note about how the Nets might go about acquiring Howard (while showing Kris Humphries some love):

JD (NJ)

Ric, how come nobody is talking about the season that Kris Humphries is having? Is he playing himself out of the Nets’ price range, or will they be able to bring him back? He’s gotta be in the top-5 for MIP, no?

Ric Bucher (1:28 PM)

He’s had a great year and made himself a lot of money. I could see him as a S&T option combined with Lopez to bring Howard to the Nets.

Humphries & Brook is a big price, but Howard/D-Will is a big reward. I don’t know how any of this might look, but the ideas are definitely gaining steam.

Is it wrong for me to question Brook Lopez's effort when he only attempts 8 FGs against the best Center in the game? •AP Photo/Reinhold Matay

Box Score – Magic Basketball – Orlando Pinstriped Post

The play from last night that best sums up the current predicament the Nets are facing in the closing weeks of the 2010-11 season came with just a shade over two minutes left in the game. Despite an 11-0 run by the Orlando Magic earlier in the fourth, through the handy-work of Kris Humphries, Anthony Morrow and Sasha Vujacic, the Nets found themselves within six points when they started to employ the Hack-a-Howard strategy, putting Dwight Howard on the line while they still could without giving a possession back to the Magic. The strategy initially worked. Dwight Howard went one out of two and the Nets answered with a two pointer by Jordan Farmar to cut the lead to four. Howard was fouled again, and missed another free throw. But rather then continue to chip away, that’s when the game slipped away.

The offensive rebound off a missed free throw is one of the harder plays to pull off in basketball, especially in late game situations when the defensive team is focusing even mores on securing a potential board. Everything was set up right for the Nets – the Magic’s worst FT shooter was on the line and rebounding-machine Kris Humphries – he who’s grabbing more than 32 percent of all potential defensive boards while he’s on the court – was in the lower blocks waiting to pounce. But Hump mistimed his jump for the ball, it slipped loose and into the hands of Ryan Anderson, the former Net who is 31st at his position in rebound rating. The ball found its way to Chris Duhon in the corner, who was only playing because of an injury to Jameer Nelson, and Duhon, probably one of the worst NBA rotation players in the league, drilled the three – making it a four-point swing and eight-point lead for Orlando with about two minutes to go. The game was iced.

What made this play stand out to me, besides how monumentally back-breaking it was, was the fact that despite how mathematically improbable that outcome was – Hump being outboarded by a rebound-averse big, and the dagger being delivered by a player who has a PER on the level of Stephen Graham this season – the play still occurred because the Nets failed to execute when they needed to most. When this team plays without Deron Williams against one of the league’s elite team like Orlando, the gap in talent is just so vast, that common sense and statistical probability just go out the window. If there’s an opportunity for the Nets to botch a play during these games, expect the team to seize on that opportunity – otherwise this team would probably have 10-15 more wins this season. It’s what separates good from bad, talent from talent-lacking. The Nets, in their current state, are just a collection of players who can individually go off for good games, but as a group are not very good. They have a career back-up in Farmar playing 40+ minutes, and career bench sparkplugs Vujacic and Morrow playing 36 minutes each. Their best bench option is Travis Outlaw (at least last night) and though that might have made sense two years ago, it doesn’t anymore. They have a back-up center who’s more than 7-feet-tall and has attempted 74 percent – 74 PERCENT – of his field goals from outside of 10-feet this season. This current collection of players just looks terrible folks, and bad things happen to bad teams.

And that’s not even considering Brook Lopez’s game. I partly joked in the pregame thread yesterday that last night’s game was going to spur the Lopez vs Howard debate, especially with Howard’s impending free agency in 2012. Lopez has had himself an excellent March offensively, scoring 22.3 points per game and even reaching double digits in rebounding three times (which is pathetic for a seven-footer, but a boon for Brook). But he last hit 20 points on Monday night against the Pacers, taking him 20 shots to do it while getting absolutely torched by his inexplicable nemesis Roy Hibbert, and after grabbing 10 rebounds against the Wizards on Sunday, he grabbed nine collectively on Monday and Wednesday – PG numbers. That brings us to last night’s game against Howard which was an utter embarrassment: 10 points, while only attempting 8 field goals and two rebounds. Maybe I’m being unnecessarily hard on him, but it seems like since the team’s post DWill meltdown against the Wizards, Lopez is hanging it up for the remainder of the season. It’s as if a lightbulb has switched off and Lopez decided after being initially inspired by the Williams acquisition, with DWill now on the sidelines in a suit, he’s not interested in being the “man” for the last few weeks of the season, and he’d rather hang out with Ryan Anderson afterwards and compare their Disney princess figurine collections. Though Anderson, at the very least, can grab a rebound when his team desperately needs it.

The Nets (23-47) travel to Orlando tonight to take on one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams in the Magic (46-26).  The Nets haven’t beaten Orlando since April 2009 and haven’t won on the road there since December 2005, so they have their work cut out for them. Regardless here are some keys:

What’s the Point: We know that Sundiata Gaines and Deron Williams are definitely out. Ben Uzoh is back. Jordan Farmar is around and I guess Sasha Vujacic can also log some minutes at PG. Needless to say, the embarrassing wealth of depth the Nets had at this position is looking more or less just embarrassing as of late.

Brook vs. Dwight: It’s a classic match-up between two very good center (well one very good center, one superstar) and hey, it’s the first time these two teams have met since the Deron Williams trade when all sports pundits jumped to the conclusion that the Nets would go after Dwight hard before 2012. So let’s add some DRAMA here. What if Brook doesn’t perform (he’s scored 23 and 20 points in his last two games against the Magic)? What if Dwight continues to be a defensive menace who’s going to grab 15+ boards a game? Will Deron Williams be sending secret signals to Dwight from the Nets bench (blink once if you’ll come to Brooklyn, twice if you want me to relocate to Orlando)? The possibilities are endless.

Play for Something: After Wednesday’s 35 percent shooting performance against the lowly Cavs, there were some general concerns that maybe the Nets are past the point of caring – it’s all about looking ahead, seeing what guys like Gaines, Uzoh and Brandan Wright can do in their limited minutes, and evaluating free agents to be like Kris Humphries and Sasha Vujacic. But the Nets still have a realistic shot at winning 30 games, which while still 22 games under .500 is a remarkable improvement from a year ago and it would be nice to see the Nets get their house in order against one of the conference’s top teams against the road. Orlando is all about good defense, perimeter shooting, and of course, Dwight Howard. They’re absolutely beatable and even without DWill, I’d like to see the Nets catch them off-guard, especially since their position as the 4th seed in the East is essentially locked and loaded at this point.

For some views on how the other half lives, visit Magic Basketball.

Yup. That about sums it up. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Box Score – Cavs: The Blog – Fear The Sword

Yes, I get that the Nets won.

I get that the Nets knocked down huge free throws down the stretch, and kept the Cavaliers from getting within one possession with the ball late in the game. I get that Kris Humphries had a career-high 23 rebounds (9 offensive), and Brook Lopez had a huge game-high +16. I get that Farmar grabbed four steals and that the Nets got passable games from Sasha Vujacic and even Travis Outlaw.

But two starters down or not, there’s no way in hell you can feel satisfied with a team you watch regularly putting forth an effort like the Nets did last night.

This was one of those classic games that both teams deserved to lose. Unforced loose balls & bad passes everywhere. Not a shred of boxing out. No defensive rotations. Countless missed open shots. Guys settling for long-range twos and bad shots at the rim. Guys tripping over their own feet and falling constantly. Sundiata Gaines injuring himself running back on defense. It was awful. It wasn’t basketball. I felt like I’d been transported back to tenth grade, to watch my high school’s JV team botch offensive play after defensive assignment.

My only mistake watching this game was originally seeing it only through the lens of New Jersey, thinking that only the Nets were royally screwing up. After turning on the game with a few unbiased friends, though, I quickly dismissed that idea – these guys were railing on both teams pretty consistently. It was a room full of Celtics fans, and they just couldn’t fathom the sheer ridiculousness of what they were watching. That’s when it clicked in my head: hey, both of these teams are awful.

I thought it was over. With 2:43 remaining, after Anthony Parker buried a three to tie this ugly game at 78, I thought the Nets were cooked. I couldn’t explain it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the Nets were just finished. The Ramon Sessions floater in the lane – uncontested, mind you – to make it 80-78 and the missed wide open 20-footer at the top by Anthony Morrow soon afterwards exacerbated this feeling. Nobody had shot well this entire game, and suddenly the Cavs had turned it on. The Nets, I thought, were just too inconsistent in crunch time to rely on, even with a team that’s 13-56.

Luckily, I was wrong. Anthony Morrow & Jordan Farmar came up huge at the charity stripe down the stretch, and the Cavs clearly wanted the loss more. But would you have been surprised if I was right?

I’m sorry. Brook Lopez, I get that Kris Humphries is big and strong and mean and goes after boards like you do comic books & Sara Bareilles concerts. But the dude got sixteen boards – sixteen! – before you grabbed your first rebound. You had zero rebounds in the first half. You took five more minutes in the third quarter to grab your first. It’s not like your Jason Collins-ing it either, clearing out the lane for Hump to come down with it. You’re just…floating there. Tipping the ball around. Not hustling. Not being aggressive. When the Nets drafted you and you started killing it every game, I was psyched. I thought the Nets had a cornerstone for a decade. With 7-21 shooting nights with only five rebounds in 33 foul-plagued minutes, you’re proving me wrong. Please don’t.

But truthfully, this game was a lesson in “how to win a game as inefficiently as possible.” The Nets shot 34 percent (31.6 from deep, against the worst perimeter defense in NBA history), allowed 18 offensive rebounds (58 total), turned the ball over 13 times, and couldn’t crack 100 in overtime against the worst team in the NBA, and still didn’t lose. Because, truthfully, perhaps unbelievably, the Cavs are a worse team.

I don’t have “more thoughts after the jump” on this one because frankly I just want to get the taste out of my mouth. Yes, it was a win. Yes, I’ll take it. But if this is how the new-look Nets are going to play without their superstar, there aren’t going to be many more wins down the pipe.