Friday, December 19, 2008

Nets-Raptors

This game was much better than when these two teams met on Friday, especially for VC, he only shot 33% but had 20 points, 10 boards, and 5 assists. After another poor showing in the 3rd quarter and being down 11 early in the 4th the nets appeared done, but Harris led them roaring back. They were down 73-62 and harris had a 3 point play then a jumper and lay up to lead the Nets back, and he had VC on the bench. The nets ended up taking a 14 point lead 88 to 74 which was cut to 8 after 2 Raptor 3s. A series of made baskets by Toronto and missed foul shots by the Nets had them within 5 with under a minute to go but the Nets held on. The really didn't play great the first 3 quarters, especially harris, who didn't turn it on till the 4th but his 4th made up for his 1st 3. I loved the resiliency shown by the Nets to come back and win the game, and loved Ryan Anderson's 21 point, 9 rebound performance off the bench (he should be starting as Yi was ineffective yet again). He really does a lot more overall then Yi does in terms of defense, scoring, rebounding, and hustle. Despite the road victory, there's a warning sign flashing about missed free throws and the Nets inability to put teams away. The Raptors should've been done after being down 14 but the Nets let them hang around and almost come back. They can't do that and expect to compete for the playoffs, but overall they won a game they probably shouldn't have so you have to be pleased.

Nets-Bulls

Only caught the 4th quarter of this game cause I went to see "Milk", it was a pretty interesting movie, I'd recommend it. Anway I heard the Nets were up double digits in the begginning of the 2nd half but they blew the lead. They were up 3 when I got home. The 4th quarter was competitive until the last few minutes when the Nets went cold on both sides of the floor and blew the game despite leading late. The Nets can't be blowing double digit leads and they also need to finish every game like the way they finished in Sacramento and Philly, playing tough defense and hitting big shots especially when the shot clock is low. They didn't do that tonight and the result was a disapointing loss.

Nets-Raptors

Was going to go to this game but couldn't and thankfully I didn't. The Nets stayed competitive in the first half despite shooting horribly as they were only down 6. The nets then proceeded to have another horrific 3rd quarter peformance and were down 18 going into the fourth. I've tried to erase this game from my memory so I don't have much to comment about it. Really there's not too much too look into here, when you shoot under 30% before garbage time and finish shooting 32% and 26% from 3 point range you aren't going to win, especially when your best player goes a whopping 0 for 13 (I'm referring to VC in case you were wondering. He's still their go to guy despite Harris' spectacular play recently). He finished with a whopping 3 points and was just so off all night, his shots weren't even close, and his game was just really representative of the way the Nets played as a whole. Just a bad game. A bad, bad game.

Nets-Knicks

Went to this game, and it was exciting at first before turning infuriating. The Nets were awesome in the first quarter as Devin scored 14 points (finished with 32) in the first 4 and a half minutes and they had a double digit lead about halfway through the quarter. Thye were playing into the Knicks hands though pushing the tempo and taking a lot of outside jumpers instead of trying to slow the game down and take advantage of the size advantage they had with Lopez at the 5 versus David Lee (who is only 6 foot 9). Since they didn't slow it down Lopez was totally ineffective and even detrimental because he couldn't keep up with the game's fast pace and was not good in the up-tempo offense. Yi started well hiting a 3 in the first and playing very agressive as he had an alley oop from Harris and slammed home a putback dunk but then he like the Nets went down hill and he was a big reason for that. The Nets were up by 16 points at one point in the first half but were only up 6 at halftime. The 3rd quarter was awful as Al Harrington (39 points, 13 rebounds) took Yi to school, beating him off the dribble then when Yi stepped off Harrington would knock down the outside shot. My dad always use to tell me to stay square on defense and not turn my feet, and he would say that so many times he was like a broken record... well Yi could surely use my dad in his ear right now. When playing defense as soon as someone puts the ball on the floor Yi turns his feet allowing them to blow by him. Frank was too slow to take Yi out and when he did it was too late. L-Frank refuses to play matchups, Sean Williams would have been well suited to guard Harrington or his counterparts (Wilson Chandler who had 24 points and 11 boards, and Tim Thomas who had 26 points off the bench) because of his length, quickness, and athleticism, but he didn't play till late and the Nets suffered. The Nets cut the Knicks double digit second half lead to 6 with 5 minutes to play before Wilson Chandler hit a 3 and got fouled forcing me and my dad to the exits.

Nets-Sixers

Good performance a night after an easy win over the T-Wolves. The Nets had to work harder in this one against a Sixer team without Elton Brand, but that wasn't necessarily bad for them as he has yet to mesh with the run and gun young talent that led the Sixers to the playoffs last year and they played pretty decently without him. Another well rounded effort from the Nets as they got solid contributions from Simmons (11 pts) and Yi (12 pts and 7 boards) in addition to the usual performances from VC who narrowly missed a triple dobuel (14 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists) and Harris (27 points and 8 assists). Also nice contributions from Anderson and Swift off the bench. The Nets led most of the way but they let the Sixers hang around for longer than you would like, but they won so that's really all you can ask for. Another observation I made is that Keyon Dooling is quickly becoming a go to guy in the clutch, he hit some big 3s against Sacramento in their OT victory, and he hit another big 3 late in the game tonight to put it in the bag for the Nets despite only shooting 2 for 9 overall. That kind of mental toughness kind of embodies the toughness the Nets have shown late in games lately which is something you didn't see at all last year.

Nets-Wolves

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile bloggers, but I've been very busy. Now I'll do make up postings. This game was a great bounceback to the dud they threw up against the Wiz before this. It was an easy game, the T-Wolves didn't play too well cause frankly they aren't that good. This was also a very well rounded effort for the Nets as they had 7 players score in double figures, and got contributions from the entire team. The entire starting 5 scored in double digits (Simmons, Yi, Harris, VC, Lopez) and Hayes and Dooling did as well, Carter led the charge with 18 points. Stromile Swift and Ryan Anderson also gave good minutes off the bench, and Lopez finished with 10 boards for a double-double, continuing his stellar play. Nice break for Devin and Vince as well as they only played 32 and 34 minutes respectively. Overall, the Nets "made the next team pay" as Vince said they had too after the Washington debacle. Another side note, tonight marked the return of Jason Collins to the Meadowlands. he got a mixed reaction from the fans. I always liked Collins, he was undervalued both by the fans and media I thought. He was truly an outstanding interior defender and was great at doing the intangible: setting screens, boxing out, etc. He did exactly what the Nets asked of him every night and was the ultimate team player, just an overall class act. I did a basketball camp of his once and he was very engaging and really took a lot of time with the kids. It was nice to see him back in the place where he did a lot of good things for a long time.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Nets-Wizards

What a dud. I unfortunately went to the game and witnessed their performance in person and it was painful at times. My thoughts: 1) I've noticed with Bobby Simmons that he seems to have a solid 1st quarter, hitting a 3, playing good defense, then when he comes out, usually for a long stretch, he never seems to regain his rhythm. This was on full display tonight as he played well at first but in the 3rd quarter when presented with 3-4 open looks in the first few minutes he couldn't buy a bucket. Ditto for Yi who was horrible in the 2nd half. 2) I'll give the Nets a pass for this game, they always struggle in their 1st game back from a west coast trip, losing to the Wiz this year and the Grizzlies last year. I'll cut them some slack since they came back after this game and won 2 straight. 3)The nets don't close out on 3 point shooters, the Wiz buried them with 3 after 3 in the 3rd quarter. The nets play too loose on the perimeter, they have some quick defenders like Harris, Simmons, and Carter, Dooling also, and there's no reason they shouldn't be able to handle playing tight on the perimeter. Their perimeter d is too soft for the time being. 4) Good to see CDR back, he didn't play till garbage time but he showed flashes. Got to the paint a few times and knocked down a shot or two, nothing spectacular but another positive sign for the Nets.

Nets-Suns

This team is really starting to come together after the win over Phoenix. Unlike the season opening game vs the Warriors when they were down double digits throughout the 4th but couldn't come through, this game they showed the resiliency and mental toughness they lacked all of last year and the begginning of this season. Obviously when discussing this victory you have to start and finish with Devin Harris, dropping 47 points on the defenseless Suns. Really he has been the difference for them early on, he opens up so many things for the team, watching him play is just so much fun. He seems to have developed a signature move, the stepback jumper, he loves to take that shot and hes made it quite a few times. Didn't see much of the game besides last 2 minutes so can't really comment otherwise, but obviously an awesome performance.