Nets Are Scorching

While no one can say for sure that the trade rumors were effecting Devin Harris’ play, you can certainly make the case that our point guard’s energy has increased since Prokhorov pulled the Nets from the Carmelo Anthony saga.

With that came a surge in Harris’ assist numbers. Before coming back to earth, slightly, in the loss to the 76ers, Harris set a career high in assists with 16 against the Bucks only to break that two nights later against the Nuggets, setting a new high of 18 assists. Let’s take a look through video at some of the ways Devin was finding his teammates.

The Pick and Roll

Always a staple in NBA offenses and the Nets are no different, utilizing the pick and roll with a lot of different players. In the video you will see Devin handling three different pick and rolls. Because Harris is such a threat to attack defenses, he’ll generally draw the help of the screener’s man. Twice you’ll notice Brook Lopez’s man, Nene, having to help on Harris’ penetration, allowing Brook the time to pop for a jump shot and then to catch a roll to the basket off a nifty pass from Harris. Especially note the craft Harris puts on the ball to deliver it to Brook in clip two.

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Travis Outlaw is all like "ooo look at the pretty dunk." (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Boxscore – Philadunkia – Liberty Ballers

Avery Johnson was luckier than I was. He got himself ejected and didn’t have to watch most of the second half as the Nets got run off the court in their 106-92 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in Newark last night.

This was a rough one. The Nets did so little right, and the Sixers did so little wrong – running a blistering transition game and scoring 35 fast break points (compared to 8 for the Nets), outrebounding the Nets 47-38 and getting a bunch of second chance points as a result, going a perfect 18-18 from the free throw line, and turning the ball over a meager 8 times. Just based on those numbers alone, the Nets had very little chance of competing in this game, and outside of a few moments – a nice stretch covering the last half of the first quarter and the first half of the second quarter where the Nets had taken a brief lead, and a mini-run in the third quarter after Avery’s ejection where a pair of Anthony Morrow threes temporarily sparks the team – the Nets didn’t compete. They looked old and lazy and worst-of-all complacent, like they had won their ring by manhandling the Nuggets on Monday and winning the ‘Melo war and forgetting that getting embarrassed by 21-26 team at home is…. embarrassing.

I have to give Avery his due. If ever there was time for an ejection, it was last night and considering Johnson didn’t even have a technical foul this season until now, I’m going to speculate that the Little General was taking a page out of the Bobby Cox playbook and got tossed to try and fire up the troops. Not that Johnson’s anger wasn’t justified. Devin Harris was literally thrown by Elton Brand while trying to pass the ball – of course Harris loses credit for jumping with no place to go on the pass – but the shove was clear as day. Instead it led to another fast break for the Sixers, who had their running shoes on all night.

The problem is, unless your Victor Frankenstein, it’s hard to reanimate a corpse. The listlessness was evident from the opening tip when the Sixers started 11-2 and yeah Brook Lopez, I’m looking at you. His missed his first four shots, including two long-two’s that he had no business taking while his team was desperate for some easy offense. One of his misses was a little sideline jumper that hit the side of the backboard. While I agree that Brook’s rebounding woes are a bit overstated, the Sixers gathered 11 offensive boards in the first half, and Philly’s C/PF combo of Brand and Spencer Hawes were all over most of those. Lopex finished with 16 points, but needed 19 field goal attempts to get there and didn’t attempt a single free throw. Just a terrible, terrible game, by any standards.

And when the Nets aren’t clicking the way they were last night, you then have to turn to the other usual suspect in Devin Harris. He only attempted one field goal in the first quarter, and after setting career highs in assists in back-to-back games, collected a modest 7 last night (the team had 16 total for 37 FGs). Towards the end of the second quarter, he made back-to-back bad passes, overthrowing Derrick Favors after leaving his feet (again!), and on the next possession, throwing a lazy pass to Brook in the post that was intercepted for a fast break (again!).

And if you want to believe that the Nets responded to Avery’s ejection because of their little run they went on to end the third quarter, keep in mind the following four possessions after the technical free throws: Lopez turns it over after traveling; Andre Iguodala misses a jumper which is rebounded by Hawes and put back for two; Anthony Morrow misses a layup and Kris Humphries blows the following tip; AI gets an uncontested reverse dunk before Sam Mitchell calls a timeout. If that’s inspiration, I hate to see uninspired. For what it’s worth, once AI decided to get cute and reverse his dunk, it might have been a good time for a nice hard foul from someone, but the Nets minds were clearly elsewhere.

A few more thoughts after the jump:

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The Nets (15-34) look to win their sixth home game in their last seven as the Philadelphia 76ers (21-26) come to town. Here are a couple of things I’m looking for in tonight’s game.

Stop Jrue Holiday: Holiday is not a name like Carmelo Anthony or Dirk Nowitzki who jumps off the page, but he’s given the Nets fits this season, averaging 19.5 points and 9 assists on 52 percent shooting. While Devin Harris is one of the speediest players in the NBA, he seems to have a hard time keeping Holiday in front of him on the defensive end.

Spelling Harris: With Jordan Farmar still nursing a sore back and Orien Greene joining the team on a 10-day contract, Ben Uzoh needs to repeat his steady backup performance from Monday when he scored 6 points, dished 4 assists and gathered 3 steals. He looked overwhelmed against Milwaukee on Saturday, and that’s to be expected for an undrafted rookie, but having a player who looks to pass first like Uzoh coming off the bench is a great asset for the Nets to have.

It’s Never Too Early to Dream: Don’t look now but the Nets are playing better the past two weeks and are only 6 games out of a playoff spot in the East. I know the idea of a top draft pick is better in the long-term, but it’s good for the Nets to be thinking competitively. The 76ers are 7 games ahead of the Nets holding the 7th seed, so it’s never too early to start trying to gain ground on the teams in front of you.

Rob Mahoney, writing for the NY Times’ Off the Dribble blog thinks that Devin Harris deserves more love. He may not be the up-and-coming PG of the future when he first came into the league, but Mahoney thinks with the proper offensive system and coaching behind him, Harris would be better appreciated for what he is – a very good players on a bad team:

Given the circumstances, it’s not difficult to see why Harris isn’t more heralded. In addition to the aforementioned factors that have barred Harris from reaching prominence, consider Nets Coach Avery Johnson. Not only does Johnson employ an offensive system that makes poor use of Harris’ speed, but he plays his starting point guard -– and one of his team’s top two players -– just 31 minutes a game. That’s fewer than most every starting-caliber point man in the league, and for no particularly persuasive reason; the Nets have no point guard controversy, and Jordan Farmar -– a decent but clearly inferior player to Harris -– is the beneficiary of Johnson’s apparent distaste for Harris’ style. Harris isn’t without faults, but he’s far too good to sit for Farmar’s sake, and Johnson’s allocation of minutes borders on inexplicable.

I do have to quibble with this idea that he should be playing more minutes. Harris has been battling the “injury prone” label for most of his career and I think Avery and the trainers have done a great keeping him on the court. And while Farmar is not the greatest, he’s a perfectly capable back-up in this league. I do agree that the Nets play at too slow a pace. They’re just not creative enough on offense (and good enough shooters), to milk the shot clock to 2 or 3 on every possession then force an 18-footer.

Brook Lopez once grabbed a rebound … by accident.

Brook Lopez couldn’t rebound from a breakup with Amy Winehouse.

Brook Lopez couldn’t smooth a silk sheet if he had a hot date with a babe … I lost my train of thought.

These are the jokes parading about the internet on a daily basis (except for the last one, which just parades around my mind like all the other suppressed Seinfeld jokes) with respect to the Nets center’s rebounding woes this season. The commentary is a vicious beast that’s just as comical as it is depressing, and personally I take delight in participating in different capacities.

In fact, Daily Dime Live regulars will attest to my joking, but they’ll also attest that I’m quick to come to Lopez’s defense amid the plentiful criticism. And there is some substance to my advocating on Lopez’s behalf.

Before diving in, let’s get one thing straight. Lopez has been a terrible rebounder this season; there’s no denying that. He’s grabbing 5.7 rebounds a game. He’s a side-splitting 60th out of 61 qualifying centers in rebound rate at a nauseating 10.0. After putting up 33 double-doubles last season, Lopez has just one this season — and it took him three overtimes to meet the landmark that night.

So what’s the point here? It’s not to argue that Lopez has been a surprisingly good rebounder or anything like that because he hasn’t. The point is to illuminate the circumstances surrounding his rebounding woes to those other than the three people who watch Nets Basketball. I don’t see any problem with ridiculing Lopez, but at least have some comprehension of it before deciding to do so.

Based on my observation, there are two main factors that have directly contributed to Lopez’s decline (read: plummet) in the rebounding category.

The first is one that’s going to be more agreeable among the critics, as it is verifiable based on the Nets’ reputation. Playing on a team with less talent than an audition for a nonspeaking role on Burn Notice, Lopez has to — absolutely has to — be an offensive presence to keep New Jersey from turning into Cleveland Lite. There simply isn’t enough firepower on the roster, even including Devin Harris, to churn out any sort of competitive scoring effort without appreciable input from Lopez.

Accordingly, Lopez is really feeling the pressure to take the reins on the offensive end. And if he increases focus and effort in that regard, then there has to be a sacrifice somewhere else. For Lopez, it’s on the boards. Watch a Nets game some time (believe me: your eyes won’t bleed) and notice how Lopez often chooses to avoid attacking the paint for rebounds in order to hustle down the court for either: (a) a quick fast-break bucket or (b) good post position in the next half-court possession. You’ll be surprised at what you see, if you’re not in shock yet from how bad the team is overall. Is it an excuse or justification? Absolutely not. But it is an explanation, which is all I’m trying to provide here.

The second factor, that will probably roll more eyes than a Brett Favre retirement speech, can’t really be confirmed without doing the grunt work of watching the games. It’s clear that Kris Humphries’ presence on the court is drastically hindering Lopez’s rebounding: not just because there are fewer rebounds for Lopez to haul in but also because Hump literally rips boards out of his hands.

Steals them. Like the Hamburglar steals crappy burgers. Like forgotten Nets first-round pick Marcus Williams steals laptops. It doesn’t really matter.

Here’s an excerpt from John Hollinger’s 2010-2011 player profile for Humphries:

Perhaps this vignette from Humphries’ time in Dallas will offer some insight into how he thinks on the court: In an early-season game against Minnesota, Dallas teammate Jason Terry found himself isolated against Eurostiff Oleksiy Pecherov — a total mismatch. All the other Mavs got out of the way … except for Humphries, who flashed to the low post calling for the ball.

The man is selfish. Yelling “SAME TEAM!” on a rebound to Hump is like commanding Eddy Curry not to eat the hot dog you just put in front of him: you might as well have done nothing. Maybe it’s because he’s playing in a contract year, or maybe it’s because his machismo makes Kim hot. Either way, it comes at Lopez’s expense. By a completely unofficial estimate, Humphries jacks between one and two boards a game from his frontcourt mate. He’s screwing him behind his back and right to his face, really.

The opponent here will argue that Lopez shouldn’t let Humphries push him out of the way for rebounds. In response, I say: have you seen Hump’s muscles? There’s no way in heck he’d ever outwrestle Hump for a board, not that it would help the team if he tried.

But that brings up another potential point of clarification. Lopez did suffer from mono last summer, which caused him to lose a ton of weight to the point that Jordan Farmar tried to use him as a Q-Tip, and some assert that it’s his thin stature that’s limiting him in rebounding.

Looking at his rest splits, it actually makes some sense. When Lopez is playing in the second game of a back-to-back or had one day of rest since his last game, he averages 5.3 rebounds a game; when he has two or more days of rest, he averages 6.8 boards.

Personally, I don’t buy it. For one, Lopez plays more minutes on average when he has more rest, so of course he’s going to have more rebounds. Also, I’m no doctor, but it seems like that could be a product of regular fatigue as much as a lack of endurance caused by mono.

Irrespective of why Lopez is playing like J.J. Barea this season, the other question is why people seem to care so much. They’re the Nets, people! So what if Lopez isn’t rebounding? They’re bound to the lottery tighter than Avery Johnson to Stephen Graham or Masai Ujiri to delusion. It’s not like Dwight Howard or Pau Gasol is pulling this nonsense on a team that could compete for a championship.

I don’t see anyone getting on Andrea Bargnani’s case for having the only rebounding rate in the league worse than Lopez’s. And he was a first overall pick, for cripes sake!

Conveniently, some will say that it is Lopez’s drop in rebounding compared to last year that is troubling. What a bunch of bologna that is. If you’ve seen him do it better before, then what is so worrisome? It’s just fair to assume he won’t return to that standard?

An opposing team’s color commentator made the regrettable suggestion that this season is the norm and that Lopez’s last two years of rebounding were the exception. How nice it was of him to predict the future. Claiming that Lopez is going to rebound like this for the rest of his career is no sounder an argument than contending Greg Oden’s four years of injury are the exception and that he’s going to play every game for the rest of his career.

And anyone really paying attention wouldn’t be all that surprised at Lopez’s struggles anyway. His mediocre rebound rate of 13.5 last season was good for only 40th out of 59 qualifying centers. It’s the pervasiveness of per-game stats that made him look so much better.

Meanwhile, the Nets’ team rebounding has improved from last season from about 39 a game to about 41 a game. So Lopez’s shortcomings have been really detrimental, haven’t they?

Look. Brook Lopez is a bad rebounder. I know it. You know it. Vegetable Lasagna here knows it. I can enjoy the jokes, too. But anyone who comes after Lopez had better know the context, or else the criticism is just meaningless drivel.

George Karl & Avery Johnson (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

In honor of how the teams have done battle off the court all season, I’m going to do an extended pregame open thread for you guys. The Nets take on, of course, the 28-19 Denver Nuggets, and while Denver’s a very good team, I think the Nets have a good chance to pull off the upset tonight. This isn’t just a homer gut feeling, either (although when I’m recapping a 40-point loss I may think differently). If the Nets recognize & exploit Denver’s weaknesses, I do honestly believe they can take the Nuggets down.

The Nuggets employ a balanced, high-octane offense, and all the analytics agree: they’re #1 in the NBA. They have the highest offensive rating in the NBA at 112.5 according to Basketball-Reference, and they’re the #1 ranked offense according to Synergy Sports as well. The Nuggets are expected to be at full strength, while the Nets are still missing Damion James and Jordan Farmar. Despite their record, the Nuggets are actually not very strong on the road – only 8-13 when away from Denver. The Nets are 11-11 when playing in the Prudential Center.

It’s only one game, but Carmelo Anthony coming to Newark as an opponent is one of the bigger stories of this Nets season. I personally think a Nets win tonight would be huge – these teams have been battling it out all season behind closed doors, and this is the last chance they get to do it on the hardwood this season.

Here’s how you want to stop Denver and crawl out of the Rock with a victory:

Run real offenses! Attack them with pick & rolls, cuts, & spot-ups. Luckily, the Nets biggest offensive strengths line up perfectly with Denver’s biggest defensive weaknesses. The Nuggets are horrid at defending the pick & roll – according to Synergy, they allow 0.87 points per possession defending the ballhandler (24th in the NBA) and a matador-like 1.10 points per possession against the roll man (28th in the NBA). They’re also poor at defending post-ups (.90 PPP, 23rd), spot-up shooters (1.01, 19th) and terrible on cutters (1.30, 26th).

Thus, the Nets should run very basic but effective plays. Here’s one obvious one, which I’ve drawn up with the always great program FastDraw: the pick & roll.

Like any pick & roll, the keys are spacing, setting a good screen, and coming hard off the screener’s shoulder. In the setup, envision Harris, Morrow, Outlaw, Favors, & Lopez in these spots. If Graham is in, he doesn’t have great three-point range but he can spot up from up to 20 feet. Lopez is a better shooter from 15 feet than Favors, which is why Favors is the one coming up to set the pick & Lopez is moving back to spot up & create space. When Humphries is in the game, those two are interchangeable (although Hump isn’t a great shooter).

As Harris cuts into the lane, Morrow/Outlaw should be replacing up top so that he & Lopez aren’t bunched together on the left side. The other one of those two should be in the corner for two reasons: firstly, the corner is the most efficient place to shoot a three-pointer, and secondly it makes the defender more likely to help down if Harris gets to the basket (leaving the corner open). Favors should be rolling down the other side as Lopez spots up.

If they run this play effectively, every player on the Nets is a potential scorer: Harris & Favors at the rim, Lopez spotting up from midrange, or Morrow/Outlaw spotting up beyond the arc. Running an effective pick & roll exploits many of the weaknesses in Denver’s defense: switching on screens in the pick & roll and not consistently rotating defensively to make sure all potential scorers are covered.

Other than that, the Nets should consistently go to Lopez, Favors, & Humphries in the low post, and look to back-cut if players try to double down low. These are offenses that the Nets have proven they can run before. If they can do it again, in front of their home crowd, they stand a much better chance at victory.

Defend strong in the post, avoid fouls, & close out on spot-up shooters. The Nuggets rank first in the NBA in offense, and it’s no accident. With Nene & Carmelo Anthony leading the way, they’re the best team in the NBA at posting up, and with six – count ‘em, six – legitimate three-point shooters, they’re also the best team in the NBA at spotting up. They shoot a blistering 43.1% from beyond the arc on spot-up opportunities and score on 51.7% of trips in the post, both league bests.

It’s because of this – and not because of any pseudomachismo mind games – that I hope Derrick Favors stays out of foul trouble and plays big minutes tonight. Favors is the best player on the Nets at getting out to spot-up shooters, allowing only 31% shooting when he goes out to contest. Humphries is also very good at contesting spot-ups – opposing shooters only shoot 39% against him, and both are better than Lopez – and the two should see some time together on the floor.

Force them to run isolations. Other than kickouts to spot-up shooters, the most-used play by the Nuggets is isolation – with a cool 1,000 isolation plays this year. However, the Nuggets are actually at their least effective in isolation, only scoring 0.86 points per possession when they rely on isos. Carmelo Anthony is the biggest culprit – he accounts for 370 of their isolation plays and scores a pedestrian 0.79 PPP on isolation sets. J.R. Smith is also culpable, with 158 isolations and a 0.84 PPP.

The nature of the game may force Carmelo into an isolationist mindset, perhaps to show Nets fans the offensive repertoire they’re missing out on. Or something like that. Hopefully it does. I’ll take 40 inefficient points from Carmelo and a Nets upset any day.

Either way, tonight should be a lot of fun to watch, if only for how the fans will react to Carmelo Anthony. As the base was sharply divided about ‘Melo, I expect the reaction to be similarly mixed: some boos, some cheers. Stefan Bondy certainly found a divide among fans yesterday. I will say that the whole saga wasn’t really his fault, but he’s an easier outlet than Denver’s front office, who won’t be anywhere near the court in this game and thus not as easily scapegoated.

Let’s go Nets.

For more news & information on the Denver Nuggets, check out TrueHoop affiliate Roundball Mining Company.

You might have heard that some dude named Carmelo Anthony is arriving with the Denver Nuggets to play in Newark tonight. Given the rumors of about a month ago made it sound like Anthony would be in a Nets uniform by now, the Daily News’ Stefan Bondy as the all-important question to Nets fans: will you boo the “superstar” who allegedly spurred the team and Mikhail Prokhorov:

“(Anthony) played (Prokhorov) and the Nets like a fiddle and he danced around the meeting and kept denying it,” wrote Marciano. “So, yeah, I’d boo him.”

and

“If anything, he should get a huge ovation if any fan still wants him to come play for us. In my mind, there is absolutely no reason to boo him,” wrote Mike Squitieri, a former season ticket holder. “Despite what anyone thinks, he never said “No” to the Nets. He never said, “ONLY the Knicks.

I think the booing question boils down to who you believe was the villain in all of this. There were so many conflicting reports, but the two main storylines became Denver was asking for way too much from New Jersey, and Anthony was hesitating in signing an extension.

Meanwhile, speaking of trades and trade bait, Victor Nash at Whoop De Damn Doo asks whether or not fans dissatisfaction with Devin Harris is justified.

AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps

Box Score – Bucksetball – Brew Hoop

It’s possible that the Nets recent turnaround had more to do with playing in Newark than it did with Mikhail Prokhorov clearing the air and putting the Carmelo Anthony rumors to rest (though don’t tell that to Stefan Bondy, who does his best to make this trade talk a distraction for the Nets again). Because after winning four of five at the Prudential Center, including a couple of games against some decent teams (Utah, Memphis), the Nets have gone out on the road the past two nights and played like the distracted, lethargic, inefficient team of earlier this month when more than half the team was rumored to be shipped out to either Denver or Detroit.

After Friday’s drubbing to Indiana, one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA that found a way to score 124 points and shoot more than 60 percent from the field, I was looking for the Nets to make a statement against the ailing Bucks, who were slowly easing Brandon Jennings back into the rotation and were without SG Chris Douglas-Roberts, who predictably played with a vengeance the last time these two teams met (which coincidentally enough was right as the ‘Melo talk had taken it’s most heated turn of the season). The Nets played well enough in the first quarter, scoring 25 points and leading by three after that point, but the roof caved in during the second quarter and the Nets never really recovered, despite “hanging around” until the fourth quarter when the Bucks were up by double-digits throughout.

When the Nets are going bad, 12 minute stretches like last night’s second quarter have become a trademark for the team. They were outscored 23-12 during the quarter, made only four field goals, and were even missing free throws (both Brook Lopez and Travis Outlaw missed a pair as the Nets were free falling during the quarter).

The second quarter woes started initially with Devin Harris on the bench and no real back-up point guard to speak of with Jordan Farmar currently nursing a back injury. Johnson initially went with Ben Uzoh, but after three minutes, saw enough, including Keyon Dooling treating Uzoh like a point guard on a junior high school basketball team and just grabbing the ball away from him while he was bringing it up the court. Seriously, Dooling should have earned himself an out-of-school suspension for bullying on the play, because it was that pathetic for Uzoh who looked totally out of his element last night. I still think Uzoh has potential to be a solid backup PG in the NBA – he’s had games where he’s demonstrated worthwhile court vision, and during the summer league and preseason he showed enough of an outside shot where he could make it work. The problem is Uzoh needs to be learning the game with consistent playing time in the D-League. While I understand the team’s hesitance to shorten up some of their PG depth, especially because Devin Harris is so injury prone (he left last night’s game in the fourth with an injured shin), but if Uzoh is only going to get three minutes from Avery when Farmar is out and later Harris left the game, then the guy is never going to learn how to play the game to Avery’s liking, despite how awesome of a practice the coach obviously thinks he runs.

The second quarter got off to such a miserable start because there wasn’t a single playmaker on this team when Harris wasn’t on the floor. Devin Harris finished with a career high 16 assists, which is fantastic, but the Nets as a team only finished with 19 assists (on 31 FGs), and two of those assists belonged to Brook Lopez, and the third to Kris Humphries. In other words, not a single ball-handler not named Devin (by my count Uzoh, Sasha Vujacic and Anthony Morrow all took turns bringing the ball up the court when Harris was sitting) collected an assist. You can’t get any kind of offensive cohesion going when you have one guy trying to make plays, and 10 or 11 others standing around and/or looking to shoot whenever the ball touches their hands. There was one play before the end of the second quarter where I saw Milwaukee move the ball from one end of the perimeter to the other in three quick passes. For what it’s worth, they ended up missing the shot anyway, but you just never see the Nets move the ball around the floor like that to free up their shooters. The more you move the ball, the more likely someone on the defensive end is blowing their assignment – in this case, the Nets were cheating on the interior on Andrew Bogut, so Garrett Temple had a wide-open three in the corner.

And with bad ball movement comes bad shot selection. The Nets only attempted four field goals from the paint in the second quarter (hitting one) and only six shots within 15-feet from the basket (hitting two, including that one shot from the paint). With Harris out, at around the 9:20 mark, Sasha was dribbling near the right wing when the shot clock was winding down. The Machine moved the ball behind him to Kris Humphries of all people, who was forced to throw-up a 16-footer as time expired. At the end of the quarter, the Nets called a 20-second timeout and Devin Harris did one of his customary dribble until there’s barely enough time left to create a shot plays, before handing the ball off to Johan Petro for the 16-foot airbag. If that’s the play Avery Johnson wanted this team to run, then there’s no wonder why the Nets can’t get out of their own way offensively.

The last thing I said I was going to look at last night was the battle of the men in the middle – Brook Lopez and Andrew Bogut. Bogut has always given Lopez trouble, and Lopez himself has struggled offensively, only averaging 9 points in four games against Milwaukee last season. Lopez had a nice game offensively, scoring 26 points on 12-23 shooting, but only caroled 6 rebounds, and was at the free throw line four times (hitting two). Meanwhile, I think Bogut won the battle last night who scored less points on poorer shooting (17, 7-18), but had more of an impact grabbing 18 rebounds and blocking 7 shots.