Archive for the ‘New Jersey Nets Players’ Category

Now is no time for finger pointing with the New Jersey Nets, losers of five straight and six of seven. Blame the coach, blame the big money shooting guard, blame the hall of fame point guard, blame the ball boy – everyone in the organization should be ashamed of the performance over the past two weeks.

After a tough fought home loss to Boston, the Nets have mailed it in. Romped by Portland and Phoenix, sandwiched around a pair of losses to the league’s bottom feeders, the Clippers and Knicks, now a combined 5-0 against the Nets. Effort and defense are the root causes. Not who has a good shooting night, or the rotation Frank uses, or even a bad match-up, all comparatively easy problems. Hustle, hard work, enthusiasm – intangibles players take for granted – should have Nets management worried.

Opponents have averaged 105 points over the seven-game slump, dropping the team defense to 16^th overall on the season (98.6 ppg). Unacceptable for a team struggling without an identity on offense. Most alarming, only one opponent over that stretch sits in the Top 10 in scoring. The Nets have been slow on transition defense, immediately exposed by Phoenix with a 35-point first quarter. Outside of Josh Boone, nobody consistently rebounds or boxes out. Chris Kaman owned the inside with 12 boards and 9 blocks on Saturday, Curry and Randolph dominated for the Knicks, while the Suns held a ten rebound edge. Tipped rebounds, loose balls, plays where desire takes over, all go against the Nets.

Unlike earlier this season, when inspired comebacks followed the early double-digit deficits, NJ threw the towel in the past week. Instead of rallying around each other, the team comes unglued - miscommunication leading to throwing passes away, lazy dribbling become turnovers and an easy buckets the other way.

Boki Nochbar sums it up best, “we need to show more pride.” Talent-wise the Nets can go toe to toe with most of the Eastern Conference, but heart and desire erase close the gap quick. After a slow start, the Nets have no room for error, and the schedule will only get tougher from here. Up next a rejuvenated Kings squad with a healthy Bibby, Artest, and Martin to supplement the supporting cast that blasted New Jersey last month, followed by visits to Golden State and Denver, two Western Conference playoff teams. Shooting woes aside, if the effort does not improve immediately the Nets will quickly become the easy game on other teams scheduled – if they have not already.

            The Nets proved they could play with an elite team for three plus quarters, even with their top two scorers only intermittently involved. Then the Jekyll and Hyde Nets offense reverted to its early December struggles – nine fourth quarter points, tying a franchise low, on 3-19 shooting – and what was a 12-point lead at one time ended as an 86-77 defeat to Boston.

            Holding Boston below 90 points is a major accomplishment, but scoring on the NBA’s top defense proved a tougher task. Despite a scorching hot 30-point opening quarter sparked by transition scoring, strong cuts to the basket, and a few open jumpers off drive and kicks, the Nets poor outside shooting caught up with them.

            In a shooting exhibition reminiscent of youth basketball, the Nets hit on only 37% from both the field and free throw line. Those numbers will not beat most NBA teams. Josh Boone’s 0-6 from the line was only the beginning. Jefferson, Carter, and Wright all added to the atrocity, continuing a worrisome trend from the line of late that must change for the Nets to continue winning.

            On offense, Carter, who admitted battling a touch of the stomach flu, was non-existent outside a burst in the third quarter. Instead of posting Carter on the wing, he found himself on the perimeter, unable to initiate the offense or consistently work for good shots, leading to 7-20 shooting and only four assists. Not establishing Carter hurts Jefferson, as well as foul trouble limiting his aggressiveness in the second half. RJ led the Nets with only 17 points.

Without any offensive flow, once Boston halted the transition game, points were scarce. Kidd tried to ignite some offense in the fourth quarter, forcing transition, trying to create by driving to the basket, but it led to turnovers and forced bad shots.

            Unlike earlier this season, the Nets continued to play hard for four quarters, not allowing the game to get out of reach until the last minute, never letting go of the proverbial rope that Jason Kidd referred shortly after an earlier Boston blowout.

The Nets stood toe to toe with Boston on defense, mixing in a zone in the fourth that confused Boston enough to halt their rally, though the Nets never capitalized. Boone owned the glass, gathering a career-high 16 boards, and played solid defense on Garnett forcing him into tough, contested shots. In fact, tough defense held Boston’s vaunted Big Three in check most of the night. James Posey and Eddie House each contributed nine points off the bench, Posey sparking the second quarter rally and House helping put the game away in the fourth.

            In the end, the Nets posted another uneven performance and lost to the league’s elite, falling to 0-5 against Boston and Detroit. Until proven otherwise, New Jersey stands among most of the Eastern Conference, in the second tier.

Richard Jefferson continues putting up career-best scoring numbers, Josh Boone and Sean Williams have invigorated a stagnant frontcourt with energy and scoring, while Jason Kidd’s face now appears next to Triple-Double in the dictionary, but it’s Vince Carter that has almost quietly spurred the recent offensive surge.

The Nets are at their best when the offense runs through Carter on the wing or in the high post, rather than at the three-point line. Carter has rediscovered the aggressive mentality that earned him the $66 million contract, taking the ball hard to the basket, drawing double teams, getting to the foul line, and even posterizing a few big men with vicious dunks in the process. When Vince plays aggressive, the whole team follows his lead, leading to better shots.

Carter will always get his 25-30 points when healthy, but how he gets there dictates the team’s success. Over the last eight games – seven Net wins – Carter has shot an efficient 47% from the field. Scoring 30 points on 19 shots, instead of 28 shots for example, means more opportunities for his teammates. With Boone and Williams finally providing frontcourt offense, and RJ taking his offensive game to the next level, Vince has weapons. A lot of Boone and Williams early offensive success can be attributed to setups from Carter, an adept passer off double teams, drives to the basket, and off the pick and roll.

But what the Nets most lacked early on, VC has re-emerged as the go-to guy. When the team needs a bucket, Carter has delivered. This win streak started with his clutch, last minute, three point shots in back-to-back games against Miami and Golden State, off kick outs from Jefferson. Then he torched Milwaukee for 8 points in the last 4:30 minutes, hit a layup and foul shots in the final minute of a one-point win in Orlando, and in Atlanta last game nailed a clutch jumper before initiating the offense on the Boone dunk that clinched the game. Early in the season ten and twelve point deficits quickly became twenty, against Charlotte on Friday Carter single-handedly kept the Nets in the game with 15 points in the first quarter, preventing a Bobcat blowout until his team woke up. That goes unnoticed in the first quarter, but the Nets never win that game without him.

Vin-sanity also brings some emotion and personality to the court. Kidd is a more stoic, quiet leader, Jefferson still defers to Kidd and Carter at times, but VC will rally the troops. He yells, gives the fist pump after a big play, jokes with the young guys on the court to keep things loose. Carter Kidd may be the captain, but Carter is the emotional leader.

After the 4-1 start, the Nets have had two win streaks, a mini three-game run on the Thanksgiving week West Coast trip, and the current seven of eight run. The first streak coincided with Carter’s return from an ankle injury, while the recent stretch marks Carter’s return to dominance on offense. Coincidence? I think not.

Number Crunching

Richard Jefferson has made the foul line his second home this season. After just 33 games he already has more Free Throw Attempts and Makes than during his 53 game injury shortened season last year. He is well on his way to shattering his career high in both categories.