Survival

The Nets just won their second straight against the Nuggets to salvage to second half of the West Coast swing.

And they did it in impressive fashion, beating the Nugs in the high altitude after a long, tiring overtime win - back-to-back wins on back-to-back nights. Of course, Carmelo being injured early on didn't hurt the Nets, who hung on after a big first half.

Old friend Kenyon Martin, who will be forever missed in NJ regardless of who fills the power forward spot, was a beast, including his temper, which caused him two late T's and an ejection after a bogus foul call.

As for the Nets, well, it's on home but certainly not an easy time as the Pistons are up on Wednesday night.

I'll go back and watch tape (I was writing up 3 game reviews while this one was on) and post the game review late Tuesday night. The Pistons game will probably get posted on Thursday night as well, as Joe has an overnight trip to Memphis.

Well, survival feels better when the wins come later...

Before The Dawn

OK, here's where you show that you're a hard-core Netsfan - watching the games live from the West Coast. Games that end at oh 1AM or so...

Sorry, I can't do that anymore. Oh, I might be crazy enough to stay up that late, but certainly not to file a game review after. So, we'll be running on the video tape method for the next 10 days. I'll try to make the game reviews good, since I don't have to sit through commercials and I can hopefully spend more time watching tape.

Wednesday night's game, as well as Friday night's game, won't even get posted until Sunday night at the earliest as Joe leaves for a mini-vacation on Wednesday. So bear with us for the weekend, and we'll catch it all up early next week.

What to expect? Well, Jason Collins appears to be at risk for playing any games on this trip, so it will fall to Nenad Krstic, Cliff Robinson and Marc Jackson to hold down the middle. Not a scary thought against the Warriors, but Brad Miller with Sacto, Marcus Camby with Denver and maybe even someone like Chris Mihm for the Lakers or Kurt Thomas with Phoenix could give the Nets trouble inside.

And there's that Steve Nash fellow to dealwith - seems like I remember him having a party against the Nets last season. Of course, without Amare, that seems less likely, but the West Coast is always full of strange happenings.

The Nets will need some solid contributions from that bench, since the stretch is likely to tire them out (especially in the Mile High air of Denver).

Old friend Kenyon Martin is having troubles with the knee, so a reunion out there may or may not even take place on the court.

Of course there is the other reunion, that of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who appears to be fitting in just fine (and injury-free) for the Kings.

So much excitement, so many late nights...

Poster Children

Interesting game over at the CAA this evening. Nets get a big win against an offensive team by holding them to 83 points. More importantly, they get stops when they need them, for maybe the first time this season.

I'd say that the bench was the key to this one as well - good games from McInnis, Planinic, Jackson and the man Uncle Cliffie. They were the key to the second quarter spurt that got the Nets this win.

Ron Burgundy was huge as well, with another double-double and almost starting to take over this team from Kidd.

Another bright spot - the Nets won a game with the big three shooting a combined 16 - 45 (that's 36%, folks) and while allowing 18 offensive rebounds (they did get 15 offensive rebounds themselves, as well as 3 more rebounds overall).

Of course, the Nets caught a major break when head case/potential superstar Gilbert Arenas apparently had one of his meltdowns, and sat for the first 9 minutes of the third quarter due to a "coach's decision". Which can only mean that either Arenas said something at halftime he'll regret, or Wiz coach Eddie Jordan saw something on the court that he didn't like in the first half.

Jefferson and Arenas were teammates at Arizona - talk about poster children in opposite directions for the NBA. Both are seriously skilled, only one has a reputation for being erratic while the other has been nothing but consistent. Even with all his talents, you'd probably want Arenas only if you couldn't get Jefferson.

Now, off to the Left Coast, where things are never what they seem. Remember Carter's 360 degree helicopter move against the Lakers last year?

Anyway, winnable games at Golden State, Los Angeles (Lakers), and Denver, all of whom have been inconsistent. The Kings have also been inconsistent, but they usually play well against the Nets. And there's a Friday night, ESPN game against the Suns that I would probably have said would be difficult if not impossible had Amare Stoudamire been in the lineup.

All bets are off for the next 9 days. Figure the Nets will come back with a 2 - 3 or 3 -2 record and hope for the best. No team in the NBA is a pushover, especially given how inconsistent the Nets have been.

Whoops! Almost forgot. No Lamond Murray again...

That Whole East Coast / West Coast thing

I'm amazed that the two teams most known for running the "Princeton" motion offense (or variations on it, anyway) in the NBA over the last few years, the Sacramento Kings and our own New Jersey Nets, have fallen into stagnation.

The Kings are off to a 3 - 5 start - the Nets, 4 - 4, and neither has the offensive look of a world beater.

From what I gather, new personnel has something to do with that, but as I read Kelly Dwyer in SI tonight, something seems to be "off" with the Kings, from Mike Bibby on down (of course, he also rubs it in and says that Shareef Abdur-Rahim has been playing well).

The Nets are having personnel issues as well, are they not? Both teams might be better prepared for a half-court set, but neither seems to be able to run and score at will.

The NBA has caught up to them, no doubt. And only the higher-octane Suns offense lead by Steve Nash seems to have been able to overcome the defenses holding the motion offense at bay.

Maybe. Or maybe not. Maybe it's just a lousy collection of supporting players in each case.

Ah, the vagarities of the NBA.

Want to bet that both teams are markedly better come February?

Time Stands Still

Or, at least Joe wishes it would.

Far behind on my Joe work, looking at pulling an all-nighter one of these off-nights before Saturday's game, and not looking forward to it. Oh, I don't mind the workload, or putting together the content, it's the rest of life that gets in the way.

Say tonight for example, where Joe had to attend a dinner function that was not exactly high on his wish list. Away from everything else, and missing some of that Knicks/Lakers game to boot (hey, when you're an NBA junkie, you'll watch damned near anything).

But I promise, I'll try to catch up as much as I can before the weekend.

Of course, next week is Thanksgiving week, plus that West Coast trip that kills me for staying timely, so all of the effort ahead will probably be for naught anyway.

Next week's roadtrip will be a bear for Joe - no one to cover Wednesday night's Sacto/SAR game since Joe will be away having a life for a few days, plus all those other late nights to come. Hey, if you want to put together a game review for me on the Sacto game, please email me (joe@joenetsfan.com) and I'll get it posted either when I return or get it to Champy for posting.

Oh, the state of the Nets, you say? Well, while last night was encouraging in that "any win is a good win" school, I'm not convinced they would beat 15 NBA teams with the overall effort from last night. And that's not a putdown as much as it is a fact that the Nets defense just isn't there yet. But it's showing signs.

Carter containing Ray Allen was the story of the day, but was this really true, or did Allen just have a poor shooting night (mine eyes saw more of the latter, but drop me a line and convince me otherwise)? RJ had issues with Rashard Lewis, but I guess he did shut him down in the fourth quarter when it was necessary.

And really, are we going to have problems with Lamond Murray this year? He said it himself: after 3 coaches do the same thing (healthy DNP) to you, you wonder if it's you...

I can't tell you what Lawrence Frank is thinking, but from my brief glimpse at him, the "team game" aspect, as well as "defense" appear to be concepts that have eluded him. But I could be over-simplifying that...

That's it for tonight. Drive safe, and see you around these parts tomorrow (when I have more IQ points to talk NBA basketball more intelligently).

Now What?

Here in Atlanta, I can tell you that there is no buzz about the Hawks.

Not exactly the case with the Nets. Mostly, it's about defense, or the lack thereof. D'Alessandro covers the Nets lack of mental toughness in his blog. An article on the Jay-Z / LeBron connection, and the happiness of Shareef Abdur-Rahim over how things have worked out since coming to Sacramento.

And protests in Brooklyn over the size and scope of the Arena project.

With a game against the Sonics tomorrow night (hopefully, the weather at Newark Airport will allow me to get home in time for the game), what else can we expect to see from these Nets?

How about some redemption, from the defense especially?

A big game from Carter, Kidd and Jefferson perhaps. Or maybe even an unexpected big contribution from someone like McInnis, Jackson, Planinic or Robinson.

Something to carry the day.

Tough game against the Wiz coming up on Saturday - so, with a few days of practice time after the Sonics game, perhaps they can close a few holes in the porous defense.

Opportunities Not Problems

So now what?

It hasn't been pretty over the last 2 games, has it? Defense is more than a lingering concern at this point. Too many wide open shooters, too many missed assignments, too many easy, uncontested shots.

And let me add to that too many plays being made on the Nets against players who are supposed to be more than ok defensively (i.e. Kidd, Jefferson).

The Nets are 13th in the lead in points allowed (96.4) while ranking 18th in points scored (94.1)- worse, they are 3rd worst in three point shooting percentage allowed (42.4%).

What realistically can the Nets do, especially if Jason Collins remains injured or at least subpar for awhile with the knee and now leg injuries? More practice time? This is the NBA, there is only so much you can do. Marc Jackson, a prime fill-in, isn't known for his defense. Cliff Robinson is but he's 39 years old. Scott Padgett? Well, he can put in a few minutes, but face it, he's not the power forward backup the Nets desperately need.

Seattle, the next opponent, is allowing a league high 109 points per game. So they might even be a temporary fix. But if they allow Ray Allen to go off, well, all bets are off...

Switching gears, briefly, had the opportunity over the weekend to listen to Mark Jackson (the Nets analyst on YES, not the player) with both play-by-play partners on Friday and Saturday night. While Jackson is still rough on the ears, it sure sounded to me like he had better chemistry with Ian Eagle. Again, I'm trying (desperately) to remain objective, but Eagle was more skilled at pulling information that had value out of Jackson, and creating space for him to comment. Albert, on the other hand, does not seem to have any sort of chemistry with Jackson yet, and it certainly comes across over the air.

I'm off to Atlanta for business (be happy to fill you in on all the happenings with the Hawks), but I'll try to get something up in this space while I'm away. I know I still have to finish the player files, get to a Backlash, and do a hundred other things, but I'm getting there.

Peace.

Pacers Power

Ugh.

What a game against the Pacers, huh? OK, Collins and Robinson were out of the lineup, and O'Neal usually abuses us, but how to you explain the incredibly appalling lack of defense?

I'll post more after I spit out a game review.

Which Twin?

Champagne asked me the question last night (he was working and didn't get to see the game) about which Collins brother was the better player. Champy was perusing the box score and noticed that Jarron Collins had 9 points, 8 boards and and 1 block in 31 minutes as the first Jazzman off the bench, while Jason Collins (with the boxer's eye) had 5 points, 5 rebounds and 0 blocks in an identical 31 minutes.

So, which one is which? Or, which one is better, I mean...

Jarron seems to have more offensive skills - he actually doesn't appear to be permanently tethered to the floor, and while not exactly what one would consider graceful, he still moves better than Jason.

Jason, however, starts in a system that can take advantage of the talents of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, plays good, sound, fundamental basketball (not that Jarron doesn't) and oh by the way plays on a much more successful team.

So what's the answer? I would guess Jason is the better player overall, just not for Netsfans who can't stand watching his presence down low. But have you seen his mid-range jumper from the elbow recently? He hits far more than he misses, and he's usually left WIDE open 4 or 5 times a game.

Other interesting tidbits coming out of yesterday's game: Nenad Krstic thoroughly outplayed the Jazz centers - Mehmet Okur and Greg Ostertag, to the point of embarassment. Really, really embarassing. Vince Carter, in a continuation from last season, still does not get nearly the amount of calls his should when he travels inside the paint. Carter shot only 4 free throws last night, should have had at least 8.

And the Nets are starting to have the look of a rotation, one that does not include Lamond Murray, Scott Padgett or Jacque Vaughn. Of course, it's still early, matchups will often dictate who plays when, and no one has gotten hurt yet, but Murray already looked shaky enough defensively to wonder if he'll ever be more than a spot shooter, Padgett needs to get some work in to get to Scalabrine-esque cult status, and McInnis has made Vaughn obsolete, if Vaughn's not being used to guard the pocket-rockets of the league.

Nets/Indy tomorrow night, should be a classic even though it's early. Who's guarding Artest, and more importantly, who is Artest guarding? This could be the game that Jason Kidd needs to step to the forefront.

The Evolution of Richard Jefferson

Tough, tough loss for the Nets tonight.

But the biggest gain so far this season has got to be the continued evolution of Richard Jefferson. Not only is he playing an all-around game, including inside and outside shooting, tough defense, and even distributing the ball, but he's also a rebounder now. In a major way.

After 4 games, RJ is averaging a hefty 10+, including 11 offensive rebounds (he had 6 in tonight's game). He seems to be getting better position, but also seems to be making a conscious effort to replace some of what was obviously lost by the SAR debacle.

It's not realistic to expect RJ to average 10 rebounds a night, at least not with the other demands placed on him, but if he can average 8, and Kidd and Krstic average 7, and Carter and Collins can get around 6...see what I'm saying here.

Even with Carter on the team, RJ is the best all-around player.

Don't believe me - check out his official page at NBA.com. His efficiency rating is #3 in the league, and he's Top 10 in an amazing amount of categories.

And kudos to Jeff McInnis for at least attempting to take shots tonight. Appears as though he's finally broken through on playing his game, although he passed up another few open shots tonight. Yes, Jeff, the team wants you to fit in, but it also wants you to contribute your sizable offensive skills.

Congrats to Linton Johnson for finally making the cut as the 12th man and actually wearing a uni. Come back quickly, Cliffie...

Marvelous Marv and Marky Mark

OK, watched the broadcast of the Nets game last night, free from the responsibility of having to do the game review (please, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back Mr. Champagne, who may or may not be around long this season, but for the moment is right there with us).

Mine eyes and ears were targeted squarely on Marv Albert and Mark Jackson.

Since I'm not Mushnick or Raissman, I'm not going to get into specifics of "he said, she said" on the broadcast, but just some generalizations based on what was the first of what will be many telecasts I'll have to sit through with this pairing.

Basically, breaking it down, Marv is Marv - the consummate professional, probably the best hoops announcer ever, and always to be identified by Joe as a Knick. KNICK.

Marc, on the other hand, is new to this, but after watching last night's game, you would have thought it was his very first one (was he not on ESPN last year?). Obviously searching (at least I hope) for the right ways to connect with the legend, there were too many instances last night were even when Mark did speak, he didn't add anything to the broadcast. And let's not get into the post-game inteview with Richard Jefferson on the court, where Jackson seemed to be asking a question that was not the most relevent one at the beginning of the interview.

And Marv does absolutely nothing to help Jackson fill in the blanks. Marv, being Marv, loves to hear himself talk. Occasionally he pauses to allow for analysis, but mostly, it's Marv's world, and Jackson's just living in it.

It will get better, but it appears likely that these two, based on one listen anyway, will NEVER have the chemistry of Eagle and Raftery, or even Eagle and Spanarkel.

I had a chance to listen to half-a-quarter's worth on the radio side, where Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw reside. Capstraw puts Jackson to shame, always making intelligent observations in such a way that it's neither simplistic or complex, droning or ambivalent. I can think of no higher complement than the fact that Capstraw just "gets it". Gets into his point, makes it, gets out. And Carrino gives him the space to do it.

We'll be keeping our eyes and ears out, Netsfans, but it isn't looking good.

Reflections On Game 2

A few, post-sleep thoughts on Game 2:

Toronto is an awful (and awfully young) team, but why in God's name is Jalen Rose acting like he's the second coming of MJ? Clearly, Rose didn't care if anyone else on the Rapts took a shot while he was in the lineup and appeared to force things every time the ball landed in his hands. That's some combination they've got up there.

The Nets? Well, by no means perfect (who likes 21 turnovers?), but leaving Richard Jefferson alone to double Vince Carter is hopefully an example of how things will go this year: double one of them, and someone else will make you pay.

The bench was much better as well, actually extending a lead, but we've yet to see Jeff McInnis settle into any sort of role (scorer, distributor, defensive dervish...ok, I'm kidding about that one), which hopefully comes in time. Marc Jackson probably needs more playing time to be effective, but maybe not - maybe this is about as much as he can expect, given the need for Collins' defense. Did like the combo of Krstic and Jackson when they were on the floor.

Mark my words as well - RJ's gonna wind up leading this team in minutes played and rebounds (and maybe scoring, if teams continue to key on Carter).

And, again, let me stress that I'm personally glad to see the Ian Eagle - Jim Spanarkel combo back together after suffering through Kelly Tripucka the last 2 years. Nothing personal, but he just didn't bring much to the table.

Tonight, Champagne's gonna review for you, while I keep my eye on the new Marv Albert - Mark Jackson combo. I'll have some thoughts (and I swear I'll try to be objective) on the pairing in this space tomorrow.

As Kip would say, "Peace out."

The Great Arena Debate & Marv and Mark

Was it or was it not a sellout?

Everyone has been asking that question of the Nets home opener last night, including (apparently) Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN radio. http://http://wfan.com/homepage/local_audioclip_307174110.html

Well, like many of you, I was there, and it didn't appear to be a sell-out from the amount of empty seats in the arena, but hey, who knows, Netsfans are a fickle lot, or many of the seats could have been sold to corporations or given away. Whatever. They're moving to Brooklyn, remember, we're not supposed to care.

The important thing, apparently, was selling every inch of real estate in the place. In fact, aside from the new "Zipper" ad screen the encircles the arena, it's hard not to get lost in all the signage and lose focus on the game.

The red Nets hat giveaway, though, gave the place an eerie feeling, like a convention of Shriners was in town and attending the opening ceremonies.

Bill Koy was also there (with Len Franco) and he noted the following:

It is clear the team either fibbed or brought/gave away its own tix for PR reasons. There were pockets of empty seats everywhere. Crowd was also very subdued – reminded me of the Calipari days when they would pipe in fake crowd noise.

Well, by the looks of things, we're in for a rough start.

Even with the YES Network "dream team" of Marv Albert and Mark Jackson. I asked for thoughts on the new combo, and Bryan Viggiano was kind enough to provide this feedback:

My edict: Not at all impressed. I'm telling you they made so manymistakes it wasn't even funny. I can't tell you how many times Marv calledthis the Nets' first home sellout since '97 (obviously it was the firsthome opener sellout since '97). I don't know maybe they were just tiredfrom that red eye flight the night before. No excuse though. Also I'mpretty sure it was Mark who said the Bucks had "traded" for Bobby Simmons!I think he even said they had traded Desmond Mason for Bobby Simmons.Things like that. Good annoucers don't make mistakes like that. Maybethey underestimate our basketball IQ here in Jersey! We want Ian and Co.back!

Let's see what Friday brings - defensive intensity? A new rotation? More minutes for the starters?

Game 2, and already the pressure is on.

Three Questions

Man, it's late, I've been working on the game writeup, and I'm tired, but I have to ask these questions:

1. Defense? Especially help defense?

2. Rebounding?

3. Bench play?

All three things need work. And those free throws...

Guess I should make it four things.

The Bucks seemed to play much more cohesively, especially with the ball in the hands of their (quicker) guards. The Nets might need to start worrying about that, as all the 'oops and one-on-one isolations in the world can't make up for lousy defense.

And, watch these Bucks this year. I picked them for 6th place in the conference, I'm not backing off that especially since Joe Smith didn't even play tonight.

The stat sheet - play close attention to the plus/minus of McInnis. Even if I didn't calculate it perfectly, you will see that when he was running the point and Kidd was on the bench he had a double-digit negative plus minus. That's what Jeffie was supposed to change, not be the second coming of Chris Childs...

Other stats - Krstic had 5 blocks, Kidd somehow was not dominating but was close to a triple double (12 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds), RJ had 5 turnovers and McInnis, Robinson and Jackson, the first guys off the bench, had a combined 4 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

Otherwise, aside from Collins, who was terrific early, and Krstic, who battled, not sure that any of the starters would be satisfied with their performances. Carter had 25, but they were padded late when the game was getting out of hand. RJ had a good, tough all around game, but still tried to force things inside far too often.

It'll get better. You know Lawrence Frank will demand it.

Stay classy, bloggers.

Let The Games Begin

OK, now I can kick back and relax - for about 10 minutes.

This website has a lot of that "don't look back, something might be gaining on you" feeling about it these days, mostly because there is a ton of content I want to get to and only one me.

Hope you're enjoying the days leading up to opening night (wish I were), but at least it's finally here. Tomorrow, 7:30PM CAA, we get to find out if all the hype is all it's made out to be about the new-look Nets (and of course, tomorrow we find out nothing, because it's a marathon, not a chase, and one game does not a season make).

Yes, I need to finish up the player profiles. Yes, I have to squeeze a Backlash in here somewhere. Yes, I've got lots of other exciting things to get to. But mostly, I've got to get some sleep.

Want to carry the ball for me a bit this year? Think you can write a coherent piece, on anything? Want to volunteer to take the occasional game off my hands? You know the email.

Joe out. At least unti tomorrow (yes, I'll be there tomorrow night, somwhere around section 120 - I'll make sure to be identifiable somehow, if you really want to me the man behind Joe).