Nets Are Scorching

Position: SG/SF

Date of Birth: April 3, 1981

Hometown: Fresno, CA

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 218

Experience: 11 years

Drafted: 2000 1^st Round, 23rd by Utah

College: None

2011-12 salary: $2.5 million

These days in late November, it’s a little hard for some of the NBA’s finest fans to cope with the fact that we aren’t seeing those logoed uniforms zipping up and down the hardwood on TV and in the Prudential Center. Does it suck that the league hasn’t been cooperating to put out a brand-spanking-new season as we’d normally expect?

Short answer: yeah. It sucks. But a lot of things suck harder.

It’s hard to really be heartbroken to the point of devastation when gas is hard to buy, rent and mortgages are literally keeping people from take care of other responsibilities, and the cold weather is only going to make us as bitter as the air. Still, we can be thankful for what we have, and while the New Jersey Nets aren’t actually active, we can be thankful that they still exist in some form. Here are some good reasons to ponder thankfulness. Glasses up!

• Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov kept the team from being seriously considered for league contraction.
  It’s not that the NBA had gotten that far into thinking about the lockout back in 2008 and 2009, but ideas were already being thrown around about what franchises were more dissolvable than others. The Nets weren’t exactly setting the league on fire, which made Jay’s co-sign and Prokhorov’s bailout of the franchise virtually bulletproof. We don’t know how this lockout is going to turn out, but just be thankful this star power kept the team from being thrown about like a neglected rag doll.
• Deron Williams is actually optimistic about the Nets.
  It’s not news that Deron isn’t always bright and sunny-like (as we learned from his Utah days). That’s not to say Deron is an unhappy guy, but we just know that he’s fairly stoic about expressing his options (then again, Utah and New Jersey aren’t ideal settings when you think of signing a long-term contract). That he’s been talking upwards about the future of the team is a good sign. Let’s just appreciate this before he makes any other sudden movements.
• The lockout is keeping us from being reminded of the New Jersey’s mediocre talent.
  Jordan Farmar has been my personal disappointment for the past three years. Travis Outlaw is another chief offender (though I feel he was overvalued and misused in the process). I’m not exactly salivating over Brook Lopez these days, either. In a sense, the blessing of the lockout is that fans of the Nets can just focus on getting the team back out and not put too much attention on the fact that the team is crowded with relative disappointments up and down the roster.
• Kris Humphries’ offseason foray into celebrity marriage makes the Nets a little more interesting.
  Honestly, I’ve always felt that Kris was a worthy NBA player that seemed to not get the best fits early on in his career. I was happy when he finally arrived in New Jersey and started getting minutes and playing like I felt he was capable. Though he was under the radar, he’s always been talented. Now he’s famous, and it remains to be seen whether he’ll blossom even further as a player in the process, or whether he’ll wither in the face of the media keeping a post-Kardashian eye on his mug.
• Hope.
  Regardless of Prokhorov’s stature as a playboy and savvy billionaire, the Nets’ hope is based on their aura as a business and less so about their current roster. It’s because of their impending move to Brooklyn in New York City that they have the appeal of an up-and-coming Fortune 500 business. I’ll take whatever I can get, regardless of the cache.

Firstly: after sixteen hours of NBA Lockout mediation yesterday ended after 2 A.M., the sides split with a universal no-comment and a promise of meeting again this morning. After taking days off between 4-7 hour meetings, that’s only a good sign. Long live George Cohen forcing these guys to get things done!

Deron Williams made his “official” Turkish debut a few days ago, scoring 11 points and dishing out 5 assists in a 23-minute stint as Besiktas blew out Bandirma, 107-69. Lot of empty seats in that picture.

Trouble in paradise:Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian are close to a split.

NBARank has come to a close, and ESPN put together an interesting “fact sheet” about each team. As it turns out, the Nets have the lowest average player ranking among their top 10 of any NBA team (229.6, 11 spots behind 29th-ranked Charlotte), even with Deron at 9.

A nice profile of Jordan Farmar over in Israel.

Discussed the benefits of Andrew Bynum vs. Brook Lopez on Twitter today with some folks. I think Bynum is, if healthy, a top-2 center in the NBA and legitimately could be a top-10 player. But his health is an enormous “if.” Playoffs included, he’s played in 260 of a possible 406 games these past four seasons; Brook’s started his career with 246 consecutive games (239 consecutive starts). I just can’t think of many 7-footers that had surgery on both knees before 25 that went on to have long and productive careers. The only guy off the top of my head is Amare Stoudemire, and Bynum puts at least 45 more pounds of pressure on his knees than Amare.

Shaq is re-visiting his dream of owning an NBA franchise in Newark. Given how Newark performed this past year with only one other franchise in the market, it doesn’t seem likely.

Speaking of ownership, if Shaq comes through on that dream he’ll only be the third-best rapper among ownership ranks, behind Jay-Z (#1, of course) and new Philadelphia 76ers part owner, Will Smith. Additionally, E-Online is trying to stoke the flames of rivalry between the teams, specifically Will and Jigga. Maybe some fun will happen on the court, but on the mic it’s no competition.

According to a source from the Brooklyn Paper, Jay-Z will kick off the Barclays Center in style, hosting the first concert (and event) in Barclays Center history on opening night in 2012.

The announcement is at 10 AM today, and will stream live online at the Barclays Center website as well as NJNets.com. You’ll need to sign up with the sites for the exclusive access.

Two must-have songs (warning: NSFW language, but I’m sure you knew that already):

And of course, “Yeah, I’m bout that Brooklyn/now I’m down in Tribeca/right next to DeNiro/but I’ll be hood forever…”

The article also hints that there are more announcements — including a name change. Doubtful. That would not only be a major announcement, but also kind of silly — along with registering BrooklynNets.com, all signs indicate that they’re sticking with the Nets name. My guess is that they’ll bring out new uniform designs and push the Barclays Center as the future of Brooklyn.

Still, your guess is as good as mine. We’ll find out tomorrow at 10.

Nets minority owner Jay-Z is facing a bit of scrutiny after being caught congratulating University of Kentucky players in the locker room following their NCAA Tournament victory at the Prudential Center last week:

The hip-hop mogul’s visit was documented in photos and video showing him congratulating players in the Kentucky locker room, which happened to have been occupied by two potential lottery picks — Brandon Knight and Terrance Jones. As noted here, this offense would seem to be comparable to Celtics GM Danny Ainge sitting with Kevin Durant’s mother during the 2007 Big 12 tournament. Ainge was fined $30,000, a slap on the wrist in exchange for the opportunity to schmooze a top prospect’s mom. But given that standard, Jay-Z should be docked $30K for each college player who was in the locker room.

Of course the problem here is Jay-Z is connected to Kentucky coach John Calipari through the marketing company Worldwide Wes (the same company which was supposed to help Jay-Z lure LeBron, ‘Melo, etc to the Nets). The way I see it, after his three years in New Jersey, I think anyone from the Nets organization caught fraternizing with Calipari should be shot out of a canon, but then again, I’m just bitter about Calipari.

The usual “winners” and “losers” of the trade deadline list are out, and like the Oscar’s and Grammy’s, these awards really don’t mean anything, but they’re fun to talk about anyway.

Mostly, the pundits think the Nets hit a home run (I agree) with Deron Williams. CBS Sports dubbed them *the* winner from the Atlantic Division:

Nobody else made a bigger leap into relevancy that the Nets did, and that’s worthy of the winner title.

The Sporting News brings up the Nets fortunes versus the Knicks:

The Nets not only improved their immediate future, but they continued pushing against the Knicks’ dominance of the New York area while establishing a pretty good rivalry with their cross-river foes.

On the flip side, Yahoo’s Marc Spears thinks Deron Williams is walking away from the deadline a “loser” and he also calls out Nets minority owner Jay-Z in a line I can’t necessarily disagree with:

Once Mikhail Prokhorov bought the Nets, he thought it would be important to get Jay-Z, one of the franchise’s minority owners, more involved in the recruitment of free agents. Sources said Jay-Z even received an increase in his ownership stake.

Yet Jay-Z failed to deliver LeBron James last summer and couldn’t get Anthony to commit to a contract extension after meeting with him during All-Star weekend.

I understand that Jay-Z has every right to own a minority stake in the Nets and that bringing a team to Brooklyn must be a cool idea for him, but I hope this ‘Melo stuff is the last we’ve heard of him as some kind of salesman for this team. He may be the most overrated minority owner in sports if that’s possible.

Now that 2011 is upon us, I’ve taken the liberty of deciding what the resolutions of our favorite basketball team should be. Am I a few days late? Maybe. But better late than never, right? … Right?

Without further ado, in no particular order, your 2011 New Jersey Nets New Year’s Resolutions:

Brook Lopez: Much has been made about your rebounding woes this season, but in all honesty it’s the scoring inconsistency that has me worried. There are some games when you looks like the dominant force we all expected – destroying interior defenses with your dizzying array of post moves & counter-moves, and utilizing your ridiculous reach to loft a right hook above any defender. Then there are games where you struggle to get position, forces bad shots, and spends the entire game drifting around the perimeter. I know that mononucleosis can take a long time to recover from, so I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt up until this point. But shooting the way that you are, that excuse is beginning to wear thin. I know the Nets aren’t running enough sets for you inside, but you also have to post up there with more strength. Get inside and get your offense going within ten feet, every single game.

Point Guards: I’m lumping you two (well, three) together because you all suffer from the same issue. For the facilitators of the offense, there have just been too many times this season where it’s clear that none of you trust your teammates, instead looking out for yourself above all else. With the scoring talent of our bigs around the rim and our widely spaced offense when Anthony Morrow comes back, Farmar & Harris (and to an extent, Uzoh) have got to be the guys who look to pass first, and shoot second.

With Harris, this rule is a little less hard-lined because Harris’s biggest strength is his ability to slash and create scoring opportunities by getting to the rim. But let me paint you a picture. Go back to the recent Bulls-Nets game. With 9:45 remaining in the second quarter, Harris, dribbling at the top of the key, specifically called for a pick & roll with Derrick Favors. After receiving the pick, Harris dribbled lazily off to the left side, without even looking at Derrick (who rolled well and had his hand up looking for a pass), the basket (which is where you want to look if you’re going to score), or anything else that might have helped the Nets run something even resembling an offense. It was an absolutely disgusting few seconds from a guy who’s supposed to facilitate – and it wasn’t an isolated incident.

Sasha Vujacic: Sasha, you’ve been a bright spot in this team’s dark cloud this year. You’ve exceeded my low expectations. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, and don’t let the depressing stink of New Jersey seep into your brain.

Travis Outlaw: Guess what I’d ask from “Mr. Pump Fake”? Outside of shooting the damn ball in rhythm, I know that most folks consider your signing a massive disappointment – given your lackluster production, you’ve been a pretty easy scapegoat & lightning rod for all things bad about this year’s Nets. Truthfully, I still think you can be a very valuable weapon off the bench. At the very least, you have to remember the mentality that made you such an effective bench weapon in the first place. There have been comments from Avery that your conditioning’s not where it should be – and given your dubious history with conditioning I hope something clicks there soon as well.

Anthony Morrow: You made a career out of transition three-point shooting in Golden State, spotting up on the wings and just letting the ball fly out of his hands the moment you caught it. This year, you’re hesitating before shooting on too many occasions, which usually results in being forced to pass out or shoot a long contested two-pointer – the most inefficient shot in basketball. Having a guy who can make 2-4 threes a game on 45% shooting is highly valuable – and when you come back from injury, you’ve got to be that guy.

Carmelo Anthony: Just kidding.

Kris Humphries: You’ve been the surprising silver lining in the Nets rotation, shooting 53.6% from the field with a ridiculous 31.7% defensive rebound rate. (How ridiculous is it? It’s 3rd in the NBA, behind only Marcus Camby and Kevin Love, and ahead of names like Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, & Blake Griffin.) But for everything you bring on the glass, you don’t bring in system defense – the Nets are a full nine points worse defensively with you on the court. Given my subjective eye, you seem tentative playing help D, often refusing to leave your man to help out on slashers who have somehow broken through the Nets’ matador defense. You have certainly had your share of eye-popping blocks – LaMarcus Aldridge and Eric Maynor may never be the same – but defense is about every play, not just the highlights.

Damion James: Incomplete.

Derrick Favors: Assuming you’re not traded yet, Avery Johnson said it better than I ever could: you’ve got to dunk on three people a night. I get that you’re a mostly passive, laidback guy and that this team doesn’t exactly breed aggressive players. But you’re not going to be a great player – or even earn a starting spot – until you show a little fire on the court. Dunk in someone’s face. Pound your chest. Yell at Jordan Farmar when he doesn’t pass to you when you roll off the screen. Get the competitive juices flowing. You’re just too good to fit in this well with a team this bad.

Troy Murphy: Truth be told, I don’t blame you for being frustrated. Avery really bungled your situation, and given your back injury and completely volatile position in the rotation you still doesn’t really seem to be used to game-tempo situations yet. That being said, Avery’s not the one missing his shots; you are. A 32% field goal percentage, 17% three-point percentage and 53% free-throw percentage isn’t any coach’s fault, and it’s hard to justify giving you minutes if that’s your level of production.

Quinton Ross & Stephen Graham: I appreciate what you guys can bring to the table defensively, but don’t be upset when Damion James & Anthony Morrow come back and your minutes disappear. It just needs to be that way.

Johan Petro: Enjoy every dollar of your paycheck.

Avery Johnson: While my colleague Mark has had a little trouble with your, shall I say, Calipari-like stranglehold of this team, I think that’s exactly what the Nets have needed from their head coach. Your no-nonsense personality assures the players that YOU are running the show – and for a franchise coming off a 70-loss season, that force of personality makes a huge difference.

However, it would be foolish to deny that you’ve definitely had some issues dealing with his personnel. Although he’s gotten a little more playing time recently, Troy Murphy has essentially been blackballed from the rotation with little explanation and increasing frustration. Even when he’s getting position, Brook Lopez isn’t getting nearly enough touches in the post. The offense essentially seems to be “pick & roll, dribble around for 15 seconds without so much as glancing at the roll man, and launch the first shot you can get.” Given the amount of talent the Nets have in their coaching staff and on the floor, this kind of lackadaisical offense makes no sense.

Billy King: Hi Billy! Keep showing some cojones in the ‘Melo sweepstakes. Even though it was just an anonymous report, I appreciated the candor. The way Ujiri has treated this deal is nothing short of absurd. If they really want five first-rounders, laugh and hang up. Remember: the Nuggets have much more to lose in this than the Nets do.

I know that Carmelo’s going to bring the Nets – a team currently dead last in attendance and probably also dead last in jersey sales – a lot of money. The force of star power, combined with a market like Brooklyn in two years, is huge. Just make sure that what you win in the box office isn’t equated by what you might lose on the court. & remember, my e-mail is always open if you have any “anonymous” tips.

Finally, Mikhail Prokhorov & Jay-Z: Keep ballin’, my friends. Keep ballin’.

Lots of shots have been fired back & forth between these two teams. A short, incomplete list: Mikhail Prokhorov & Jay-Z on the “Blueprint for Greatness,” Amare Stoudemire on the “You, Us, We, Now,” Prokhorov’s response to that advertisment (“he looks very sad. He looks like he wants to play in Brooklyn”), and most recently, an ad run on MSG radio with this quote:

“Hey Nets: you can walk like us, you can talk like us, but you ain’t never gonna be like us.  Knicks, Nets, Tuesday, 7:30, MSG.”

Mikhail Prokhorov & Brett Yormark both had quick, witty responses to the ad. Yormark mentioned that “The Knicks seem to be spending a lot of time thinking about us lately. They must have seen the steel rise at the Barclays Center,” while Mikhail Prokhorov’s response was short, sweet, and stinging: “I don’t think we want to be like the Knicks. I think we’d more like to resemble the Lakers.”

While it seems like the Nets have the upper hand off the court, the Knicks currently sport a better record and are playing at home. This will be a tough but fun match-up in what’s becoming a fierce rivalry in the press.

On that note, here are a few things to look out for in tonight’s game.

The battle down low. The Knicks lack bangers in their frontcourt, and while Brook Lopez has been floating away from the rim all three of the Nets’ power forwards make much of their living inside. Amare Stoudemire & Danilo Gallinari are also not defensive wizards, so there should be a number of opportunities for the Nets to get easy buckets inside.

Bring it, bench! The bench has averaged 27 points per game in the six wins the Nets have had this season. The Nets are able to win games because they have a deep team with skills that complement one another; if the bench isn’t producing, any game becomes difficult to win. Wilson Chandler & Toney Douglas lead a relatively strong Knicks bench, and hopefully the Nets can counter adequately.

Do not panic. This goes for those of us watching as well as those guys on the court. This is becoming a rivalry, but rivalries are won by the team (& the fans) who can hold it together better. Just because this is the Knicks doesn’t make it any different of a basketball game; the rules are the same, the baskets are the same height, and the refs will still make questionable calls. If the Nets can keep level heads in the Garden and not force bad decisions, I think we’ll see a victory tonight.

*Edit: One more big thing to watch out for is the battle to control the pace. The Knicks play the second-fastest pace in the NBA at 96.7 possessions per game, while the Nets are on the opposite side of the spectrum: at just over 88 possessions per game, they’re dead last. I’m firmly on the side that the Nets should run more, but against a team like the Knicks, it may be smarter to disrupt their speed and play more within a half-court offense as much as possible. Whichever side does a better job of controlling the pace may very well end up with the W.

For more coverage on the New York Knicks, be sure to check out TrueHoop affiliate Knickerblogger.net.