Posts tagged ‘Richard Jefferson’

Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe promised off-season changes. On Thursday they delivered, first completing a trade to send Richard Jefferson, the last link to the back-to-back Eastern Conference championship teams, to Milwaukee for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, then drafting three players in last nights draft that could contribute immediately.

The Nets made the decision to rebuild with the February Jason Kidd trade, making one of last night’s draft picks possible. Completing the long rumored Jefferson deal continues the break up of the previous Nets core, leaving only Vince Carter, who may or may not be dealt. RJ had his best scoring season last year, however his rebounding and assists dropped, while his defense suffered. Questions even arose about his committment to the team. I once touted RJ as the next captain after Kidd, a player who gave his all, and didn’t complain about losing, took the blame, and faced the media - unlike Kidd. Yet, this trade makes perfect sense. The NEts may not have received equal player value in Yi and Simmons. More important, they shed the Jefferson’s long term contract in exchange for Simmons’, which expires after 2010, lowering the New Jersey’s salary committments by $15 million in prepartion for the summer of Lebron. Even if Lebron is a pipe dream, Bosh, Wade, Amare, and company are not bad potential consolation prizes.

On the court, Yi, last year’s sixth pick in the draft, is a 7-footer with upside. The 20-year-old averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in Milwaukee last season, but garnered comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki because of his face-up and perimeter offensive game for a big guy. Simmons is a formed Most Improved Player that has never lived up to his contract. The 6′6″ swingman was included purely for salary reasons, and if he never contributes on the court, he still brings tremendous value in the form of that expiring contract.

Later in the day, Thorn and Vandeweghe receive a gift from the nine teams that selected ahead of them, in the form of a 7-foot center from Stanford. In the past few weeks, Mock Drafts slotted Brook Lopez as high as third to Minnesota. A few surprises early on, notably Seattle opting for Westbrook at four and Charlotte going for Augustin at nine, left Lopez on the board for New Jersey at ten. As Jay Bilas put it, he didn’t grade well in some of the workouts because he was slow running around the cones and completing other drills. Bilas continued, if you’re picking a 4×100 relay team I would not take Lopez, but for 5-on-5 basketball he’s a good pick. Bilas always provides great analysis, and his commentary appropriately trashed the workouts impact on a player’s selection.

Lopez can score with his back to the basket - an area the Nets desperately needed help with. He averaged 19.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks, in the tough Pac-10 conference as a sopohmore at Stanford. The 20-year-old fills a major need, has the potential to become a legit NBA center, and should compete for the starting center spot right off the bat. A potential steal at number ten.

Later in the first round, New Jersey used the pick acquired in the Jason Kidd trade to take a forward from Kidd’s alma mater, University of California-Berkeley - Ryan Anderson. Another scoring big man, at 6′10″, Anderson has more of a face-up, outside shooting offensive game that mimics Yi. He quietly led the Pac-10 in scoring last season with 21.1 points per game. Anderon’s a skilled scorer, who many saw as a sleeper in the draft. In a matter of hours, the Nets got younger and bigger - acquiring two 7-footers and 6′10″ player all 20-years old.

The Nets yielded another heist in the second round, grabbing Chris Douglas-Roberts with the 40th pick. CDR was an option at #21, so to have him fall into their lap seventeen picks later was a surprise, and completed a solid draft for New Jersey. The 6′6″ swingman provides more help on the perimeter, and can add much needed scoring off the bench.

Thorn and Vandeweghe made lots of headway in the rebuilding project Thursday, yet they are far from done. As currently constituted the average team age is slightly over 24 years old, closer to some college teams than NBA teams. Expect the Nets to exchange some youngsters for veteran role players to help compete this season, and nurture the youngsters. Thursday was a leap in the right direction. Jefferson had to go, he ran his course ith this team, and his contract was out of line. Lopez has a chance to be a legit center, a gaping hole in recent years, and almost a necessity to compete in the league. Yi has upside. Anderson and CDR should both develop into serviceable pros, one may even become a major contributor. With a few moves, the Nets can compete for the playoffs in the East next season. The plan appears to be improve every year, and yield a big free agent in 2010 that elevates the team to championship contention. So far, so good.

The Nets never had a chance on this road trip. Five games against teams a combined 50 games over .500 at the time, a history of failure against the Texas triple, an MVP candidate and hot franchise in the fourth game, two teams riding double-digit win streaks, all while integrating a new starting point guard into the fold. Even with those odds, you figure the Nets could steal one game, or at least beat the Grizzlies. Think again.

Only the Rockets, riding an 18-game win streak, stand between the Nets and an 0-5 road trip, the second extended winless trip in two months after dropping six straight out West in mid-January. Do they miss Jason Kidd? Did the matchup in Dallas with Kidd’s Mavs Saturday distract the young team, who struggle to focus without any unneeded stress? No, on both fronts. They have played terribly inconsistent, on all fronts – similar to with Kidd before the trade.

Finally, everyone can put the Kidd hoopla aside – we think – now it’s time the Nets truly put up or shut up for the 2007-2008 season. Since the trade, Carter’s quotes have sounded like a countdown, “It’s the next 28 games,” “25 more games like that,”, …, now its down to 19. Time to stop talking about finishing the season strong and making the playoffs, and play like it.

Sitting outside the playoff picture in ninth place, even if the Nets earn a seventh playoff appearance it will likely end similar to this road trip, four painless blowouts. Lawrence Frank needs to start using players with an eye towards the future, towards evaluation, while still trying to win in the process. How you say, do they do that?

• Start in the fourth quarter, where New Jersey continues to fall apart every game. Get the ball to Nenad Kristic. He continues to improve, working his way back to pre-injury form, but only does his damage early in games.
• Stop shooting quick jumpers late in games. It starts with the point guard and the coach. Devin Harris needs to penetrate and run the offense, not take 15-20 shots a game from long range. If Harris insists on shooting too much, and Marcus Williams continues to play within the flow of the offense, Frank has to finish games with Williams on the floor until Harris gets the message.
• Attack the zone. Team will continue to throw 2-3 zones at the Nets until they show an ability to beat it. 63 games into the season and they still quiver at the site of the defense. Before the season ends, just once, look prepared to attack the zone. Flash Kristic to the high post, penetrate the seams, throw a lob over the back line.
• Use a rotation that gives the best chance to win…and allows Thorn and Kiki to make decisions about players for next season. Is Trenton Hassell in the Nets plans? Does he help them win? Self-explanatory, bench him. Ditto Darrel Armstrong. Is Swift in the plans? Lets find out.

The rest of the season starts tonight, now truly in the post-Kidd era. More than wins, the Nets need to compete, not show up for half the game. Show some resiliency in the fourth quarter. It starts with the leadership – RJ, VC, and Frank. Carter and Jefferson don’t need to score every basket, but act like leaders, make the big play, take the charge, throw the extra pass, get to the line, encourage the new guys and young players.

Check out the podcast for more thoughts on who the leader of the team, it’s more clear cut than you think.

One farewell, one long awaited return, one rumored departure – after two straight wins, the Nets looked distracted last night. Jason Collins started his final game with a thunderous dunk on a back cut off a Jason Kidd assist. From there the Nets appeared old, slow, and disinterested.

Atlanta used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to jump ahead, and an extended 20-7 burst against an apathetic second unit to start the second quarter, to blow the game open. Richard Jefferson came out shooting duds, leading the brigade of Nets settling for long jumpers. While Vince Carter, slowed by foul trouble, made his biggest impact by picking up a technical foul in the second quarter, then sitting the final 9+ minutes of the half.

Meanwhile, the Hawks athleticism and speed overwhelmed the Nets defense. Atlanta, known for its transition offense, scored 23 fast break points and finished with 58 points in the paint, thanks to 15 offensive rebounds, and countless drives to the basket.

Jefferson showed up for the second half, opening the third with five quick points. However, the lack of transition defense killed the Nets, each time the Nets showed a surge Atlanta struck back with easy baskets on the other end, beating the NJ down the floor. Jefferson finished with 23 strong points, and got the Nets within nine points early in the fourth before Atlanta capitalized on the offensive glass with a putback.

Boki Nochbar was the only Net to provide offense in the first half. Following a dreadful offensive outing in Miami, Nochbar buried his first shot and took off from there. He mixed aggressive moves to the basket with touch from the outside to finish with 16 points. More disconcerting, Nochbar and Antoine Wright were the only Nets to visit the foul line in the entire first half – a sign of the lack of aggressive play and offensive rhythm. The second unit had no flow, with Marcus Williams struggling to setup the offense or trigger the transition game.

If you blinked, you missed Nenad Kristic’s return. Kristic played 2:45 late in the first quarter before icing his knee on the bench the rest of the night. If Kristic is not ready to play 20 minutes a night, he should not play at all. If he is, Frank should use him, the Nets have nothing to lose. Atlanta poses a tough defensive assignment for Curly, but nobody else contained Marvin Williams or Josh Smith last night, why not have Kristic try to get into the flow?

Kidd slid into second on the All-Time rebounding list for guards, moving past Clyde Drexler. Lost in his 10 rebound, 7 assist performance was a woeful shooting night, 2-9 from the floor for only five points. You can sum the night up with two plays, Josh Smith pinned a Carter layup – later appeared to be goaltending – then ran the floor for an easy dunk on the other end. While earlier in the fourth, Kidd went to swing the ball around the perimeter and threw what appeared to be a simple pass to Carter into the first row. Lack of concentration, lack of energy – double digit loss.

Note: If Atlanta had 18,102 fans in attendance, I must have won the lottery last night. The building looked almost as empty as most nights at Izod, yet still had more energy.