Sunday, November 23, 2008
Nets-Cavs
Went to the game on Tuesday, was exciting for the 1st half when the Nets were playing well and keeping Lebron's supporting cast in check, but the game became unbearable after halftime and i left with 5 minutes to go. My thoughts: 1) Yi epitomizes the term "streak shooter". He hit his first 2 shots of the game, then was not heard from the rest of the game as he struggled: to find his touch, on defense, and with his ball handling. He must play more consistently over the course of games, and not just play well in isolated 2-3 minute spurts. Also, Yi missing a pair of free throws when the nets were down 58-52 ultimately led the Nets further downhill, and was really their last chance to get back in the game. 2) The Nets perimeter defense is lackluster. They have trouble closing out on 3 point shooters and left the Cavs plethora of perimeter weapons open, wide open actually. Delonte West and Mo Williams led the charge after halftime helping catapult the Cavs to a 12-0 run to make it 61-52 Cavs just a few minutes into the 3rd. Also every time the Nets woul score a few points, their momentum would be killed with another Cav 3 pointer. 3) The Nets must be able to come up with other scoring option when VC is having an off night, he was 3-12 shooting, and they scored only 82 points, there's definately a correlation between those numbers. 4)Brook Lopez is emerging as a potent offensive weapon for the Nets. He has a really nice array of post moves and is very comfortable getting the ball on th blocks and taking the defender 1-on-1. This is something the Nets have lacked for as long as I've been a fan a consistent offensive player on the blocks. Overall, the game was not one of the nets better performances, they couldn't find a rhythm in the 2nd half, and weren't ready for the cavs 3 point onslaught.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Home and Home Sweep
The last 2 nights have been great ones to be Nets fans. Two big wins over an up-and-coming Hawks team that came into their home and home with the Nets 6-1 and left it 6-3. Didn't catch Friday's game, but some things i liked from the box score. Gotta love Brook Lopez's 25 and 9 performance after struggling for a few games, if he can become a consistent 3rd scorer for the Nets that would be huge. Also Harris coming back obviously gave the Nets a big lift, as he scored 30 points, had 8 assists, and pulled down 6 rebounds, with Vince adding 26. My man Ryan Anderson, playing because of an injury to Eduardo Najera once again proved he's a valuable asset for this team, scoring 15 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. This guy can flat out play, and that is exactly what he should be doing for the Nets.
Now to tonights game, got to watch this one, and was nervous when the hawks made a run to cut into the Nets lead before halftime but that 3rd quarter was something to see, my thoughts:
1) Devin Harris is playing out of his mind, finished with 33 points and 10 assists, the guy has been playing with a fire lately, a fire the nets were lakcing when he was gone. He was agressive, getting to the line 14 times, and he was on from the mid-range and long distance, an overall great performance yet again for this rising star. He sets the tempo for the entire offense, as his speed and penetration ability really are game changers for this team. His presence also takes a huge amount of pressure of VC's back because as another guy that can create his own shot at any time, defenses are less inclined to double and triple team vince, especially down the stretch.
2) Ryan Anderson continues to play exceptionally off the bench, finishing with 17 points on 4 of 5 shooting, and 5 rebounds as well. This guy is basketball savvy as Jim Spanarkel pointed out during the broadcast. He does a lot of things well for this team and is proving to be a great pickup with the 21st pick. I can't say enough about this kid's shooting ability, knack for rebounding, and overall basketball IQ.
3) Sean Williams got some playing time due to Josh Boone's injury and played well, providing some defensive energy and altering a few shots with his long arms and athelticism. Also noticed that when he goes for an offensive rebound he is always in the thick of getting the ball, his long arms and jumping ability enable him to tap the ball and keep it alive very well.
4) Hayes and Dooling again provided solid minutes in relief for the starters. Hayes shot very well in his hometown, and played solid defense on Joe Johnson. However he left the game with back spasms in the 4th quarter and if he is out for an extended period of time that's not going to be good because that means more playing time for the ineffective Bobby Simmons, and also CDR is out leaving them thin at the swing positions off the bench. Keyon gave the Nets a great spark from the end of the 1st till midway through the 2nd quarter, scoring 10 points. This is what the Nets brought him in for, to be a guy that plays in bursts and gives energy for the 2nd unit, not to be a a 35 minute a game starter which he became for that horrific 3 game stretch last week from the team.
5) Vince was unconscious in the 3rd, he was absolutely lighting it up, including 5-5 from 3, he was something to watch, when he is on he's a top 5 NBA player, and he was on tonight.
Now to tonights game, got to watch this one, and was nervous when the hawks made a run to cut into the Nets lead before halftime but that 3rd quarter was something to see, my thoughts:
1) Devin Harris is playing out of his mind, finished with 33 points and 10 assists, the guy has been playing with a fire lately, a fire the nets were lakcing when he was gone. He was agressive, getting to the line 14 times, and he was on from the mid-range and long distance, an overall great performance yet again for this rising star. He sets the tempo for the entire offense, as his speed and penetration ability really are game changers for this team. His presence also takes a huge amount of pressure of VC's back because as another guy that can create his own shot at any time, defenses are less inclined to double and triple team vince, especially down the stretch.
2) Ryan Anderson continues to play exceptionally off the bench, finishing with 17 points on 4 of 5 shooting, and 5 rebounds as well. This guy is basketball savvy as Jim Spanarkel pointed out during the broadcast. He does a lot of things well for this team and is proving to be a great pickup with the 21st pick. I can't say enough about this kid's shooting ability, knack for rebounding, and overall basketball IQ.
3) Sean Williams got some playing time due to Josh Boone's injury and played well, providing some defensive energy and altering a few shots with his long arms and athelticism. Also noticed that when he goes for an offensive rebound he is always in the thick of getting the ball, his long arms and jumping ability enable him to tap the ball and keep it alive very well.
4) Hayes and Dooling again provided solid minutes in relief for the starters. Hayes shot very well in his hometown, and played solid defense on Joe Johnson. However he left the game with back spasms in the 4th quarter and if he is out for an extended period of time that's not going to be good because that means more playing time for the ineffective Bobby Simmons, and also CDR is out leaving them thin at the swing positions off the bench. Keyon gave the Nets a great spark from the end of the 1st till midway through the 2nd quarter, scoring 10 points. This is what the Nets brought him in for, to be a guy that plays in bursts and gives energy for the 2nd unit, not to be a a 35 minute a game starter which he became for that horrific 3 game stretch last week from the team.
5) Vince was unconscious in the 3rd, he was absolutely lighting it up, including 5-5 from 3, he was something to watch, when he is on he's a top 5 NBA player, and he was on tonight.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Nets-Pacers Round 2
Last night's game was a disgrace, didn't watch all of it cause I couldn't bear to and decided to flip over the Country Music Awards instead (a good choice I made). The Nets couldn't get anything going offensively or defensively all game against a Pacers team missing 3 of its top scorers (Troy Murphy, Danny Granger, and Mike Dunleavy). Observations:
1) All the critics were lining up this year saying in no time VC would be giving up on the team and his teammates, well it seems like the opposite has happened, Vince seems to be the only one playing with conistent energy and effort, and producing night in and night out. No other teammate has been able to match his intensity on a game-to-game basis yet this season except maybe Keyon Dooling and Jarvis Hayes.
2) The lack of depth in the backcourt is killing the Nets. As L-Frank said after the game the Nets are relying on VC and Dooling to play 39 minutes a game at both ends of the floor, not something you want to see especially this early in the season. Again I will recommend calling the Grizzlies to look into one of their young point guards for one of the Nets young bigs or a future draft pick maybe the draft pick they acquired for Marcus Williams because if Harris, Carter, or Dooling has to go out for an extended amount of time this year the Nets are finished. I don't want to see them give away any of their young bigs (anderson, yi, williams, lopez) but they need to fill this need and getting a young guy like Lowry or Crittenton helps them not only short term but long term as well.
3) I understand L-Frank wants to play veterans because he believes he needs a presence out there on the court with the rookies, but the truth of the matter is the veterans are less effective on the court than the rookies who they are taking minutes from. Ryan Anderson provided nice shooting and a few rebounds in some minutes last night and Sean Williams impact could be felt instantly when he came in the game, he did take 2 stupid jump shots but that comes with the territory he's not going to learn to play the right way if he's not playing. Najera and Simmons continue to be ineffective, the Nets went to Simmons early on where he had a bucket and an assist in the first minutes but after that he became invisible once again, and glad to see Najera only play 5 minutes because since replacing Ryan Anderson in the rotation he certainly didn't make a case to be there. I'd advocate starting Trenton Hassell for the time being at SF because he provides high quality defense and decent shooting ability with Simmons and Hayes coming off the bench. Hayes should be the starter based on numbers but I like what he provides to the second unit especially with CDR out and Dooling now starting. They won't bench Simmons though because Net management is intent on trying to justify the RJ trade and justify actually saying they believe Simmons could be a 3rd scorer for the team. They will do the same thing with Yi, i think Yi should be starting right now but even if he starts playing horribly the Nets won't bench him because of what they gave up for him.
1) All the critics were lining up this year saying in no time VC would be giving up on the team and his teammates, well it seems like the opposite has happened, Vince seems to be the only one playing with conistent energy and effort, and producing night in and night out. No other teammate has been able to match his intensity on a game-to-game basis yet this season except maybe Keyon Dooling and Jarvis Hayes.
2) The lack of depth in the backcourt is killing the Nets. As L-Frank said after the game the Nets are relying on VC and Dooling to play 39 minutes a game at both ends of the floor, not something you want to see especially this early in the season. Again I will recommend calling the Grizzlies to look into one of their young point guards for one of the Nets young bigs or a future draft pick maybe the draft pick they acquired for Marcus Williams because if Harris, Carter, or Dooling has to go out for an extended amount of time this year the Nets are finished. I don't want to see them give away any of their young bigs (anderson, yi, williams, lopez) but they need to fill this need and getting a young guy like Lowry or Crittenton helps them not only short term but long term as well.
3) I understand L-Frank wants to play veterans because he believes he needs a presence out there on the court with the rookies, but the truth of the matter is the veterans are less effective on the court than the rookies who they are taking minutes from. Ryan Anderson provided nice shooting and a few rebounds in some minutes last night and Sean Williams impact could be felt instantly when he came in the game, he did take 2 stupid jump shots but that comes with the territory he's not going to learn to play the right way if he's not playing. Najera and Simmons continue to be ineffective, the Nets went to Simmons early on where he had a bucket and an assist in the first minutes but after that he became invisible once again, and glad to see Najera only play 5 minutes because since replacing Ryan Anderson in the rotation he certainly didn't make a case to be there. I'd advocate starting Trenton Hassell for the time being at SF because he provides high quality defense and decent shooting ability with Simmons and Hayes coming off the bench. Hayes should be the starter based on numbers but I like what he provides to the second unit especially with CDR out and Dooling now starting. They won't bench Simmons though because Net management is intent on trying to justify the RJ trade and justify actually saying they believe Simmons could be a 3rd scorer for the team. They will do the same thing with Yi, i think Yi should be starting right now but even if he starts playing horribly the Nets won't bench him because of what they gave up for him.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Disastrous Defeat
What a bad loss last night, the kind of loss that sends a team into a horrible downward spiral. The Nets played so well for 42 minutes then let everything slip away when it mattered most. Despite solid defense and an outstanding performance from yi the Nets couldn't find a way to close out what seemed like a sure fire win. Here's why they lost: 1) They lost the rhythm of their offense down the stretch. Instead of continuing to attack and try to score they started playing conservatively and most of their shots took place with under 8 seconds on the shot clock and were not very good looks. They were playing offense like they were trying to run down the clock as opposed to trying to continue keeping distance between themselves and the Heat. 2) D-Wade finally turned into himself, making a serious of ridiculous shots. He swished a 28 foot 3 pointer, banked in another one, and hit another bank shot from a very tough angle, all single-handedly bringing the Heat back from the dead. 3) The Nets lack of another player to create their own shot with Harris out. With Devin Harris out the only person on the floor in the last 5 minutes that could create their own shot besides Vince was Keyon Dooling but he's not great at doing that, so the heat double and triple teamed Carter, not allowing him to beat them. Since the other players depend on Carter to create for them, the Heat double and triple teams were effective as they forced VC into some bad shots, and those 2 critical turnovers down the stretch. This game really makes you miss and truly appreciate everything RJ brought to the table. He would keep defenses honest because they either had to leave him or Vince with one-on-one coverage down the stretch, but now without him and with Harris out teams feel very comfortable committing alot of players to VC cause they don't feel anyone else can beat them. Bobby Simmons is also a huge bust, the man missed 2 wide open 3s in the last 4 minutes including one that was an airball. He really has yet to contribute much on offense or defense and if CDR wasn't out i'd advocate benching simmons for hayes and bringing CDR off the bench to speel both VC and Jarvis.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Nets-Pacers
Bad follow up to the exhilarating win on Friday. My thoughts:
1) The Nets need another ball handler. Keyon Dooling has only started 37 games in his 470 game career and there's a reason why, he's not a starting caliber player. He is great as a guy that come in for 20-25 minutes providing good defense, and some decent scoring ability, but as a starting PG he's nowhere near where he needs to be. He's more of a combo guard, not even a natural point, and after him the Nets have nobody to bring in off the bench to handle the ball since Harris is out. he had 17 points but if Harris goes out for a long period of time, they will need another player to complement Dooling. I will again recommend the Nets call the Grizzlies front office and offer Sean Williams or a 1st round pick for Kyle Lowry or Javaris Crittenton, with OJ Mayo and Mike Conley playing well, one of those 2 guys is expendable and either 1 could definately help the Nets.
2) The inconsistent Yi show continues as Yi was awful last night, he had 11 rebounds but shot 1 for 10 and looked lost offensively.
3) Ryan Anderson should be playing. Yes Najera provides more of a defensive edge and presence but he can't score, and when your #2 scorer is out and you score 80 points against one of the league's weaker defenses you need to be thinking offense, which means thinking Ryan Anderson.
1) The Nets need another ball handler. Keyon Dooling has only started 37 games in his 470 game career and there's a reason why, he's not a starting caliber player. He is great as a guy that come in for 20-25 minutes providing good defense, and some decent scoring ability, but as a starting PG he's nowhere near where he needs to be. He's more of a combo guard, not even a natural point, and after him the Nets have nobody to bring in off the bench to handle the ball since Harris is out. he had 17 points but if Harris goes out for a long period of time, they will need another player to complement Dooling. I will again recommend the Nets call the Grizzlies front office and offer Sean Williams or a 1st round pick for Kyle Lowry or Javaris Crittenton, with OJ Mayo and Mike Conley playing well, one of those 2 guys is expendable and either 1 could definately help the Nets.
2) The inconsistent Yi show continues as Yi was awful last night, he had 11 rebounds but shot 1 for 10 and looked lost offensively.
3) Ryan Anderson should be playing. Yes Najera provides more of a defensive edge and presence but he can't score, and when your #2 scorer is out and you score 80 points against one of the league's weaker defenses you need to be thinking offense, which means thinking Ryan Anderson.
Nets-Pistons
What an exciting victory, a nice win for the team to get back on track after playing poorly in their last 2 games. My observations:
1) Devin Harris was the star. He had a career-night scoring 38 points and toughing out the last of the 3rd quarter and entire 4th quarter with a bum ankle. He was on in all facets of his game. He had showed a nice touch in his midrange game forcing the defense to respect him and play up on him. When defenses are forced to respect his jumper, he can blow by them for easy scores and that is exactly what he did shooting 24 foul shots. He was in total control of the offense this game, knowing when to push the tempo and when to pull back and run the set offense which was very nice to see considering he had been playing a bit schizophrenically the previous few games, as he was all over the place.
2) Josh Boone is developing into a Udonis Haslem-esque player. He is like a vaccum on the boards, something the Nets have desperately needed for quite some time and he does it on both ends. He also is improving his offensive game, developing a game within 10-15 feet, when 2 years ago him shooting outside 4 feet had you covering your eyes. He's playing very agressively, definetly becoming a force to be reckoned with on the low block.
3) Yi continued to be inconsistent. After a great opening night performance, Yi played poorly the next 2 nights then came back with 12 points and 9 rebounds last night, but he did foul out.
4) Eduardo Najera has replaced Ryan Anderson in the rotation. Don't like this move, Anderson was showing a lot of progress in the 1st few games, showing good range on his jumper and also good rebounding ability. He is an offensive threat while Najera is not and with the Nets struggling to score points in some games, I think they shouldn't be benching Anderson, a guy that can stretch defenses and open things up in the paint.
1) Devin Harris was the star. He had a career-night scoring 38 points and toughing out the last of the 3rd quarter and entire 4th quarter with a bum ankle. He was on in all facets of his game. He had showed a nice touch in his midrange game forcing the defense to respect him and play up on him. When defenses are forced to respect his jumper, he can blow by them for easy scores and that is exactly what he did shooting 24 foul shots. He was in total control of the offense this game, knowing when to push the tempo and when to pull back and run the set offense which was very nice to see considering he had been playing a bit schizophrenically the previous few games, as he was all over the place.
2) Josh Boone is developing into a Udonis Haslem-esque player. He is like a vaccum on the boards, something the Nets have desperately needed for quite some time and he does it on both ends. He also is improving his offensive game, developing a game within 10-15 feet, when 2 years ago him shooting outside 4 feet had you covering your eyes. He's playing very agressively, definetly becoming a force to be reckoned with on the low block.
3) Yi continued to be inconsistent. After a great opening night performance, Yi played poorly the next 2 nights then came back with 12 points and 9 rebounds last night, but he did foul out.
4) Eduardo Najera has replaced Ryan Anderson in the rotation. Don't like this move, Anderson was showing a lot of progress in the 1st few games, showing good range on his jumper and also good rebounding ability. He is an offensive threat while Najera is not and with the Nets struggling to score points in some games, I think they shouldn't be benching Anderson, a guy that can stretch defenses and open things up in the paint.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Nets-Warriors, Nets-Suns
Went to the home opener on Saturday, here are some observations I had:
1) Poor turnout for home oepner, the arena was probably 3/4 full, not what you want on opening night
2) The center tandem of Boone and Lopez has alot of talent, Boone has become a very tough interior defender showing alot of agression and shot blocking abaility. He can also rebound well and score, he gets a lot of point blank looks but he must convert more of them. Lopez has a ton of offensive talent, every time he touches the ball you just see he can do things with it.
3) Devin Harris looked disoriented offensively. He was very sloppy, running 1 on 3 fast breaks and seeming lost within the tempo of the offense. He had alot of shots blocked and didnt seem to mesh with the other players on the floor well.
4) L-Frank needs to play matchups. He has said he's going 10 deep this season and Sean Williams didn't start out as 1 of the 10 guys in the rotation, but he should've been on the floor Saturday cause the Warriors are so athletic and they have their 4 man standing on the perimeter shooting 3s and Sean Williams with his long wingspan and athleticism would've been a good matchup against the likes of Al Harrington and Corey Maggette.
5) Maybe the Nets were right giving up on Marcus Williams. He didn't sniff court time for the Warriors and he coudl've helped them cause Damarcus Nelson and CJ Watson aren't true points and you could see it. The Warriors didn't even pick up his option for next season. Looks like ahe could an utter waste of alot of talent.
6) Sat near Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond which was really cool
Nets-Suns
Didnt see the game but obviously the final score was not something you liked to see
1) Poor turnout for home oepner, the arena was probably 3/4 full, not what you want on opening night
2) The center tandem of Boone and Lopez has alot of talent, Boone has become a very tough interior defender showing alot of agression and shot blocking abaility. He can also rebound well and score, he gets a lot of point blank looks but he must convert more of them. Lopez has a ton of offensive talent, every time he touches the ball you just see he can do things with it.
3) Devin Harris looked disoriented offensively. He was very sloppy, running 1 on 3 fast breaks and seeming lost within the tempo of the offense. He had alot of shots blocked and didnt seem to mesh with the other players on the floor well.
4) L-Frank needs to play matchups. He has said he's going 10 deep this season and Sean Williams didn't start out as 1 of the 10 guys in the rotation, but he should've been on the floor Saturday cause the Warriors are so athletic and they have their 4 man standing on the perimeter shooting 3s and Sean Williams with his long wingspan and athleticism would've been a good matchup against the likes of Al Harrington and Corey Maggette.
5) Maybe the Nets were right giving up on Marcus Williams. He didn't sniff court time for the Warriors and he coudl've helped them cause Damarcus Nelson and CJ Watson aren't true points and you could see it. The Warriors didn't even pick up his option for next season. Looks like ahe could an utter waste of alot of talent.
6) Sat near Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond which was really cool
Nets-Suns
Didnt see the game but obviously the final score was not something you liked to see
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