Brook Lopez suffered a stress fracture to the fifth metatarsal of his right foot yesterday. Now, if you’re like me, the moment you heard that, all you saw was the words “fracture” and “foot,” filled in the rest as medical jargon, and began panicking. Well, after a bit of research, here’s what that jargon means, and why the panic is somewhat warranted — but not entirely. Read more…
After meeting for three hours this morning, the NBA owners and Players Association could not come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. At the conclusion of the meeting, the owners announced that — consistent with most people’s expectations over the last several months — that the league will be officially locked out beginning at 12:01 AM eastern time tomorrow morning.
This might not be as disappointing as the thought of the Nets’ re-signing Stephen Graham, but …
After the completion of a wild New Jersey Nets season, Nets are Scorching will be looking back at the players that made it happen.
Final Stats: 42 G, 10.4 MPG, 3.8 PPG, 1.6 APG, 1.5 (0.7-0.7) RPG, 0.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 42.4 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 58.9 FT%, 14.8 PER
Ben Uzoh was fortunate to get a spot on the Nets after going undrafted and impressing Avery Johnson during the offseason. As a no-risk proposition, Uzoh wasn’t a relatively bad pickup. Serving mostly as a third-string point guard (and filling in as backup with all the injuries), Uzoh did what was expected of him. In his limited minutes, he didn’t have the time to produce any tangible offense or rebounding, but when you prorate his numbers on a 40-minute basis, he wasn’t half-bad: he averaged 14.4 P/40, 5.6 R/40, and 6.3 A/40, all resulting in that 14.8 PER, just a shade below the league average. But Uzoh’s greatest asset was effort, as he was one of very few Nets who cared on a regular basis. He proved to be a plus defender, actually earning an honorable mention on John Hollinger’s All-Defensive Team (Insider) for his impressive defensive on-off differential of minus-5.10.
The Pink Shirt: This has to be Uzoh’s making the team. Again, he was a long shot without much worth, but he scrapped his way onto a squad that benefited from his dedication at times. If he’s not with the Nets, he’ll very likely get a shot somewhere else around the league considering his per-minute numbers.
The Paper Bag: It’s hard to pick one in particular, but Uzoh didn’t really play well against the Philadelphia 76ers. In his three games against them, he shot 6-of-18 from the field in just 30 minutes of play.
Final Thoughts: Honestly, Uzoh was a good one-year experiment with no discernible downside. With the Nets’ decision to sign Sundiata Gaines for next season, Uzoh is essentially expendable. Again, though, he’ll get a chance for another NBA team.
Final Grade: B
We’ve seen it all and more from Kris Humphries at this point. Big slam dunks. Huge chasedown blocks. The hustle that Humphries brings to this team is underappreciated nightly by most folks who doesn’t respect that New Jersey uniform. When asked about him, the most common response is “oh, he’s that guy that dates Kim, right?”
He is. But he’s been so much more. After last Friday night’s career game – 19 points, no missed shots, and a career-high 20 rebounds – it marked the second time that the Hump had outplayed his Clippers counterpart, superstar and known car-jumper Blake Griffin. Back in November, the Hump held Griffin to just 11 points and just and three rebounds (none on the defensive end) in 30 foul-plagued minutes. It was, according to Basketball-Reference, Blake’s lowest “game score” of the season.
Until that Clippers game, my general view of Humphries was that he wasn’t a particularly good defender – he doesn’t rotate well and isn’t quick enough to defend most power forwards. However, after seeing him play yet another great game against a guy that most players seem to be deathly afraid of, I decided to look a little deeper into the numbers, because, after all, I’m an idiot.
Sure enough, I found that the Hump is actually a much better defender than I’d expected.
Other than just the wildly powerful blocks – and there have been dozens of those, with victims ranging from LaMarcus Aldridge to Eric Maynor to Lou Amundson to Robin Lopez – I wanted to know how he actually performed against other power forwards. Sure enough, a look at 82games.com bore out the idea that Humphries is actually a very solid defender. Hump’s PER at the power forward position is a very good 18.6, averaging 16.7 points and 17.7 rebounds per 48 minutes on 52% shooting. Opponents at the 4 average more points per 48 (19.1), but on worse shooting (48.2%) and don’t rebound the ball nearly as much (10.7). This adds up to a player efficiency rating of a below average 14.6 for his opponents. That’s a four-point PER advantage for Humphries.
The other metrics seem to bear this out. Humphries has seen the majority of his defense in the post, and while he’s not a top-tier defender, he’s certainly been impressive. According to Synergy Sports Technology, in 113 post defense possessions Humphries has allowed just 0.81 points per possession, holding opponents to just 42% shooting and forcing 11 turnovers. Over the course of the season, Humphries has shown that he’s capable of using his wide upper body to defend backdowns, as well as his surprisingly agile feet to cut off quick moves. He’s not great by any measure, but he’s pretty good – definitely better than I’d expected.
But the numbers that really surprised me were the ones in isolation.
Humphries has utterly shut down opponents in isolation sets this season. He’s shut down players in isolation at every position – literally, he’s been switched onto little guys like Steve Nash & Jose Calderon, to wings like Carmelo Anthony and Tayshaun Prince, to bigs like Carlos Boozer, Dirk Nowitzki, & David West, and he’s stopped all of them.
(Yes, Blake Griffin too.)
Perhaps opponents think they can score on him in isolation, but he’s got quicker hands and feet than nearly everyone expects, and most guys just end up throwing up bad shots when they’re unable to create good looks.
The numbers don’t lie: in iso, Humphries is allowing just 19-71 shooting (26.8%) and has forced eight turnovers. That adds up to just 0.6 points per possession. That’s, obviously, one of the best marks in the NBA.
It’s certainly strange that a guy who’s so well known for dating a superstar outside of basketball can play like the polar opposite – the dude just busts his butt constantly on both sides of the floor. While that adds up to an efficient – albeit low-usage – player on the offensive side, it’s weirdly the defense that he’s shown that he can stick with some of the best players in the NBA. I still have questions about his rotations – the Nets aren’t a great defensive team, and he’s got a lion’s share of that responsibility – but there’s no question that the guy has ramped it up on the defensive side of the floor.
Think back to December 2006. It was a simpler time. It was a better time. There might be a lot of great things you remember about 2006. You might remember the Winter Olympics in Turin. Or the World Cup in Germany. Or maybe even that Shaquille O’Neal could once dunk.
What you probably don’t remember quite as clearly is a trifling regular-season basketball game between the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns on December 7 (You can view the game on YouTube here).
Stats: 34 G, 4 GS, 1.6 PPG, 0.9 RPG, 0.3 APG, 0.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG, .439 FG%, .357 FT%, 3.87 PER
Preseason expectations: “We don’t know how much Ross will play (heck, he may even be the team’s final cut if the Nets like the two undrafted guys — Zoubek and Uzoh— more), but one this is for sure, when he plays he will play very good defense. It also doesn’t hurt to have a guy who is a 6 year vet and by all accounts is a good guy around all of the youngsters. He could be the Joe Smith of the guards.”
The Good: The only good thing about Quinton Ross aside from the fact that he has an expiring contract and won’t be on the team next year is the comedic fodder that he provides for writers and bloggers league-wide. He’s also more intelligent about his shot-taking than someone like, say, Johan Petro. At least he knows he can’t contribute on offense. He’s supposed to be a good defender, too, but I’ve never really seen that.
The Bad: Look at those statistics above. Is there a single one that isn’t hilarious? I didn’t think so. Quinton Ross is inept on both sides of the ball and really doesn’t deserve to be in the NBA. He doesn’t hit open shots, he doesn’t pass, he doesn’t rebound. He’s basically a placeholder on the floor. And when you play for the Nets, that’s saying something.
The Extra: The guy is the reincarnation of Trenton Hassell — he likes to shoot from the short corner, he has an inexplicable reputation of being good on defense, and he’s bald. The similarities are uncanny.
Final Grade: Quinton Ross is in no position to help the Nets out in the future, and the chances he gets re-signed to the team are lower than the chances Kiki Vandeweghe comes back to coach. The only reason he doesn’t get an F here is because he doesn’t really try to do more than he’s capable of, like some other players on the roster. Grade: D-
Brook Lopez is back to business. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
There’s been a lot of talk recently about Brook Lopez on the glass. (Or, I should say, not being on the glass.) It’s valid criticism; Lopez hasn’t had a double-digit rebounding game since the first of December and his total rebound rate has actually dipped below the league average (9.8%, league average is 10%). I haven’t excused that, and still won’t. That being said, his rebounding issues aside, there’s one thing that Brook Lopez is finally starting to do at an elite level:
Score.
In the first half of this season, we were treated to perhaps the worst Brook Lopez we’d seen so far – a 7’2″ behemoth constantly missing midrange jumpers and not crashing the glass. At that point, he was no more effective than a Nick Young or Richard Hamilton. His per-game averages were afloat, but not because of efficient scoring – his field goal percentage had dropped into the low-mid 40′s. For a guy that’s supposed to operate in and around the paint, that’s eerily low. It was approaching Jason Collins territory.
(I will now pause to smash my head into a wall for 20 minutes for comparing Brook Lopez to Jason Collins.)
(……)
(Okay, back.)
In the past month, all of that has changed. In the 15-game span since January 12th, Lopez has been blistering – averaging over 22 points per game while shooting 53.8% from the field and 84.6% from the free throw line, all well above his season averages. To give it some context, the only player in the NBA who’s approaching averaging those percentages for the season is Kevin Garnett, and he only averages 15 points per game. Not bad company.
Not only is Lopez scoring efficiently, he’s also doing so while using a high volume of possessions – in only one game did he take fewer than ten shots (he took 9) and is averaging 16.5 shots per game. We’ve seen back-to-back 30-point games on the road against Portland and Los Angeles (the good one), a three-game stretch in which he took 58 shots and made 35 of them (60.3%), and of course, a game-winner against Cleveland with 1.5 seconds left to top off a 28-point performance.
It’s safe to say that rebounding issues or not, the Brookie Monster is getting back to business putting the ball in the basket.
Once he’s got the ball, Lopez is noticeably more aggressive & quicker on his feet. In the Los Angeles game, he showed off his full array of moves – face-up jumpers, hook shots, spin moves, and dunks. Even against long, strong defenders like Gasol & Bynum (Gasol is underrated as a post defender – he’s 11th in the NBA at defending the roll man and only allows 0.8 points per possession in the post), Lopez was still able to weave his way through the defense and get close, efficient shots.
In this video, you can see some of the things Brook has been working on. The face-up game is there, as is the backdown and hook shot with either hand. He’s attacking the rim with more ferocity than he did in previous months and using his highly advanced footwork and shot fakes to freeze defenders. He’s also using his body – specifically his shoulder – to create space for the ten-foot jumper. My favorite play is the one that starts at 43 seconds; it’s an up-and under that fakes both Gasol and Bynum out of their shoes. It’s absolutely gorgeous.
Brook also has weapons in the pick & roll:
Here, you can see both his ability to maneuver in traffic to lay it in, as well as his ability to spot up. After he sets the screen, the 3’6″ Fisher is forced to switch onto Lopez, and Lopez just shoots over him. Shooting it was the right play – if he tries to start posting up from that far out, the Lakers would have had time to switch back or even double him. When a guy that small is on him, he’s basically uncontested.
Watching the games and analyzing the numbers, there’s a few factors at play here. Firstly, I think it’s safe to say that Lopez has regained most of the strength that he’d lost to summertime mononucleosis. Brook was getting banged around nightly, not looking to get to the rim on most defenders (Hasheem Thabeet excluded, as he is from everything), but recently he’s been able to get much more close to the basket. Even if he posts up far from the block (which he’s still doing occasionally), he’s still able to use his strength & footwork to back his defender down and float that six-to-seven foot jump hook as opposed to an 11-footer. In a game of inches, four feet means the world.
Plus, if you’re still curious about his strength, I don’t think any play makes it clearer than the game-winner he hit in that game while Ryan Hollins literally played the bongos on his back.
His strength deserves credit, but there’s more to this story. The resurgence of Devin Harris has been huge for Brook. His slashing to the basket has created literally dozens of these opportunities. Harris has exhibited a ton of patience recently; more often than not you can see him letting a play develop instead of forcing passes or wasting chances. In these circumstances, it’s not about allocating individual credit, but how they play in tandem to create scoring opportunities that benefit the team. The synergy is undeniable.
Thirdly, it’s important to note that the Nets just hadn’t been running many sets for Lopez in the first half of the year. It may have been Avery trying to figure out the other weapons on the team, it may have been an attempt to hide his post-mono weakness, it may have been no more than a random statement. Either way, it caused Brook to force bad shots the times he did get the ball. Now that the offense is consistently going through him, he’s able to effectively pick his spots.
But don’t just believe me. The numbers don’t lie. Prior to this stretch, Lopez was shooting just 54.2% at the rim on only 3.8 attempts per game. In the past 15 games? 73.6%, on 4.8 attempts per game. While in the first 37 games Lopez only received assists on at-the-rim shots 52.9% of the time, that figure has jumped to (a coincidental) 73.6% in the past 15 – over a 20% jump in assisted makes. Most of those assists are from Harris.
In the videos, you see the two basic ways the Nets get Brook the ball – a standard pick & roll or letting him fight to get position on the low block. One of my favorite plays the Nets are running for Brook these days is a little more complicated: a double back-pick curl leading into the two-man game. It starts off with Harris bringing the ball up on the left side, then receiving a screen from Lopez on the left wing. Harris shifts to the right, keeping control as Lopez curls around two screens to the block. From there, Lopez either posts up or can set a screen for Harris, playing the two-man game on the right side while the rest of the team spots up on the left.
Here’s the play in FastDraw:
Lopez sets first screen for Harris while team sets up for the next screens.
Humphries/Favors sets second screen for Harris to give him space, while Lopez curls around screens set by the other wings in the game (Morrow/Graham/Farmar/Outlaw) and cuts to the left block.
From here, Harris can either feed Lopez in the post (x1), or if he doesn't have position, Lopez can run a pick & roll with Harris (x2). Humphries slides down to the opposite block and the wings space out for spot-up threes (Graham only goes out to 20).
The Nets ran this play at least four times against the Cavaliers in their 103-101 victory, and you can see the results for yourself:
When watching these four possessions, really look at how Lopez instantly fights for position once he finds the block. Even if the double back pick isn’t effective, he’s still able to lose his man and create opportunities with the movement. The amount of options out of this play is what makes it great: Lopez can dominate a smaller defender, Harris can look to create off the dribble in tandem with a Lopez screen, and if the help defense overplays the post Morrow spotting up in the right corner is as good as gold.
Brook Lopez isn’t rebounding. There’s no question. He may never become a great rebounder, or even a good one. But what he’s becoming right now is a great, efficient scorer, and there’s a lot of value in that. You can count the great offensive big men in the league right now on one hand. In December, I would’ve left Lopez off that hand. Now? He’s back on the list.
And the best part? He’s only 22. There’s a lot of room left to grow.
Tonight, the 3-5 New Jersey Nets take on the Orlando Magic for the second time in the first nine games. While the Nets have struggled against the Florida powers – dropping two to Miami and the first matchup against Orlando – the Nets have the benefit of a gelling roster and home-court advantage tonight. Still, for obvious reasons, this is going to be a tough one – between Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and ex-Net Vince Carter, the team will have its hands full.
A few keys to this game:
For more Orlando Magic coverage, check out Eddy Rivera’s TrueHoop Orlando Magic affiliate Magic Basketball.